My bad, Kevin. I DID read the initial post a couple of days ago when it first appeared (as well as, bit by bit, the entire thread), but I failed to remember all the pertinent details. I remembered the instrument in question was a Yamaha, but forgot that the model-number was "LL."

I think I can blame our favorite scapegoat Martin for my misunderstanding. ;^)

I may not know much, but I *do* know that Yamahas are Japanese, so when MG used the unfortunate phrase "your LL is nothing more than an English piece of balsa wood," I didn't realize he was referring to the Yamaha. Looking back, there were a couple of reactions pointing out than an LL ain't English, but I missed the point.

In freightdawg's defense, by the way, the info originally provided was perfectly clear to me. My forgetting that one little detail was entirely my own fault.

I understand that lots of folks agree that current Martins aren't nearly as consisently high-quality as in the past, and I know that Yamahas are pretty decent guitars, but it is dismaying to read that *anyone* would consider a used Yamaha to be a better buy than a similarly-priced new Martin. Actually, I'm a bit shocked to learn that a new Martin of any kind would be available at the same price as a used Yamaha.

Sheesh! The world sure changed a lot when I wasn't looking!