I somehow feel like I'm cheating on a guitar I don't even own yet. My custom-made archtop is nearing delivery, but it's been since March. In the meantime, I've started playing publicly and my interest has turned to acoustic and acoustic-electrics. I have my Taylor GS Mini-e Koa, which I love, but I had someone tell me they preferred the "junior" Martin dreadnought over the Taylor and that started me down my research path.

Which led me ultimately to Maury's Music, a mere 40 miles from Martin's Nazareth, PA home, and listed as one of Martin's top 10 dealers. I struck up a conversation with them, and wound up order a DJr-10E in Saplele. I upgraded the saddle to buffalo horn and the bridge pins to bone with abalone inserts.

I'm letting the guitar acclimate, as I always do, especially this time of the year, so I cheated by simply opening the case to take this photo. I won't actually hear and feels how it plays until I've let it "rest" for 24 hours. But I like the looks of it (I ordered the HSC, too).