Lance

Yep. My favorite would be Paul's bass playing on "Yer Blues."

I don't think Taylor uses a dovetail neck joint on any of their guitars and Martin only uses them on their 18 series guitars and above. Personally, I've seen a lot of good feedback on Recording King's, which would fall in your price range...

By the way, Jeff's J-45 has 20 frets which makes it a '55 at best...

Granted, the only thing consistent about Gibson's are their inconsistency. I guess it all comes down to the FON on the neck block which probably isn't even legible. I had a '56 J-45 with a FON that was all but gone except for the V and most other J-45s and SJs I've seen from the mid 50's seem to have the same problem...

Radio King or Baby Let Me Follow You Down for me.

Bridge plate replacement means someone (not always a qualified someone) is messing around with the structure of the guitar in an area one cannot readily see; especially with pre-war Martins where the bridge plate is underneath the x-brace. Very scary considering the amount of money pre-war Martins command these days.

When I shop vintage guitars I look for the following: 1. Original finish? If not it cuts the value in half. 2. Cracked headstock or heel? Deal killer in my book. 3. Original bridge plate? 4. Oversized bridge replacement. I don't worry too much about neck sets, loose braces, replaced tuners, nuts, or saddles or divoted fret boards. All of these things go along with old guitars that have been played and they can all be easily fixed/returned to original spec. Cracks are gonna happen; as long as they are repaired correctly and are stable they are a non-issue to me. The important thing is how t

Pseaking of OCMS, I wish they'd release their cover of "Soul Rebel."

D-12-20. You can still find some nice used ones out there for a decent price. As a matter of fact, there's a nice '72 on GBASE for $1,200. Sounds like it may need a neck set, but once you take care of that you got a nice solid wood, opened-up Martin 12 for ~$1,800.

Is it long scale? What charity do the proceeds go to?

Check out the Colorado Cyclist. Best service anywhere.

The Fool's Progress is one of my favorite pieces of fiction. Too bad he had to taste test all that alkali desert water...

You can try Sully's for a custom strap. Not cheap. Sully's

The mahogany-topped Martins are the best deals out there. You are correct, a '99 would be all mahogany, no sapele. Great guitar! I used to have a '35 0-17 that I should have never sold.