I hear you, it's hard to justify having all that money held up in guitars. I probably attach too much emotional value to my guitars though, and I couldn't really imagine getting rid of any of them, not because of their values or even their sounds, but because of all the emotions tied up into them.

Your friends' guitars look absolutely awesome (even if I'm a little unsure of the purpose of that bevel in the cutaway?). I've never played a cedar top. Any other tone woods you would compare it to?