“The Inception is an acoustic to be experienced – its finely-tuned voice will resonate among many players”: Martin GPCE Inception Maple review

When you introduce a new acoustic guitar with a name like “Inception,” it stirs up at least one pressing question about a movie with the same name – at least for me. That said, I quickly found out Inception isn’t some fanciful collaboration between director Christopher Nolan and Martin Guitar for an instrument that manipulatively invades your dreams.

Instead, it’s an acoustic that bears an imaginative design using sustainably harvested tonewoods, and if anything, might ideally “plant” some genuine musical inspiration in you with its warmly focused response.

So what is the idea behind the Inception Maple? It’s essentially Martin Guitar’s fresh approach in using domestic tonewoods to create a uniquely voiced acoustic geared toward singer-songwriter players and fingerstylists. What makes it instantly inviting is the fact that it arrives in Martin’s comfortably compact “Grand Performance” GP-body shape fashioned with a generous cutaway and onboard LR Baggs Anthem electronics.

Of the Inception’s many focal points, what stands out is its predominantly maple construction – hence its moniker, the Inception Maple – found along its sides and visually striking three-piece back made of maple along with a prodigious centerpiece wedge of black walnut.

In addition, an FSC-certified European spruce top, black walnut for the neck and headplate and a black walnut fingerboard adorned with hex arrow inlays made of maple, round out the rest of the guitar. 

Martin went to great lengths to keep the Inception primarily a wood instrument, as evidenced by its tidy walnut binding and lack of plastic, pearl or abalone adornments. Finally, it all comes together in an arresting Amber Fade Sunburst in an ultra-thin satin finish. 

Considering that traditional tonewoods (like mahogany and rosewood) not only come at a premium cost but might not be as readily available in the future, Martin’s concentrated effort to source prevalent North American hardwoods such as maple and walnut for the Inception is a smart move in building a new generation of acoustics using sustainable woods. 

However, as a tonewood, maple leans toward brighter dynamics and a more immediate response, and for that, Martin put in a great deal of analysis and measurement in broadening maple’s inherent sonic properties to achieve an enriching new voice while also embracing that distinctive “Martin tone.”

To get there, an elaborate system was implemented under the top and body to expand the dynamic range of the Inception. Using lasers to weight-relieve the hexagonal honeycomb “skeletonized” X-bracing and carving “sonic” tone channels around each brace allows the top to vibrate even more freely without compromising the guitar’s structural stability.

Moreover, the widest area of the walnut back wedge is deliberately positioned below the guitar’s black walnut bridge to reflect the energy from the top for increased bass response and warmth in the Inception’s tone. 

What this all adds up to from Martin’s spectral analysis is that the Inception’s skeletonized bracing increases sustain while its sonic channeling increases amplitude. While I don’t dispute the results, I’m not sure there’s that much of a difference there compared to other Martin acoustics I own.

Regardless, most of us just want to know what the Inception Maple sounds and feels like, which I can tell you, is quite remarkable.

Martin intended to make “maple sound better than it ever has” and undoubtedly, the Inception succeeds in removing the strident and compressed overtones of maple and replaces it with a softer brightness, ringing midrange and a firm bass as you strum through cowboy chords. It’s certainly a louder Martin guitar that belies its GP-body size and powerfully projects a crisp and airy tone with a snappy response.

For fingerstyle playing, the Inception maintains a focused balance between the bass and treble registers where each note is heard cleanly.

Another highlight for me is that the Inception is set up with Martin’s Kovar acoustic guitar strings and a low action similar to Martin’s SC-series of acoustics that feels instantly like your favorite electric, and combined with its modified low oval neck profile and fantastic fretwork, makes playing the Inception worth your time. 

Does the Inception offer the tonal complexity of some of Martin’s Authentic models? No, but that was never the intention – for me, I find the Inception is an acoustic to be experienced because I believe its finely-tuned voice will resonate among many players.

Specs

• PRICE: $3,999 / £4,149
• BODY SIZE: Grand Performance 14-Fret Cutaway 
• CONSTRUCTION: Dovetail Neck Joint
• Top, Back and Side Finish: Satin
• BRACING PATTERN: Scalloped skeletonized X-brace
• SCALE LENGTH: 25.4”
• FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT NUT: 1 3/4”
• TOP MATERIAL: FSC Certified European Spruce
• NECK SHAPE: Modified low oval with a high-performance neck taper
• BACK MATERIAL: 3-Piece Maple with Black Walnut
• SIDE MATERIAL: Maple
• ELECTRONICS: LR Baggs Anthem
• TOP COLOR: Amber Fade Sunburst
• BRIDGE STYLE: Sloped Modern Belly - Drop-in Saddle
• BINDING: Black Walnut
• BRIDGE MATERIAL: Black Walnut
• PICKGUARD: Tortoise Pattern
• SADDLE: Compensated White Tusq
• ROSETTE: Multi-Stripe
• NECK: Black Walnut with Black Walnut fingerboard
• FINGERBOARD INLAY STYLE: Tortoise Pattern
• FRETS: 20
• TUNING MACHINES: Gold Open Gear with Butterbean knobs
• CONTACT: Martin Guitar