SINSULL — Good idea, except that the wood for really top quality guitars is often ages 100 or 200 years before it's cut and shaped. That's what is running (or has run) out and a 20- or 30-year plan isn't going to fill the gap.

JP and BWL — you guys hit (JP in great detail) exactly what I was thinking when I saw these things. If some young guy buys a "cowboy" Martin and his friends laugh at him, he's gonna look for a different headstock when he goes for the real thing. They've really cheapened their whole image and I think their hight-end sales will suffer in another few years; most of us old geezers have our main guitars now and youngsters will think Martins are jokes.

In a way it's sad. As I said earlier, I'm not a big fan of Martins because of the style of music I play, but they used to be good guitars. Now I'd almost root for them to get in deep trouble just because I think C.F. IV is a greedy bastard who is willing to sacrifice quality for a few extra bucks.

The way of the world......

david