Ouch, I hate that feeling of losing out on a huge investment. While working at a music store before college, I bought a $3,500 Martin HD28-LSV acoustic guitar, worth more than most of my cars to this day. It should have been a great investment. Famous among bluegrass musicians, the D-28 is the most iconic acoustic guitar ever created, and this was a signature model with an extra large sound hole modeled after the one played by Clarence White of the Byrds. His cigarette had burned away part of the soundhole so he had it routed out to conceal the damage, creating a new, voluminous sound.

With the wholesale discount from working at the store I paid 2,700; I made payments while working over a couple years, and my dad paid off the last 600 dollars as a graduation present. It was really hard to play, but it was the loudest stringed acoustic instrument possible with the boomiest bass and crispiest high end you’ve ever heard. I fell on hard times paying my rent a couple years ago, and brought it to a music store. As it turns out, my years of chain smoking and not keeping a hygrometer in the case had dried it out, causing the neck to bow away from the body in such a way that I didn’t notice, because the action (string height) was always very high to begin with. It wasn’t made of the endangered woods I was told either; supposedly Indian Sitka Spruce and Brazilian rosewood, now illegal to harvest.

I know just enough about instruments to know they were telling the truth, and it would need serious repairs, but still a great instrument. I took 1600 for it and it still hurts to think about. I definitely don’t want to know what they sold it for after repairs.