The standard tuned 6 string guitar is really sort of a feeble instrument. . . 'Fraid I can't agree.

When it comes to versatility, it's hard to beat a guitar.

I've also been playing guitars for about 50 years, and I cheated early on by taking classic guitar lessons and I practiced a lot. The result is that I can play simple thumb-strum accompaniments with first position chords, more complex stuff (a la Richard Dyer-Bennet) if it seems appropriate to the song, or if the spirit moves me and I have a good tail-wind, I can still do a fairly decent job on Tarrega's Requerdos de la Alhambra. I took five months' lessons from a real Flamenco guitarist back in 1962, and I can still tear off a briskAllegrias from time to time (even though a Spanish gypsy would probably sigh and roll his eyes). I'm also a halfway decent fingerpicker. I don't play blues or jazz, but a lot of people do.

All this time I've used classics. My fingers are fairly long, but my hands are a bit on the beefy side. I can't handle a standard steel-string neck. It feels to me like they've tried to cram six strings onto a toothpick. But even on a classic, I agree with GUEST,C Mart that an extra knuckle would come in handy.

I love the guitar. It's a rich, full instrument with the same musical potential as a piano, capable of playing anything from gut-bucket to Bach and back. But I'm glad not everyone feels the way I do. Nothing but guitars could get pretty dull.

Don Firth