Nice, but I’m a Les Paul fan mmmmm. I was toying with a Martin acoustic but maybe I’ll look at Taylor or Gibson now 
I see people using J45s and the like but I can’t stop thinking of Gibson and Fender as electric guitar makers.
I too have been pondering a Martin 314Ce … but the US ones are quite expensive (even the Mexican ones are round 2 400 €).
I may have to stick with the Yamaha I’ve had my eye on for a while.
Gibson have quite a history, originally they made mandolins and banjos in the late 1800’s, 1920/30’s was when they made their mark with acoustics, electrics came mid 30’s. (Sorry if you know this, but I do like my Gibsons).
I’d really like a Lowden, but they’re far from cheap! Which Yamaha are you looking at?, I know the TAG3 is around the same price as a J-45 Special, but not that familiar with Yammy’s
With acoustic guitars even more than electric, you need to test and find the individual instrument that suits you. It doesn’t always have to be expensive, and some low-mid priced models can be excellent.
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You just reminded me: I was also thinking of a Lowden. Spent some very happy times in NI.
The Yamaha is the FSX5, the entry-level for Japanese-made.
That’s what everyone says, I know, and I don’t know enough to argue the point.
But every guitar, and every bass I’ve ever bought bar three, I’ve bought mail order.
The exceptions were my first and second basses, many years ago, and the handbuilt Sei.
I’m going to claim I’m just naturally adaptable (And I’m not a very skilled musician, to be honest.)
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I’ve not got round to trying many acoustics yet, it usually involves quite a bit of traveling to get to a shop with plenty to try, but it’s on the cards! I’ve never bought a guitar that I haven’t played first, personally I wouldn’t buy one online, I’ve done that for the grandsons but if he really takes to it, when he’s ready it’ll be a day trip to get an upgrade.
Maybe we need to post recommendations of music shops with a wide range, because I’d love to try a few.
I can recommend Andertons in Guildford, but that’s not much use to those south of La Manche…
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A bit too far for me Chris, but I can recommend GUITARGUITAR in both Edinburgh & Glasgow.
I bought my (replacement) Mexican Strat from their Epsom branch - they were OK but not amazing.
Guys in Edinburgh are very helpful and a good range, but the Glasgow shop is huge, first shop is all acoustic, massive range both new and second hand to suit all prices, next door along is the electric shop and the last one is drums, keyboards etc.
Some players are almost completely instrument-agnostic, not minding what they play, sometimes not even being aware or bothered by scale length. Others care about feel, responsiveness, dimensions and shapes, woods and finish. I play by feel and sound, so how the instrument behaves in my hands is important to me - when I selected my Japanese Strat I played probably 30 guitars before choosing the one that felt best.
Some years back I spent a couple of hours with a friend looking for an acoustic to find a good one, and doing side-by-side it was amazing how much different instruments varied - far more than solids - and price didn’t have too much influence. It’s not just things like neck shape and body size, but the woods used are very naturally variable and some guitars will sound tight and focused, others big and loose, some will have annoying resonant frequencies and others be balanced and smooth. Some will be badly intonated and there’s little than can be done about that without surgery.
I have bought sight-unseen. Sometimes it’s been good, but sometimes, especially higher value instruments, it’s not been good. I suspect that good Gibsons and Fenders (and rarer makes like my Heritage) are held on to by their owners, and the slightly duff ones get flipped more frequently because they’re too expensive to tolerate playing/sounding poor. So my hand built Heritage was really thin AND muddy sounding regardless of the pickups in it (it’s an unspoken problem for some Les Pauls) my Gibson V had odd overtones that made chords sound off and was built like a £50 Chinese copy. There’s been others that were cheaper that I was also pleased to offload, and a few cheapies that I kept too - I bought an AXL Tele copy for about £70 at a music show and really regretted flipping it a couple of years later because it was just a good-sounding and playing instrument.
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That’s me… 
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I’m fond of bleu de travail workwear and my favourite jacket is a now well-faded example that I’ve had from new for about fifteen years. Got an email this morning from a friend with the following advice,
‘Never throw away your jacket. This one at Atelier Oran in Paris €380’
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The tramp look for this autumn then. Won’t be hard for me, all my favourite working clothes are holes and threads hanging off but I won’t bin them.
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