The Search

A Ten Year Endeavor to Find Just the Right Vintage Acoustic Guitar

In 1833, CF Martin took his luthiery skills, along with his family, and emigrated from Germany to the United States, where they landed at 196 Hudson Street, New York, and opened his first-ever Martin Guitars workshop. Now, the name Martin is synonymous with high quality acoustic guitars and players like Hank Williams, Gene Autry, Elvis, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, Neil Young, and John Mayer, have stepped out onto the stage with a D-18 to captivate us with their particular sound and musical flair.

Not long after taking up residence in New York, Martin moved his family and business to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where the operation has run for another four generations and is currently under the direction of CF Martim IV, CEO. The company maintains good health and guitars produced by Martin a considered to be the industry’s benchmark for the ultimate in both performance and quality.

The “Martin Story” is, perhaps, one of the best examples of the “American Dream” coming to fruition and, for the last 191 years, Martin’s history is the embodiment of American history. If you were to look at it from a pure chance perspective, the odds would be vastly against such a high level of success. It’s hard to picture yourself playing a Martin guitar with its animal hide glued construction and “gut strings” made from the innards of cats or any other animal used for the purpose. The earlier guitars more closely represented today’s “classical guitars” as it would be another seventy years before the advent of steel strings, which changed guitar design forever, or, at least divided manufacturing in two while carrying forward with popular classical forms, particularly when nylon strings became available to use in place of “cat gut”. As you can imagine during the changeover, there were purists who rebuked the change and stuck with the centuries-old technology for as long as they could get their hands on gut-stringed instruments. But, eventually, these players were forced to yield in favor of nylon and the associated modifications.

When steel strings arrived on the technological doorstep, it changed the entire landscape of guitar manufacturing. Guitars now were being made into much sturdier instruments in order to handle the greatly increased string tension on the neck, bridge, and soundboard (top). With the structural changes came increasing changes in tone as guitar bodies began to grow in size to generate more power and projection to compete with ensemble instruments of the day such as the violin, mandolin, and banjo, along with the singer’s voice. This form of music, called “bluegrass”, swept the southern and southeastern portions of the country, situated amidst the many small guitar and mandolin builders in the region. 1,600 miles to the north and Martin was steadfastly leading the charge, in step with another well-known manufacturer, Gibson, roughly the same distance away in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As time progressed through the depression and into the early years of World War II, guitar sizes and shapes were being formalized to include parlor and slightly larger sizes increasing incrementally until the “dreadnought” (named after the British Navy’s largest warship, the HMS Dreadnought). Not to be outdone, Gibson had been at work developing a guitar with similar design and dimensions, simply called the “Jumbo” in the early 1930’s. Their jumbo sized models would simply carry a “J-” designation as they developed a half-dozen jumbo-sized models, the most famous of which was known as the J-45. A natural colored version of the same guitar, the J-50 was also released. Martin had developed its own naming system, going from a single-aught (a “0”) to a “OO” to a 000, to an orchestra model (OM), to a dreadnought, and, finally, an M, or “0000”. There were numerous structural differences between Gibson’s and Martin’s lineups, but the primary difference was both structural and visual, a “Sloped-shoulder” from Gibson and a “Square-shoulder” from Martin. Though some of these changes were occurring after WWII, the bulk of the larger bodied designs for both companies transpired during the mid-1930’s to the late 1940’s and would, as a lot, forever be referred to as “pre-war” guitars, built during guitar manufacturing’s “Golden Years”.

Once these models for both companies had been launched, there was a period of transition during the 50’s and 60’s where there were few big changes to these designs, but incremental ones which were aimed at streamlining production. Both of these stalwarts had their better years of production and years where quality may have dipped with the ebb and flow of corporate margins throughout the many years. But these “good and bad” years have been open to controversy over time, creating an opening for more esoteric things, on the verge of the mystical and mythical. Why are some guitars from these same periods of lesser sonic quality than others? These differences are more than likely to be driven by environmental reasons and overall maintenance and care of these old guitars. Temperature and humidity play a titanic role in the outcome of the sound certain guitars are capable of making after so many years of being played and stored. This is why two Martin D-18’s from the same vintage year can sound worlds apart. The same can be said of Gibson. This has made my own search for a really good sounding D-18 or Gibson J-45/50 a complex undertaking. I simply can’t afford to climb on a plane to go checkout every guitar that otherwise meets all of my search criteria. I can do all the due diligence I can from afar and even listen to sound clips from examples that strike my fancy, and still come up short in getting a guitar that isn’t quite what I expected. There is certainly a good measure of luck involved when buying any guitar online, particularly with the expense of acquiring a vintage one. But, I’ve learned enough about these guitars to know that, given that I’ve done all my homework, it is unlikely that I’ll end up with a “dud”. Still, that won’t be enough to console me if I know I could have done a bit better with the “guitar gods” on my side. I’m not in the business of “flipping” these guitars, though I do carry the knowledge necessary to be good at it. For one thing, I’m looking for a guitar that has already had the required maintenance and repair work done to it and am willing to pay more for a guitar by a commensurate amount, which leaves little margin to buy that guitar and turn it around for much more than I paid. Things might be different if my luthiery skills were of a much higher level, or, I had a good luthier friend willing to do the work at a much lower cost. No, there was only one formula I could follow if I wanted to be successful. At least I know what the elements of the usual work are and what good, professional work looks like when I see it. I don’t need to take anyone else’s word for what needs to be done, or, if it has, the level of craftsmanship behind it.

While Martin has retained its status as the worldwide number one manufacturer of guitars, the company is not without its share of competition. Guitars from companies like Gibson and Taylor go head to head with Martin everyday and everywhere, with players of all kinds attempting to “A/B” them before making a decision as to which guitar from which brand to purchase. If there are three or four of the same make and model, those get A/B’d amongst themselves before moving on to A/B between the brands. It’s not unusual for a player to make a real project of his, or hers, and spend entire weekends hitting all the shops in, say, a 100 mile radius in an effort to play as many guitars as possible in their quest to find the perfect example . But, no matter how intensive the search, in the end the decision comes down to the ears of just one person. Not unlike the analogy with the American pickup truck market which is dominated by Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, guitar players eventually drift towards a single brand which comprises a similar “Big 3”. For guitarists, that “Big 3” is made up of Martin, Taylor, and Gibson, and, once they’ve made their decision, they tend to remain brand loyal. Over the course of their first few years, the process may require several iterations before a player is comfortable with a given brand and has zeroed in on their favorite model. While the bulk of players like to get this major decision over early in their playing careers, others, like myself will spend years “chasing tone” and playability and come to the realization that there is no “best brand”, only a number of best guitars (within certain size and shape categories and given price points). Personally, I’ve never understood image and why it is of paramount importance to so many people, whether buying a home, a car, or a guitar. Which brand do they feel most closely reflects their own values? In terms of advertising, I think it would be safe to say, regardless of the industry, that most manufacturers spend the preponderance of their marketing dollars on advertising and image development. Another term for creating image is “branding” and the primary purpose of branding is to get the largest fraction of buyers possible to identify with a particular corporate mantra and set of purported ideals and marry these things to the proven quality of the product being sold. Virtually every company these days takes a swing for the bleachers at things like ecological awareness and corporate transparency. While it is wise to do your homework on the different operating platforms between the brands, it is more important to find a guitar that speaks to you on a visceral level, a layer deeper than other guitars you have played during your search. In the same way that we “fall in love” with our significant others, you will feel it when you find it. Choose a guitar that really speaks to you. After all, that is what you’re after. If the brand seemingly falls into line with your values, that’s just icing on the cake. Today, there are quite a few “boutique” (small but high-end) brands that are here with plans to stay, producing some very fine guitars which compete directly with the highest-end offerings from the major manufacturers. The marketplace for guitars is more competitive than it’s ever been, so there’s no shortage of exceptional guitars from which to choose .Try to think beyond image because image isn’t a real, tactile entity, and spending inordinate amounts of time putting image first almost always leads to some kind of personal “character crisis” later on. Many mid-life crises occur when we begin to question our values and ask whether they’ve been worthwhile. Has the image we were so steadfastly seeking been one of long-term substance? Just bear this in mind when vetting the image the various brands promulgate . Some of my best guitars were made by builders who were not known to the public five, or ten, years ago. A couple of them remain unknown, even within hard-core guitar circles. For instance, I have one electric guitar which was a prototype of one of the brand’s first designs. Half Telecaster and half Les Paul, it is a sculpture that tells the world what a genius its creator is or was. It really is a work of art and its creator was the owner of Landric Guitars in Wisconsin. His company lasted but two years, yet his works are beautifully crafted and extremely well put together. Rick Land just didn’t have the financial wherewithal to stick it out. It’s a race to build your brand before you run out of your initial operating capital. He came very close but he didn’t make it. This bothered me considerably but it speaks to just how difficult it is to succeed in the guitar business. Luck has far too much to do with it. Of course, there’s nothing more important than connections. As good as he was at his trade he couldn’t get his business past the all- too-critical startup years. He was sooo close that I really felt for him, so, as a salute to under-recognized craftspersons everywhere, when I reach for my favorite Les Paul style axe, out comes the Landric Fusion while her bigger branded siblings remain in their cases. That’s how good this guitar is yet it was made by a virtually anonymous builder.

In the beginning, you’ll hear about the concept of “A/B-ing” different guitars, which is precisely what it sounds like. You’ll read how when on the hunt for a guitar, beyond all the written and YouTube reviews, there is nothing more important than getting out there and playing as many guitars as you can get your hands on. A/B’ing is the process of doing side by side comparisons of the guitars you find most intriguing. This can obviously be time consuming, but until you become familiar enough with the general differences between the brands, you have no choice but to start your search wide and narrow it down. After years of experience playing all sorts of guitars. the process becomes far easier but, even if you’ve already determined which brand and model you’re after, it behooves you to play a number of examples and choose between them. Even guitars of the same make and model can feel and play quite differently. And, our own hearing as well experienced players changes to become more sophisticated the longer we’ve been at it. Once you’ve acquired a “seasoned ear” it will become easier and easier to discern tonal differences, however small they may be. I certainly wouldn’t have given the guitars I was comparing any real justice when I was new to the game. There are things like note to note separation, sustain, and quantifying and qualifying overtones, or how much the addition of new strings can impact tone. It took me years before I might say something like “Oh, and I have a reasonably seasoned ear and can play lead without knowing much about music theory”. I used to scoff at “musical ear” discussions and run the other way. I did not believe that one person’s ears could possibly be light-years better than another’s. Now I believe my own ears, at least in their musical capacity, are an order of magnitude better than they were fifteen years ago. That I’ve come to know this about myself means, to me, that there are hundreds of thousands of players whose ears have progressively gotten better with time.  Acquiring a “seasoned ear” is a very real phenomenon and when you get there, you’ll know. It opens the door to an altogether better sonic experience which is not limited to the guitar, but makes music as a whole all the more immersive.

Almost everything about guitar is more challenging than I had initially thought. The first two years literally flew by and I was really enjoying myself, it seemed without all the hardship that many players have in getting to a certain level. This led me to a period of complacency and foolish overconfidence, and I hit a wall in terms of progressing at a pace I’d become accustomed to. After the first week, or so, of playing and having found that playing some basic lead came easily to me, I was able to leverage that into playing some thirty chords, basic chord progressions, and learn how to play lead over them. Perhaps three years since I began playing guitar, I’d gained enough ability to consider myself a middle of a pack rhythm guy and a good (not great) overall guitarist. To my way of thinking, this means being equally adept at playing both acoustic and electric guitar. It took that much time, faithfully pursuing the activity before I was OK with referring to myself as a guitarist. If you’re the kind of person who has a history of easily giving up, playing guitar, or any musical instrument is probably not something you should take on. Almost invariably, becoming the kind of guitarist you’d someday like to be will mean giving it more time than you’d imagined and you’ll find yourself deep in the middle of a conundrum by robbing your other activities in order to pay enough attention to this one. Playing guitar can come with some sacrifices. The good news is that there are ways to become more efficient with the time you spend practicing and playing.

I was two or three years into playing and had four or five guitars when I decided that collecting guitars would be something I would find truly enjoyable and long-lasting. I was still going to the gym and was putting in the miles each week with running and riding. But I was recently retired and accustomed to being very busy, so I had some time to spend on this new hobby of mine, time which could be spent learning everything I could about guitars, from the origins of the steel string guitar on to guitars on the market today, and backing deep into vintage acoustic guitars. After learning a bit about luthiery, the craft of building guitars, and, being a “weekend carpenter” for many years, I began to develop a very real respect for the men and woman who chose guitar building and learning the trade on their way to becoming a luthier and some who would move on to become masters of their trade. A fraction of these people end up with their own businesses or working for many years as a luthier for some of the larger builders, like Martin, Gibson, Taylor, and Larrivee. As it is with most industries today, guitar manufacturing has become very competitive. In the past decade, the market has shifted from being a seller’s market to a strong buyer’s market, with prices being driven so low that only the largest retailers are keeping their heads above water while the rest are holding their breath waiting for the market to shift. From all that I’ve come to know about the retail market for guitars, the post-covid supply has grown to the point where the market is completely saturated and I’m not thinking that there will be some sort of life-giving shift anytime soon. But, it’s a great time whether buying your first guitar, or building your collection at an accelerated pace. Just this past week and after an ten year search, I purchased my one and only vintage guitar, a 1966 Martin D-18 in excellent condition with all the prerequisite work having already been done. This entailed a fingerboard reconditioning, a re-fret (all of the frets were replaced, levelled, crowned and polished), along with getting a new saddle and brand new ebony bridge.Over the years, I’ve probably made formal inquiries to between thirty and forty sellers and passed-up on several guitars that I’d have been pleased to own. Not unlike a lot of players who want just one vintage guitar, they choose their birth year as their target and before I decided to expand my search so I would have a far greater sampling to choose from, I was fixated on finding just the right 1961 model. I came close to hitting the “Buy” button. But I’m glad that I waited until I found this D-18, which truly called out to me and I knew it was going to sell quickly because it was priced to sell. I spent just one day mulling it over before making the decision to pull the trigger. The guitar had just one long-term owner before it found its way to an estate sale where its next owner bought it and did some work to it before selling it to me. I believe he owned it for just a couple of months. His name was Forrest and he’s a professional guitarist living in Nashville. He’s primarily a session guitarist who works through one of the bigger recording houses in town. He’s also a performer and predominantly plays bluegrass. With what little time he has left, he buys and sells vintage acoustic guitars, bringing them into his shop for some work and turning them back around. It’s not an easy thing to make a living as a working musician in Nashville but it sounded like he had a formula that works for him. I think I got the best deal on a 60’s Martin D-18 on the internet.

The photos are of a 1961 D-18 that I came close to buying before changing my search to include D-18’s from an entire period, beginning with the early 50’s and ending with the late 60’s. For the initial few years of my vintage guitar hunt while confining the search to a single year (my birth year, 1961), there were so few examples that came up from month to month, I found myself less and less interested, as if the “right one” was never going to find me with so few options to choose from. Expanding the search to include a period and not just a single model year really opened things up to being excited about the search process because I had so many more guitars to compare.

What’s the Fuss?! (Why have vintage guitars become all the rage?)

Kurt Cobain’s highly modified 1959 D-18e sold at recent auction for a little over $6 million, making it the most valuable acoustic guitar on record. Perhaps Cobain’s complete opposite, Lester Flatts’s 1942 D-18 is priceless. What’s interesting about these two guitars is that, while Flatts’s D-18 is by far the lesser guitar in terms of value, his guitar would fetch a high price regardless of who owned it, and the fact that it belonged to one of the fathers of bluegrass music as a separate genre from country, he is not the card carrying mega-celebrity that became of Kurt Cobain but if you separated these two Martin’s from their owners. Flatt’s guitar would be valued somewhere north of $100K and Cobain’s bastardized version of the same model would be worth very little, because of its foolish mods which completely destroy any chances the guitar otherwise might have had to become a highly desirable collector’s grade guitar. 1942 was, perhaps, the goldenist of years for a Martin D-18. The guitar appears to be all-original and well cared for. Add to that the exclusive rarity of a Martin built in 1942 (part of the “Golden Era” of guitar manufacturing) and the guitar meets all the criteria for a highly valued Martin. With each electric modification Cobain did to his guitar, he egregiously impacted the value of his Martin to the point where it would be of little value by itself. Take it out of its association with Cobain and I’d doubt you’d get $7,000 for it.

Over the last ten years vintage acoustic guitars have almost quadrupled in value and gone from being something that was a reasonably good investment to something that represents large chunks of investment portfolios, bringing not only players to the table but collectors who haven’t played a lick in their lifetimes. It all started with players who, through personal experience” found that many of these fifty-plus year old guitars were far better sounding than even the most well-crafted guitars of today. As the scientific reasons for this phenomenon were disseminated throughout the internet, more and more people were joining the mad race to buy the best vintage guitars available. After all, these guitars didn’t exactly make for a long-term, sustainable market because they’re not a bottomless resource. Only so many were made each year, “back in the day”. They do not comprise a renewable resource. The market went crazy and a large portion of these guitars has already found its way into the hands of collectors and, effectively, out of circulation for actual players to acquire. This has raised the hackles on the backs of guitarists everywhere who feel violated by the new paradigm.

The primary reason that these old guitars are coveted to such a degree is that, as a guitar ages the wood used in its construction dries out as the sap crystallizes and the wood becomes more dense, and, therefore, more resonant. The tops vibrate more freely and the resulting tone is fuller and notes ring out longer, giving the guitar greater “sustain”. With the price of vintage guitars shifting evermore skyward, an entirely new process (new to the guitar industry) called torrefaction has been studied and manufacturers now have models that have been “baked”, in effect accelerating the aging process by years. Many players swear by their torrefied guitars and thus, a new market has been created virtually overnight. Of course, the process isn’t cheap, nor is the Adirondack red spruce which is typically chosen along with the expense of the torrefaction upcharge. Adirondack red spruce has won the decades old battle over which spruce species serves-up the best guitar top. Adirondack (or, Adi) is denser and longitudinally stronger enabling the luthier to prepare soundboards which have been planed and sanded to a thinner finished product. These tops are lighter and stronger and when played, more resonant and louder, with a broader overall tonal spectrum.

Once guitarists began to scrimp and save for a vintage guitar and the secret of their superior tone came to light, collectors began vying for these same guitars and, as supply has become lesser, prices have been driven forever higher. From what I’ve read, the new market for torrefied guitars seems to be a viable but far less expensive means of obtaining that vintage tone, but the jury as to how these guitars will age is still out. It’ll be another ten to twenty years before we see what ultimately happens to an aged torrefied top.  Will they form premature cracks or be more prone to cracking? These questions remain un-answered.

You’ll quickly note the similar color of this Collings top and my 1966 D-18 and 2016 Furch, which was treated to appear vintage. Below are a few pics of my 2012 D-18, which is treated with a toning agent during the finishing process. Three ways of obtaining an aged, antique appearance: Natural aging (the ’66 D-18), torrefaction (the Collings examples), and a particular, specialized finishing process (the Furch and the 2012 D-18).

I purchased my “new” 1966 D-18 on a Monday afternoon and had it in my hands by that Thursday morning. I did my usual “unboxing ceremony” taking photos of the condition of the packaging and how well the guitar had been packed. This would be important if, for whatever reason, the guitar was damaged during shipping. No issues. I then inspected the guitar for damage and it was in very good -to-excellent condition, as advertised. He could have stated “Excellent”on condition but some people prefer to stay on the safe side. I’ve only had time thus far to play it for a couple of hours, but what I’ve heard come out of it in the short time I’ve played it, it’s the “real deal” and is precisely what I was hoping to find. Clear and present bass (but not in your face), a full midrange, and trebles that are perfect with blooming overtones. A nice, wide tonal spectrum with considerable sustain. One thing is for sure, I’ve now spent enough time with it to call it a “keeper” and the crowning jewel of my collection.

The only thing left for me to do (if I elect to go down that path) is to have a pick-up installed, either a K&K Mini or LR Baggs anthem. I can’t go wrong with either one, so, what’s at stake is whether or not to keep the guitar in its original state, as it has been for 58 years, and enjoy it as a pure acoustic machine, or, to take that awesome tone and be able to plug-in every now and then and amplify it in order to reach out further than my studio space will allow. I’ve never been a performer and I have several other guitars equipped with passive electronics should the need arise. Fortunately, it is not a decision I need to move on today and I can take my time with the idea.

Other Notable D-18 Players

Duane Allman

Dave Grohl

John Lennon

John Frusciante

Andy Taylor

Do. Watson

Kurt Cobain

Mark Knopfler

The Edge

While Martin had dabbled with all sorts of shapes and sizes, it wasn’t until 1932 that the first D-18 was produced. Though, in earlier designs, Martin experimented with back and sides comprised of rosewood, by the time the company started manufacturing the D-18, the featured tonewoods were Adirondack spruce and mahogany. Through the years since, Martin vacillated between rosewood and ebony bridge and fingerboards with the nod ultimately shifting toward ebony. Today, the D-18 is the highest selling guitar in the world. Trim features have bounced around for decades using tortoiseshell or black Boltaron for the binding and tortoiseshell or black plastic for the pickguard. There were periods when Martin favored open-backed Kluson-style tuning heads and others when the enclosed Grover-style tuners were chosen I believe the Kluson-style tuners with butter-bean knobs have been favored by the public. Now, every D-18 that has been manufactured since 2012 is fitted with Waverly open -backs.

Tuning knobs were typically made from raw or chromed nickel or a certain “Ivoroid’ type of off-white plastic.

After a relatively long period of sameness, Martin implemented plans for a “Reimagined” 2012 model D-18. It was far more like a number of small changes (or, for the bulk of the design, decisions to leave well enough alone) than any sort of major overhaul. I’m not going to list the entire set of specifications because most of them remained unchanged from 2011, but I will point out some significant changes.

After years of going back and forth on the use of tort versus black bindings, future D-18’s with feature faux tortoiseshell.

The fingerboard and bridge will be ebony.

The tuning heads will be open-backed Waverly’s with nickel plated “butter-bean” knobs.

A specified amount of aging toner will be applied with the nitrocellulose finish.

Bracing will be X-braced, forward shifted.

Many folks have noticed for the last few years that the tortoiseshell binding was beginning to appear as all black. I’m not sure which recent model year it was, but I’ve read that due to a shortage of good quality faux tortoiseshell, Martin has switched to a black binding. I do not know the worldwide status of tortoiseshell but have seen nothing that would indicate a permanent change. I would expect a reversal, back to 2012:spec, if tortoiseshell supply becomes healthy enough to again sustain product needs.

The D-28 would be next in line to be “re-engineered” in 2017. Both models can now be found in the far more expensive “Authentic” series with torrefied Adirondack tops and hide glue, as used in the construction of vintage guitars.

It is remarkable just how similar this ‘66 D-18 is to my 2012 model and one more D-18 style guitar I have, my 2016 Furch D-31SM. Aesthetically, the Furch could be its twin. Furch has a proprietary finishing process which affords the guitar a look and feel that are very close to an old Martin. Just last year (2023) Martin began offering its D-18 and D-28 models in a satin finish and, at least for the time being, the more expensive full gloss finish is still available. There’s an ongoing trend toward full and closed pore satin finishes and it’s a trend that’s growing like wildfire. I like both finishes but some brands seem to do a better job with them than others and some guitar makes and models just look better to me in full gloss, but that could be because I’m not yet fully acclimated to the new style of finish.

I’ve A/B’d my Furch D31SM alongside my 2012 D-18 a few times, not long after I brought the Furch home. Because Furch uses its own proprietary finishing process with no aging toner, the guitar looks very much like my new ‘66. I’m definitely impressed with their finish and, since I’ve had the guitar for eight years, it seems to hold up well over time, getting a light shade darker with each year. I wish that I had someone’s ear at Martin so I could comment on their use of aging toner. It’s not that I disagree with its use, it’s with the color, which appears too yellow to me (as opposed to a light amber color). They have the color nailed on their “Authentic” series but that probably has to do with it being torrefied, while the D-18 Standard is not. One day soon, I have plans to ‘A/B/C” the three guitars. My 2012 D-18 is one of the better ones as I’ve played a good number of them since I acquired mine in 2014. That being said, the Furch came out on top the last time I compared them. It’ll be fun to compare all three. Even more telling, I’ll probably take the winner of that shootout and compare it against my Gallagher SG-50, the tone from it being sublime. It’s basically a round shouldered D-18 with an oversize sound-hole and it’s the king of my collection, though I haven’t yet formally compared it to my 2012 D-18 or my Furch. It simply sounds so good that I can’t imagine it losing a comparison shootout with any guitar…period. Perhaps this new comparison will surprise me!

As for my ‘66, it has met all of my most stringent criteria and has left me extremely pleased that I finally pulled the trigger on this particular guitar in lieu of any other vintage D-18 I’ve considered during a ten  year long search. The guitar spoke to me in a way that I could be confident that this was the one. There’s always an element of risk when buying a guitar online without having played it to be sure. You can do all the due diligence in the world but, particularly for a guitar that’s the better part of sixty years old, and still find yourself surprised when it finally arrives and it’s not quite what you were hoping to see. I had no reservations and, when I decided that this was the one, I felt comfortable and confident about the acquisition. Sometime ago, I envisioned myself making an adventure of the purchase by flying to its location and spending a night or two (depending on where it was located) and spending some time with the guitar until “throwing down”. But my back would have shut me down right now. I’m very happy with the way it played out. I liked the seller and trusted him to be “one of the good guys”. That had a lot to do with it.