Can you tell the difference between a $200 and a $200,000 guitar?


Can you tell the difference between a $200, $2,000, $20,000, and $200,000 classical guitar? Direct comparison starts at 27:39.

 

Linky

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I've been a professional guitarist since 1967. I've owned a LOT of guitars and tonewoods make a huge difference even in electrics. Interestingly every seasoned electric player sort of gets their own tone going...listen to Billy Gibbons using all his weird guitars and his feel and desired tone is kind of the same. I currently own electric guitars with identical pickups that sound and feel utterly different from each other. There are vintage or "collectable" instruments that are stupidly expensive (a store nearby just sold a vintage Les Paul to Joe Bonamassa for 450 grand), but the 200 grand comparison is sort of silly really...stick any Collings guitar in the hands of somebody used to playing a Takamine and watch 'em smile. 

……the wood or wood used on any guitar does not effect the sound produced ? That is just a marketing play as noted by one persons opinion here ? That doesn’t seem right to me ……I tried to play drums for 17 years and the wood used in the drum shells did make a difference . I would that ant unnelectrified stringed instrument that the wood , would make a difference . If I am incorrect please let mr know and why …… 

Being a guitar player since my teens and opening for many Big rock bands, I can tell you that I can't play a $200 guitar.....the $2,000 plays much easier and has better wood that sounds much richer...$200 for a guitar is throwing your money away. If I can't play it , You certainly won't be able to and it will sit in the corner as a piece of furniture.

it is simple: anybody saying that wood choice make no difference between instruments  contradict  thousand of years  of history of craftmanship and reveal he had no clue about what is the "timbre" concept in acoustic and his role in music ..😊

There are tremendous differences in the tone of acoustic and classical guitars.  @Kijanki summed it up pretty well.

with fine, completely hand made classical guitars, the clarity, warmth and depth of tone are completely different from cheaper guitars.  If you strum a chord, you can hear each individual note.  It all blends together into an undifferentiated sound with lesser guitars.  
 

the materials used are important, but the skill of the luthier is the most important thing.  
 

flamenco and jazz guitars are designed to be less resonant. Players want the notes to fade out more quickly, so each note does not interfere with the one which preceded it.  With a classical, you’re often playing 2 or 3 voices at the same time, and need the greater sustain. 
 

better classicals are also louder and project into an audience more. Unfortunately it’s rare now to hear great players without amplification, which masks some of the tonal nuances.