New acoustic guitar

Alvarez makes the best cheap acoustics by a long shot.

First and foremost; what's your budget?

Are you looking for a guitar made of a specific species of tonewood?

Are you looking for a guitar with all solid wood construction?

Do you care if the guitar is made in the United States/North America vs. Taiwan/China

Is there a specific bodystyle you are looking at?

i have an ibanez acoustic/electric that i love. its got a bright tone and still packs some warmth to it. my friend has an older fender acoustic i believe and it is very warm and full bodied. kinda depends on the tone you want

so budget is under 1000. Also, I am by no means a guitar expert, and truly know very little. i just know what sounds good to me. Basically, the ovation doesnt have a very full sound. the rounded plastic back is great when plugged in, but really suppresses brightness. I am looking for something with a full bright tone, with a traditional body style. I am also open to classical/nylon string. I have 3 guitars and I am just looking for something new that is fun to play.

I have quoted this for emphasis; this is all that really matters.

You could get tons of recommendations and suggestions on here, but if they don't sound good to you, it was all for naught. The best guitar you can buy is the one that feels and sounds good to you.

Go to the best shops in your area, drive a few hours if you have to, but just play as many guitars as you possibly can. When you find the one that screams out "I'm yours! Take me home!" you buy that one...hopefully it's in your budget. When I last purchased an electric guitar, I drove 1.5 hours each way, once a week for a month just to play the guitar until I had the funds to take it home.

A budget of $1000 can get you a really nice guitar. I would advise seeking out an instrument constructed of all solid woods if at all possible. There are too many guitars out there made of "high density laminates" its disturbing. A solid wood acoustic with a traditional dovetail neck/body joint will always sound the best. This is my personal opinion, but with the exceptions of a nice Strat/G&L, I would never purchase a bolt-on neck guitar.

Your Ovation doesn't project due to it's rounded, composite/plastic back. They were never intended to sound good when played unplugged.

I appreciate help. Thats exactly what I did when I got the ovation. Played about 100 guitars in my budget, and since I was playing a lot plugged in at the time, it had the perfect mix going on. It doesnt sound terrible by any means, but I am looking to record more unplugged stuff and just want good true sound through my mic.

I was recently in the same position; I wanted to get a new acoustic with the sole intention of recording. I ended up with a Larrivee OM-3, and I'm more than stoked on it. I drove down to Portland from the Seattle area to find a bunch of Larrivee's worth playing, and picked the OM-3, which cost me around $1200.

I own two other acoustics as well, but wanted something great sounding and easy to play for recording.

Good luck with your search!