Tone is tone no matter what your chops are. The problem with the US mass producers like Martin and Gibson is the Asian's are closing the gap on quality of tone and construction and of course do it a lot cheaper.
Rosewood is not needed to make a fine sounding guitar. Its value is cosmetic. The back and sides of a guitar play surprisingly little role in its timbre. That quality is almost entirely a function of the "table" or top of the guitar and its internal dimensions.
"In the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, each of the 13 colonies had a liberty tree where colonists met to plan their rebellion against the British. The last of those trees still standing was in Maryland, but the big tulip poplar was badly damaged by Hurricane Floyd and had to be felled in 1999. Bob Taylor negotiated purchase of the wood from that tulip poplar and used it to produce a limited run of 400 guitars". https://www.ebay.com/p/Taylor-Acoustic-Guitar-Liberty-Tree-Limited-Edition-2002/1839152308 Would you rather own one of these... or 1.5 Bitcoin?
As we have guitar fans here I am thinking of bringing my Hofner (rosewood back) from Ireland to Colombia. I am flying back with United, Dublin > Houston > Panama (see a friend) and Colombia next day. Do I understand correctly that a guitar is now allowed as hand luggage but it is unclear what is considered reasonable for size? My hard case is old, 80s probably still strong but a little bulky. Anyone got practical experience flying with an acoustic? Any advice? Current hard case is: 109 cm long 15 cm deep including bump (about the same thickness top to bottom, does not narrow for neck. 45 cm at widest point. She is is perfect condition as below, not a very expensive lady but very pretty so it would be a shame to hurt her after she survived innumerable college gigs with me. http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/archtops/arch25.html
Haha.... ya know somebody actually wrote a song about UAL and guitars. Actually it was pretty good job. If it were mine, I would recommend spending a few bucks letting Fedex ship it with insurance. __________ Edit : i just went to find it for you... holy cow he's got 18M views lol. I remember when he posted it. (sounds like he just put new words to one of Waylon Jennings' songs... )