Question:
I currentlly own two guitars: A Yamaha FG-411 A Fender DG-4 Of the above, I love the slim neck on the Fender, while the sound of the Yammy is very slightly nicer, I think. I think the Yamaha was about £150 new and the Fender about £100. I like them both, but I have a feeling there must be nicer guitars out there. You get what you pay for (sometimes) right? Most of my life, I've played electric guitars, but after six months of accoustic laying, I am now feling the urge to upgrade - especially since I am starting to do public performances. Trouble is, I just do not trust my own judgement when it comes to choosing a guitar in a guitar shop environment. I do not consider myself enough of an accoustic guitar connoisseur anyway. So my question is threefold: How much do I need to pay to buy a guitar that I will probably be happy with for the rest of my life (insofar as such a question can ever be answered). and Can you tell me some guitar makes that I can trust to give me what I pay for - whose guitars are consistently good... ones that you'd even trust enough to buy via mail order without getting a chance to give the thing a trial run. (It must be a make that is freely available within the UK.) and Would you suggest that a solid spruce top is a must-have feature? BTW, my style of playing is folk, a little delta blues, and a touch of bluegrass and a growing pinch of renaissance folkey/classical-sounding stuff. I want a guitar that is guaranteed not to grate the teeth of even the most refined guitar connoisseur.
Answer:
The original poster clarified his position in uk.music.folk - we're talking around 300-400 UK pounds here. No one, as far as I know, will hand-build a guitar for that price - certainly not Bown or Manson... Based on my experience, I'd think £700 is about the entry-level for luthier-built guitars in the UK. I doubt that amount would get the poster even an entry level offering from Martin, Taylor, Tacoma or Larrivee either, though I haven't looked hard. However, it would probably get him a significant step-up from his Fender and Yamaha. For a North American guitar in that sort of range, I'd suggest the LaSiDo stable - Arts and Lutherie; Seagull; Simon and Patrick; Norman. Alternatively I'd probably also look at Landolas (Scandinavian, and seem nice - better value in the UK than US imports, I suspect).
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