Interesting discusion as I am now looking for what will probably be my forever Dread. I've been playing alot of electric the last several years - mostly Fenders - but I've given that up and returning to acoustic. I currently play a Martin 000C-16GTE that I bought years ago while in a church band, and an 80's Washburn D-18M, which is a lam-top guitar but good for "campfire" stuff.
I tend to play fingerstyle or a combo of flatpicking and finder picking. I'm finding at 63, my fingers don't fold up (think F and D mnor chords) as the used to.
The Martin has a nice slim neck and 11/16" nut. I've always liked the neck on the Wash, which is sort of a soft V. I played a J-45 and a D-18 the other day and I seemed to favor the J. Both were playable, but the slimmer J neck seemed to say "play me". The Martin was ok but it had an open-grained finish, sort of like a Gibson Faded Series I don't care for.
With all you guys talking about how neck shapes affect playing comfort as you age, it should be a consideration for me as I choose my "forever dread".
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