Dear NightOwl,
I bought a nice shiny $300-$500 Seagull about 5 years ago when I knew nothing about guitars, and it has been a big disappointment. It sort of kept me back from working with steel strings. I kept thinking it was my fault. Rick Fielding took a look at it recently and confirmed that it was a dud. I have heard lots of people say good things about Seagulls, but I am a walking ad for (1) knowing something about guitars before you buy one; (2) not every guitar made by a good company is good. I now have a nice Yamaha, which I am very fond of.
I was very unhappy about this, because I believe very strongly in Canadian craftsmanship, and I guess I would probably buy a Seagull again, but I would certainly cart Rick or some other guitar god around with me when I checked them out!
yours, Peter T.