Looks to me like it's horses for courses - as we say over here in the UK.
Another story - when I bought my HD 28 in 1994 I took my Yamaha FG 180 to the shop - a place called Musicsound in Doncaster England. Reason being, they had private rooms for playing " quality " guitars and I wanted to be able to compare sounds - I hope that makes sense .
At first I thought, maybe I could save money by buying a second hand Martin ( again I hope THAT makes sense ). I played all the second -hand guitars but none really sounded or felt any better than what I already had so I never realy pressed the issue.
One had a price tag of £3,500 ( say $7,000-ish in the U.S.A.) and when I played it it sounded like shite so I went and sourced a new one, and after 5 hours of deliberation , I bought what I bought a HD 28.
Whilst in the playing room, a guy played the £3,500 second-hand guitar ( I'd previously tried ) and he prononced it - not bad.
I dismissed it for two reasons No.1. - 'cos it wasn't as good as the cheap Yamaha I had with me and No.2 'cos it was twice the price of the new guitar which I eventually bought.
Regarding the £3,500 - it turned out the shop had all the documentation / the guitar was fully authenticated as previously being owned by Mr. Neil Young ( the famous one ).
I suppose it might have made a useful investment - but I was looking for a decent guitar.
I bought my guitar from said establishment in 1994 so I'm sure my story will not be difficult to verify ,I also remember that the establishment was desperate to purchase from any source, Marshall valve amps for resale to the USA, he reckoned he could sell all that he could get his hands upon.
As a guy who plays through PA / Amp System it meant nothing to me but I had to listen ..............

Such is life

Cheers ,Pete