So there's a story to this one, not as convoluted as my Custom GS story
http://www.unofficialtaylorguitarforum.com/index.php?topic=7577.msg87198#msg87198 but still,
The are three shops that sell guitars in the town where I work and I often visit on a lunchtime so see what's out there.
One has a good selection of Martin's including a beautiful David Crosby model but none of them have ever grabbed me too much, they're always good for a bit of Taylor/Martin banter though.
Another shop is more folky/ethnic and they have all sorts of weird stuff that they are happy to let you try and get a tune out of (where else are you going to pick up a guitarrón at short notice?)
The other is part of a chain of 11 stores that has recently been revamped and now is three times it's original size. The upstairs floor is dedicated to acoustics and the like and has an impressive selection of Taylors, Martins, Fenders and Gibsons and lots more budget guitars.
So one lunchtime I noticed something new, six Avalon guitars and decided to try one out and it was great, over the next few lunchtimes I worked my way through them all until I decided that I liked the A2-20c best. It's the first time in ages that I'd played a guitar that I really needed to take home.
Having never heard of Avalon I did my homework and found out they are a small hand-build guitar company in Ireland, I emailed them for more info and got a reply from Steve Mcilwraith (their Bob Taylor) who was very helpful, I asked about other models in the range and he even offered to ship anything I wanted to try to the store for me to tryout!
Anyway I went back and played it a few more times before taking my wife to see it, she was as impressed as she alway is but the bribe of a UHD tv seemed to do the trick.
So I now have a guitar, hand built in Ireland to go with all my Taylors.
Craig
