But both guitars exhibit tons of potential for the right player. Whether or not you'll ultimately want to spend a few hundred more for a Gibson with more upscale appointments (a solid rosewood-backed J-45 Studio, for instance, costs just $250 more) will be down to how you bond with the guitar in person. That said, it sounds-and feels-massive in detuned situations and its copious capacity for volume makes the possibilities of the G-200 as a rhythm guitar super tantalizing. And it's hard to avoid longing for a little more responsiveness to a light touch. The midrange could use some of the mellowing that often comes with the passing of a few seasons and sessions. The G-200 is less flattered by the Generation Collection recipe-at least in its new-from-the-factory state. The playability is superb, and the player port adds a subtle but unmistakable extra dose of detail in fingerstyle situations. In tone terms, it compares favorably with more expensive Bozeman-built flattops in the high-mid-price grand concert category. There is a lot that is special about the G-00. For this review we looked at the two models that bookend the Generation Collection: the G-00 and G-200. Yet the G-00 and G-200 offer a compelling playing experience, and each model is built with a side port (which Gibson calls the Player Port) that enables a subtly more intimate means of relating to each guitar's dynamic potential. In fact, you could argue that the highest-priced members of the Generation series, the $1,599 G-Writer and $1,999 G-200, are not mid-priced at all. That means the guitars are pretty austere and more expensive than a lot of the mid-price competition. Rather than move production to Mexico or overseas, or use laminates or wood composite materials, the Generation guitars are built with solid woods in the same Bozeman, Montana, facility that makes the company's top-shelf flattops. With the Generation Collection of acoustics, Gibson chose a middle path to the mid-price market. It's a brutally competitive market: Asia-built instruments leverage lower manufacturing overhead to ape more expensive American inspirations, while legacy American brands offer less luxuriously ornamented guitars built with alternative and laminate woods-often in facilities in Mexico. It's easy to understand Gibson's reticence to enter the mid-price acoustic game with a Gibson-branded guitar. And while our review Taylors have almost always shown up with impeccable intonation, the AD27eвЂ™s spot-on intonation-even after two-cross country journeys in the dead of winter-makes us wonder if there isnвЂ™t something to TaylorвЂ™s claim of V-Class bracing improving intonation.

The low action also has the effect of making fingerstyle chord melodies feel extra fluid and lyrical-a quality well suited to the AD27eвЂ™s more subdued but ringing tonality. The action feels exceptionally low and fast, yet there isnвЂ™t a trace of string buzz or a dead spot anywhere-even when you strum vigorously. But, as with so many higher-end Taylors, the foundation of its inviting personality is its playability up and down the neck. That, and its slightly more pinched waist and sloped shoulder, make the whole body feel more compact and easier to hold for extended periods. The aft end of the body is considerably slimmer than a Martin D.

The AD dreadnought shape isnвЂ™t just pretty to look at.

Epiphone acoustic guitar sound samples