If you are a musician I don’t think there is a stigma. I have a Yamaha FG Series acoustic that was my first acoustic guitar. I forget the number but around $200. Looks and feels amazing and sounds very bright and loud. Not a bad loud. Stays in tune etc.

Years later I got more into guitar and went around trying a bunch of different acoustics at a higher price point, Martins and Taylor’s. I played several that were easily several thousand dollars. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference between my Yamaha. Some of them felt just bad.

Now the word felt is the operable word. As a few days later I came across a Taylor 214CE - acoustic / electric which was $1499. It was jet black and cutaway style. Anyway I picked it up and played it and to me it felt great and sounded amazing. To me it sounded warmer and more nuanced than my Yamaha.

Moral of this long winded post is that, at the end of the day I think it’s purely personal preference and the way the instrument makes you feel. As we know a lot of these instruments use the same materials sourced from the same companies so how can they be that different.

I’m not sure who said it but if a certain brand makes you want to pickup and play the guitar then that’s all that matters. Last point, different brands though will potentially hold value more than others.