Consider also the time value of money. If you buy the acoustic you are out all of that money immediately. If not, you can invest it and at least beat inflation.

Consider also the time value of money. If you buy the acoustic you are out all of that money immediately. If not, you can invest it and at least beat inflation. That’s assuming you have the lump sum in hand of course, you may not, and be forced to buy on credit, which will in turn drive a different economic analysis. I’m pretty comfortable in my belief here. Certainly the immediate winner is the DP, and you may not stick with it long enough, or even live long enough, to win the long term bet you are making here. Back to my original point — I’m not saying the acoustic isn’t worth it, simply that you should not analyze it from a purely economic point of view, because it is a losing argument from that perspective.