Custom Shop | February 18, 2026
You Built It: The Custom Shop Martin Designed by Our Social Media Followers
From Instagram comment sections to the Custom Shop—this one-of-one Backstage Dreadnought was shaped by the Martin community and given away at The 2026 NAMM Show.
There are a lot of ways a guitar can become special.
Sometimes it’s the tonewoods. Sometimes it’s the craftsmanship. Sometimes it’s the songs it helps bring to life.
But every once in a while, a guitar becomes special before the first piece of wood is even cut—because a whole community helped dream it into existence.
And that’s exactly what happened with our Custom Shop D Backstage 2025, a one-of-one Martin Custom Shop Dreadnought that was built by you—our social media followers—through a series of monthly voting posts.
And now? It officially belongs to Backstage member Josephine A. from Carlsbad, California.
Yep. This guitar is hers—and it might be the most “we did this together” Martin Custom Shop build we’ve ever created.
A Backstage Giveaway Worth the Spotlight at NAMM
This guitar wasn’t just built as a showpiece. It was built to be played, loved, and lived with—and it was given away at The 2026 NAMM Show, where guitars, gear, artists, and music culture all collide in the best possible way.
For Josephine, who’s currently attending college in Los Angeles, NAMM has always been part of her story. She’s been coming to the show for years with her family, always stopping by the Martin booth to take photos—“back in her happy place,” as her mom put it.
But this giveaway had a twist:
Instead of simply announcing a prize and picking a winner…
We asked our followers to help design the guitar itself—one major Custom Shop choice at a time.
The result is a modern heirloom rooted in the DNA of one of the most iconic acoustic guitars ever made: the D-28.
Meet the Guitar: Custom Shop D Backstage 2025
This build started with a D-28 base model, but quickly became something you won’t find anywhere else:
- Dreadnought body size
- Premium FSC®-certified European spruce top
- Ambertone 1933 top color
- Golden Era scalloped spruce X-bracing
- Wild grain East Indian rosewood back and sides
- Antique white binding
- Style 45 rosette
- 1930s-style ebony belly bridge with abalone six-point snowflake inlay
- Genuine mahogany neck
- Golden Era Modified Low Oval neck profile with High-Performance Taper
- Black ebony fingerboard with Style 28 mother-of-pearl inlay
- Wild grain East Indian rosewood headplate with abalone script logo inlay
- Grover® nickel open-gear tuners with vintage buttons
- Strung with Authentic Acoustic® Lifespan® 2.0 medium gauge strings
- Molded hardshell case
In other words: a Custom Shop cannon with elegance, warmth, clarity, and the kind of visual character that makes you do a double-take before you even strum a chord.
How You Built It: One Social Post at a Time
Designing a Custom Shop build usually happens behind closed doors. This time, it happened in the comments—because every month, we gave you two options, and you told us what you wanted.
And honestly? You didn’t miss.
1) Back & sides: wild grain rosewood wins the first vote
The very first big decision was the foundation of the guitar’s voice and personality:
Wild grain East Indian rosewood vs. Guatemalan rosewood.
You chose wild grain East Indian rosewood, and it set the tone for the rest of the build—literally.
East Indian rosewood is famous for deep bass and rich overtones, but wild grain takes it to another level visually, giving the back and sides bold figuring and dramatic contrast that feels instantly Custom Shop.
2) Top wood + top color: European spruce + Ambertone
Next, we asked you to choose both the soundboard and its look:
Adirondack spruce vs. FSC-certified European spruce.
Clear top vs. Ambertone 1933.
You went with FSC-certified European spruce and Ambertone, and it was a chef’s kiss combo.
European spruce is a powerhouse: quick response, bright trebles, warm bass, and incredible dynamic range. It’s also part of the same species family used in elite violins—yes, even Stradivarius-level instruments.
And visually, European spruce tends to be lighter/whiter than Sitka, which makes that Ambertone 1933 shading feel even richer and more dimensional.
3) Rosette + bridge: go big, go vintage
This round was all about those “up close” details—the stuff guitar people notice immediately.
Style 45 rosette with black and maple fiber vs. Style 28 rosette with bold herringbone.
Modern belly bridge with diamonds vs. ‘30s-style belly bridge with six-point snowflakes.
You chose:
Style 45 rosette.
1930s-style belly bridge with six-point snowflake inlay.
That combo is the perfect mix of heritage and high-end artistry.
The Style 45 rosette is iconic Martin elegance, and pairing it with the vintage-style belly bridge brings in that Golden Era attitude—timeless, tasteful, and unmistakably Martin.
4) Final touch: the CFM script logo
The last decision was small… but also huge.
Abalone block logo vs. abalone script logo.
You chose the classic Martin script logo in abalone—and it looks absolutely at home against the wild grain rosewood headplate.
A little extra shimmer. A lot of class.
5) “You picked it. Now we’re building it.”
By the time we hit the recap post, the blueprint was locked—and the Custom Shop got to do what they do best.
That meant taking a follower-designed spec sheet and turning it into a real instrument: cut, voiced, sanded, finished, assembled, detailed, and brought to life by the hands of the expert craftspeople here in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
The Result: One Guitar, One Winner, One Community-Built Story
What makes this guitar so special isn’t just that it’s a Custom Shop Dreadnought with elite materials and Golden Era appointments.
It’s that it represents something bigger:
A reminder that Martin guitars don’t just belong to the players who buy them…
They belong to the people who dream with them, write with them, chase songs with them, and show up—month after month—to be part of the story.
Josephine already has a few guitars of her own—but this is her first Martin, making the moment she received this one-of-one build at NAMM even more meaningful.
So, congratulations again to Josephine—we can’t wait to see where this guitar takes you.
From years of photos in the Martin booth to walking away with a Custom Shop Martin of her own… this one really feels like it was meant to be.
And thank you to everyone who voted, commented, shared, and joined in.
Want In on the Next Big Giveaway? Join Backstage.
If you’re not a Martin Backstage member yet, consider this your sign.
Backstage is where you’ll find:
- Member-only giveaways
- Access to events and moments you don’t want to miss
- Exclusive merch and discounts
- Expert-led lessons and learning tools in The Martin Lesson Room
- And so much more!
Because sometimes the coolest Martin stories aren’t announced from a stage…
They start in the comments.
So, follow along on our socials, join Backstage—and keep building what’s next.
Until next time, happy playing!
