OK: I loved the necks on my two guild flat-tops but thought the sound just wasn't there, so sold them; have heard Guilds I thought were great, particularly 12-strings but never owned one. If my untrustworthy memory is not too far out, I believe I saw Steve Gillette w/a very good, deep voiced Guild a few years ago.. I too like toting around in public something w/less snob, & presumably theft, appeal than a Martin. (maybe not!) Used an old Martin case for my last Guild dreadnaught. It fit perfectly. (Kept the case when I sold the guitar.)

Had an old real-wood Hrmony Sovereign; actually had several over the years, but the one I had while a Peace Corps Volunteer in India, bought off a home-bound volunteer, was by far the best sounding. They always (&I mean ALWAYS!) got neck warp, & if you tightened the rod enough it ALWAYS broke. It was a free-floating design; the tension just forced the distal end of the rod to arch; couldn't possibly stop warping outward, down near the 12th or 13th fret. So, since I was a volunteer at an industrial training institute, I designed my own rod, had it manufactured by my friends in the machine shop, took off the neck, re-worked the joint w/the body, etc. when I was finished I had a very straight neck which stayed straight in tropical weather, etc, & could be adjusted from ether end (I retained the far-end arching feature).

My friends still have some cassette tapes we made at parties & I'm struck by it's good sound. Sold it when I left; for all I know it (or what's left of it) is still there; had no room to bring it home. Instead I bought a small "tube-type" german mandolin in a small shop in Bombay. has a hollow tube running the length of the neck. Anybody ever heard of one of these?

Cheers, BK