Thanks James, points well taken. Money isn't that much of an object within reason. I'm sure my arthritic fingers are softer than a baby's behind. I'm 48 and thought that going with something really easy to play and with an amp big enough,and one that I can fool around with and get some different sounds out of, would keep me more interested. Any comments on what you feel would be the easiest overall guitar to learn on short of the $1K plus models.