We Found The BEST Guitar Under $1,500 At The NAMMShow 2023!

[@LifeWideOpen780]

No Yamaha????

[@AcousticShoppe]

Unfortunately the booth had a brass section playing when we were by there, we totally look forward to checking them out in the future though!

[@phillipcarrier]

No Yamaha, Larrivee, Furch… $500 guild to $1500 Eastman… Not exactly apples to apples. It would also have been better comparing somewhat similar body styles. Still appreciate your work and the content!

[@1deadtoe707]

I don't know about Furch, but Larrivee has no acoustic guitar with a Street price less than $1500. However, they have many really good options for less than 2K.

[@samuelosterloh6502]

Agreed. No Larrivee represented? I was at the Acoustic Shoppe in Springfield, unfortunately right during NAMM. Most high end guitars and personnel gone to NAMM. Bad timing, I guess. I'm personally not sure what to think of Eastman, but Acoustic Shoppe seems high on them. Martin is what it is...a yes, and yet?

[@AcousticShoppe]

Unfortunately the booth had a brass section playing when we were by there BUT we can confirm, they had some awesome guitars! Also Larrivée & Furch were not at NAMM this year, we tried checking out what we could find!

[@RomanSonnleitner]

Eastman coming out as the winner doesn't surprise me at all. Would have liked to see a Yamaha in the race...

[@AcousticShoppe]

Unfortunately the booth had a brass section playing when we were by there BUT we can confirm, they had some awesome guitars!

[@ahill209]

For me, it was Breedlove No. 1, Eastman No. 2, and Martin No.3. I'm spoiled with a Martin D-28 Marquis, though, so anything less than that sounds like someone playing two rooms over.

[@im58woody]

I picked the Breedlove as my #1 too

[@markbutikofer5207]

@@im58woody Ditto!

[@ralfybaby]

​@@markbutikofer5207 ditto ditto.

[@bekeneel]

Oh I remember that name, cuz there are quite a few special editions (of d28), along with custom shops too. The Marquis is with sunburst & adirondack?

[@ahill209]

@@bekeneel Adi, yes. Sunburst, no. East Indian rosewood back and sides. It's a real beast, volume wise. Sustain lasts for eons.

What's up with no Yamaha??

[@jpobrien5418]

I love eastmans but an LL 16 would blow the doors off of any of those by a long shot! They play and sound like a very expensive guitar.. cool comparison though.. love these guys.

[@AcousticShoppe]

Unfortunately the booth had a brass section playing when we were by there BUT we can confirm, they had some awesome guitars!

[@scottmoreau5630]

Cool comparison. I think doing this at NAMM would be difficult with all the noise.

[@abates226]

EASTMAN is a weird way to spell Yamaha 😂

[@paulgoulet8343]

I was not surpried that Eastman came out on top. The quality of workmanship, the tonewood choices, and attention to detail all come together to make a great instrument. I own an Eastnam E2O-OM-SB which is a sweet knockoff of a vintage Martin OM.

[@richfiryn]

The obvious glaring omission was Yamaha which would easily surpass each of these entries. Of the entries in this grouping though the Eastman would be the one I would choose.

[@soofitnsexy]

yes yamaha is king of the cheapies I played them all!!! owned a bunch

[@AcousticShoppe]

Unfortunately the booth had a brass section playing when we were by there BUT we can confirm, they had some awesome guitars, specifically the FG9's!

[@Wobbz9413]

Not a comparison without a Yamaha. Would blow them out of the water.

[@12babyapes59]

@@Wobbz9413 ll16 ARE

[@dwebs1340]

Cordoba bought Guild from Fender and now Yamaha bought Cordoba. The quality of the Guild Westerly guitars is quite impressive especially the 100 series solid wood. The older GAD series were nice guitars, but these new Westerly Guild/Yamaha are legit players.

[@jazzlehazzle]

Why were such weak examples used for Alvarez, Guild & Eastman? Small body or lower-end from what else they offer under $1500... None even close to the D-15, one of the best guitars around for decades and incredible value...

[@7thheaventruth]

Funny worlds best guitar player started on $100 guitars blues player had $50 guitars And made the best sound case closed

[@stevelacombe5291]

The Alvarez and Guild are the best looking. The Guild sounds surprisingly good and the price is hard to beat.

[@finemeat]

One of my favorite guitars, Guild f240e. $275 on sale. Didn’t even need to change the strings out of the box.

[@soundknight]

Your playing posture is absolutely shocking

[@mikes3703]

I have an Eastman with the rosewood body and aged sitka spruce top. It sounds great and has unbelievable sustain. Love it.

[@GorgeousRoddyChrome]

I thoroughly enjoyed this review! Your value rating, however, befuddles me. To me, value means how much you get for your money. Low score means that axe should be priced lower to be commensurate with all you get for that model's street price. Good example is that Ibanez, which sells for $649 everywhere, yet your 2.5/5 Value score might imply that it is comparable to guitar half that price. If the Ibanez was street priced at $325 would the value be 5/5?🤔 Further, the Martin & Eastman are over double the cost, which puts them in a much higher tier. So ... With all that being said, great job! 🙂

[@jdstan9650]

What a surprise 🙄...you picked an Eastman. You do not fake objectivity very well.

[@TheTriplelman]

for under 1500 I would buy a guitar you did not pick up - the Martin SC -12e - a REVOLUTIONARY guitar that Martin has invented with X and scalloped bracing, S -shape that is so comfortable, and the neck has NO heal anymore so high frets are so easy to reach. Its amazing, not the same old acoustic guitar!

[@denmar355]

Strictly from the audio in my headphones I thought the Breedlove was number two and Martin number three. Martin was thin sounding compared to the Breedlove. Eastman did win in my ears. I think the Guild won on price vs sound.

[@ralfybaby]

It's hard for a $500 guitar with laminate back and sides to compete against a $1300-1500 all solid wood guitar. The all solids just blow the laminates away ....

[@SoundPursuit]

Thx for doing this. My vote was: Breedlove, then Eastman and Martin.

[@AcousticShoppe]

Nice!

[@bobbylove3832]

No Yamaha, no blueridge br160 and no recording king rd 328. These guitars are great and well under 1500

[@jchavins]

no Yamahas ?......LL16 a much better buy

[@jamesdepalma6341]

Honestly, if I couldnt have a Martin, Id go Eastman E8D all day, if you wanna spend a little more money the TC version/s. If you wanna spend even more money yet? Eastman E20D- TC or Martin

[@jotwee63]

I bet, the fact you sell Eastmans but not Martins didn’t play a role at all 😉

[@georgefrench1907]

Why am I not surprised that the Eastman came out on top??? Pleassssse!

[@darrenkampen8911]

I appreciate that there wasn't any fluff in your video. It would be interesting to see if the scores were the same if you were wearing blindfold and didn't know the prices beforehand.

[@coolhandluke2310]

Try a Yamaha ll16…under $1500.

[@bongocuba]

No mention of Yamaha FG5 ? Has to be in the top 3

[@patricklundquist9869]

Hard to tell with all that NAMM background noise. I am a huge fan of Eastman and that one has gorgeous back and sides a well as a side port yet, in spite of my built-in bias, I'm still going for that plane Jane Martin. There is less background noise and your voice in the recording of the Martin has more clarity, so that might account for my choice. I'm agreeing with @ahill209, I liked the Breedlove best. There was also a whole lot less background noise in the Breedlove recording. It would be fun to stage a re-match between the top four guitars in a controlled studio setting to find out how much the background noise swayed opinion. Fun video.

[@TheBbrothers224]

Curious - was Orangewood guitars there? Have they ever been before?

[@AcousticShoppe]

they did not have a booth there & I'm not too sure if they've ever gone.

[@grekiely6245]

Thanks, helps take the guess work out when looking for a guitar. :)

[@LifeWideOpen780]

Hmmm almost like you favored the guitars you sell?????

[@mattbeckner2427]

They aren’t a Martin dealer nor an Alvarez dealer and they faired well. Everything I’ve seen from the Acoustic Shoppe from videos and in person I’m not surprised that stuff they carry did good. If it doesn’t meet their standard they won’t sell it. They seem to be seeking the best guitars at each price point.

[@johnwashburn3793]

They sell lots of guitar brands. I'm impressed that they scored Martin so highly. I'll take the Martin.

[@im58woody]

My favorite for tone was the Breedlove.

[@HenryPipes]

Why would you sell guitars that you don't like? Lol, of course you would favor the ones you sell, that's why you sell them!

[@brianscott3021]

No seagull Breedlove and Ibanez are just not up to snuff

[@seanhallahan14]

Thank you for doing this! I have several guitars under $800, Yamaha L16M, Yamaha NTX1200R, Bridgeport BG400 and Alvarez 12 string, I'm very happy.

[@bmac5085]

Is that the maple 12 string?

[@W4rriorOfLight]

whats your favorite?

[@demolitionwilliams7419]

Im a little disappointed they gave him that specific Alvarez Masterworks.... There are much much better guitars in the Masterworks line AND they're significantly cheaper

[@JohnnyForza14]

It’s not fair to compare a guitar that does not have electronics with a guitar that does. The Martin that you played did not have any electronics and it sounded great. Also, if you’re going to test the guitars with pick ups, you should plug them in because most people buy them for that reason. Nice try on comparison but it’s really comparing apples to oranges like they say

[@valueofnothing2487]

This is sloppy. The Breedlove did have solid Rosewood, but the guitar is small, boxy and doesn't sound great to me. But at least it is a contender. But the Ibanez is a solid top laminate for $649! Get real. You obviously couldn't care less about what you are doing.

[@willarellano833]

Yamaha Fs5 red label is another great option

[@AcousticShoppe]

Have you seen this years? kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGGxZaGhqNOYmM0

[@juliemulie1805]

Definitely not apples to apples. You either love all the choices or become overwhelmed. Enjoy the hunt!

[@BrianHarbut-v5k]

Enjoyed that! Great comparison. Loved the Breedlove sound & the Eastman. Two guitars I’ve never played! Many thanks! 👍

[@howabouthetruth2157]

You guys are always awesome. Thank you for everything that ya do for us. Man, it's just SO noisy at the NAMM show for video/audio play testing. I could only really hear a few of the guitars in any real sense due to all of the background noise. It would be nice if each vendor had some sort of noise reducing booth to duck into for play testing. They could build a portable padded sound booth that quickly breaks down & folds up for ease of transport, and set-up. Many of these acoustic guitar companies could afford to do something like that, and it would be very helpful for both the vendor and prospective buyers & dealers.

[@AcousticShoppe]

Totally, hopefully next year they police the noise better and/or separate the acoustics from drums/electrics

[@ducdanjou7885]

Martin ftw

[@gs5480]

One thing to note is seagull uses Adirondack/red spruce and everyone knows it takes a while before it opens up

[@dennisreedy8200]

I bought a D35 Herringbone Martin In 1979 and it’s just Like New The Sound will never be duplicated just had the action adjusted To this day it looks brand new and actually sounds better

[@orionthehunter9107]

Going by the video the 1st guitar sounded nice. Breedlove concert pro.

[@JB-lp9xr]

I am disappointed that there was no First Act CocoMelon guitar. Only $29 and it really is a gem.

[@kevinhonaker2716]

I bought a Yamaha FG5 Red Label a few years ago. I thought it sounded better than Martin's that were 3x the price.

[@guyb7005]

That's how I would have rated them except for Breedlove being higher than expected. The Martin had the Martin scooped sound that became the acoustic standard, but at $550 Guild would be my choice though I agree Eastman was best sound & quality.

[@tomformanek3312]

You mean your acoustic standard? Not all acoustic players are Martin lemmings

[@mitzioden4926]

Good selections and judging. I liked the Eastman the best.

[@6stringsandapick]

Comparing a parlor guitar in sound to a dreadnaught in the same video is crazy. I (personally) find Breedlove almost unplayable at all price points, even though they sound great. Alvarez and Seagull have my pick personally when it comes to value and overall sound. None of them have decent pickups at this price point. All of them need to have Lyric or Anthem pickups installed when they jump over about $900.00

[@soofitnsexy]

yeah Im spoiled with what I own but these were all avg to me

[@johnchapman4232]

The scoring system didn't discriminate against small body sizes. We were limited by what the companies brought.

[@thomasmiller1960]

Yamaha LL16 would outscore both Eastman & Martin in my opinion

[@WoodandSteel]

I can't believe people are so enamored by Martin. In general, their guitars are so bass heavey they sound like mud. Martin has some good guitars, but they are the price of small car. The rest of their guitars are hit, and miss most are bassy.

[@enigmabletchley6936]

Great video. Personally, I thought the Breedlove was the best sounding of all, which was a big surprise to me. The Martin and Eastman were also equal second on sound but I reckon the Eastman is way more guitar for the money. PS. How about the Gibson Generation guitars?

[@AcousticShoppe]

Gibson did not attend! 👀

[@kevinmauch5622]

I have two Eastman guitars, an E20 OOSS and an E20P. Both are wonderful instruments of exceptional build quality and worth every penny.

[@enigmabletchley6936]

@@AcousticShoppe Weird! Thanks for the explanation.

[@A-rl4or]

But Chinese if you are a sucker. Or find a mint condition used guitar and save $$$ plus have an American made guitar not some Chinese junk

[@TheCarolo08]

thank you, for this test!

[@johnwashburn3793]

Thanks guys, great service

[@taylornielsen5805]

How did Yamaha LL16D not get in the competition? Solid value for around $1200

[@bmac5085]

I totally agree 👍

[@PatrickWillshire]

Great guitar!

[@andysmith6156]

I bought a 700$ Breedlove that sounded better (amplified) than every acoustic in Guitar center including the 2000 and under but after 5 different trips to 5 techs I could not get it intonated

[@jabomiles6947]

Enjoyed the video. While it is obvious none of us viewers could feel or play these guitars, our only mode of actual experience was sound. Sound is very subjective and what sounds good to me may not you and vice versa. I thought the Martin, Breedlove, and Takimene were the best sound with the tak being third. But again, I was listening through ears with a lot of exposure to loud industrial noise. Great job.

[@sallywasagoodolgal]

What's the best under $5,000. classical?

[@mapleknot3]

I like the truck bed liner finish on the Ibanez top

[@camp0017]

What's the use of comparing guitars with different body shapes and sizes? Comparing apples with oranges. Moreover, several major brands are missing. This should not be titled "found the best guitar", but "I just picked several guitars at random and as I like Martin best, it won, no matter what".

[@johnchapman4232]

We used a scoring system that allows all body sizes. We were limited by what companies were showing.

[@SaintsPurgatory]

The title says best under $1500. Not best parlor, dread, grand concert etc. The comparison is not between brands or type, it’s best for your money.

[@quantumeseboy]

Please! Godin is way better than Eastman junk!

[@daddio307]

Also the Orangewood Hudson Torrefied Spruce Live

[@johnchapman4232]

Not at NAMM

[@thagedorn]

how could anyone say eastman won. in the end there is only one category, tone. the breedlove destroyed the eastman there.

[@rwr2643]

good review , i noticed their was no martin's on this list , that's a good thing since martin's craftsmanship has gone to shit in the last ten to twenty years , Great review ,

[@jeffhildreth9244]

"We Found The BEST Guitar Under $1,500" By your opinion. Others may vary.

[@johnchapman4232]

That's always the case. You know what they say about opinions.....

[@TheBbrothers224]

also curious about Faith guitars as well

[@oceanhedonist265]

Where were Taylor and Yamaha?

[@AcousticShoppe]

The Yamaha booth had a brass section going on when we were by & Taylor had no guitars available to the public. We are very excited to check out Yamaha soon, we can say that they had some great instruments there, just kinda a hard space to capture them!

[@lrtdale]

I have a 2005 Blueridge BR160, solid body and sides Indian Rosewood. I would like to see you do a show on Blueridge.

[@AcousticShoppe]

We've been wanting to get some Blueridge guitars for reviews for sure, hopefully soon!

[@danielpalm9091]

Wow, not a single Taylor was considered? Oh, that's right, the Acoustic Shoppe doesn't sell Taylor. So, this list should really be titled the best guitars that we sell under 1500. Since you guys push the Eastman brand so hard I'm not surprised it was number 1

[@AcousticShoppe]

Unfortunately, Taylor decided not to show any guitars at NAMM 2023. We love Taylor guitars and hope that they make plans to be at NAMM 2024 so we can include them in the next one.

[@BFClayto]

The tone port is an idea I really like. I haven't played the Eastman, but now very interested.

[@AcousticShoppe]

It actually makes a bigger difference than we thought it would!

[@PatrickWillshire]

Gibson G- Writer also has a tone port - adds a much fuller and richer sound for the player, in my opinion.

[@KevinMillard68]

what you found was what was best for you/to you and thats all you found ,,

[@A-rl4or]

The best guitar under $1500 is going to be used and made in America If you buy guitars brand new you are misinformed and need to do your homework. Lots of mint condition guitars out there. Some guys $3,000 mistake because he wanted to start learning is your $1500 benefit when he decides to unload it.

[@A-rl4or]

Also this guy is using a high end blue chip pick and can play better than most of you.

[@RandyBelinda]

A seriously flawed comparison. Totally useless. Comparing a small grand concert to a dread cannon in an environment like the floor of NAMM show is ridiculous. Many of these instruments cannot cut through the noise enough to make any meaningful comparison. The fact that some are solid wood and others laminate should be pointed out immediately. And finally, where is Taylor?

[@AcousticShoppe]

We're not exactly intending on comparing each specific model to one another but we were trying to show the best option that each brand was offering with $1,500 being the limit. There were no Taylor guitars on the showroom floor.

[@ncsludgefactory5445]

I can't help it man, I'm Martin all the way

[@johnwashburn3793]

Amen brother!

[@ralfybaby]

I fancied the D15 so much after seeing a KZbin review some time back. Then I played one at a GC in Omaha NE. (Nice peeps there btw) Disappointed. Muffled,flat sounding guitar. I'll take an Alvarez or Yamaha over one any day.

[@marcus31599]

@@ralfybabyme too, Boutique makers make significantly better guitars than Martin. You get lucky once in awhile but most of the time you’re buying the Martin name not the best guitar.

[@ralfybaby]

@@marcus31599 yeh and if you spend over say $2500 you may be better off having a luthier built guitar. That is how it works with classical guitars anyway.

[@pepe3675]

martin religion

[@daveclevenger9210]

I own 2 Eastmans and absolutely LOVE them. Play one and you will understand. 😊

[@riverwalker2173]

What Eastman models do you play?

[@user-zn6gz4ub7w]

You should have included the Sire A3 and Sire A4. The Sire A3 is $400 and sounds as good as any of these and better than some of them. Mohogany back and sides. Roasted spruce top. Mahogany neck. Bone bridge and nut. Rolled edge fingerboard. Quality electronics.

[@karlyfree6054]

the breedlove was my favorite

[@tomformanek3312]

I usually love these guys but this was just plain weird and really shallow. Dreads against 00 and 000 guitars. Really? The Guild should have been the D20. Eastman dreads are killers. The Alvarez BG dreads weren't available? And tell me Yamaha didn't have a booth with LL16s or FG5s? These guys have the chops to do something much better than this "killing time" at NAMM silliness.

[@AcousticShoppe]

To be fully transparent, it was not our intention to directly compare the exact models in this video to one another but our goal was to find the best guitar each brand was showing off at The NAMM Show this year, under $1,500. We understand it is a little silly but we just wanted a more fun way to show off what each brand was offering. Also to just confirm a couple of things, the Guild D-20 is a little over the $1,500 mark. Eastman dread are incredible but we thought highlighting this new body shape would be of more interest to most. Alvarez only had those 3 guitars at the show. And we definitely understand that we missed Yamaha for this vid, but we did do a full livestream of their booth linked below. If this is more your style we did try to highlight as many booths as we could this year including Martin, Yamaha, and more with full, long-form livestreams: kzbin.info/aero/PLAMJH63TffO9FwVQP1GUV3BHC-K0FpHUF Not trying to ruffle any feathers, these were just our intentions with this video.

[@tomformanek3312]

@@AcousticShoppe Thanks. I own a few acoustics and I do the research and get likes from friends and enjoy your site and GSWJ too. I am thinking of a beginner to intermediate looking to go a solid wood instrument getting the impression these are the best options out there. Yikes on the Guild. I own one and preferred it over the D15 Martin because I grew up with the Guild mids and balanced string to string tone. But mine listed at $1399.00 about 2 years ago. Inflation! Thank you for responding.

[@paulsmart5199]

Nope..lol.. seagull or Godin for me

[@rickwillette]

how about slow down a bit so i can hear what it sounds like

[@WeiFischer]

So many great guitars, so little time. Lately, I have been into Yamaha, but that can easily change.

[@AcousticShoppe]

We certainly feel that!

[@slpc30]

Awesome video as always thank you!!! loved the Eastman and martin and the breed love you played first

[@Patriot1777]

Martin all the way😊

[@gammaraygem]

At the beginning of the video, I thought "if there is an Eastman in the competition, it is gonna win".(edit: after watching a couple of videos of T A S I see you are Eastman fans, but I did not know that).

[@ralfybaby]

Breedlove for the win. Oh mah ..... Much fuller and brighter at the same time then the other contenders. If that Martin didn't have the Martin label it would be a middling mid level finisher. And it goes to show Japanese and Chinese guitars rock. Disappointed at the Godin and Seagull. Thought they would fare better. I appreciate that the ambient noise and perhaps the strings on the guitars probably made it harder to judge. And you should have featured a Yammie. The FG5, FG3 and the LL16 are all under $1500 and either would be top 3 if not top 1 here. And the Alvarez MD60 and 70 would be right up there as well. Those are my favorites in this price range

[@thebrooklyngardenclub225]

why no zaglers?

[@smflyboy]

Every single one of those guitars was out of tune. You’d think that at a NAMM Show they would at least tune the guitars they are showcasing. I hate to admit it, but the Martin sounded the best to me. The Eastman was my second pick in sound but looks the best. You’re a great player.

[@markharwood7573]

On the screen the Alvarez is the MPA66SHB but, like the man says, it's the MPA66ESHB. The price includes a pretty good pickup system. Mine was £550 in Scotland last year, 2022.

[@rond1763]

To me the Martin didn't seem worthy of the very high rating that it received in comparison to some of the others. It sounded good but no better than some of the others that got a lower rating. But build quality isn't something anyone watching the video could not actually determine. I think you should have included one of the new Yamaha solid body acoustic guitars. I've seen nothing but rave reviews about of all of the newer Yamaha Solid wood acoustic guitars.

[@dannyhood4007]

It sucks if I can’t reach notes above 12 fret. Acoustic should not limit fretboard. I’ll never understand telecaster or strats 21 fret? Fender strat was always my favorite but noodling 21 frets doesn’t allow essential silly string slinkiness

[@belascialoja4812]

A *question for you* ... When you say, for example, 4/5, what are you comparing the 4 _to_ ??? What would be a "5" ??

[@Bastikovski99]

That Guild is a great value

[@soulvaccination8679]

Sounds about the same as my Seagull Entourage Acoustic/electric, for which I paid around 500.

[@michelle-psl4441]

I know many Martin fans who have said Eastman is the best bang for the buck. Wish Larrivee would have been in the running. Love my OM.

[@timbenware7893]

Eastman was my pick.

[@andrespacheco1141]

Taylor 214ce dlx

[@L5man]

Yeah right. Sure thing.

[@josephballerini3730]

Glad you took on the challenge

[@belascialoja4812]

Bring on a Blue Ridge???

[@shanesolar3924]

That guild seems best value for only 500 bucks