Topic: Guitar Shopping - spendthrift or cheapskate!
I was at my local music shop to get an opinion on my 15 year old Fender's setup and did some browsing in the acoustic section. The bad news - the Fender has a slightly bowed top, which means drastic surgery at the saddle end would be needed to get the action lower. So point one for you second hand guitar buyers - I can't see this bowing, it's so slight, but just a couple of millimeters means that I'm stuck with a tough action after fret 7. Oh well!
So I started looking at 500pounds/750Euro/ 1000Usd guitars. The guitar guy was really helpful and let me compare quite a few, including his own recommendation - a Taylor 110e at 770euro. I can say that this is a really good guitar - it's a budget Taylor - it has the name - it's well made, it has a case and it's got electronics that are so discrete you have to give them top marks for that! ( http://www.taylorguitars.com/Guitars/100-200/100/110e/ ). So IF that's my price point, that's the one I'd go for.
My problem is - I tried a Gibson Hummingbird. Immediately you can hear the difference between the budget guitars and the full price. Every note was balanced, rich and clear. It's not the playability - it's the tone.
So my next big decision - do I stick to the budget ones (I already have a Simon and Patrick)- or spend the once in a lifetime money! This could take some weeks!