I read a lot about guitars, manufacturing processes, vintage collecting, etc..etc...mostly from sources I consider reputable (ie: Martin's Illustrated History--Washburn/Johnson, Frank Ford's commentaries on Fret's Website, George Gruhn, and others.)

The one thing I keep hearing over and over again, is that there was a general decline in the quality of guitars manufactured during this decade from Martin, Gibson and other supposed reputable manufacturers with reputations for quality instruments.

This is NOT to say that EVERYTHING that was made during this decade was garbage. There were of course many exceptions. I for one, owned a beautiful '73 D-28 that I purchased new, and regretably had to sell a few years later ---but pined to have that instrument back in my possession for many years --before moving on.

I can also see why around 1977/78 it would not have been the best time to have bought a new Martin as the workers were on strike for 8 months (thanks to Frank Martin's ''get-tough-on-the-workers-policies''), and management were in the factory attempting to continue some semblance of production, but the vast majority of them hadn't built guitars in years and years, and some not at all.

But the general consensus is that it was not a good decade for higher end guitars, regardless of the manufacturer.

Is this because -- thanks to groups like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (proponents of Martins) who rekindled the interest in acoustic guitar music and introduced a new generation as well to it --renewed buyer interest and demand caught the manufacturers off guard, and in order to keep pace with the demand, they replaced many of the handcrafted aspects of the manufacturing process, and mechanized and automated almost all aspects of production, thus resulting in a severe lack of quality control? (....hmmmm.....did I just answer my own question?) 8-) ....or were there other mitigating circumstances?

I'd be interested in other's opinions, and hopefully this is somewhat music-related.