In 1963 I purchased a guitar from Jose Oribe called an Artisano. Made in Mexico, by members of his family, or so he claimed, it was the "cheap" guitar he carried for those that could not afford his expensive concert guitars. I think I paid betwn $300-600 for it... Once I got my Martin steel string I've never looked back, and am now thinking about parting with the Artisano. I have 2 questions: having not bot nylon strings in a while, I'd like input on the best ones to buy...the guitar still has a beautiful tone but the strings are well past their sell-by date. I think the last ones I used were D'Agoustinos. 2nd question: The only local guitar dealer is a great guy, but I'm not confident he would give me an honest assessment of what this guitar is now worth. I realize w/o seeing and hearing the instrument no one could give me an accurate estimate, but I would appreciate getting a RANGE, at least, of what it might be worth...it's been cased, no warps, no problems, nothing more than a few very superficial dings....and it has a beautiful, rich tone.

I've spent a lot of time on the web trying to get a fix on this, but no luck so far. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

PS...I did try asking Mr. Oribe about it but no luck there...with his concert guitars now selling for $7-12K I was probably lucky he even answered me ...and there is no Serial No. on this guitar, unless it's buried under the Oribe label that is stuck over the original...