A vintage Martin 0-42 found in a Brooklyn guitar shop sparked two new Shawn Mendes signatures – one limited to 88 guitars worldwide, one a Road Series acoustic-electric.
Martin Guitar has launched two new Shawn Mendes signature models: the limited-edition 000-28 Shawn Mendes and the Road Series 000-10E Shawn Mendes. Both trace back to a 1920s Martin 0-42 that Shawn found in a Brooklyn guitar shop, drawn to its compact body, pyramid bridge and slotted headstock. Martin later built an ornate stage guitar inspired by that instrument, and these two models follow from there.
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Limited to 88 guitars worldwide, the 000-28 pairs solid East Indian rosewood back and sides with a solid spruce top finished with antique toner and herringbone trim. Golden Era scalloped X-bracing sits under the top, and the appointments lean heavily vintage: a pyramid-style ebony bridge, slotted headstock with gold Waverly side-mount tuners and a faux tortoise pickguard. Shawn’s custom mother-of-pearl eagle inlay sits on the ebony fingerboard, representing freedom, change and creative renewal. Each guitar comes in a moulded hardshell case with a signed, numbered label inside.
“Martin guitars are my first go-to guitar to pick up when I’m making a song,” Shawn said. “They feel like they have a story in them. They feel like they have songs in them.”
At the more accessible end, the 000-10E is a Road Series build using FSC-certified tonewoods throughout. Solid sapele back and sides pair with a solid spruce top and scalloped X-bracing, and it shares the faux tortoise pickguard with its limited counterpart. The eagle inlay appears here too, made from FSC-certified sapele rather than mother-of-pearl, and it’s the first Road Series model to feature a straightline pyramid bridge. Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner make it stage-ready, and a softshell case is included.
“It’s super important to me to have more than one option – a more accessible guitar for people and one that is closer to the thing that I play onstage,” Shawn said.
A portion of proceeds from both guitars goes to the Shawn Mendes Foundation and its work supporting youth changemakers.
Go to martinguitar.com to check out the new models. For local enquiries on Martin, head here.
