I guess I can't read about all these great instruments without wanting to talk about my own. Since acquiring my 1970 Martin D-41 about twenty-five years ago, I've never found a guitar I'd rather own. It's rich tone just never gives up no matter how loud or soft it's played. It has colored beautifully in both color and sound. It was voiced in Nashville (1972) by Randy Wood and he may have done as much for the sound as Martin did. I've played other D-41s that didn't come close to this one.

I currently play SIT Royal bronze strings. They are a little on the heavy side and when played (gently) with a heavy pick seem to suit the instrument well. When I did band work I used to use the strings sold by James Boyce, a guitar maker from North Falmouth Ma. I was introduced to them by a folk singer from the east coast named Jamie Brockett. He used the Boyce strings on his specially made D-45 prototype. His guitar sounded almost like an organ.

An early guitar of mine (c. 1961) was a Gibson LG-1 from the early fifties. It had a great sound for a little guitar. Unfortunately it was ripped off in the seventies.

One guitar I wish I had back today was a National guitar I once found in a pawn shop for $20. It had a spruce top and mahogany sides and back and the neck and fingerboard enclosed a heavy solid metal casting that was fastened to the body with set screws so the angle of the neck to the top could be varied over a fairly wide range. The frets had been filed down, the top painted gold and a crude pick guard fashioned of some counter-top material that looked like mother-of-toilet-seat. A D'Armand pickup sat across the sound hole. The guitar, when amplified, sounded allmost like the one Brownie McGhee plays on that little ten-inch Folkways record he made in the fifties. I've never seen another National guitar of that model, even in good condition.

I sure am enjoying reading about everyone's guitars. Surely we haven't uncovered them all yet.

- Mark