I love my Martin Backpacker! (You can see a bit of my Classical Backpacker in the somewhat impressionistic picture at bbc's site) It's the best innovation in guitar-body design since the 1550s. I never cared for the Spanish shape, so I never cared for the guitar until I saw a backpacker. When I did, I said to myself, "self, there's the instrument for you." If the backpacker hadn't been invented (circa 1994, I think) I wouldn't now be a budding guitarist. Maybe some will therefore curse the luthier who devised the new shape. But I'm pleased.

T.