Squonk wrote:
The Salesman is a wombat, first in his knowledge and his Salesman skills are not too good either, he should be trying to sell you top of the range stuff ?
I disagree (and, yes, I saw the smiley). A good salesman tries to sell you what you need or at least what you want. That way you learn to trust that salesperson and their judgement and you keep coming back for more.
To answer the question: acoustic guitars are not all equal. This should be no surprise. We understand that, for example, Squier and Fender are not the same and the differences are to do with QC and the quality of the raw materials, and it's no different with acoustic guitars. Quality of materials and quality of construction varies. And, as with electrics, those are not the only determinants of the price you pay - the name on the headstock and intangible things like fashion contribute too.
A cheap or "beginner's" acoustic might have plastic, poorly machined saddle and nut (bad for tone) and be made from laminates. Machine heads may be cheap, and probably not much attention was paid to setup in the factory. Finish may not be great. The guitar will probably have been assembled and then sprayed with finish.
Now look at my Larrivee. All solid wood. Tusq (artificial bone) nut and bone saddle - much better for tone. All solid wood and woods are carefully selected. Gotoh machine heads. Necks hand fitted by a craftsman and setup and intonation checked before the guitar leaves the factory. The frets are polished and the fret ends trimmed etc. High quality finish, and the neck and body are finished separately before the neck is fitted to the body. Of course the price reflects the difference in materials, workmanship and care lavished in the factory.
And, of course, there's a spectrum. At one end you get utter drek like the in-house brands at Cash Crusaders. At the other end you get hand-built, very high-quality guitars from the likes of Linda Manzer. And there's a whole load of stuff in between.
Takamine, Cort, Tanglewood and others offer guitars that give a lot of bang per buck. As Squonk says, an important consideration is a good quality solid (IE not laminate) top. A decent quality saddle helps too (doesn't have to be bone, but should be Tusq or Micarta or one of those good quality artificial materials).
When I bought my Morgan I was buying to a budget. I'd had a windfall, so I was in a fortunate position, but there was still a budget and the Morgan, even with the trade-in I was going to get, was at the extreme of that. I had a short list of 3 or 4 guitars. The others were more reasonably priced (can't remember what they all were, but one of them was a pretty good Yamaha). So I asked the salesman to play each of them whilst I stood a few yards away. Bingo! No contest. The Morgan was now a clear winner because of the way that each note rang out and the way the guitar projected. Now I could HEAR the difference.
In the meantime maybe start trying some acoustics when go you to LMIS. Try to listen to how they ring (or don't), the different tones (woods and wood combinations and body shape all effect tone) etc etc.
