Oh, they have Martin? I thought I saw Martin in guitar collection.. Guess I'll have to shop around...

Hi guys, I've played guitar for more than a decade now and I've been using cheapo acoustic guitar all these while. The most expensive acoustic guitar I own was rm400. I've finally decided to buy a decent acoustic guitar for myself. But I have no idea which to choose. My budget is below rm3000.

Ok, I know this is what I want

1. Grand auditorium
2. preferably solid top, if not full solid.
3. With pickup
4. Standard size, no baby or travel size

My list of choices would be

1. Martin 000x1AE - solid top, laminated mahogany side and back - rm2999
2. Taylor 114ce - laminated top, side and back (if not mistaken) - around rm3000

Or I'll go for not so famous brands but full solid

3. Farida R-52e - solid spruce top, solid mahogany side and back - the non electric version is priced at rm2080 so I assume the electric version would be around rm2800
4. L.luthier - solid spruce top, solid mahogany side and back - rm2800

My question is, is brand really that important? Should I go for a branded entry level or a not so branded but with high specs...
Any suggestion would be much appreciated. Thanks

Uh Taylor guitars do not use laminated tops. They're all solid tops as far as I can remember. The 114ce should have a solid spruce top with laminated sides.

If you want that extra bass in your strumming, then Martins are the way to go.
Taylors are traditionally known for their bright, fingerpicked sound.

That being said, I own an OM-1 (Solid top, solid sapele sides/back) and my god the mids are crazy clear. Absolutely a match for the Taylors.
I got it for around RM2000 brand new on eBay. Best deal I've done in my life. 

thats super cheap bro, very good deal

and to ts, if u don't mind a slightly lower resale value , u can try MATON or FARIDA. These both are good acoustic brand as well just that its not really popular in Malaysia and many ppl dunno bout these brand. I tried Farida D62E before. One of the best acoustic i ever tested compared to Taylor 214CE. I tested only these 2 high end guitar myself and i loves the neck feel on the FARIDA and the warm tone rather than Taylor bright tone (could be string differences), if u r worried bout resale value then u better get TAYLOR

I've heard rave reviews for Farida guitars, but i'm still not buying them xP

Matons are crazy good guitars, too bad they're damn expensive, even in Australia. I stay less than 20km from their factory but their prices are still hiked up to match the Martins and Taylors. 
I REALLY REALLY like the Maton EM325C, but it's too expensive for its specs IMO.

Uh Taylor guitars do not use laminated tops. They're all solid tops as far as I can remember. The 114ce should have a solid spruce top with laminated sides.

If you want that extra bass in your strumming, then Martins are the way to go.
Taylors are traditionally known for their bright, fingerpicked sound.

That being said, I own an OM-1 (Solid top, solid sapele sides/back) and my god the mids are crazy clear. Absolutely a match for the Taylors.
I got it for around RM2000 brand new on eBay. Best deal I've done in my life. 

didnt know bentley carries martin.
also, taylor is solid top

---

Added on July 12, 2012, 11:15 amJee, search Taylor. I remmber they had a very comprehensive pdf file that compares all the body shapes and explains quite well. Also comparison for wood type (for each part) and how it affects tone. Sure its generic but enough for you to compare pro and cons of body shapes and wood used if diff places. applicable for any guitar.

am at work so cant access my home computer for that file.

Where Can I get maton in Malaysia? Never heard of them. Oh so Taylor is bright sounding and Martin is more bassy? I'm looking for bright tone actually.

But looking at it again, I think Taylor is way too expensive. Coz Martin's price is only rm2999 (retail) solid top and 114ce is rm3300 (discounted) solid top also.

Brand wise, I like Martin more than Taylor.

I've narrow down my choice to Martin 000x1ae and l.luthier bayou. I'll check out farida and Yamaha as well.

---

Added on July 12, 2012, 1:58 am

Since u own a full solid guitar, do u mind telling me the difference in solid top and full solid guitars? Are there any big differences? Thanks

---

Added on July 12, 2012, 2:03 amSorry guys, one more question. Which part of the guitar determine the tone of a guitar? Top or back and sides? I notice most guitars uses spruce top but various side n back. The well known ones are mahogany, rosewood, sapele, and maple. Anyone knows the tone of those woods?

I just noticed that the Martin 000x1ae uses richlite for fretboard. Hmm....it's not wood.

I cant really tell you the exact difference as I only own one full solid top guitar in my Martin and my other solid top is a Cort so it's not really fair to compare.
But I'll tell you the difference my two guitars have.

My Martin like I've mentioned before is bright and has very sweet mids. Before playing an OM sized guitar I never really knew why fingerpickers preferred OM bodies, but now that I have, it's clear to see (or hear) why. The mids and highs are just not as muddled as dreadnoughts. As an example, I've a friend with a Martin DCX1E dreadnought. While it's a great guitar to strum, even he agrees that for fingerpicking my guitar wins.

My Cort doesnt have such clear mids and highs, but it has that extra bass that I always enjoy after playing on my Martin for a long time. I wont be getting rid of my Cort anytime soon though, it's my first guitar and will always have a place in my heart xD

---

Added on July 14, 2012, 6:20 am

Dont worry too much about that, it still sounds great. Unless you're a die hard wood-or-nothing person

good research, it shows that u really know what u wan already, to me, its easy to find a bright full sounding guitar but its never easy to find a warm but not muddy sounding guitar

id say, Taylor is a lot more high-end than martin.

anyway, strings play important role too.

so not much diff in terms of sound from either two guitars,

u shud use Elixir strings.