Used Martin 0-10e Jason Isbell w/bag

The Martin 0-10E Retro Jason Isbell is a standout addition to Martin's Road Series, capturing the vibe of a heavily played vintage acoustic while packing the modern reliability needed for the stage.

Isbell is a noted vintage guitar collector, and this model is directly inspired by his prized 1940 Martin 0-17—the exact small-bodied acoustic he used to track his solo album, Foxes in the Snow. Martin took that old-school, no-nonsense blues and Americana energy and packaged it into an accessible, gig-ready guitar.

The All-Mahogany "Style 17" Architecture

True to its pre-war inspiration, the 0-10E features all-solid mahogany construction for the top, back, and sides. Martin notably steered clear of sapele for this model, choosing true mahogany to anchor its warm, woodsy character.

• The 0-14 Fret Concert Body: This is Martin’s smallest full-size body shape. It sits incredibly comfortably in the lap or high up on a strap. Because it lacks the massive internal air volume of a dreadnought, it drastically curbs muddy low-end boom, focusing its energy into a punchy, mid-range projection that cuts straight through a mix.
• Scalloped Spruce X-Bracing: Underneath the mahogany hood, Martin utilizes 5/16-inch scalloped spruce bracing. This gives the top extra flexibility, allowing the guitar to respond immediately to a light fingerstyle touch while maintaining structural integrity when you dig in with a heavy flatpick.
• The Look: It leans hard into an austere, working-man aesthetic. There is no body binding, just a clean, unadorned edge, a simple single-ring fiber rosette, a faux-tortoiseshell pickguard, and a smooth satin "Dark Mahogany" finish that lets the wood grain breathe.

The 0-10E Retro does exactly what a great small-bodied mahogany guitar is supposed to do: it delivers an immediate, dry, and highly focused "woody" bark. It doesn't have the cavernous bass response or shimmering top-end of a rosewood dreadnought, but it shines in the mid-range. Treble notes are clear and sweet without being harsh, and the mid-range has a punchy, old-school twang that is perfect for Delta blues, roots music, vocal accompaniment, and tight studio tracking where you don't want the acoustic frequencies stepping all over the bass guitar and vocals.