I've been playing for 20 years and I'm upgrading my starter acoustic for a proper spruce mahogany small-body player's grade guitar. I am quite new to the world of good acoustic guitars as I've pretty much exclusively played electric guitars for many years.
For reference, my dream guitar is a Martin 000-18 Modern Deluxe, but I simply can't afford one right now, so I'm looking for something in the ballpark that I'll also be less worried about / happy to bring to the campfire.
Locally I've found two options.
- Yamaha FS5 - pretty much like new, made recently, a little more expensive.
- A Taylor 512 from 1995 - a 2 cracks in the top I would need to fix (due to lack of humidity, apparently), no electronics. A little less expensive, but after I stabilize the crack with my tech they will be about the same price.
I like the idea of the Taylor because the wood will have had lots of time to open up and I don't mind a few cracks so long as the guitar is in a durable state.
Experienced acoustic players, what are your thoughts on these decisions? Both guitars are private sales over an hour's drive from me, so I won't be able to simply play them side by side.