I have several acoustic guitars including a couple of National Resonators and a couple of Patrick James Eggle 6 and 12 strings - all of which cost the high side of £2k. They are all great guitars and I love playing them but sometimes I go to environments where I am reluctant to take any of them - for example when I am on a yachting cruise and the guitar will be brought out for sing-songs at beach parties and such like. I have therefore long been looking for a guitar which didn't cost too much but nevertheless still played well and sounded good. I tried many but usually found that after a few sessions they would remain in the case and then be sold off. Recently, however, I found the answer to my prayer - a superb J-200 for just £259!!!
It wasn't a Gibson, however, it was an Epiphone - http://www.guitar-village.co.uk/product ... 1046&c=152
I was interested to see how this guitar compared to the "real thing" and also tried a Gibson J200 in the same store- absolutely stunning but at a whisker under £3400 - http://www.guitar-village.co.uk/product ... 9744&c=150 it didn't meet my requirements for a low-cost beach party guitar. It was interesting to compare these two very similar guitars and I have to say the Epi stands up very well. Of course I could hear and feel the difference but not IMHO £3000 worth of difference. I would certainly have no hesitation in recommending an Epi J200 to anyone looking for this type of guitar at a good price. One point I would make, however, I tried a couple of similar Epiphones in another store, not a million miles from Guildford, and they didn't imediately hit the spot as they both needed setting up. The one I bought was marked down as ex-demo and had clearly been set up very well and I wasn't concerned about the one small ding in the finish - it will probably suffer many more in the years ahead!!
Brian