time to trade?

RobertW,
Join the club and good luck on your never ending search, for the ultimate guitar.

RobertW, so a 1.75" nut is still to thin for ya?  Hmmm.  Well, with Seagull now, you only have a few options, none of them involving an MJ anymore.

If it were me and I was dead set on having that big sound and the 1.8" neck, I'd just sell the Martin and get the Seagull dread I like most.

The Martin should be easy to sell.  I sold my PA Martin for only a 100 bucks less than I paid for it.  That Martin name carries a lot of resale weight.

Then just suck it up and get a Seagull dread you feel you can fall in love with.  I hear they do cedar top guitars really well. 

The only other option is patience with a capital "P."  lol.    Just keep hunting around on Kijiji or Craig's list until you find a decent used Seagull MJ for sale. 

RobertW, wait.  I just thought of a "possible" third option.  You could have the nut redone by a good tech so that the string spacing is ever so slightly closer together ( therefore, farther from the edge of the fretboard ) and that might be a fairly perfect solution.  Then you get to keep a nice guitar.

I thought I'd never be able to get used to anything thinner than the Seagull 1.8" after so many years of falling in love with and getting used to it.  But it just takes a bit of time.  I'm loving and have become very comfortable with my Taylor 114e's neck which is only 1.69".  Never thought that would happen.  Now, when I play my Seagulls or any Taylors or Martins with the 1.75", I feel like I have all this "extra" space to work with.

Anyways, consider changing the string spacing just at the nut.  It shouldn't affect your left hand at all, and I'm sure your right hand can get used to the slight difference.  Otherwise, ya, I dunno.

I don't think i wanna play with Martin's nuts.

You know I have more that a few guitars... Something I just noticed is that ONLY the Martin has so little space on outside of 6th string. Even the tiny Ibanez Artwood Parlour 2 has more! The Ibanez space might actually be more than the Amber Trails!

Just did quick measurement: 2mm for Amber Trails, 2.5mm for Ibanez

It seems edge to string spacing has been an unconscious factor in my guitar choices. Now that I'm aware, it will be a CONSCIOUS factor from now on.

It certainly is a factor in comfort and playability for me.

Hopefully this guitar will work for you. Otherwise another trade may occur.

You can still get Maritime SWS MJ's on eBay. Dont know their condition, but they are being advertised. Maybe worth a look. But sound is Cappucino and not Espresso, as previously discussed somewhere. Isnt that right TonyKgull?

RobertW, wow.  That's some pretty strict and harsh limitations you've put on yourself.  I actually used to be the exact same in all aspects, but I'm very thankful that my mind has been changed by Godin, Martin, Cole Clark and Taylor (hereafter referred to as "the companies") about a few of these things.

"- never pay more than $1000cad for guitar, especially a factory made one."  The companies showed me through experience that: Factory made guitars offer consistent and more trustworthy quality, sound and playability results that cannot be found in hand made guitars.  They also offer affordability for excellent guitars that could not be possible with hand made.  To the point where I'm actually willing to pay more for a guitar if it's factory made than if it's hand made.  Crazy I know, but that's just where I'm at.

"- a guitar that needs to be kept in a case is a guitar unplayed. It may never open up."  This one really makes me scratch my head.  It's been discussed in other threads here, but I'll just say again, that I've never understood this one, not saying it's wrong or anything.  Whether laminate or all solid wood, I always keep my guitars in their cases when not in use to protect them.  This has never prevented or in any way hindered me from any sort of frequency of playing.  A guitar that is loved is worth protecting in my book.  Lost my first beautiful Yamaha (a laminate guitar btw) due to never keeping it in its case.  I try not to make mistakes more than once.  lol.

"- never pay a premium for a name"  The companies have shown me that I'm not so against this one anymore.  Of course my personal budget has limitations, but when a guitar is good enough and I feel it has not gone beyond the "don't pay more than you feel it's worth" boundary ( a very important mantra that I wholeheartedly agree with!) , I'll shell out the dough if I love the guitar enough to really want it in my flock.

Just to be clear, this is not to dispute or argue your mantras Rob.  As I said, I used to be the same on all accounts.  I just wanted to share how I've changed on these points through the years because it really opened up my ability or availability to experience and own a wider world of guitars; but I can easily understand sticking to these mantras as well because I used to do the exact same. 

Guitars are a very personal thing that we actually develop a relationship with in a way and I don't believe anyone's relationship is wrong or right, just theirs.