Well, biLL, my absolute favirite is a Washburn ES10, spider bridge... I've played Beards and this reso plays and sounds as good as any Beard out there... My second favorite is an Oscar-Schmidt puck style with an electric pickup... I perform mostly with it because of the ability to plug in... My third reso is a "National Style" Regal metal bodied reso... It plays okay but I'm really not into the metal reso sound these days... I go thru phases though...

As for the D-18 I'm having some memory lapses on when exactly I purchased it... It is definately a '66 model and I bought it from a dealer at a guitar show but it might have been the winter of '67 or it might have been late fall of '66... Either way, it is still under Martin's warrenty so technically I've told my newphew and his daughter that it I won't be notifiying Martin of the ownership vhange so that if in a few years it needs any work they can have me take it to the closest authorized Martin lutherer...

B~