[Shortfinger]

I was all set to drive the D18 down to NE NM this week, to put it in Mr Bryan Kimsey's excellent hands, and then thought, two round trips to NM and driving ain't free, so I took it to a Martin authorized shop in Boulder.

Did I say we are moving soon, maybe by March, from this high plains front range location, RH maybe 15 percent much of the winter, to SW FL, a subtropical climate with RH well in excess of 80 percent?

So my D18 got a really good inspection by a luthier at Woodwind's and was declared borderline for neck reset, meaning that the neck relief (about .025") might be addressed first by refretting with oversized frets to expand the fret widths and take out bow.

Then there are the cracks in the top.

And the dreadful 1970 era bridge placement.

But the biggest thing is the impending move from the arid high plains to the vicinity of the Everglades, and the recommendation is I wait until the guitar becomes a Florida resident, and then see what its shape is and how to improve things.