So far I have resisted, but grrrrrrrr,

Martin, every word you have said about cheap guitars can be said about Martins. Right now if you went into the average music store and asked to look at the low end Martins the product you would get would not be worth the case it was shipped in. They are awful. I am not saying that as a professional or an expert. They are just cheap, assembly line fabrications that are good starters and that's about it.

Now, when you move up into the medium to high end Martins, I am sure every word you are saying is true. But the same is true of the Yamaha line. The high end Yamahas are hand made and the quality is superb. Same with the Takamines. My mid-line LL11 is a good guitar, it is probably an assembly line model, but it has good tone and is very playable. With the adjustable neck I can keep the action right where I want it. Don't be trashing something just because it has a Japanese name. If I am not mistaken, either Yamaha or Takamine or both are produced here in the U S of A with good ol' boys doing all the sawing and hammering and gluing.

I'm as red-blooded an American as any blue-tick houn' dawg there is. But quality does not come with a little American flag. Quality exists where there is genuine love for and pride in creating a product. I would love to have a high end Martin. But I would just as soon have a Larrivee (Canadian) or other well known guitar with a solid pedigree.

grrrrrrrr over.

Freightdawg