A very long time ago, I bought a second hand 12 string guitar for £50. It wasn't a very good guitar, but that was fine as I wasn't a very good guitarist. The action (the height of the strings above the frets) was way too high and it was almost impossible to keep in tune. But it made a pleasant enough sound and I was happy. But over the years the top started to bow upward and the action got worse. Then the internal bracing started to fail and the top bowed further. It was completely unplayable. It was junk. Unless I could fix it. So I ripped the top off and ordered a whole bundle of parts from StewMac in the US. A new top in Sitka Spuce - the original was plywood - along with a brace kit, a new bridge and all the other parts to put it back together again. That was 11 years ago, and I'm sorry to say that it's still in bits.

Fast forward to last night, where someone asked what my new year resolution was. I vaguely remember replying that I'm going to fix that old 12 string. So, I suppose I'll have to now. Well, if I mess it up, it'll make good firewood...