Martin didn’t make a foray into jumbo territory until the inception of the M-36 in the 1970’s, but they soon got the hang of it for sure. The J-65, a slightly elevated jumbo (or 0000) sized guitar meant to combine the Martin tone with a little more Gibson sensibility, with maple back and sides, fretboard binding and gold hardware. The guitar itself has a number of visual touches that help it stand out, like zipper style herringbone center strip purfling on the nicely flamed maple back, multi-layer tortoise shell binding, and pearl tuning buttons.

This example from 1993, one of only 391 made, is a great example of Martin’s least produced body size, and it definitely has that ‘special touch’ that a lesser produced model sometimes has. This guitar has a huge, almost tubby tone akin to a J-200, and is a blend sonically between Martin and Gibson, true to its design, though unlike a J-200, sports a 25.5” scale.

In great shape, with barely any of the expected wear for a 30+ year old guitar, though the fretboard binding has shrunk a little.

Comes with the original hard shell case.