In general I don't think a Freshman will hold a candle to a good Martin, but of course you might be lucky and have a very good Freshman - or unlucky had have a very bad Martin. Some of the late 70s early 80s Martins were pretty mundane.


In some cases the relatively stiff top structure of a cheaper guitar will resist feedback on a loud PA better than the more flexible top (for a more mellifluous sound) of a beter guitar.


Headways have virtues and vices. The early snakes were better and more reliable than the later ones. IMHO the the need to round out the bottom of the sadddle slot to fit them is a nuisance anda potential source of problems. Their thickness can make for saddle stability problems if there is a problem routing the slot deeper, and they do need to bed in for about a week (or be very well pressed in with a clamp before stringing) before doing their best electrically. I am inclined to think they remain a little compressible even after considerable settling in, so I think they do compromise the acoustic sound of the guitar. However, a good one is very true to the resulting acoustic sound of the guitar -- ie witha good PA they come very close to the ideal of sounding exactly like the acoustic guitar only louder.

But on balance I think that B-bands (now standard on Breedloves, I think), although there may be reliability issues, probably come even closer to capturing the guitar's acoustic sound, and raise fewer fitting issues.

What I'm not clear about here however is whether the OP is looking for "an acoustic guitar only louder" - or a "plugged" sound. Takemines do tend to sound like what most soundmen think an acoustic guitar sounds like, which may be pleasant but is often not much like an acoustic guitar. And they are quite expensive. There are a range of almost acoustic guitars designed to plug, with smaller bodies and stiffer tops, so they don't feed back, and without too much bass in the body, to give them "cut" in an electric mix. IMHO Taylor 512CE does this well, but the Yamaha APX4 range is specifically designed for the job with a amallish non-wood body and a stiffish wood top and a cutaway. I don't like the sound, but they do what they are designed todo, namely get heard in an electric mix.