Well this may seem a bit out of the ordinary but, I am making a violin from scratch at a local luthier shop in PA (bluett Bros Violins) he also makes guitars,great guitars but to high for my pocket, but worth it. In his shop like myself there are apprentices who work directly under him each step of the way ans their finished product is absolutely beautiful. Those appentice guitars go for like 2k to 2.5 and are scratch built. I currently have a metcalf guitar (scratch buillt) and iat is great, I played taylors etc and they sound good but a handmade scratch built from a good luthier is beautiful. Look on the evil bay and you will see Metcalf guitars once in a while, or sometimes you can get them directly from him off ebay, great guy, great guitar and in that 1k to 2 k range and sometimes under 1k used. Just a thought as I know a little about acoustics but am learning on electrics. Hope this helps Sal