Can you hear the difference between a $200, $2,000, $20,000, and $200,000 guitar?

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I bought my first acoustic classical guitar directly in a small factory in spain about 20 years ago. I got to talking with the master luthier and he showed me several guitars in my price budget range of about 2000$ equivalent at the time. After deciding on a particular guitar which I thought sounded quite nice and well balanced, he showed me some guitars from the concert price range. I almost fell over dead. The difference was undeniable. We spent almost 2 hours together talking and playing together and genuinely had a connection both musically and in conversation. Eventually and somewhat reluctantly we finalized the purchase of my original selection. When I got back to the house I was staying at I opened the case to find not the guitar I had purchased but one of the concert guitars with a little note saying (crudely translated from Spanish) "Thank you. It was a true pleasure to meet you. I want you to have this guitare as I know you are one of the few who can truly appreciate it's value". It is to this date my most treasured guitare in my collection not only for the amazing sound but the heart-warming story behind it.

In a world full of "influencers" and social media B.S., it's so refreshing to see people with real expertise bringing us into a world we would never have been a part of. Wishing you both continued and greater success.

Me listening on $0.99 earbuds

If a 200 dollar guitar is all you can afford then its the best guitar in the world!

The $200 - $2000 difference was what sounded to me like the biggest difference. Nice playing.

Thanks for coming by Brandon! It was a lot of fun shooting this with you!

My favorite was the 20k one, it just has a sweet round tone, the sustain on that 200k one is unbelievable. But even the $200 on sound amazing in his hands.

$200: toy guitar but still sounds good in Acker's hands $2000: sounds like a real guitar $20000: has soul $200000: conveys emotion

"If you only have $2,000, buy this $2,000 guitar" Words to live by.

I'm a sound guy. I have run the mixer board for live performances and I used to design and sell audiophile home stereo systems and home theaters. I have had musicians tell me after a performance that I play a sound board like an instrument (they can hear the mix in their stage monitors). The incremental improvements you both describe are evident throughout, it is the whole package that allows the $200,000 instrument to stand out so beautifully! I can hear the difference in the ease which the guitar allows the talent of the player to shine through. Thank you for this! BRAVO

When the luthier said that the first $5K is for the audience and the rest of the price is for the player, that hit me. I never knew anything about that, and I'm a pro musician, too. That makes sense as there's only so much that the lay person can hear and understand about instrument performance. The jump from the $2K to the $20K was the biggest difference to me, and I'm listening through a Bluetooth speaker. He said as he goes up in price, he produces greater output with less effort. That last one must have felt almost effortless to him 😌 I also love how the player smiles and plays his heart out on EACH guitar in the end, not just his favorites.

I played a Hauser II when I was a guitar teacher in Germany in 1980-1982. It was owned by guitar dealer Norbert Giebel. He said the guitar had been bought and sold by several guitarists who were not satisfied with its volume. He then pulled one of the braces out and it began to sound like a bird released from its cage. When I tried it, the playability was so marvelous that the image that came to mind was this: the difference between playing my own guitar and this one was like the difference between dancing with a manakin and dancing with a live woman.

The $20.000 guitar is just incredible. Such a beautiful tone so sweet and just rang like a bell.

As the price went up, the clarity of the tones increased, BUT from a soothing listening standpoint, I’m very impressed with the $2,000 guitar. It has a warm and deep sound. Again, the clarity of the tones aren’t up to the more expensive guitars, but still, I enjoyed hearing the warm subtleties coming from the $2,000 guitar - most soothing.

As a guitarist i'm blown away by the sound of the $200,000 guitar. Divine, I would love to try it.

as it gets more expensive - the description becomes more philosophic

Advice for life and love, treat your $200 guitar like it were a $20k one, and those you love with as much care as you can. This musician made all of these guitars sound beautiful and dignified.

I am astonished at how beautiful the most expensive guitar is. The clarity is beyond anything I have ever heard.

The sad part about this is that the truly beautiful sounding instruments are priced far beyond the range that most artists can afford. With all our knowledge and experience manufacturing instruments it’s truly sad that we still cannot manufacture new instruments with high quality sound and performance at a relatively low cost (under $5,000).