It used to be, either Martin 18 or 28 grade in whateve size you wanted, Gibson, whatever whape and fancy stuff suited you, or an unplayabl, fingertip torturing piece of crap your father thought was good enough to learn with.

Yes, there were other quality makes,Washburn, Stella 12-strings, Epiphone, Gretch, and later on, Fender (nah), This was when a Martin D-28, Brazillin Rosewood guitar cost $180.00. Except for Gibson, the other guitars were for people who's faterh didn't have the $180.00 (plus $25.00 for a hardshell case)

NOW!! You have all kinds of Japanese, Spanish, and custom made guiars that are real quality, for the people who don't want to spend a rediculous amount of money on a Martin that may or may not sound good, no matter what the price.

You can still get a damned good sounding Gibson for a lot less than the other guy who seems to have gotten caught up in his own mystique (however it's spelled)

Ilike my old Martin D-28, but it was made when the previous C. F. Martin was running the company and they still had good quality Brazillian Rosewood I paid $280.00 for this gem which is, quite simply, not available anymore. I also bought a Gibson J-30 when C.F Martin wanted $1,600. 00 to repair my old buddy after it was stepped on by a drunk woman with two wooden legs (honest to God) With aaced with new material, , new neck new top, large slices of wood replaced, I Had them send it back. Al Leis of Tiverton, Rhode Island eventually stuck it back together again for $75.00. No new wood new neck, etc etc. The same old guitar soundd like it used to, which is damned good.
AND THEN,Paul Gerermia, with mirror and old fashioned distributor feeler guage found a loose strut, which must have been loose when I bought the guitar, glued it in place. The result is a guitar which sounds better than any other guitar that I've ever heard, excluding Wilma Lee Coopers D-48 which is older than mine.
The Gibson J-30, which I bought becuse I needed a good guitar while mine was out of circulation, is one of their cheaper models. It sounds really good, and is a whole hell of a lot easier to play than my old Martin (but I still use the Martin ) The J-30 is for when I break a string in the middle of a set and don't want to take a break to replace it.

What I'm trying to say is that there are a lot of great guitars out there, some of them made with a solid spruce top and the back and sides made out of plywood (actually good painstakingly laminated) fiberglass, and composition board of one kind or another. And they are excellent guitars, so it is no surprise that The Marin company is making guitars out of this new material. It probbly sounds really good too.

If you like it, and anyone sticks their nose up in the air because it isn't made out of material that meets with their approval, tell them to go piss up a rope (you can tell them that I suggested this proceedure which is very very difficult for a woman to do)