Martin X series acoustics

Solid info.
Both are pretty new.

I wouldn't spend that on one, you can step up to the better Road Series for a couple of hundred more used.

If you really want bang for your buck in a new guitar in the $500 range, I think you'd have a hard time beating this

Would you mind giving us the short list of how to take care of our guitars* properly?

The best rule of thumb is to treat your guitar like your nephew, or your puppy. If you would not do it with a child or a pet, you probably won't do it safely with a guitar.

The worst thing I see people do to acoustic guitars - guitars in general, actually - is leave them in hot cars. The greenhouse effect heat compromises the integrity of the adhesives holding the wood pieces together, which lets the acoustic as a whole succumb to the 170ish pounds of tension tuned strings put on the box and the neck. You see acoustics whose action is rising because the neck is arching up and no setup can fix it, no saddle left to remove, no more range in the truss rod? So often its because a guitar was fried into premature structural compromise.

I would rather work on an acoustic that took a quick dive in a lake or swimming pool than one that got fried and subsequently distorted in a hot vehicle. Read that again.

D'Addario and Bob Taylor have excellent YouTube videos on proper acoustic guitar humidification. Be familiar with the principles but don't go nuts about it around here. Why? Because ideal acoustic instrument humidity is about 45 percent - about the same as an air conditioned room in the Gulf South. It's our friends out West and up North where they crank heaters in the winter that have to worry more about lack of moisture.

When in doubt about a guitar's environment, use the case as a temp/humidity regulator. It's never a bad idea necessarily to store a guitar in its case when not in use. Most of the cracked soundboards, split sides, punched-in output jacks, broken headstocks and other structural woes I repair are caused not by Mother Nature or the elements, but by someone or something knocking a guitar off its stand, or it falling from a leaning position against a couch or a table, or a running dog or toddler getting knotted up in a loose strap and sending the guitar crashing.

On that note, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS remove the strap from the guitar if the strap is not in use. If you ignore my advice on this, you will one day regret you didn't listen to me. Promise.

I use VM&P naphtha to clean and Dunlop 65 to polish. I like Gerlitz Guitar Honey and Guitar Nomad's fretboard oil for fingerboard conditioning, 2-3 yearly is sufficient. Be sure to oil ebony boards, they are the worst in regard to hairline splitting from lack of conditioning.

If you guys want to start a dedicated thread on this subject so it's not buried within another topic, I'll gladly take on a Q&A

Not questioning removing the strap just curious why you feel so strongly about this. Does this apply to electrics as well?I Never do, so thanks for the tip

I leave my guitars on wall mounts and never put them in the case. If I cased my guitars, I'd probably not play them as much as to have to constantly be taking them in / out of the case.

I only have a Seagull and a cheap Takamine so i'm not overly concerned.

I leave my guitars on wall mounts and never put them in the case. If I cased my guitars, I'd probably not play them as much as to have to constantly be taking them in / out of the case.

Wall hooks are an excellent way to get guitars out of harm's way, the hooks on my shop walls have held seven figures worth of guitars easily with no mishaps. Always follow the instructions of the wall hook manufacturer, use their mounting hardware and ALWAYS anchor up to wall studs!!

They sound good, but they are high-pressure laminate (HPL).

Might want to read up on that before you buy.

HPLs are made from a number of laminations or layers of what is, essentially, paper. It’s slightly different to the paper we use every day but, for all intents and purposes, it’s paper.

There’s generally an overlay layer, sitting over a ‘decorative’ layer (more on this in a sec), and then one or more layers of a stronger paper.

High Pressure Laminate

Yep, breakage.

Although bought it that way and it's just a small hole about half the size of a pencil eraser and hasn't grown any larger. Gave $325 for it at a local shop. Needed/wanted a 12 string with electronics to play in church and with the neck also laminated it should stay true.

I liked for what it bought for but wouldn't consider it knock around tough. A friend has a normal 6-string that he bought to take rafting on the Grand. It's a good sounding guitar as well; however they'll both never do well in resale.