i agree with the original poster. blueridge was the company that first made me think of it, because their low end all solid guitars are so nice, and as you go up the blueridge line, they keep sounding better. their parlors are the only parlors i really like the sound of below three grand, and i actually like them as much as those more expensive ones.
one of the nicest guitars i've played in the last year was an eastman AC822. finish and hardware were first rate, sound was a dream, neck was perfect. it was one of the guitars i'll remember for a very long time. if it weren't so deep, i'd have laid it away in a heartbeat. and price-wise, it was a lot more than those entry solid blueridges, but it was still quite a value.
also i play small guitars only, and i have yet to find a small u.s. made guitar i really like at any price - i've never really liked the boxy sound of most smaller guits. but guild makes a couple GADS that both fit my needs physically and sound very good, one on layaway, the other to ship monday, btw. i've tried a lot of guitars before i ordered those two including plenty of martins and gibsons and taylors.
funny thing, i found myself writing about price here more than once, but because of my current need for a smaller guitar, price doesn't even come into it. gibson makes a few guitars that work physically, but they're made to have that old-time blues sound, which is not what i'm looking for. the only martin i played that was physically comfortable was a terze, and i didn't like it at all. taylor doesn't make an all solid guitar that is small enough, nor does breedlove.
so there is something else for me to like about chinese made guitars in addition to price/value, and to me it's essential.
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