As a general rule, I think for most people the following made sense for the past 20+ years:
Buy your first "introductory" guitar. One takes a chance here, because it's probably not going to be very playable or sound nice. This is usually without advice from me, and usually takes the form of a guitar that comes in a "pack" deal, somewhere in the $100-150 ball park.
What I'd advise then would be a "compromise" guitar. Something better than the above, but not a "real" acoustic guitar. The advice would be to get the nicest possible with a solid spruce top, with consideration for a pickup system. Epiphone and Seagull/LasSiDo has been a good choice in this category, .
Then, I would advise to try not to buy another UNTIL one could afford either a Martin D28, or a 600-700 series Taylor. Because - in between you're either paying for cosmetics, or another compromise, and these 2 are effectively where "professional, standard issue" acoustic guitars start. But the main reason was - and I've been saying this for decades now -
"there will come a time when it will basically be impossible for you to consider buying a Martin D28. Try to get one now if you can".
For a long time $1,000 was the Magical Professional Price Point. The "nice" guitars started there, or from another perspective, that was how much a Les Paul or D28 would cost. In the late 90s D28s started creeping up in price; by the 2000s it was going up about $100 a year.
A D28 now costs $3,000. While my perspective may be skewed - my income from teaching guitar has lagged inflation, effectively flat for my whole life, I can no longer advise someone to stretch their second-guitar budget to a D28. Those days are over; trying to stretch $600,700 or even $800 to that Previously Magical $1,000 landmark was a tough ask, but $3,000 is ridiculous.
Meanwhile, from what I've seen the sub <$500 price point has gotten better. EXCEPT:
- Manufacturing quality is sort of all over the place;
- Traditional woods are harder to find.
Which is why my advice is somewhat more ambiguous now:
Try to get a solid SPRUCE top guitar first and foremost. The Seagull brand is a cut above quality wise IMO; a less traditional choice of cedar for a top, buy probably a better deal if you're looking to get a guitar to actually use in public.
Secondly, instead of trying to stretch to get a D28 or Taylor/"?" equivalent,
Try to find a guitar made of the traditional woods: spruce top; mahogany neck; rosewood or ebony fingerboard; mahogany or rosewood back/sides. Because this is the formula for what you're used to hearing on recordings as a "standard acoustic guitar". Scarcity is forcing manufacturers to substitute other woods, some working better than others.
What that means is that getting around that $1,000 mark means there are a couple of Epiphone, Yamaha models, and Seagulls that meet that bill. Those manufacturers still exhibit a fair standard of quality; you're effectively purchasing an "off brand Martin". They don't have the name cachet, but effectively speaking are still fine guitars.
Because where my advice once was "there will be a time when you won't be able to buy a Martin D28", I'm now stating "there will be a time when you can't buy an acoustic guitar made of the traditional acoustic guitar woods".
$.10, YMMV.
