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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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.

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

No Yamaha????

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

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

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!

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! 🙂

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.

thank you, for this test!

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.

Thanks guys, great service