Bernie All

Why is it that it hasn't got its proper shell. The size doest fit it seems.

I agree that the neck's heel looks very strange (I'm not familiar enough with old Martins to be sure that that shape has never been used though). An other strange thing is that the fingerboard seems to have a binding on its sides, a feature you'd find on D-35s ; but D-35s have 3 pieces backs (this one hasn't). It still could be a Custom made or belong to some limited serie or signature model. Those kind of feature though would be indicated or shown usually. It doesn't say what model's name it is either. Possibly saved by those 12 minutes 😊 ... (Edit, a few minutes later ; I first thought it was a 12 fretter but it is not. So actually a slope shoulder is what it is, which to my belief is a quite recent thing with Martin - I think it may well date back to the DSS-17. Note however the similarities in overall shapes between 12 fretters - first Ditsons, made by Martin, and original Martin D-1s and D-2s were 12 fretters, and then the Gibson's J-45s & other models before or after on the other side...])

Can't think of a guitar I should not have sold ; I rarely sell guitars and if I do it's usually to buy a better one (so no regrets)...But there was a Framus Dreadnought that I bought new, and that I'd like to see again...It had too narrow of a neck for me I believe (even narrower and thinner than those vintage old Strats' ones), but it was a good guitar. It had a bridge like Doves have If I remember correctly, and I didn't pay too much for it. When I see how much these things would cost these days, I think I'm entitled to having some regrets, though I kind of regretted more not to have bought the Ibanez I tried against it, that same day in the shop (it was a 5th more expensive). Strange to think that a European guitar could have cost less than a Japanese counterpart those days. I think I preferred the Framus tone a bit though at the time too (the top probably was cedar against spruce on the Ibanez)... Could have saved me a few unnecessary changes because of the nut's width. There's quite a few silly things I could have avoided too, If I had known (after reading Gabriela's post), like getting rid of a Les Paul because of an imprecise setting of the individual saddles in the bridge, or pick-ups I didn't cope with at the time (didn't know those things could be mended or charged - or how -), nor what a luthier was (!) 🤗. - /// - As a matter of fact, the guitar I most regret is that Tele I saw and tried in a shop somewhere in London's outskirts one day back in the late 70s. Never played any that sounded so good ever since. Just a good shop possibly, where they knew about guitars (they were selling parts too, necks and others I remember, that they had displayed in the window); a shop where they set up guitars real well it seems...Or maybe was it just one of those better guitars - likely a bit of both I would think ! At the time I believed many Telecaster would be just as good... I don't regret to have sold it, since it's just that I didn't buy it 😉 Otherwise the same ! I have tried several Telecasters ever since then, and none had that much spice and precision (when you find a guitar that fits you, get it if you can - or you can try it again a few days later to be safe, and decide from there too). Buying in - good - shops is worth the extra money often (I wouldn't buy a guitar online normally). I have regretted my first Guild too, but there was no other choice back then, and I got a Martin dread whose tone I prefer since [I don't prefer the construction's quality though], and an other Guild too afterwards (not a dread this time)...So I'm okay for now (don't play much electric anymore - no band - and my Tele is okay for it at the moment)... Cheer up you all here, nice Forum it seems, I might stick around and join...