Do you play with a pick or fingerstyle or both? Do you prefer the "boom" of a dreadnaught or the more focussed sound of a "jumbo"? Do you have hands like a gibbon or like a pygmy marmoset? Do you like bigger guitars with great resonance or do you prefer smaller ones (which are often more practical to play)? Do you mostly play fully acoustic, or will you be playing on stage and therefore need top-of-the-line pickups?

And most importantly, what kind of money have you got to put into this? Clinton's right about Seagulls - unless yours is a poor example, you'd better prepare for spending some serious coin (over £1000) to get anything significantly better. If you're checking out Guilds and Larrivees then I guess you're prepared for that.

Don't get too pinned down by woods. So long as it's solid top and back, that's the main thing. Generally cedar tops are more mellow than spruce, and mahogany backs are more mellow than rosewood, but you'll find that most of the difference in guitars is down to how they're made (and who made them), rather than what they're made of. You're best to find a make that suits first, and then fine-tune with the right wood selection afterwards.

Martins are a decent flatpicking guitar, but they don't cut it as a fingerpicking guitar - the sound is all wrong. That's why hundreds of bluegrassers play Martins, and why hundreds of folkies *don't*. And there are better flatpicking guitars around if you've got the money (Collings springs to mind immediately).

Taylor are OK for fingerstyle, but there's no "dirtiness" in there either.

Like John, my choice is a Lowden O32. If you play fingerstyle folk, I *strongly* suggest you play a Lowden (any wood, although rosewood back is best IMO) before you commit. Avalons are very similar too and are slightly cheaper.

There have been tons of previous threads on this topic. Search the forum for "guitar" and see what you find.

Graham.