Earl;

I really admire your rehab process. I think a lot of people would have just given up.

I've played the NS34ce. I thought it was a beautiful instrument and it played well. But as you note, it did not compete with the sound from a good classical. The closest I came to a cut-a-way nylon string guitar that did compete was a Takamine--but it was still not there.

The Blackbird nylon string Rider comes very close to classical tone and projection but does not give me the nut width or fret reach that I like and I was never comfortable with it even with a neck-up.

The Rainsong Parlor nylon is almost there but does not give me the fret reach I want. I have the Parlor and the Emerald X10-OSN. When I let others play the two guitars the consensus is that the Parlor may have better tone and projection but the Emerald has a sweeter neck and plays higher. I go back and forth between the two and have been unable to decide on which I would call the best.

John has been pretty consistent in his desire for a CF nylon string that would follow the traditional classical build and his ideal would settle the question as to whether a CF guitar could compete with a classical guitar. But his ideal would still leave unanswered the question of whether a cut-a-way and bevels can be added without negatively changing tone and project.

It's a challenge, one that I expect Rob to resolve after all the fine advice he's been getting on this thread. One might say he's hanging on by a thread. I suppose we might also say that he's being held back by a thread.