[mikegug]

Interesting answers to OP. I'm glad I'm not the only goober who remembers that "one" sound or feel.

One that I couldn't afford was a 1964 Strat in Los Angeles. Killer guitars are pretty common there. Price tags don't reflect it, but that's another story. Anyway, It was WELL worn. Prior to playing this guitar, I always thought that some vintage guitars were WAY over -priced as a general rule. Not this one. $14,000 and it played and sounded like butter. Worth every penny if you could pay the price. CREAMY smooth in every way. I was almost speechless. The knobs on it were worn smooth. They looked like three little storm trooper helmets (LOL)!. The axe had to be all original. You just couldn't get that feel and sound from anything less than gigging endlessly on the road, IMO. And this guitar was ON THE FLOOR, on a stand, just waiting to get kicked over! AHHH!!!!

This was a guitar road trip my bro-in-law and I took down to LA and surrounding areas. Went to Fender museum also. Very cool of the wives to let us go. TOTALLY a selfish trip... eek! Eh, it was a BLAST though.

[syahr1909]

I don't know what model it was, but it was a used Fender Custom Shop Relic'd Tele with a humbucker in the neck and a sunburst paint job. It felt great, but I wasn't smart enough to get it when it was half the price of the original.

[jeepnstein]

I've got a good one on a buddy of mine. He's got a D45 that has to go back to Martin for some much-needed attention. Every thirty years or so a guitar just gets so bad it needs some work. So he's looking for another Martin in that league to take it's place while it's gone for a year. A local mom 'n pop has a really great D76 with a cracked top that he really was interested in. The plan was to get it right, have the top repaired by a local luthier, and then send the '45 off to Martin.

He fretted over that Martin, sent all his friends in to play it, and just couldn't make the decision to buy. So he sends yet another of his friends in to play it. This guy is a monster flat-picker and is on par with any of the folks you'd see playing on the bluegrass circuit today, anyone. So this guy spots an old D18 over in a corner. It needed a saddle, some cosmetic work, and tuners. He buys it for a "premium" price and takes it to his luthier for repairs...

The luthier called him and told him he was stopping work on the 18 and advised him to sell it immediately in it's present state. I didn't hear the year of manufacture but it is number 11 of the D18 model line. Yeah, serial number 11. It's on it's way to a new home in Nashville this week.

My buddy is gently kicking himself on that one. He doesn't care for D18's so it never caught his eye.

The 76 is still hanging on the wall waiting for a home. I'd grab it in a heartbeat for about half what the store is asking. It's one of the finest sounding Martins I've ever heard. The only question is will it sound that way after the cracks are repaired? It's a bet nobody has been willing to make so far.