Flat Top Acoustic to consider within 1000 budget?

[kidsmoke*]

If I'm not mistaken, the original poster is an absolute beginner guitarist, and the pragmatist in me just can't encourage him to spend more than a couple hundred bucks on his very first guitar. Ok...lets say a few hundred bucks...

I started playing in my mid 30's at a point when I could have spent a little money on a guitar. I knew NOTHING about guitars and bought an old ALvarez off of a coworker for $100. I needed a neck reset and the action was ridiculous above the 5th fret, but I didn't even realize any of this initially. Turns out that 100.00 was sound investment. I started lessons and played that guitar for a year. At that time it was apparent I was gonna stick with it and I went to have the guitar looked at because I was wanting to move up the neck etc....I was told in no uncertain terms that given the condition/value...even a set of strings was an extravagance for this guitar...that set me off in search of a new, serious instrument....now here's the rub...

I went shopping with a frame of reference. I understood action. I understood neck comfort. I had a "baseline" for sound. I could now play maple/mahogany/rosewood and put it in context of what I was playing for myself, and make an informed decision.

We've narrowed it down to only a couple hundred models of guitars with our recommendations, and odds are the first one he gets will be fine, but...

I dunno, if money is no object, go for it, I suppose. Had I been handed a D-28 by my co worker all those years ago, I'd probably still be playing it.

My suggestion is to find a Washburn or a Breedlove or an Epi masterbuilt on craigslist for 400.00 or less...take a friend to look at it who can check the neck angle and the frets and look for a twisted neck etc....and play that for a year or two. When you know you'll be sticking with it, find a shop at some point when you yourself are a bit of a player and spend an hour moving from guitar to guitar, and find the one the makes you pause and smile and repeat again and again and again...note the materials etc and then when the time comes, you know what type of guitar suits you.

To me it's kind of like saying to a 10 yr old..."son, when you're ready, marry a size 2 blonde". Size 2 blondes are wonderful. No doubt, but maybe not for everyone. You gotta date. find out what works for you. Forgive the analogy but I think you get what I mean.

[Eric***]

If I'm not mistaken, the original poster is an absolute beginner guitarist, and the pragmatist in me just can't encourage him to spend more than a couple hundred bucks on his very first guitar. Ok...lets say a few hundred bucks...

This is all reasonable and nicely articulated. But as BS says, it's not too common to take that measured approach when it comes to guitar forums. I swear I've tried to give similar advice before and have actually been reprimanded for it.

More than anything though, I think a lot of people don't want to bother with the journey. They like the image of playing guitar and don't care about the details of how different woods sound in an acoustic. People buy what they want.

I hope the OP takes your advice and buys something under $300 to start. Getting a solid guitar is an important part of learning, but I'd want to know what I wanted before I shelled out the cash.

Update: looks like I was writing this while the OP was updating. That seems like it will serve you well while you get oriented.