Playing the guitar can be fun and engaging. To be fair, it’s probably the most interesting instrument to play. You can easily learn some basic chords and scales and just play the songs that you love.
Or, you can also practice day and night and become a professional virtuoso. But no matter what your choices and goals are, you need to start somewhere, right? This is why you might want to look into the matter and find the best cheap acoustic guitar. It’s most definitely a safer option because you don’t know what will you actually like. Besides, these days we even have great guitars that are not expensive at all.
We did a little research of our own and looked into the matter of more affordable acoustic guitars that are quite great. However, the choice wasn’t easy. First, there’s a lot of interesting stuff to look into.
Secondly, there are a lot of areas and features to cover, and the “best” choice comes down mostly to preferred musical styles. Nonetheless, all the guitars that we mentioned are of good quality. And if you’re looking for a great cheap guitar, either as a beginner or a more experienced player, you can’t go wrong with any of these. Anyhow, this is the list that we came up with.
Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy
You don’t often see the Gretsch name pop up in the lower price area. In fact, their guitars generally tend to get overlooked in favor of the bigger and more famous brands. However, the company has a lot of great stuff to offer, one of the examples being their affordable yet amazing G9500 Jim Dandy.
So aside from this reasonable price, let’s look more into the instrument’s features. This is a regular full-sized acoustic guitar with a 24-inch scale length. What’s interesting here is that we have a body made completely out of basswood that also features “X” bracing. This is a pretty great deal, considering the price. It gives a slightly mellower tone, although it resonates quite well. The neck is made of nato wood and has a walnut fretboard. Overall, it’s a pretty well-made guitar.
Alvarez Artist Series AD60
Alvarez is another brand that you don’t see that often, but still has a lot of great guitars to offer. For this list, we’re mentioning their AD60 from their Artist Series. It’s a straightforward guitar with a well-designed body, featuring solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany sides. This is the common combo you’ll see on a lot of guitars. But what’s quite special here is that you don’t often see this on a cheaper instrument. AD60 also has a very comfortable mahogany neck and an Indian Laurel fretboard. But the most surprising thing here is that it has nut and saddle made out of real genuine bone.
It sits somewhere between a cheap and a not so cheap guitar. But we had to include it due to such a great combination of price and quality.
Fender FA-115
A list like this one can’t quite go without at least a mention of one Fender guitar. Here, we have their FA-115 acoustic guitar. But aside from being a cheap one, Fender also included some basic equipment with it, like a strap, picks, and even a spare pack of fresh strings.
Even though the instrument is aimed at the beginners, the quality is really surprising. You’ll see this guitar used even by some more experienced gigging musicians. The classic dreadnaught body has a solid spruce top with basswood sides and back. You don’t often find such a guitar at this price point. It sounds well, feels great, and is very reliable. What possibly more do you need?
Oscar Schmidt OG1
In case you’0re looking for a slightly smaller instrument that keeps all the qualities and is not expensive, then look no further than Oscar Schmidt’s OG1. It comes with many different finishes and color patterns. However, what makes this instrument so great is its maple top and catalpa sides and back. Such a configuration results in a very resonant and defined tone.
The guitar also has a mahogany neck, which adds its distinctive flavor to the tone. It’s really hard not to like this guitar as it gives both great performance and tone, all for a very low price.
Yamaha FG JR1
Yamaha always comes to mind when there’s a talk about great acoustic guitars. And this goes for any price level. While we’re at cheaper guitars, we’d like to mention their FG JR1. It’s a smaller guitar, about 3/4 the size of a regular one. This makes it a very good choice for any younger player who’s just starting. At the same time, the guitar has some qualities that even the more experienced players will adore. This is why it’s also a great choice as a travel instrument. The spruce top body is a great addition here, which makes the guitar sound a bit brighter than the others at this price point.
Epiphone DR-100
Epiphone has built its reputation for building cheaper guitars that fairly resemble the tone and performance of much more expensive Gibsons. DR-100 comes to mind, as it’s a very affordable instrument that still performs well. We have the classic combination of mahogany sides and back with a spruce top. But the most important thing is that this guitar has a very rich tone and a very comfortable neck. Whether you’re a beginner or just someone looking for a cheap second guitar, this is what you’ll want to go with.
Jasmine S35
However, if you want to go ultra-cheap while keeping some of the basic qualities in there, we’d recommend Jasmine S35. Yes, you can’t expect anything flashy for its price, but it’s still a very reliable instrument that can even see some action for live performances. It even has a spruce top and laminated nato wood for the back and sides. The resulting tone is more than just decent and would satisfy even some experienced players.
