When I saw the Cumberland Highlanders, in May, another member of the group was Wayne Lewis, who was with Monroe for 11 years. He was playing what I thought was probably a vintage "bone." You know the sound: like a cannon with a big, boomy bass. When I talked to him, later that day, discovered it was indeed a "Martin," but not a C.F. Martin, a J.E. Martin, and was only 18 months old! The young man, who is making these old-sounding guitars, was standing with Wayne. His name is James E. Martin and he lives in Tennessee and is buiding these great guitars that sound like they're 60 years old!

The moral of the story is this: Don't lament because your budget or wife won't allow you to take out a second mortgage on the house to buy that $40,000 old Martin. It is possible to get a guitar that sounds as good, and, in some cases, even better than the old Martin, for a fraction of the cost.