OK. I came WAAAAYYY too late to this party. Here it is an entire year later. How do you like your acoustic? You should have had enough time by now to decide if you are going to like playing this guitar or not. I've played both electric and acoustic guitar for over thirty years, and I've been modifying, building, and making my own guitars from raw wood parts - not just building them from parts, but actual scratch built/made instruments! I do everything from the wood to the finished product - and everything in between. I nade this my profession before deciding to do models. Now I do both off and on. Well since I'm too late to help here, maybe I can be of help to someone else.
Here's my advice from a pro to any beginners out there. I've played a lot of garage bands, and did studio work for friends. I play both guitar, and bass, and some piano work once in a while. However, I love playing I also love making them and doing partial, and total repairs and finish touch ups. If you're looking for a particular guitar sound try going from one guitar to another to see what sound appeals to you. Do you want one with a cut away acess? What type of music do you play? Do you play lead, or simply rythm, or a little of both? Are you looking for a low action (distance between the fretboard, and the string)? There are a lot of guitars made from varying woods, but mahogany, rosewood, maple, and spruce are the main chioce of guitar manufacturers out there.
Maple makes a bright sound, and mahogany does, but more of a duller tone with more midrange, and bass concentration. Almost all acoustic guitars use a spruce top since it has great resistance to weather conditions as far as shrinking, and expanding and it has a very smooth sound and it's structurally sound. Gibson has been making guitars since the late 1800's about as long as Martin has. Fender has been making guitars since the 50's and Epiphone is now owned by Gibson, and made in Korea. Godin is made in Canada although a mom and pop operation but they make great guitars too. It filters down to other makers that offer guitars, but most of them are made in either China, or Korea. Ovation makes great guitars since they are an American made company but they also offer a Korean version which I bought locally. Since acoustic guitars are sensitive to inclement weather conditions (humidity) they need care. And buying them from the giant warehouse companies sight unseen is not the way to go! I would any electric from them as I have before, and I've never had a problem with any of them.
I have the Celebrity Deluxe model. It has great projection, and treble response. It has a similar tone to a Gibson J-200 model which is what I took with me to compare. I wanted something that wasn't too expensive, and was still playable with the features I wanted including a piezo transducer (acoustic pickup) with a graphic equalizer. Although I'm not much of an acoustic type of music player, or listener professionally I do play it a lot at home. The volume is easily subduable simply by the way that you strum. It's loud enough without being obnoxious. The strings go through the bridge so that you don't need pins. I own another acoustic which needs a lot of reworking, but I play the Ovation the most.
What type of playing are you planning to do? Are you hoping just to play campfire type places, at church, or at family get togethers? I would try something used before buying something new. Especially if you're not looking to spend a lot of money. Look at a local store to get an idea of price range, and features. Most guitars start at $199.00 - $500.00 on up to $40,000!!! I wouldn't pay that kind of price, but most guitars can be bought fairly cheap. I know more than what I can explain here, but if there others with questions, just ask. That's what we're here for.
~ Cobra Chris