I started my guitar playing on a little Gibson classical. As soon as I became competent with a G chord I wanted more sound and put metal strings on it. Well, of course, one day I opened the case and the bridge had detached from the top. It was nicely repaired by an old gentleman who cursed me under his breath.

I was, therefore, in the market for a real steel string guitar. It being 1965 and I being a folk-nik, I longed for a Martin D-28. I let many people know I was looking and in a telephone call, someone told me there was an ad under "Money to Loan" in the papers that sounded like what I was looking for. The guitar was in an ad for a pawn shop and the next morning I was there. They had a mint-condition D-28 and they wanted $185 for it. I bought it. Serial No. 153633 puts it at 1956 I think.

It has served me well. While I was at college, my father rolled out of my bed and onto my guitar in its case. The case took the damage well, but the tuning pegs were bent. The repairman up-graded the tuners to the then new Grovers (sp?), so my guitar is no longer pure. The blessing, though, is that it is a good sounding Martin and not as "boomy" as some. My main trouble now is I love the guitar, but I am fearful to travel with it.

My second guitar is a Guild F-212 12-string. The serial # AN-1775 puts its manufacture about 1967. I bought it used in 1990 to celebrate my divorce. I shopped for quite a while playing new and used 12's. When I picked this one up and started playing it, it sounded just like the 12-string music in my head. Fortunately, the shop owner did not know I would pay whatever he asked. He gave me a decent price.

I own a Mc Nally Backpacker guitar, probably 10 years old. Mc Nally has sold this guitar for many years through craft shows. A few years back, he sold design to Martin. Some say it sounds like a banjo. To me it is reminiscent of an old Lightnin' Hopkins record, an early electric played through a cheap tube amp. I feel comfortable taking it any where, so I can still practice guitar whenever I travel. Most days, my backpacker stays in the bathroom (no jokes about perfect pitch) I play it nearly every day (nice reverb).

Finally, a few years ago I bought a new National Tri-Cone with the paint finish. It was an impulse buy and it still gets only a little playing time. Frankly, it cries out for a bottleneck and I am still a learner in that area.

Roger in Baltimore