High End Acoustic Buyers Guide 2025
Published on 18 February 2025
Buying a high end acoustic guitar isn’t like buying an electric guitar. There is a fundamental difference, and in my years of playing and selling guitars, I think it’s one of companionship.
Those of us who play both electric and acoustic guitar might agree that we need a selection of electric guitars for all of the myriad tonal, practical and visual differences they offer us. Acoustic guitars offer great variety as well, of course, but we do tend to look for a ‘keeper’ with our acoustics: a trusted songwriting partner that will accompany us as our primary companion in the years ahead.
There’s an intimacy involved with our relation to an acoustic guitar that I believe is unique, and that’s why the idea of spending a significant sum of money on a special acoustic guitar appeals so much to us. We want it to bring its magic to our playing and writing sessions, with a tone and look that suits our sensibilities and desires.
Contents
Choosing a High End Acoustic Guitar
Martin Custom Shop Expert D-28 1937 Aged
Gibson Custom Shop 1957 SJ-200 Vintage Sunburst
Taylor Custom Grand Concert Sinker Redwood Honduran Rosewood
Choosing a High End Acoustic Guitar
Indeed, there is now a huge selection of high quality acoustics on the market, so choosing one is a more complex process than in the past. Today’s blog article focuses on the high end of the market, where the buyer makes a real commitment to a special, quality instrument. I aim to take a look at a number of top brands and builders from across the globe, and feature some instruments that I believe to be exceptional. Some will be famous American brands, and others will be newer companies who build in smaller batches. Your preference will very much depend on what you want from your new life-partner, so please take these recommendations as starting points for your own fascinating search for your ultimate acoustic. These are all guitars that I believe perform incredibly, but that’s not to say that they are all equally comparable: as you read through the blog, you’ll resonate with the features of some guitars over others, and I suggest paying close attention to this, because it’ll lead you closer to the guitar that you truly want to own.
Also, from helping beginners choose their first guitar to assisting countless players find their own ‘trusted companion’ - as well as having performed live with acoustic guitars over several continents - I feel well-placed to be offering guidance and perspective on this subject.
As always, take what resonates with you and leave what doesn’t. Onwards!
Martin Custom Shop Expert D-28 1937 Aged
When you hear acoustic aficionados talking about the merits and glories of ‘Pre War’ guitars, this is what they are talking about. A late 1930s dreadnought made by Martin in the USA. It’s acoustic guitar history through-and-through, and the sound made by this guitar is the standard by which all subsequent dreadnoughts are measured.
Martin offer a D-28 in a number of variants. I’d say that this one - the Martin Custom Shop Expert D-28 1937 Aged - is the most special of them all.
Why?
Easy. On top of the automatically iconic status of the model (the list of users and records that the D-28 appears on would take longer than this article), you are getting a great deal of historical authenticity here, from the minutely correct 5/16” scalloped Spruce bracing, arranged in the era-correct version of Martin’s X-bracing format, to the correct neck carve, hide glue & cloth strap construction. In other words, it’s a hand made, old-school Nazareth-built Martin guitar. There’s even a light patina of ageing with a smattering of lacquer checking! The only concession to modernity that I can find is a modern truss rod, and you’d definitely prefer that, wouldn’t you?
The timbers here are not only as premium as premium can be, they are the classic Martin tonal combination that delivers ‘the’ dreadnought tone of the ages: spruce and roosewood, found here in their highest form of Adirondack Spruce and East Indian Rosewood.
If you value heritage and timelessness, then you will already be on board with this wonderful D-28. If you plan to play a little bit of everything, musically speaking, then a dreadnought should really be your first consideration. Unless the size is a negative factor (there are bigger guitars, but dreadnoughts are on the large side) then this is the acoustic guitar design that can excel at everything from strumming to fingerpicking to all manner of alternative tapping techniques. It does not get better than this!
In fact, Martin offer acoustics that are a lot more expensive than this, and this is hardly a cheap guitar!! I’d say that decorative elements and exclusivity can make the other guitars dearer to buy, as you’d probably expect. I think this is where the critical apex of spend versus tone and performance meets in the middle. It’s an exceptional and understated instrument that doesn’t have a particular agenda on how you should approach it.
One other reason for its special status is this: only a very few dealers have access to this guitar. Martin Custom Shop Expert status is something that dealers earn after years of dedication to the brand, and service to its customers. We are such dealers - proudly so - and can therefore offer wonderful guitars like this to you, when most other dealers cannot.
Why would you go anywhere else?
Gibson Custom Shop 1957 SJ-200 Vintage Sunburst
There is a rule of thumb in the acoustic guitar world which suggests that you can tell the overall sonic character of a guitar merely by looking at its body shape. It’s hardly an exact science, but in the case of this superb Gibson Custom Shop 1957 SJ-200, it’s right on the money.
The guitar sounds BIG. It has a wonderful, lively sound that still has clarity, despite the huge low end response. Put simply, if you need to fill a room with sound, then this is the guitar for you!
The SJ-200 is a famous singer-songwriter’s guitar, and there’s a reason for that. On top of the volume and projection I just mentioned, a good example like this has a nice little scoop in the midrange, right where the human voice lives. If you sing and accompany yourself onstage with a strummed acoustic guitar, then you’ll be in heaven when you connect with an SJ-200!
So, this is from Gibson’s Custom Shop in Bozeman, Montana, and is built using the historical combo of Sitka spruce and flamed maple. Notice though, that the spruce top has been ‘thermally aged’. Most of you will now be familiar with this process - also known as torrefaction or torrification - and it is the process of removing all moisture from the timber in a heated, smoke-free environment. The idea is to simulate decades and decades of natural seasoning, in order to make these guitars sound crisply ‘played-in’ right off the bat. There’s a natural darkening of the wood as a side-effect (other companies talk about ‘caramelisation’ and other such terms), and you can see that through this SJ-200’s Vintage Sunburst finish.
Does thermal ageing work? I’d say definitely yes, and I’d advise all healthy sceptics to A/B one of these next to an SJ-200 from the Original Series and see how the tones compare.
Aside from the ageing process, the timber choice means there’d normally be a whole lot of percussive brightness on offer, and if this combination were used on a smaller body design, the effect could actually be a touch too toppy. On this Super-Jumbo though, it’s the perfect mix, judged well with the torrefied spruce top, and the overall sound is absolutely stunning.
Talking of stunning, the Gibson SJ-200 is easily one of the most beautifully charismatic looking guitars ever. It is drop dead gorgeous, and will add a level of vibe to your live performances that a ‘brown bread’ guitar just won’t, no matter how nice it sounds! Audiences listen with their eyes, people!
If you are mainly strumming and singing, and you want a knockout guitar that delivers visually and sonically, then this historical beauty is the one for you.
Atkin 00037 Aged Finish
Over to the UK now for a lovely triple-oh from one of Britain’s finest builders. Alister Atkin and co have a wonderful little workshop in Canterbury where they painstakingly create some of the finest pre-war replica guitars available.
This choice - the Atkin 00037 Aged Finish - follows similar principals to both of the guitars we’ve looked at, in different ways. As with the Martin, we are looking at a Pre War build style, which includes bracing patterns. As with the Gibson, we have a guitar with a torrefied spruce top.
Where this differs is in the guitar design itself. The 000 is a little bit smaller and shallower than a dreadnought. This makes the guitar easier to manage on a physical level, and also changes the sound dramatically: there is more of a mid-focus here and much less in the bottom end. This puts the 000 (and the OM, which is a very similar model) in the pole position choice for fingerstyle guitarists who love note separation and clarity. All guitars can of course do both, but it’s good to lean towards your preferences and strengths as a player, as you’d hear (and feel) more benefit from a guitar that suits you.
The fit and finish on this British-made, hand crafted guitar is immense. It really has that antique sound, and the Aged finish is, as with the martin, more sympathetic to reality than it is to, say, a Fender relic.
If you want a timeless classic with a bit of a twist, this British take on an American heirloom model could be just your thing.
Taylor Custom Grand Concert Sinker Redwood Honduran Rosewood
Back to the USA again for this next guitar masterpiece. Taylor are a ‘modern’ (the company is a mere 50 years old) guitar builder who trades on their own designs, innovations and stylings, rather than draw too much from the classics of the past.
If there's such a thing as a ‘house style’ for Taylor, then I’d use terms like ‘bright’, ‘contemporary’, ‘smooth’ and ‘impeccably engineered’. They are all about perfection, kind of like how PRS might compare to Gibson, if you feel like analogising.
Taylor’s Custom Shop models are where you can find some very interesting concepts in timber choice, not to mention features that aren’t often found within the company’s standard ranges.
Today, I’ve chosen to highlight this Taylor Custom Grand Concert Sinker Redwood Honduran Rosewood. Now, that rather long title tells us plenty about which ingredients have been used to build this sublime guitar, but let me go a little deeper here. Firstly, the Grand Concert body shape is a modern classic. It’s just one of those shapes that is so right, from its outline to its depth: it’s a perfect middle ground - like the dreadnought- but without the latter’s size. This is Taylor’s trademark body style for good reason!
Now, the timbers. Honduran rosewood is simply very beautiful, very dense rosewood. It looks gorgeous and imparts a firm, strong voice to the guitar with plenty of ‘upper half’ frequencies, if you follow me. The Sinker Redwood is an unusual one, and requires a little explanation…
‘Sinker’ woods get that name because they’ve been cut from logs that have literally sat on the bottom of a riverbed for sometimes a great many decades, drink up all kinds of nutrients and whatever else makes its way through such bodies of water. These would be logs that would just sink midstream as they were being moved from the logging mill to their destination - why use roads when rivers are already so convenient? - and have lain there forgotten until folks like Taylor dive in and get ‘em back!
All of this is fine and dandy for a story, but what does it mean in guitar-making terms? Well, here’s how Taylor describe it:
The age and size of these trees translates into a tight grain with nice cross-grain stiffness, so it will tend to have a fairly bold response, with a brilliance complemented by warm overtones similar to cedar.
As a fan of cedar-topped guitars, I can certainly vouch for the warm sweetness of this Taylor Custom. This warmth is balanced out by the rosewood, but not overpowered by it. It’s a rather lovely sounding guitar that has a sound that’s really quite different to what we’ve encountered so far.
I think this guitar will continue to reveal more depth and beauty to its owner as the years go by, and is also a quietly stunning looker, too.
Lowden O25C IR/C
Lowden are another slightly more contemporary acoustic guitar brand who create their own unique designs and body shapes. As a relative luddite to the ways of acoustic guitars when I was a younger man, I remember being knocked sideways at how exquisite sounding my first experience with a Lowden guitar was. It seemed to be like a grand piano sound stuffed somewhere inside the soundhole! I’d never heard anything like it, and I have to say, that extraordinary experience has occurred on more than one occasion since!
Lowden guitars are somewhat of an acquired taste visually - certainly if you mentally project images of classic acoustics to yourself all day long, these might not be an obvious fit for you - but I’ll put this simply: if I were an acoustic guitar builder, I would be very, very concerned about any prospective buyer trying one of my guitars after playing a Lowden.
So, the model I’ve chosen today is the Lowden O25C IR/C. I picked this one because that fateful first play of mine was on the Richard Thompson model, which was made with cedar and ziricote. My choice today has red cedar and Indian rosewood, which to my ears delivers if anything a slightly better sound than that incredible model from years ago. There is even more resonance here, but not at the expense of anything else: this still sounds like some stunningly beautiful wooden cathedral every time a chord is struck.
I’d recommend this to every serious player who cares about -and revels in - stunning acoustic sound. I’d also throw down my gauntlet and profess a preference for builders who make original designs, and Lowden certainly have their own unique style.
Try a few Lowdens, because they make guitars in a wide range of timber combinations and body sizes. My preference may tally with yours, or you may yearn for spruce etc. But take the time to consider it all, because goodness me, it’s worth it!
It’s About YOU
What do you like? Do you want something portable that’s very pick-uppable? Do you want a marvellous showboat to take on stage and feel like Elvis? It’s all legitimate, just be sure to know your own intentions and you can’t go wrong.
This certainly isn’t about what I think you should play, because my ears, tastes and preferences are not yours. You’ll already have some ideas about what you like: I’m merely here to single out some very worthy contenders that will all make a wonderful personal connection with you.
Make a day of it, play a bunch of them! Get one of our staff to play a few as you stand back and listen. One will almost certainly begin to speak to you, and all I encourage you to do is listen for that vice when it happens.
Have a great time searching for your acoustic guitar life partner!
