Martin and Shawn Mendes launch two new signature acoustic guitars: the 000-28 and 000-10E

Shawn Mendes and C.F. Martin & Co. announced two new signature acoustic guitars today, July 9: the limited-edition 000-28 Shawn Mendes and the Road Series 000-10E Shawn Mendes (Premier Guitar). Both are available now through authorized Martin dealers and at martinguitar.com.

"Martin guitars are my first go-to guitar to pick up when I'm making a song," Mendes said in the announcement. "They feel like they have a story in them. They feel like they have songs in them."

The design traces back to a single guitar: a small-bodied Martin 0-42 from the 1920s that Mendes found in a Brooklyn guitar shop. Its compact body, pyramid bridge, distinctive pickguard, and slotted headstock stood out to him immediately, and it became part of his writing and recording process. Martin later built Mendes an ornate stage guitar based on that instrument, and that stage guitar is the template both new models draw from.

"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," Mendes said.

The 000-28 is the collector's version: East Indian rosewood back and sides, a spruce top with antique toner, bold herringbone trim, and gold Waverly side-mount tuners on a slotted headstock. Each one ships with a molded hardshell case and a signed, individually numbered interior label. The 000-10E trades rarity for access: 100% FSC-certified tonewoods, a Performing Artist neck with a high-performance taper, and Martin E1 electronics with a built-in tuner, ready to plug into a PA the day it leaves the store.

Both carry an eagle inlay, mother-of-pearl on the 000-28 and FSC-certified sapele on the 000-10E, which Martin describes as representing freedom, change, and creative renewal. That's a different signature symbol from his first Martin model, the 2022 000JR-10E, which used a swallow laser-etched into the bridge wings as a nod to a tattoo on Mendes's right hand.

Mendes and Martin have done this before. In September 2022, Martin released the 000JR-10E Shawn Mendes, a Junior-sized, 100% FSC-certified acoustic-electric with Fishman Sonitone electronics, listing at $799 (C.F. Martin & Co.). It was Martin's largest production run of fully FSC-certified guitars at the time, and it introduced the swallow inlay, the hidden lyric etchings, and the tie to the Shawn Mendes Foundation that carry over into both new models. Martin's July 9 announcement didn't disclose pricing for either new guitar.

Mendes isn't the only pop singer-songwriter with a Martin signature history. Ed Sheeran partnered with Martin on his own LX1E-based signature models before that line was discontinued; Sheeran's current strings are Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze, documented on his own CYS profile.

Martin makes its own guitar strings in-house, and every guitar it ships, including these two, leaves the factory strung with genuine Martin strings rather than a third-party brand (Killer Guitar Rigs). The current factory-fit line across most production models is Martin's own Authentic Acoustic Lifespan 2.0 phosphor bronze, a treated set built for extended tone life, still listed today alongside Martin's uncoated Authentic Acoustic SP line on the company's own strings catalog (C.F. Martin & Co.). Martin's announcement for the 000-28 and 000-10E doesn't specify a gauge for either guitar.

If you pick up either new Mendes model, our recommendation is Martin MA540 Authentic Acoustic SP. It's a .012 to .054 Light-gauge 92/8 phosphor bronze set made in Martin's Nazareth, Pennsylvania strings factory, the uncoated sibling of the Lifespan 2.0 phosphor bronze Martin uses at the factory on most models. Martin SP Phosphor Bronze Light is the same gauge and alloy family. Both are Light-gauge phosphor bronze, a tension most 000-body guitars handle comfortably for strumming and fingerpicking alike. Martin hasn't confirmed the exact factory gauge on these two specific guitars, so treat this as our pick, not a documented spec.