Acoustic Guitar Buying Advice

[Melodeath]

Hey guys, I own a "hand-me-down," super-cheap nylon string guitar, that actually sounds way better than it should for the price, but I'm looking to buy a nice steel string guitar for recording and playing gigs. I know pretty much nothing about acoustic guitars, besides knowing the names Martin and Taylor as "high-end" brands.

My budget is under $1,000, but I can maybe stretch it to $1500 if need be.

Any advice or models to check out? It would be cool if it had built in electronics for live playing. I've been checking out the Seagull brand, and their Maritime SWS (Solid Wood Series) looks really interesting. I have read solid wood is way better than laminated, so that's appealing. However, I don't really know the difference between a dreadnought body, a mini Jumbo, or even a "folk" body, which seems to be a whole 'nother type. Obviously they are different dimensions, but I don't know how this translates to sound. I'm not looking for an excessively bright tone (I'll probably use a bright microphone int he studio), so maybe Mahogany wood is best with a bigger body?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[BLUElightCory]

My absolute best advice - you really need to just get to a store and play a bunch. There is just too much variation among guitars (even identical models) so reliably recommend a particular brand, model, wood, or even body type. I've played amazing $300 acoustics and mediocre $3000 acoustics, it just comes down to finding a great piece of wood. You will also notice that different combinations of woods and body types will bring out different characteristics in each guitar.

Plus, it's just plain fun to take a day and go guitar-store-hopping with a pocket full of cash.

Definitely don't buy one off the internet.