Rick,

I used to look for inexpensive but good guitars as well. Can't think why I stopped, maybe I'll have to start doing that as well. I bought my D41 years ago when I suddenly found myself a member of a working bluegrass band. It was the first Martin accoustic guitar I'd ever owned and remains the only one I ever bought.

The guitar I wish I still had was a National. It had a spruce top with mahogany back and sides. The neck was covered in mahogany but most of its mass was a big metal bar hidden inside. It was attached to the body with set screws so the angle was continuously variable. Someone had added a D'Armond pickup, painted the top gold, and added a pick guard that looked like mother of toilet seat. I found it in a pawn shop for twenty dollars back in 1961 and sold it a year later to some friends who needed a guitar but couldn't afford one. Sure was a nice guitar though. I still miss my stolen Gibson LG1 too.

When Leon Redbone first begain appearing at the old Quiet Knight in Chicago, he used to play a Harmony Soverign ($70) with a rosette of little black triangles crudely painted around the sound hole. Somehow in his hands that cheap little guitar sounded wonderful.

Yes, there's more pretty *guitars* than one also.

- Mark