C.F. Martin Custom Shop Dreadnought Carpathian Spruce w/ Bastogne Walnut Back & Sides

Available now at Northeast Music Center!

This Custom Shop Dreadnought features highly figured Bastogne Walnut Back & Sides on a Carpathian (High Altitude European) Spruce Top. 

This C.F. Martin Custom Shop Dreadnought was conceived and selected by the team at Northeast Music Center at the Martin Factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where the individual woods and specifications were carefully chosen to create an instrument with a character all its own.

At the center of this remarkable Custom Shop build is a striking set of highly figured Bastogne Walnut, paired with a premium Carpathian Spruce top. The combination is anything but ordinary. It brings together the power, responsiveness, and headroom of high-altitude European spruce with the distinctive tonal character and extraordinary visual depth of Bastogne Walnut.

The result is a Martin Dreadnought with an identity that is immediately its own.

The Wood Comes First

For Northeast Music Center, the story of a truly special Custom Shop guitar begins before the first component is assembled.

It begins with the wood.

Our close proximity to the Martin factory gives us the extraordinary opportunity to personally visit the Custom Shop and evaluate individual tonewood sets when developing special instruments. Rather than simply selecting a species from a specification sheet, we can examine the actual wood—its grain, figure, character, symmetry, and visual personality—and select the set we believe has the potential to become something exceptional.

That philosophy is especially meaningful with Bastogne Walnut.

The highly figured walnut selected for this Dreadnought possesses dramatic natural movement and dimensional character, making the instrument visually captivating from every angle. The grain is not merely decoration; it is the individual signature of the tree from which the guitar was created.

No two sets are identical.

And once a remarkable set of wood becomes a Martin Custom Shop guitar, its individuality becomes part of that instrument forever.

Carpathian Spruce & Bastogne Walnut

The Carpathian Spruce top brings a sophisticated combination of responsiveness, projection, clarity, and dynamic headroom to the traditional Martin Dreadnought platform. Its high-altitude European heritage makes it an especially compelling choice for players who want an acoustic guitar capable of responding to subtle touch while opening up with authority when played aggressively.

Paired with the Bastogne Walnut back and sides, the tonal palette becomes wonderfully complex.

There is clarity and definition.

There is warmth and harmonic richness.

There is the fundamental strength required of a great Dreadnought, accompanied by an expressive upper register and an abundance of musical detail.

The result is an instrument that can move effortlessly between powerful flatpicked passages, sophisticated fingerstyle work, songwriting, recording, and full-bodied rhythm playing.

Custom Shop Craftsmanship

This instrument reflects the level of detail expected from the Martin Custom Shop, with carefully considered specifications throughout.

The top is supported by Adirondack Spruce bracing, providing a sophisticated structural and tonal foundation beneath the Carpathian Spruce soundboard. A European Flamed Maple binding adds another layer of individuality, complementing the natural figure of the Bastogne Walnut without overwhelming it.

The guitar features Martin's GE Modern Belly bridge, a Black Ebony fingerboard, and elegant Diamonds & Squares Long fingerboard inlay. A Modified Low Oval neck profile combined with Martin's High Performance Taper provides a refined playing experience designed for modern players while remaining unmistakably Martin.

The finish is equally purposeful: a gloss body with satin neck and polished headplate allows the natural beauty of the selected woods to remain the visual centerpiece.

There are no electronics on this instrument by design.

It is simply a premium acoustic Martin Custom Shop Dreadnought—wood, craftsmanship, resonance, and the player.

The Northeast Music Center Difference

We believe a guitar of this caliber should have a story that begins long before it arrives in a showroom.

This one does.

Our team traveled to the Martin Factory in Nazareth and carefully selected the woods and specifications for this particular instrument. That proximity allows us to participate in the process in a way that is extremely meaningful to us and, ultimately, to the musician who becomes its owner.

We aren't simply choosing a Martin from a catalog.

We are looking at individual pieces of wood.

We are considering how those woods might work together.

We are thinking about the player who will eventually hold the finished instrument.

And when that guitar finally arrives at Northeast Music Center, we know where its story began.

From the Wood Room to Your Music Room

That philosophy is at the heart of our Martin Custom Shop collection.

For musicians throughout the Northeast—and for serious players willing to travel to find something truly special—Northeast Music Center has become a destination for exceptional Martin guitars and a place where the experience of selecting an instrument is treated with the same care as the instrument itself.

This C.F. Martin Custom Shop Dreadnought is an extraordinary example of that philosophy.

A premium Carpathian Spruce soundboard.

Highly figured Bastogne Walnut selected at the Martin Factory.

Adirondack Spruce bracing.

European Flamed Maple binding.

A carefully considered Custom Shop specification package.

And, perhaps most importantly, an individual identity that could never be duplicated by simply ordering another guitar with the same model description.

This is not simply a Martin Dreadnought.

It is a Martin Custom Shop instrument built around a remarkable set of wood that we personally selected for its potential to become something extraordinary.

From the Martin Factory in Nazareth to Northeast Music Center—and ultimately, to the musician who will give it its next chapter.

All woods and specifications were chosen carefully by the team at Northeast Music Center Inc. on site at the Martin Factory in Nazareth, PA.

 Specifications:

Appointment Level: Custom Shop

Adhesive: Modern Adhesive

Top Material: Carpathian Spruce

Bracing Material, Top: Adirondack Spruce

Back and Side Material: Bastogne Walnut

Binding Material: European Flamed Maple

Top Pearl: None

Rosette Style: Style 28 Boltaron

Bridge Style: GE Modern Belly

Neck Material: Select Hardwood

Neck Profile: GE Modified Low Oval

Neck Taper: High Performance Taper

Tuning Machines: Grover Nickel V97-18NA StaTite 18:1 Vintage Button

Fingerboard Material: Black Ebony

Fingerboard Inlay: Diamonds and Squares Long

Finish Type: Standard

Finish Package: Gloss Body w/Satin Neck and Polished Headplate

Top Color: Clear

Electronics: None