if people took care of their instruments instead of trashing them around, you wouldn't have to "restore" them for heaven's sake.

Here's a sad story to make you cry:
in Sept. 1967, my parents bought and gave me a Rickenbacker 370-12 MG which I still have today at age 63. (I had saved about half the money playing for hire, mowing lawns, selling Boy Scout seeds, etc., They were traveling to Miami, so I gave them the money and a copy of the catalog with a circle around the exact guitar I wanted, and that is what they got me, yes they paid the difference in the price). Based on the serial number it was built in 1966. It is 95% perfect, needs no restoration. The Silver Case? if was falling apart by 1980, the locks were broken and rusted, so I purchased a brand new Rickenbacker black case.

so what is my point? When my father, (a 1930's fiddle player), showed up with the guitar he told me: "I have seen many guitars in my life, but this one is FOR LIFE, take care of it son".

And I did. So the point is: take good care of your guitars at every second of your life.

Good story there, Zurdo, about your father's words of wisdom to you.

thanks 8MilesHigher, I still have my father's fiddle too, made around 1915, he kept it all his life. Not a "Stradivarious", but a good quality instrument, I just never got into playing violin. It was The Byrds (not The Beatles) who really made me want a Rickenbacker.