Hi all,

I'm in the market for an acoustic since I don't have one. I'd like to get something that's nicely mid-range without getting too expensive. I'd still need to save up a bit because my taxes have gotten crazy and I helped my son with his wedding expenses. Here's the ones I'm looking at:

Yamaha FGC-TA: I thought the Transacoustic stuff was nothing more than a gimmick. YouTube videos don't do it justice. I played it at the local GC and another guy who was in the acoustic room and I just laughed, not because it was funny but it was eerie that it sounded so good. The chorus does a more-than-passable 12 string imitation.

Taylor Academy 10e: I really enjoyed playing this one. I also like the Taylor bolt-on construction which would make a neck reset a 10 minute procedure instead of major surgery. I also like that Taylor makes their own low-mid guitars at their own factory just down the road from their USA factory in Mexico.

Martin D10E-01 Road Series: This one is the most expensive, but that little extra gives you solid wood back and sides. The other two are laminate. That might help it hold value. Like Taylor, Martin makes their own stuff in Mexico. There's also this one, but I'm not sure why it's cheaper.

Of the three, I enjoyed playing the Taylor the most. That probably is because they string up the Academy series with slightly lighter strings, so you could restring the others too. I took along my string action ruler so I could check the action at the 12th fret. All three guitars were seemingly well set up. The Yamaha seemed to have the most "finishy" finish if you get my meaning. The Taylor's was probably the nicest. The Martin Road Series is the rawest because that's basically the Road Series vibe. The three sounded nice acoustically. They are all slightly different but none were bad. Any thoughts would be appreciated.