In combining Mr. Renbourn’s tastes with Martin Guitars’ talents, this guitar stands at the apex of traditional design and contemporary fingerstyle tone. According to Martin, one of John Renbourn’s favorite body styles was the original Orchestra Model, so naturally when the opportunity arose for the two to collaborate on a design, they chose an OM shape with a 14-fret, 25 1/4″ scale length for added tension in lowered tunings. When dropped into DADGAD or the like, this OMM exudes strength and clarity, with none of the tubbiness in the bass notes that similar guitars struggle against. Whether it’s fingerpicked Irish jigs, English ballads, or American Blues, this Martin offers an excellent separation of notes and hearty sustain. The voice is well-balanced across all registers, and the Madagascar Rosewood back and sides, when combined with the Alpine Italian Spruce top, fill out the tonal palette with shimmering overtones that warm the air and lend a complex, lush color to your fingerstyle arrangements. Bound up in a Martin TKL case, there’s no chance of any harm coming to this beauty when it’s not in your hands.