PappaGator,

Believe it or not, yer pick gurad my be covered under warrenty. Over the years I've had lots of stuff fixed on my old D-18 and didn't cost me a dime. I had the neck reset two years ago and Martin paid for it. They even paid to have a new bridge made and to repair a small crack in thre rosewood back...

...and, BTW, Martin is now selling a electric pickups that sound really hot. I had one installed in mine last year. The cord plugs into a hole in the strap button so it's out of the way... And, I'm here to say that it is one fine pickup...

As fir the National steel, hey, the Regal's can be had on ebay fir about $400 including shipping and they sound great. I play with the Archie Edwards Blues Foundation and there are no shortage of National owners and mine sounds as good as any of them and at over 5 feet, looks identical to the National.

Bobert