guitarist21

Looking forward to hearing about this, and glad to hear you're still building. Hope you and the little kwaks are doing great.

She's been looking in the $2,000 range but I'm strongly advising her not to spend that much on a gigging acoustic as, with as many shows as she / we play, and as careless as she is with equipment, it will surely be stolen or crunched. I'm recommending a little Martin 000 for around $800 or less as a compromise between tone and lack of dread while gigging. That is a gnarly break! Glad the repair is holding. I would echo your thoughts about looking cheaper, especially if you're sure she's going to bang it up. DeepEnd's suggestion to look used is good. You can get a lot of guitar for >$700 on Craigslist, depending on what area you're in. Plus then she can save all that leftover cash for really high quality gigging gear like the Para DI or an awesome amp.

...we're looking for a solution that fits those varied parameters, which may include buying a little acoustic guitar amp, maybe a pedal of some sort to get the best tone, and definitely a better guitar for her as she currently plays with an inexpensive Fender acoustic that we had to glue the headstock back on recently. My best guesses based on the needs you laid out... Little acoustic amp: I recommend those green Crate amps. They're still making those, right? They're pretty inexpensive and come in all sorts of sizes. Just make sure you get one that's powerful enough for your needs. I played in a rock band with someone that had the 30 watt one and it was woefully inadequate, but a bigger one would have been just fine. Pedal of some sort: I love my Baggs Para DI. Other than that, I don't like to get too crazy with pedals on acoustic. A better guitar: My personal opinion is that great plugged-in tone on acoustic starts with great unplugged tone. Some guitars come with great electronics built in, but a lot don't, especially in lower price ranges. Beyond that, it's all about your price range. Have Julie try out as many guitars as possible, because ultimately what sounds/feels best to her is most important.

For reference, its a '69 Martin N-20. Blue Book says that in excellent condition it would be $3,000 - 3,750. In merely average condition, it would be $1,800 - 2,200. If Trigger belong to a regular Joe who busted the heck out of it like Willie did and had all his friends sign it, it would certainly be well under$1,500. It might even be less than Kujozilla's estimate of a grand, because while the hole is clearly not causing any structural problems, a gaping hole in your guitar sort of hurts the resale value.

Maybe hide it somewhere creative where the lucky recipient might stumble on it? My folks gave me an electric guitar the day I turned eight; they hid it under my bed while I was sleeping. I found it the next day and pretty much wet myself with excitement. Maybe it's just an eight-year-old thing. I think a box with a pick is a cute idea!

+1 on the Vend-a-Goat. I also like the one that has pickups and strings on it.

What do you think will look good on this? Natural finish guitar by the way My only worry would be that one of these stickers would look weird on top of a high-gloss finish like that. Like it would be the only thing not high-gloss. Especially because there's already a real inlay on there that's got the gloss over it. Do you guys think that would be the case?

Sure is purdy. I really dig the pinless bridge and the look of the rosette.

Sexyback

I love my guitars. Ellen