I thought of you all tonight as we watched Antiques Roadshow. They were in San Francisco. Someone brought in their great-grandfather's guitar. It was an 1860's Martin Parlour, all handmade, of course, inlaid with incredible ivory and ebony, abalone and had hand-carved tuning pegs of mother of pearl imported from Germany. The neck had a long strip of ivory running down either side to strengthen it, according to the appraiser. The workmanship was exquisite. It was marked "Martin - New York" but he'd actually made in Pennsylvania. They said he put "New York" in there as a marketing ploy. Sure was a nice size and sounded soft, but sweet. They appraised it at $6-7,000 US.

Good luck, Willie-O, sorry times dictate such measures.

kat