Buying from a luthier is, I think, a different type of experience.I have a Rob Armstrong made in 1996 for me and [as a very amateur amateur] I have to say the buying experience was what really got me. Three hours in his front room and workshop trying guitars and listening to him talk about them was memorable. I also talked to Alan Marshall at Northworthy at the same time and the memory lasted as 10 years later I saw one of his parlours in Chas Foulds in Derby and bought it based on that earlier visit. The high end US guitars seem great but if you are not a professional or semi-pro and have the time to wait I can recommend a UK luthier.