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

@soix @garebear As a fellow drummer, I found that the type of wood really makes a difference only in the studio setting. I find that the hoops and the heads make the most difference and when you're playing live and Amplified setting the type of wood really makes no difference at all, especially to an audience. Now, when I'm playing an acoustic jazz gig, then yes I find it does make a difference just in terms of projection and tonality.

@mglik 

If one must have a Brazilian + European spruce guitar, it's bound to be very expensive. 

Plenty of top guitarists "make do" with less stratospherically priced tonewood combinations and plenty of them play guitars that sell for under 15K. We are, after all,  living in a golden age of guitar-building. 

“Just play the guitar you like” is my take on it.  
The benefit-coat ratio of a multi-$k purchase for a guitar is always debatable, but, again, it’s about playing the guitar you like as long as such a purchase doesn’t completely torpedo your finances.
I’ve played too many guitars, listened to too many recordings and performances of either “cheap” guitars (that sound great and are used for brilliant performances/recordings) or expensive guitars (that sound bad) to equate high price with good music.

Some great comments here. Wonderful to have so many knowledgeable and talented audiophiles on the forum.

To state that the player makes a bigger difference than the guitar is stating the obvious.  However, if the suggestion is that it doesn’t matter if a great player is playing a great guitar or a mediocre one this is a false assertion.  Sure, a great player can make good music with a mediocre instrument, but he can make great music with a great instrument.  The comparison in the video clip:

The difference between the $200 and $2000 guitars is immediately obvious.  The $200 instrument sounds thin, almost ukulele like in the high register and lacking in color. The $2000 one is much richer sounding and with greater presence.  The differences between these two instruments is, to my ears, greater than those between the $2000, $20,000 and the $200,000.  My favorite is the $20,000 guitar.  The player in the video, hardly a guitar genius, seems the least comfortable with the $200 guitar and the most comfortable with the $20,000 one as demonstrated by his phrasing and overall musicality.

 It is very possible that a truly great player could coax the best sound out of the $200,000 instrument.  With all instrument families there is a difference between “playability” and ease of playing.  An instrument that is “easier” to play doesn’t always give one the best sound.  Some instruments demand the familiarity that only comes about by living with the instrument for a significant amount of time in order to learn how it responds best.