HI Jim, and welcome!   
      
   On Mon 2012-Mar-19 17:50, Jim Haight (1:116/80) wrote to All:   
      
   JH> Hello folks. I am new to this forum but not new to guitar.  I have   
   JH> been reading the "threads" and thought I would share some reviews. I   
   JH> have played quite a few acoustics lately in the search for the most   
   JH> guitar for the buck. Kind of like getting a fantastic bottle of wine   
   JH> for under ten dollars. I do have a friend in Baltimore who has a   
   JH> small guitar shop and he has an interesting variety of boxes to   
   JH> sell. His high end guitars are Larravie (sp?) which I absolutely   
   JH> love but need to save up for. He has a line of Hohners which I was   
   JH> impressed with as he gave me this nice gem of a dreadnought to play.   
   JH> I don't remember the model but it was black and, get this, all   
   JH> ebony. Ebony back, sides and top. It was under $400.00 and stunning.   
   JH> It had light gauge strings on it and crispy highs and loud bass with   
   JH> a great balance between. I do think it could tolerate heavier gauge   
   JH> strings for the double pickers. I think he said it was made in Korea   
   JH> but I am not sure. Other than this, he had a Simon and Patrick 12   
   JH> string that was under $400.00 that was also delightful.  Another   
   JH> bargain that I am seriously considering is a Luna Trinity parlor   
   JH> guitar. It is also just under $400.00 and it has a cutaway with   
   JH> electronics. Musician's Friend has these and I want something of   
   JH> that size. The soundhole is an interesting shape with three leaves   
   JH> with abalone inlay. You should Google it and take a look.  Oh well,   
      
   Sounds interesting.  i play bass drums and my primary is   
   keyboard, but I have a nice Martin 6 string, I play Martin   
   Marquis lights on it, because I fingerpick.  iT sounds good   
   in front of a microphone.   
      
   I find that even among supposedly identical guitars that i   
   want to play the one I'm going to buy before I buy it, minor differences in   
   manufacturing tolerances, etc.   
   I remember buying this Martin at gc in NEw ORleans.  I went   
   in the store to buy a patch cable or something stupid,   
   started browsing at acoustics, found these Martins on sale   
   for $800 and started to play the different ones on that rack with the   
   discounted price, found one I fell in love with.  I came back the enxt day to   
   find it gone, after the guyd' told me i couldn't put discount items on   
   layaway, only to find   
   out soembody else had put the exact one i wanted on layaway. I played others,   
   and found one I liked as well.  WAs a b'day present from my lady, and I'd   
   already been hearing that   
   guitar in my mind's ear on some of my original songs when I   
   recorded them.   
      
   Had a nice alvarez 12 string before Katrina took it away   
   from me.  I'd played a few twelve strings at a friend's   
   music store back in Iowa and fell in love with this   
   particular Alvarez.  Unbeknownst to me my lady put it on   
   layaway, and when I'd go over there to do mastering for a   
   client in his recording studio (I did tracking and mixing but not mastering)   
   my lady would put some money on it.  She woke me   
   up midmorning one morning to present me with that 12 string, mErry Christmas   
    so many guitars, so little time ;)   
      
   roger that!   
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:116/901)