What *should* my budget be?

[DukeX]

My sweet-range seems to be between $1,200 - $2,000.

These are recent purchases (last 4-5 years) for me (or almost purchases J-15 and 00-17):

Martin 000-15sm = < 1,300 new.
Taylor 324 = < $1,200 new.
Larrivee SD-40 = < $1,200 new.
Gibson J-15 = < $1,200 new.
Martin 00-17 - < $1,300 new.

[BillyMays]

I'd say $1000-2000. I've never really picked up a guitar in that range that didn't sound great in some way. The quality is there and they almost always come with a nice case to match. You can even usually find some guitars on the second hand market that are of the $3k-ish flavor for under $2k if you take your time. IMO, you'd be hard pressed to find a guitar in that price range that isn't a quality piece worth the money.

My example is, I recently picked up a Breedlove Tiger's Eye for $1890 (w/tax). It's price everywhere else is $2500 and msrp is $3300. If you look, you can find what you really want for money that you can live with spending.

[Mike McLenison]

It's subjective. I've been playing almost 50 years, performed all over NY and AZ, taught guitar and recorded radio commercials with an acoustic. I currently have 2 acoustics, a 2012 Martin HD-35 and an Epiphone EJ-160 as my camping/beach, ok, beater-guitar. That's it. If I was going to add to that it would be a 12 string Martin, a classical with ebony bridge and fingerboard, and maybe a harp guitar (Muriel Anderson has been an inspiration in that regard).

[Zissou Intern]

Originally Posted by buddyhu

I think the $1500-3000 range (used) is where you find pretty consistent high quality, in regards to tone, in regardless fit and finish, and regarding playability. Great guitars can be had for a lot less, but the consistency of the greatness can be less reliable As you go lower with price. And below $1200, you can do very well, but you might also find some aspect (especially tone). A bit disappointing. M

This has been my experience as well. I have also had a few guitars in the $750-1500 range that sounded very nice, but there were ergonomic issues, like neck profile or string spacing, that just didn't work for me. My Gibson J15 and J35 and Eastman E10D and Martin D18 were all prime examples.

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by MickZ

Considering diminishing returns, I think anything over $3K is where the nuances become exceedingly costly. If you consider the D18 and J45, which are workhorse guitars, they land below the $3K mark new but offer just about everything you will ever need and are benchmarks for a reason. When you go above these, you're either paying for aesthetic choices, fancy woods, custom options or boutique builds. In most cases, the factory guitars have greater variability, so that's a key factor if you're buying online, and the boutiques like Bourgeois, Collings and Santa Cruz provide more consistency.

This exactly. Guitars, especially those built this century, are absolutely bound by "the law of diminishing returns."

You get an audible and tangible improvement in tone and quality when going from $200 to $800 to $1500. You will have a harder time discerning the difference when going from $2000 to $4000 to $6000.

As you go up in price, each additional dollar spent is buying an ever-shrinking and harder to measure/quantify "improvement."

[nightchef]

Just popping back in to say thank you for all the thoughtful responses! This is exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping for.

[TBman]

Late to the party, but I think spending $1,600 to $3,000 will get you your monies worth. Its not automatic so play before you buy if you can.

[Newbflat]

I’m still waiting on my Eastman E10om-TC to loose some of its spanking new sheen, but what led me two it was playing two different ones (one TC and the other not) and was very impressed. Both were well played in and a few years old but sitting in with other guitars in the 3-6k range it was very hard too not ponder if an extra 4K was worth it. Sure, there were better sounding guitars, most were just different though. Assuming you find a good one it’s hard to not see it as a solid really nice sounding guitar. Kinda like mid-fi stereo gear... you will have to pay a LOT more to hear an appreciable difference. So.... in this case something like $1000-$1500

[letterk]

Like so many things, it depends. I was recently shopping and found the $1500-$2000 used prices get you stunning guitar. So that was my sweet spot. At that point probably paying for more bling than tone, but both really, really good. At that price the good (not abused) used guitars were far better than my ability. So what did I do? Spent twice that much. So don't listen to me.

[fartamis]

For me the sweet spot is not a question of price ... it is when the guitar is entirely made of solid wood. I played $ 3000 guitars that sounded and played no better than $ 1500 guitars ... and played $ 3000 guitars that sounded and played better than $ 1500 guitars. In general all solid wood guitars sound good. Then it is only a preference of the types of wood used.

[tadol]

As long as you approach it like its a non-essential commodity that you can use as economic factor in some equation, I can’t help. But, a really good guitar is one that you put a little more into than you can really afford, and remain thankful that you did for years afterward - if you can make a commitment to an instrument, you will be very satisfied in the long run -

[johnnydobbers]

Around 3K for factor built used guitars...but I go up to about 7k for the vintage gems

[colins]

Originally Posted by nightchef

.....By this I mean, if you made a scatterplot with every available guitar on it, with the X-axis being price and the Y-axis being quality, where along the x-axis would there be the highest concentration of points above the trendline?

I realize that I'm being reductionist here, and that in real life quality is a highly complex and somewhat subjective thing that doesn't correlate to price in a simple, linear way. But I'd still be curious to hear people's thoughts.....

Simple, delete quality on the Y axis and substitute happiness. When you try two guitars that you can afford, and one is more expensive than the other, ask yourself whether there is added happiness (enjoyment, satisfaction) in playing the more expensive one that justifies the cost.

Everyone will have a unique answer, which is why some of us get a buzz out of a well-played beater while others here get an equal buzz out of a pricey fingerstyle guitar.

[musicman1951]

A purchase depends on a few things:

Your ear. Can you hear a difference between a $1,000 guitar and a $2,000 guitar? Never pay for quality you can't hear.

There are really nice guitars available for $400. Every small increase in sound quality comes at a disproportionate increase in price. An $800 guitar does not sound twice as good as a $400 guitar.

Your wallet is none of my business, but I can talk myself into spending a few more dollars if I fall in love with one that I will play nearly every day for years. That's a lot of hours. But you can only spend your money once, so that one is on you.

I would absolutely be looking for a really nice used guitar. There are lots of them out there (and here) and they give you considerably more guitar for your money.

I consider the D-18 the starting range for a possible lifer guitar.

[Woolbury]

I agree with many here that there are many fine instruments to pick from in the $1500-$2000 range. Most of my guitars fall in this range. My Collings was closer to $3k, but I've had it 10 years or more and so happy I stepped up and spent the money on that one. At the time it felt such an extravagance, now its one one of the better decisions I've made.