Quote:

......Jim – would I be better off getting a higher grade guitar, or a lower grade guitar + high quality pre-amp to compensate?......Marc



I recommend getting a lower priced guitar and a good preamp. Even the high end guitars benefit from a good pre. I don't recommend an acoustic amp, because they cost too much for what you get imo. Get a good preamp and a full range powered speaker and you'll have a much better system imo.

But first, find a guitar that you like the neck and sound. Plug it into a full range system and see what you have. For chording/rhythm type playing, it might be all you need.

If you want more, the Fishman stuff is good for getting very close to 'microphone recorded' type sounds. The zoom unit isn't quite as good in the modeling department, but it's just as good for tone controls and effects (imo).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7bieh52dhA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUTnXqkwg3o