My latest guitar is a Regal metal body resonator--single cone. Son House-style. I wanted a National Resophonic but the price difference is about $2000 so, sorry National. It's not that I can't spend the money. If I was REALLY good, I'd get only the best but I'm not that good so it's silly and pretentious for me to buy these really expensive top-of-the-line guitars that deserve better homes than I can give them.

You want loud, get a resonator.

I have a Seagull which is very good--nice bass response. I have a Gretsch Synchromatic acoustic archtop which really bellows out the sound if you're in front of it.

Don't own a Martin. Too expensive. Maybe I can a get a cheaper one used somewhere.

The rule of thumb (and I'm no luthier) is that solid tops are better than laminate tops. Sides and back don't matter as much except for classicals which should also have a sold back. I have a LaPatrie classical which is sort of the same company as Seagull.

Most solid tops, however, are still book matched. So they are not truly solid all the way across but are glued in the middle with a powerful glue. So are solid backs. I would never buy a non-book matched guitar because to find the right sized wood for a truly solid top requires excessive cutting of trees. The one thing guitar-players don't like to talk about--especially tree-hugging, liberal folkies--is that the search for guitar woods has contributed not insignificantly to depletion of our woodlands, forests and jungles. I guess it got so bad with Brazilian rosewood that they stopped using it as a tonewood. I wouldn't take a Brazilian rosewood guitar if you gave it to me because I'd feel too guilty playing it.

Book matching allows more tree to stay up and I think this "green" aspect of buying a guitar should be mandatory for all guitarists. If you say you don't care about that, you're just part of the problem. Don't sing to me about the world's problems while playing a Brazilian rosewood guitar because you're just a goddamn hypocrite. Yes, we want the best sounding guitars we can get but we're going to have to compromise on that to save trees. Don't like it, by a resonator.