Fuller selection in the acoustic market?

[liko]

Stopped by GC last night, just to reinforce my past purchasing decisions. I find that, contrary to some other experiences, my GAS actually lessens when I browse the store's selection; I walk out confident that I have better gear than the store does. Anyway, I noticed some interesting differences in the price gaps you see between the "entry-level" instruments and the "pro-level".

In electrics, the most noticeable gap is generally in the $500-$900 range; there's not much between the imports and Mexis, starting at $100 and topping out around $500, and the American-built instruments starting at about a grand and going up from there. Basses shift this gap upwards a little, with the upper-level MII/MIK instruments from Yamaha and Ibanez getting up to about $800, but the lower end of American basses starting closer to $1200.

However, in acoustics, the gap seems much smaller, and much lower; the entry-level instruments that you take to your first guitar lesson start around $80, and progress upwards to around $300. Then, there is a small gap around the $400 pricepoint, with the next large block of higher-end MIKs and entry-level Mexican Martins, Breedloves, Taylors etc typically starting up again just under $500. From there, it's pretty solid all the way up to about $1500, progressing through the major brands' import models like the Stratabond Martins and Tecate Taylors, adding electronics, mixed in with high-end Seagulls, low to middling Breedloves, etc, up to the first tiers of American Martins and Taylors.

This was somewhat surprising, for two reasons. First, straight-up import guitar brands (Seagull, Takamine, etc) are well-represented on the acoustic side all the way up to $1200+, while in electrics, imports top out around $500 for guitars, $800 for basses. That's their niche; the savings in labor make for a decent-quality guitar at a lower price but without the prestige of "Made In America", however on the acoustic side import makers seem determined not to be pigeonholed into the "cheap entry-level" tier, and Tak at least makes a full range of offerings, from $250 all the way up to $1800. Second, I would have expected a similar gap in the acoustics as the electrics, between people looking for their first guitar to see if they're interested, and people looking for their last guitar once they've committed, but the acoustic side of the sub-$2k guitar market seems to run a nearly-full gradient from the cheapest {censored}box all the way up to the first few tiers of American offerings.

[guildfire]

Good summary and generally agree with your assessment.  I usually look for deals in the used markets where you can obviously get more bang for your buck.  I've found some good "pro level" instruments in the mid dollar range.

[Tony Burns]

pretty much agree - theirs great guitar in the 500-1500 range and then in the 2000-3000 range -

from that point up ( somedays i think ) your just paying for bling -or that elicid fairy dusted

marvel !   ( of course used is always the best route -except for those who need that -its never been anyone but my guitar - special feeling ( silly but we all have this one )