204084
Member
After 20+ years of leaving the guitars in their cases I finally got bit by the "I can't stop playing" bug again about 4 months ago and I can't seem to put them down except to surf the 'net and read and research (man....is there a lotta stuff out there in the ethersphere or what?!). And the return to playing was really kinda wierd. My son asked me to go to Guitar Center to help him pick out a cheap guitar (they had a President's day sale going).Ha! Guess who also came home with one of those cheap Yamaha's...lol...Anyway....it got the pump primed. 1975 I went to Parker bros music store in Houston (they had the largest inventory of acoustic guitars I've ever seen). I spent all day playing several dozen guitars and the Martin D-18 I came home with was hands down the best sounding guitar of any they had that day. I went to a lot of bluegrass festivals with that guitar and people used to come looking for the guitar that they could hear from several jam sessions away...it was that good (and loud).But one fateful day in September 1979 I was in a local guitar store getting strings and there she was...F50R...serial # 204084...sitting in a stand at the register.I picked it up and with one strum lightning struck the top of my forehead and smoke blew out my ears. I rushed home, got my Martin, and back to the store I went. Proof was in the pudding....that F50R made my Martin embarrassed and shrinkage set in the poor little thing. And it (the F50R) has only gotten better in the last 30 years. Anyway...time to get back to playing...the cramps have subsided for now 8)