I have been playing an Arthur E. Smith for about 30 years now, but am interested in getting a long neck for purposes of singing with my guitar-playing wife. I like the idea of singing in the key of E and the other options that a long neck presents. I play a pretty simple 3-stroke frailing style, with little drop-thumbing and mostly to sing songs with my wife. I'd like some ideas on what to purchase for under $2000.00. I've mostly seen 1960's era Vega models running for around $3500.00 and up depending how close to Seeger's or Dave Guard's style---and I'm always looking in estate sales, etc. I'm not sure if Vega is more hype---kind of like CF Martin although I've played some nice Martins. I guess what I want is a good durable long-neck, with full tone that sounds well with my baritone voice along with my wife's low soprano and a 12-string. Am I barking up a wrong tree at $1700.00?