Boutique luthiers aside, what makes the tone of American-made acoustic guitars so special?
Steel string flattops were invented here.
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Tracking_The_Steel_String_Guitars_Evolution_Pt_1
That's the most important reason I finally decided my first lifetime keeper guitar
had to be US built:
Primarily sentimental but also the one most likely to retain intrinsic value as it aged.
And why the collector's market don't give imports no respect except in rare cases of unquestionably impeccable quality.
As has been said great sounding guitars can be built anywhere, but a (steel flattop) guitar
worth refurbishing is probably gonna have a made in USA stamp on it somewhere.
Here's something else:
Much like the secret recipe for Coke, somewhere the secret recipe for "American sound" has been passed around from luthier to luthier and maker to maker.
We simply have the longest history of production and therefore the largest skill set and knowledge data base to keep that secret sauce recipe alive and evolving in response to new demands.
Cute analogy aside, I've said before I think it's little invisible things like top bracing and radius and thickness, and the almost infinite combinations thereof that a high quality maker knows how and where to use to best advantage.
Wood quality has a lot to do with it too, and when it comes to sitka and some other woods North America's got (or maybe had) some of the best resources on the planet.
When I came into the paper industry in '95 one of the first things I heard was that Japan was busily trying to buy up all the premium North American woods it could.
Not for papermaking but
cabinetry (of which industry guitar making is considered to be a part of, in definitions of types of industries.)
This is once again a good time to trot out Guild's article on wood selection crediting their plant manager Willie Fritscher with being responsible for ensuring Guild had the highest quality raw materials to start with:
http://www.westerlyguildguitars.com/articles/woodselection.pdf
A note of acknowledgment on no less than
Benedetto's website called him "the heart of the legendary guitar company".
And how about the accolades for Ren Ferguson when he came to Guild from Gibson?
Perfect example of dissemination of the DNA of US guitar making traditions.
I'd be willing to bet Martin has similar legendary figures in their history as well.
So I agree with those that say a great sounding guitar
can be built anywhere, but I humbly submit there may be quality advantages to being located in the US to build 'em.
Sure, cost of production IS higher here.
But apparently there're enough customers to support more than one maker.
They can't ALL subscribe to the mistaken belief that higher price or country of origin is a reliable indicator of quality in both sound
and materials.
When I first met my D25 in a Guitar Center, this little badge said it all:
(Random pic from the 'net, but
Even the script evoked the Harley Davidson logo somehow, and I said to myself:
"They know exactly who they want to sell to.
Guys like me."
It took me about 2 weeks to realize there was something about the way that D25 was built that was a step above all the others I'd ever owned: the intonation was just about perfect,
making every chord sound good.
No more wondering why some of 'em sounded lousy and not realizing it was the guitar not the chord