Can't play two at once. I'd rather have the one "nicer" one

I'm just not a fan of collecting guitar shaped objects, so quantity is not valuable to me. I would get one guitar.

Two. I got my Larrivee i love new this year for just under $1400.00. I’m sure i could find a very nice guitar to join it for the remaining $1600. Used would be fine with me. I would like another USA Breedlove or a 00015SM.

It depends on where you stand as an acoustic guitar owner.

My under 1k$CAD Seagull Performer CW QIT, Alvarez AP66ESB and Eastman AC122ce
have nothing to be shy besides
my over 2k$CAD Taylors 322 and 412, Martins OOO-18 (2014) and OODB, Guild F-30 Aragon or Gibson L-OO TV.

So, I would not buy any other entry level acoustic but my eyes would stick on a Collings OM T.

I'd try to find a mid 60s D 18. or hope to luck out on a D 18GE.

i would put the money towards a Gibson SJ-200

I think this would be my strategy. If I were to order a guitar tomorrow it would be a Halcyon, which would run about $1,800 Canadian. Save the rest for other discretionary spending.

Buying two guitars at once doesn't make much sense for an amateur musician.

I'd use it for one nice guitar, probably an Iris or an Atkin (though I'd need to put some of my own money towards the Atkin as $3000 = €2528 and there's an Atkin Essential 000 A at Some Neck Guitars right now for €2999).

I would buy 2 solid wood guitars for $ 1500 each, a mahogany dread and a rosewood OM or MJ.

That's the way I would go !!

One could look at my sig you could guess what my inclination would be.

Taking the hypothetical as "the balance of the $3K not spent on a guitar or guitars goes away." And given the number of guitars I have now and like well enough, my actual answer to the non-actual deal being set out in the hypothetical is one $3000 guitar.

Probably a rosewood 00 or OM/000 with I guess a spruce top.* I don't care about untouched good looks or decoration, so it might be used or "player grade" instrument. I have a couple of spare hard cases for that size of guitar so there'd be another way I might try get my maximum money's worth out of the $3k allowed.

*I'd be interested in the sound of a cedar/rosewood guitar, but not a common combination.

I'd put that $3000 towards a Santa Cruz OM Grand 12-string which costs almost 3x that much.

$3K is about the cost of an Iris Guitars DF with sunburst and slothead. Sounds good to me.

I'd add some money and purchase a nylon string crossover guitar. I might just do this anyway without the $3,000.:)

It would be one (gently?) used Gibson SJ200, and I would play and sing all those beautiful Gregg Lake songs I love so much. Mr. Lake once said it was the only guitar that he would use and that mattered. I get it. Godspeed my friend.

This ^.

…………..

It depends on your playing style. If you play primarily with a pick or primarily fingerpicking, I would get one guitar that suits that style. If you both flat pick and fingerpick, I would consider getting two guitars, one for each style. There are guitars that are very versatile especially the Larrivee 'L' bodies. I have found that the Gibson Advanced Jumbo or J-45 are also very versatile guitars.

Def a 3k guitar. I'd have another Furch headed my way.

The quick answer is 1.

The difference of a $1500 guitar and a $3000. guitar is significant.

You can buy a decent guitar for $1500.

But you can buy a guitar for $3000, that a $1500 guitar can't touch.

You can also buy a $3000. POS, so there is that.

Buy the one, the best one you can afford. Because you can only play one guitar at a time! Also a better instrument inspires and enables better playing. Two medium guitars will not do that. Stretch that to $5,000 and get one great guitar, if you can.
The exception would be if you need one set up very differently, for slide, etc., or if you need a nylon string alternate.

I still need a late ‘50’s/early ‘60’s Gibson ES-125T (or TC) and a TV Yellow single-cut Special. I think that could be done with $3K, maybe in a private sale environment.

At present I have too many guitars because I don't have a lot of space, so the correct answer should be to spend the $3000 elsewhere.

OTOH I see now that the HD-35 I've been lusting after is listed locally at $3400 so ...;)

I would spend it all and hopefully find a McIlroy for 3k.

a thought and an opinion
 

OP: My opinion is to stick the money in the bank and THINK a while. Ain't gonna evaporate and choices parsed in person will yield up a better decision than just-because-you-can.

I was playing my guitars one day for my family. They could really care less about the name on the headstock. I was playing a Martin D-35, a Martin D-18MD, and an Eastman E20D. I was going back and forth with each guitar playing different styles but always repeating the same thing that I had just played on the previous guitar. The strings were all the same brand and type. I asked them to pick the guitar that they thought sounded the best after I had finished playing. There was 5 people in the room. All five of them picked the Eastman. So I guess some of you guys are right. There is a difference between a 1500 dollar guitar and a 3000 plus dollar guitar. I sold the Martins not to long after that and when Eastman came out with the Thermo cured models I sold the E20d and bought one of the E20D-tc. I have no regrets. I have to say if I was going to spend 3000 bucks on a guitar again, it would probably say Furch on the headstock. Well, actually it would just have their trademark F.

This might be better, if it there was a poll attached. But I think the answer depends a lot on whether the person already has guitars, or if it assumes this is the total budget without any other guitars. If it included my current guitars, then I may not *need* two more and would probably select one higher end guitar. But if it assumed I had no other guitars, then I'd definitely pick out two good ones with differing tonewoods and/or body sizes.

Rosewood and Mahogany dreads would be my first choice, but maybe the Mahogany gives way to a Maple jumbo.

If I had a few, I'd buy one. If I had one or less, I'd buy two rather different ones, because I like to have a few options. In either case, I'd be most likely to buy used unless I got lucky and found something I really liked in a store (which can happen).

Last year I bought two guitars I'd wanted for some time for under $3,000.

I bought a used 2017 Martin HD-28 for about $1,850. A few months later I bought a new Gold Tone Paul Beard round neck spider cone wood body resonator for $950.

Both of these were guitars I'd been wanting/considering for a while.

I never say "I have $5 k to spend, what can I get?" I say "what sounds/experience am I looking for? What's available that can provide it?" Then I find out what it will cost in today's market.

I'm fortunate and financially flush, so it's never about the cost for me. But I've never resented spending extra to get better quality/tone/playability.

Can I get one guitar and use the balance to upgrade my PA system?

I would buy one used guitar - the best one I could find for $3,000 (but saving up for $4,000 would be better).