On the prowl for a Martin Guitar...

I saved up and purchased my first new guitar somewhere around 1973. It was a Gibson Blue Ridge and it has been my baby ever since. It went everywhere with me for a long time. It gained a lot of character over the years and it always sounded great. The only guitar that sounded better, much better, was my best friends Martin Herringbone. I can’t remember what year he purchased it. I do remember the scalloped bracing was something new that Martin was doing at the time. He was a much better player than me and received a little more purchasing power from his parents. We made a lot of reel-to-reel recordings back then and I always was amazed how good his guitar sounded. Even today when I play the tapes that we recorded I can’t believe how good that Martin guitar sounds. Anyway, He went on to play professionally and he still plays and records with his Herringbone. This is the main reason I have been on the prowl for a Martin the last several years. I could not find that sound I wanted. I did not realize until recently that the store background noise and poor acoustics was the problem. I thought I found a good sounding Taylor until I brought it home. It sounded great in the store and very bad when I got it home. I ran back to the store the next weekend and returned it.