[Brent Hutto]

I think Taylor's attention to fit, finish and setup as well as their overall quality control (consistency) is second to none among mass-produced instruments. And I think that extra modicum of quality comes at a considerable price. You can find other (especially Asian-built) guitars for less than half the price of a similar Taylor and by carefully selecting the best of a large lot and by having it set up and fine-tuned you could probably end up with just as playable and good-sounding a guitar somewhat more cheaply.

So my take on it is that you "don't want to pay that much money for a guitar" there are ways around paying Taylor's prices. But conversely Taylor is IMO perfectly reasonable in expecting a somewhat premium price for consistently delivering guitars that are just a joy to play right out of the box and of immaculate quality. Model for model, feature for feature a Taylor and a Martin or Gibson will be roughly comparable in price but with the Taylor you're getting more actual, physical quality for your money (assuming of course there's a Taylor guitar you actually like).

That said, once I experienced my first good hand-built guitar I could never imagine paying what Taylor 400-series and up prices for what is still a mass-produced factory commodity that is, as such, overbuilt and poorly suited for my light-touch fingerstyle. But that is admittedly off topic for this thread. I do not feel they are "over priced", just that they're not what I need.