DeepEnd

No need to pay a luthier. You can do it yourself. You can get a basic compensated bone saddle from AllParts.com for just $6.00, although their minimum order is $10.00. you might need to sand it a bit to assure a proper fit but that's all. Nuts are less straightforward and best left to a pro unless you want to invest in tools you'll probably never use again. A custom made nut will cost around $50.00. OTOH, you can buy a pre-slotted TUSQ (synthetic ivory substitute) for around $10.00 that will give you all the advantages of bone except bragging rights. They're available in various sizes to fit most guitars. Guitar Parts Resource is a good place to start. And no, AFAIK, you shouldn't need to lubricate a properly made bone or TUSQ nut. Here's a suggestion that works but makes no sense: If you have trouble with string binding, switch to 80/20 strings. I bought a set by mistake instead of phosphor bronze and decided to keep them instead of trying to return them. I noticed that my intermittent string binding problem went away completely. I have no explanation and neither does anyone else I've asked but it works. Strings are cheap; try it.

Add another recommendation for the Alvarez MD60 and MD80. If they're out of stock at Musician's Friend, don't worry. American Musical still has both of them.

Congrats! (on the wife -- you can get J45's anywhere -- but that wife of yours, she's a one-of-a-kind!) ^What they said.^

Conn came out with a line of guitars back in the early 1970's. They were made by Aria and were fairly popular at the time. The music store in my hometown carried two different Conn classical models, one for $60 and the other for $100, and this is probably one of those. Don't recall the model numbers though.

I'm assuming the Greg Bennett was your previous guitar. What brand is the one in the photos? Given the headstock inlay, I'd almost be willing to say it's a special Seagull model for the Australian market (a reference to the kangaroo inlay), LOL. Anyway, you can go up or down a bit in string gauge (i.e., from .012's to .011's) without having to adjust anything. If you're especially picky, go ahead and install the new strings and let the guitar adjust to them, then go to The Annex, click on "Tech Stuff," and then on "Is My Guitar Sick?" for instructions on measuring neck relief. Heavier strings will tend to give more relief, lighter ones less. I went up a gauge without needing to adjust anything.

And a late entry from Blueridge:

. . . Fingerboard: Bubinga (looks like rosewood) . . . Sorry but bubinga is an African wood similar to mahogany. My 12-string has bubinga back and sides and it looks like slightly dark mahogany. I wouldn't mistake it for rosewood in the dark.

You rotate the tabs and the opening gets bigger. You put it on the button outside your strap, cam it back to a smaller opening and Viola! No more close calls (or worse.) . . . Not to be pedantic but a viola is a musical intrument. Voila (pronounced vwa-la) is a French word that means "see," like when it says "lo and behold" in the Bible. A columnist for a local (St. Louis) computing monthly once spelled it "walla" so yours isn't quite the most egregious example I've seen but it's still annoying.