I finally gave up hope of ever getting my 1970 D-18 back, and bought myself a present: a new Martin OOO-X1. It's comfortable to hold and to play, and sounds really good (when somebody else is playing it!) But I live in the wettest town in the U.S., averaging around 150 inches of rain a year (by contrast, Seattle averages 40...but we see the sun here a lot more than they do in Seattle). Everything here sooner or later gets soggy or rusty or covered with mildew (or all of the above). Does anybody have a suggestion on the best way to preserve the finish of this sweet little instrument? (Instead of shiny lacquer this one has a silky, matte sort of finish. The top is solid spruce.) I'm sure somebody out there has the answer--probably several different answers, I'd expect! I do know that I need to keep it out of the tropical sun!

By the way, I've heard a lot about how Martin is putting out a lot of guitars that don't come near what used to be Martin quality, and I played some of them in the music store. But this one sounds quite nice, and I'm also wondering what some of our experts have to say about this model. And you won't offend me if you tell me how terrible it is; I enjoy playing it, so it's not terrible for me, though I do miss my D-18.

Aloha,
Mark