We don't usually rant and rave about the sound of an instrument we're selling, but this early OM-18 might be the exception. It just seems to have everything: Volume, balance, great tone, and that elusive "crunch" that cuts through the sound of other instruments so you don't have to beat the guitar to death to be heard when playing in a group. Condition? The bad news is obvious, this guitar got played long and hard, and as far as we could determine from the son of the original owner, all those scratches came from one guy, who played it for over 50 years. The neck, top, and back are crack-free. The lower side has one or two very small cracks, repaired and solid. The upper (bass) side got crunched and was repaired many years ago, with some finish added which is rather murky, making it difficult to tell exactly what was done. It seems solid and stable, and was reinforced from the inside. The finish on the back of the neck was removed, leaving a rather crude line on the back of the headstock between the 1st and 6th string tuners (the neck isn't raw, but the finish from the nut to the heel is thin. The neck shape doesn't appear to have been altered). The guitar has had a neck reset, refret, and new bridge, just like the original, which had been cut down because the guitar needed a reset in the worst way when we got it. All recent work done by Frank Ford and the Gryphon crew. Original nut and frets, which were removed to level the fret board and then reset into the fretboard again. Three or four of the tuners are original, with riveted cogs, one is the same style Grover gear but with a screwed cog, and one tuner post does not match the others. The underside of the top of this guitar -braces, bridgeplate, etc.- looks perfect, like it was made last week. Nothing has ever been loose and reglued. The bridge plate isn't all messed up from years of string ball damage when restringing. either. How is this possible considering all the obvious wear and miles this guitar has endured? It's simple, the original owner only changed strings when they broke!