Dear Catspaw--

Thanks for the heads up about the neck wood--you can be sure I'll check mine when I get home tonight! I dropped my Alvarez a week after I'd got it (learning how to attach my shoulder strap--ARGH) and split the top in two places. I had it repaired at the shop where I bought it, and it doesn't look great, but it's held up well. The luthier there told me to always use extra-light strings, so I wouldn't pull the top off since it was weakened by the split. What still seems odd to me is that the tone wasn't affected by the damage at all, and seems to have actually *improved* over the years. I do take good care of it, because it was my first "real" guitar. I had a Decca (my first, destroyed by fire), a 3/4 body Gibson (I picked it up in a pawn shop for $50 and, since I didn't know what it was worth, I sold it for $50 when I needed the money), an Ovation (bought from a friend in need and sold back to said friend when said need had passed. I didn't like the way it rested on my body when I played), an electric Guild (nice, but I'm not a rock 'n' roller), and a $35 second hand Suzuki. I 'spoze everyone has a "guitar history," but, compared with the other instruments I've had, the Alvarez pleases me most. Not that I'd turn up my nose at a "better brand" guitar if I found one I liked better and could afford!

Vixen