I got to play Tony's D-28 once after a Unit show in the late 90s. I think it was in Denton, NC, not too far from where he lived near Greensboro. I had met him a couple times before over the years, so I wasn't a complete stranger. Anyway, he handed me the guitar, and I carefully strummed a few chords and played a few notes. This was outdoors with a lot of noise all around. The action on the guitar was really, really low, and it wasn't all that loud. It was okay, to be honest. The magic was definitely in Tony's hands. I was actually shocked at how unimpressive that legendary guitar was. But I have always heard that Tony could pick up nearly any acoustic, and he could make it sound great. I have also heard that he played the D-28 as much as he could because people expected it. I saw him around 50 times or so, and he played his Santa Cruz at around 75% of those shows. I think the Antique was in the shop quite a bit.
I also got to sit beside Doc Watson once at an early Merlefest and chatted with him while he picked his Gallagher. Now that guitar was super loud and clear. I didn't have the cojones to ask to play it, lol.
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