The Best Acoustic Guitars - From $100 to $2000
Originally published on Nov 3, 2016 and last updated on Apr 6, 2018 by Mason Hoberg and Jason Horton.
Acoustic Guitar Guides
For this 2018 updated version of this guide we short-listed 69 guitars available from major online American retailers and examined more than 9,200 rating and review sources in order to find the highest rated ones to recommend below.
Note that these are acoustic guitars without electronics, if you want a guitar that's ready to plug in please see our separate guide to The Best Acoustic-Electric Guitars.
Contents
The Best Acoustic Guitars - From $100 to $2000
| Sweetwater | Gearank | Sources | Street Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $200 | ||||
| Epiphone DR-100 | Sweetwater Page | 90 | 1800+ | $139 |
| Yamaha FG800 | Sweetwater Page | 92 | 100+ | $200 |
| Ibanez AW54 | Sweetwater Page | 95 | 80+ | $200 |
| Under $300 | ||||
| Ibanez AC240 OPN | Sweetwater Page | 94 | 100+ | $300 |
| Yamaha FG830 | Sweetwater Page | 93 | 80+ | $300 |
| Takamine GD20 | Sweetwater Page | 93 | 40+ | $300 |
| Under $500 | ||||
| Seagull S6 Original Cedar Slim | Sweetwater Page | 96 | 425+ | $419 |
| The Loar LH-200 | -- | 92 | 80+ | $400 |
| Taylor Big Baby BBT | Sweetwater Page | 92 | 275+ | $449 |
| Under $1000 | ||||
| Blueridge BR-140 | -- | 90 | 40+ | $540 |
| Seagull Maritime SWS SG | Sweetwater Page | 89 | 50+ | $720 |
| Under $2000 | ||||
| Martin 000-15M | Sweetwater Page | 97 | 225+ | $1299 |
| Martin D-15M | Sweetwater Page | 98 | 150+ | $1299 |
| Taylor 314 | Sweetwater Page | 96 | 30+ | $1699 |
The Best Acoustic Guitars Under $200
Epiphone DR-100
Epiphone says that the DR-100 has long been their top selling acoustic guitar and based on what we gleaned from our research this could well be the highest selling acoustic in its class.
For many years the DR-100 has been the choice of many as a student guitar and a low cost 'campfire' option - that's a term used to describe guitars you can take on camping trips without having to worry too much about getting it damaged as you would with an expensive guitar.
Specifications
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Select Spruce (laminated)
- Body: Mahogany
- Finish: Gloss - Natural, also comes in Ebony and Vintage Sunburst
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: SlimTaper
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: Not specified
- Number of Frets: 20
- Scale Length: 25.5”
- Nut Width: 1.69”
Customer reviews were consistent in saying that the build quality, sound quality and playability of the DR-100 are on par with guitars in the next couple of price brackets above. Positive reviews came from students, guitar teachers, and experienced guitarists who used it for practice.
There were a number of reports from people who live in dry climates that the neck dried out and warped in under a year. There were also some owners who complained about their DR-100 developing fret buzz over time.
In November 2016 we determined that this was the highest rated Dreadnought selling for under $150 and we continue to recommend it as an excellent beginner guitar.
Yamaha FG800
Something a lot of musicians don’t know about Yamaha is that the company has produced musical instruments ever since its inception, and originally produced organs. A lot of guitarists overlook Yamaha instruments because the brand has an association with its other products, but the brand has actually been producing instruments for more than 130 years.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Spruce
- Back and Sides: Nato/Okume
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Nato
- Neck Profile: Slim Tapered
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 400mm
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25 9/16”
- Nut Width: 43mm
For example. The FG800 has a solid spruce top. Solid wood gives an instrument a significantly better tone than laminate. You get more volume, a better frequency representation, and the tone of your instrument will actually get better the more you play.
Ibanez AW54
Street Price:
Manufacturer:
Though Ibanez is known more for their electric guitars, the brand actually produces a lot of high quality and inventive acoustic instruments. The perfect example of this is Ibanez’s AW54, a member of their Artwood series.
The Ibanez AW54 is an all-mahogany instrument with a solid mahogany top. Mahogany is a “warm” sounding tonewood, which means that it has a stronger representation of low-end and low-mid frequencies. It’s great if you’re looking to play folk, blues, and country music. It’s also great for finger-style songs.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Mahogany
- Back and Sides: Laminate Mahogany
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Slim (21mm at 1st Fret)
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 400mm
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.629"
- Nut Width: 43mm
An interesting feature of this instrument is that Ibanez sells it with “Ibanez Advantage” bridge pins. These pins are designed to make string changes easier. The “bulb” of the pin is wider, making it easier to grab. The end is also tapered, which helps hold the strings in the correct position.
The Best Acoustic Guitars Under $300
Ibanez AC240 OPN
Street Price:
Manufacturer:
The Ibanez AC240 OPN is a grand concert sized all-mahogany guitar. The grand concert size is the next size down from the dreadnought. The body style has a more pronounced mid-range and is more responsive, making it a great choice for musicians who want to focus on finger-style arrangements and lead flatpicking. Like the Ibanez above, the AC240 OPN also has a solid mahogany top. This helps to give it warmer tone, which does an excellent job of balancing the brighter tone of a Grand Concert style body.
Features:
- Body Shape: Grand Concert
- Top: Solid Mahogany
- Back and Sides: Laminated Mahogany
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Slim (21mm at 1F)
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 400mm
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 24.96"
- Nut Width: 45mm
An interesting feature of this guitar is that it has an open finish, meaning that the pores of the wood are exposed to the air. In practice, it’s not objective what impact (if any) this has on the tone. However, it definitely doesn’t hurt the guitar in any way.
Yamaha FG830
The Yamaha FG830 is a very similar instrument to the FG800, with the most important difference being that the FG830 comes with rosewood back and sides. Rosewood is more “focused” than mahogany, so the guitar has a stronger mid-range and high-end punch. This lets you be heard better over other instruments. However, musicians who prefer Americana music (not including bluegrass) or solo arrangements may prefer a mahogany guitar because of their warmer voicing.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Spruce
- Back and Sides: Laminated Rosewood
- Finish: Natural, Tobacco Sunburst, Autumn Burst
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Nato
- Neck Profile: Slim Tapered
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 400mm
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25”
- Nut Width: 43mm
Beyond that, there isn’t a lot that separates these two instruments. The FG830 is more expensive than the FG800, but if you’re looking to play in a band the extra expense may be worth it. However, the difference isn’t big enough to justify the extra cost unless you’re either planning on playing with others or looking for a rosewood voiced instrument.
Takamine GD20
Takamine’s GD20 is the first cedar topped guitar to grace this list. Cedar, commonly used in classical guitars, is a very warm sounding tonewood. Most Takamine guitars have a brighter voice than comparatively priced guitars, so the combination of the cedar top and Takamine’s general voicing leads to a really well balanced and versatile instrument.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Cedar
- Back and Sides: Laminated Mahogany
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Slim
- Fingerboard: Ovangkol
- Fingerboard Radius: 12”
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.3”
- Nut Width: 42.8mm
And interesting feature of this guitar is the saddle, which comes in two pieces. Because of this, the positions of the strings can be more finely tune. This likely helps with the instrument’s intonation, which is definitely going to come in handy if you’re looking to play more intricate passages on the upper frets of the guitar.
The Best Acoustic Guitars Under $500
Seagull S6 Original Cedar Slim
The Seagull S6 Original Sim is a (relatively) thin bodied dreadnought with a solid cedar top. The body is thinner than your standard dreadnought, but not to the point where there’s a dramatic drop-off in volume or bass frequencies. The thinner body can make the guitar more comfortable for players of smaller stature, children especially.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Cedar
- Back and Sides: Laminated Wild Cherry
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Silver Leaf Maple
- Neck Profile: Standard Seagull
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 16"
- Number of Frets: 21
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.5
- Nut Width: 43.69
Something to know about Seagull guitars is that they have a pretty wide nut width as a standard rule, with their “thin” necks being more inline with most acoustic guitars players will be familiar with. This makes the guitar great for fingerstyle arrangements, jazz and early folk especially.
The Loar LH-200
The Loar LH-200 is a small bodied guitar. The best thing about small bodied guitars is how responsive they are to fingerpicking, making them a great choice for any fingerstyle arrangement (with the exception of classical music).
However, the responsiveness of small bodied guitars does come with a tradeoff. Small bodied guitars generally don’t sound as good when flatpicked because they lack the tonal depth of a dreadnought guitar or larger instrument. If you’re looking for a guitar to handle both flatpicking and fingerpicking equally well (though not as well as a guitar specifically geared towards a style of playing) check out an OM body style.
Features:
- Body Shape: 00/000
- Top: Solid Spruce
- Back and Sides: Laminated Mahogany
- Finish: Vintage Sunburst/Natural
- Bridge: Paduak
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Not Stated
- Fingerboard: Padauk
- Fingerboard Radius: Not Stated
- Number of Frets:19
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.5”
- Nut Width: 43mm
Another cool feature of the Loar LH-200 is how well it captures that early pre-war blues tone. Most modern guitars are voiced a bit too brightly to really capture that tone, but the LH-200 is the exception to this trend.
Taylor Big Baby BBT
The Taylor Big Baby line is a series of guitars aimed at musicians on the go. Because of this, all of the guitars in this line are smaller than your standard dreadnought. The Big Baby BBT is a 15/16 size dreadnought, which means it’s slightly smaller than a standard sized guitar. It’s a bit more portable, but it’s not going to be a world of difference.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought (15/16 size)
- Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
- Back and Sides: Laminated Sapele
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: African Ebony
- Neck: Sapele
- Neck Profile: Taylor Big Baby Profile
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Fingerboard Radius: Not Stated
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25 ½”
- Nut Width: 42.8mm
Another cool feature of this guitar is that it actually uses Sapele instead of mahogany. Sapele has a lot of the same characteristics of mahogany, including the overall warm voicing as well as the strong mid-range presence. The main difference is that Sapele has a stronger high-end response than mahogany and slightly more complex overtones. However, the difference between these two tonewoods is subtle.
Note: Sapele is sometimes referred to as mahogany…because it is mahogany. However, it’s a separate species of the wood from the more widely used Honduran mahogany. That’s why in the video the guitar is referred to as having mahogany back and sides.
The Best Acoustic Guitars Under $1000
Blueridge BR-140
Blueridge’s BR-140 is a Martin-styled dreadnought. The BR-140 is arguably the closest you’re going to get to that pre-War Martin tone while still keeping your budget under $1000. Because of this, it’s a great deal if you’re looking for a Bluegrass guitar especially. However, the BR-140 is also at home with singer-songwriter work and vintage finger-style arrangements as well.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
- Back and Sides: Solid Honduras Mahogany
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Slim
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: Not Stated
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.6”
- Nut Width: 43mm
The best thing about this guitar is that it’s actually made from all-solid woods. The tone you get from this instrument is going to be significantly better than the tone you’ll get from a laminated instrument, making the extra investment worth it if you’re serious about getting a great tone. Also, the tone of the instrument will actually get better the more you play it.
Seagull Maritime SWS SG
Seagull’s Maritime SWS SG is an all-solid dreadnought, made with a solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides. Like the other Seagull guitars on this list, the Maritime features all of the innovative features expected from the brand.
However, the most important thing to know about this guitar is that it combines Seagull’s build quality with traditional materials. Because the guitar is a pairing of spruce and mahogany you’re going to get a more traditional dreadnought tone with the tuning stability and projection that results from the Seagull line’s features.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
- Back and Sides: Solid Mahogany
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Soft C
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: Not Stated
- Number of Frets: 21
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.5”
- Nut Width: 45.72mm
Lastly, keep in mind that like other Seagull guitars the Maritime SWS SG also has a slightly wider nut width than what you may be accustomed to. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s big enough that there may be an adjustment period.
The Best Acoustic Guitars Under $2000
Martin 000-15M
Martin is a household name when it comes to acoustic guitars, and for good reason. The brand has is one of the most revered and long lived producers of musical instruments, and their instruments have been the weapon of choice for guitarists across a ton of different genres and decades.
Features:
- Body Shape: 000
- Top: Solid Mahogany
- Back and Sides: Solid Mahogany
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Modified Low Oval / Standard Taper
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Saddle Radius: 16"
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.4”
- Nut Width: 43mm
The 000-15 is an all-mahogany 000 body. The 000 body gives the guitar a balance voice, equally at home with fast lead lines as it is with mellow and refined fingerstyle work. Because of the mahogany construction, the guitar has a very warm voicing with a strong mid-range presence. This gives the guitar a woody tone, reminiscent of early Americana music.
Martin D-15M
Martin’s D-15M is a solid all-mahogany dreadnought. This guitar has a very strong rhythmic presence, thanks to the warmth and bold mid-range that you get with mahogany. Because of the dreadnought sized body, the guitar also has volume to spare.
Features:
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid Mahogany
- Back and Sides: Solid Mahogany
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Modified Low Oval, Standard Taper
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Saddle Radius: 16"
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.4”
- Nut Width: 43mm
An interesting feature of this guitar is that combines the standard Martin voicing (think Bluegrass) with the warmth of mahogany. This gives the guitar a surprisingly balanced voice, and a perfect Americana tone. It’s a fantastic rhythm instrument, but it’s also great as for fingerstyle work. Though, because this is a dreadnought it will be a bit harder to get a lot of volume out of the guitar without using finger picks and a thumb pick.
Taylor 314
The Grand Auditorium is Taylor’s signature body style, and was actually introduced by Bob Taylor (this happened in 1994). The body style is incredibly versatile, featuring a strong low-end response, punchy mids, and a sparkling high-end.
This body style is great if you’re looking for a quality guitar that can cover a ton of different styles of music. The guitar is responsive enough for light and intricate fingerstyle work, yet loud enough to work well as a primary rhythm instrument in an ensemble or band.
Features:
- Body Shape: Grand Auditorium
- Top: Solid Spruce
- Back and Sides: Solid Sapele
- Finish: Natural
- Bridge: Ebony
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Profile: Not Stated
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Fingerboard Radius: Not Stated
- Number of Frets: 20
- Frets to Body: 14
- Scale Length: 25.5”
- Nut Width: 1.75"
Like the other Taylor guitar featured on this list, the 314 also comes with Sapele back and sides. In this case, the Sapele gives the 314 an almost piano like voicing. The guitar is full of complex and rich overtones, and retains them regardless of the genre/style played.
Tips for Acoustic Guitar Buyers
-
Woods
Most guitarists and guitar makers have traditionally been of the opinion that all-solid wood guitars offer the best performance because solid woods carry sound and resonate better than laminated woods or other composite materials.
On the other hand, brands such as Ovation, and to a lesser extent Rainsong, have had a great deal of commercial success with acoustic guitars that use non-wood composite materials in a large part of their construction.
Due to environmental considerations, many high-end manufacturers are now including composite woods in places like the fretboard or even sometimes on the top of the guitar where they would have previously used a solid wood. Based on many expert reviews and comparisons it would appear that the high end brands are now doing this quite successfully in terms of the quality and effectiveness of the finished product.
The most important place to have solid wood is on the top of the guitar as this typically has the most influence on projection and sustain, but this tends to cost more than having a laminate top.
Here are some of the most commonly used tonewoods:
-
Spruce
One of the most popular tonewoods for the top of an acoustic guitar and is generally considered to have an 'all round' tone without being overly bright, warm or bassy. Spruce tends to go well with most other types of wood that may be used on the rest of the guitar.
-
Cedar
This is a less dense wood than Spruce so it tends to have less sustain and projection while sounding warmer. It's often found on guitars that are designed for fingerstyle players.
-
Mahogany
Mahogany is a dense wood that lends itself to a warm tone that projects very well. It was traditionally used mainly on the back and sides of a guitar, however in the last few years it has become a very popular wood used to build an entire guitar - in fact many all-mahogany guitars are now rated more highly than their traditional counterparts as you'll see in the list of guitars below.
-
Sapele
Sapele is becoming a popular choice these days. It's a bit denser than Mahogany and produces a slightly brighter sound. Taylor say it adds "top end shimmer" to the guitars they use it on.
-
Maple
This is a very hard and dense wood and is most often used on the back and sides but you will occasionally find it used as a top wood. It has great projection but tends to emphasize the mid frequencies too much for many people's taste as a top wood.
-
Koa
Also known as Hawaiian Koa because it's a native Hawaiian species. It's a dense hardwood which emphasizes the mid to high overtones and as it ages it tends to 'open up' adding warmth to the mid range. It's mainly found on high-end guitars due to its high cost.
-
Rosewood
Rosewood offers a lot of warmth and complex overtones It's usually found on the back and sides or fingerboard and is said to 'round out' the overall tone of Spruce topped guitars. It's also an expensive tonewood so you tend to find it used sparingly on less expensive models.
Although specific woods have their characteristics much also depends on how they're used in building a guitar - if you'd like to dive deeper into this topic then you might like to read a luthier's opinion: Tapping Tonewoods by Dana Bourgeois.
-
-
Shape and Size
Generally smaller bodies such as Concert guitars will emphasize the higher treble frequencies and are often preferred by fingerstyle players. At the other end of the spectrum Jumbo body guitars resonate the lower bass frequencies much better and are preferred by those who play a loud strumming style. In between you have the Grand Auditorium which combines the tonal characteristics of small and large bodied guitars. The most popular shape these days is the Dreadnought which is nice and loud and produces a good balance of high and low frequencies with enough note definition for playing melodies with a pick. Many acoustic-electrics feature a cutaway to provide easy access to the high frets which have sufficient volume when amplified.
-
Action / String Height
Guitars with a low action allow for faster runs and the use of playing techniques such as tapping on the fretboard and hammering on/off. Beginners and those transitioning from electric guitars generally find a lower action easier to play. A higher action on the other hand lends itself a bit better to loud strumming styles of play where fret buzz would be a concern if the action was too low. Unfortunately guitar manufacturers typically don't provide string height as one of their specifications and the actual height tends to vary between individual guitars and batches so if you don't like the setup your guitar has when it arrives you either have to get a guitar technician to adjust it for you, or do it yourself. For advice on setting up your guitar see this guide from Guitar Player.
-
Nut Width
The nut width essentially describes how far apart the strings are spaced. A larger nut width will suit players who are used to it, for example anyone transitioning from classical style guitars, or those who have larger fingers. If your background is mostly with electric guitar then you'll feel more conformable playing an acoustic with a smaller nut width.
-
Scale Length
This is essentially the distance measured between the saddle and the nut, or more accurately described as double the distance from the nut to the 12th fret plus some "compensation" added by the position of the saddle. A longer scale length requires higher tension in the strings and results in a brighter tone. A more detailed explanation with examples is presented quite well by Stewart MacDonald and a good description of the implications of different scale lengths can be found at Guitar Player
-
Strap Buttons
It's important to note that some manufacturers don't provide strap buttons, or they don't provide one on the neck side of the guitar. If you want to play using a guitar strap then take a good look at the pictures to see if you need to buy strap buttons along with your guitar. They're easy to install and fairly inexpensive.
Best Acoustic Guitar Selection Methodology
We performed a new extensive survey of the acoustic guitar landscape completed in January 2018 resulting in 69 acoustic guitars being placed on our short list. We gathered information from over 9,200 review and rating sources which we also processed with the Gearank Algorithm to produce the scores out of 100 you see above and selected the highest rated options within each price bracket to recommend.
We only included 6-string, steel string acoustic guitars that are generally full-sized instruments for their type and only ones that are widely available from online music equipment retailers in the USA. The types of acoustic guitars not included here are: Classical / Nylon String, Travel, Silent and Parlor Guitars.
For more information about our methods see How Gearank Works.
Comments
I have an Enquiry , I am
Submitted by Mark (not verified) on
I have an Enquiry , I am looking to buy a semi-acoustic guitar with a cutaway , I have heard that the Richwood Acoustic D-40CE is a better overall guitar than the EPIPHONE EJ-200CE NAT do you reckon that´s true ? Thanks.
The Richwood Acoustic D-40-CE
Submitted by Jason Horton on
The Richwood Acoustic D-40-CE doesn't meet our criterion as a guitar widely available in the USA so we haven't rated it - maybe someone else more familiar with European brands can help you.
We have updated this guide by
Submitted by Jason Horton on
We have updated this guide by moving the sections on Acoustic-Electric guitars to a new guide: The Best Acoustic Electric Guitars - Up to $500.
You can still read what we have to say about the guitars removed from this guide:
We have removed the Fender CD
Submitted by Jason Horton on
We have removed the Fender CD-60 All Mahogany from our recommendations above because it has been discontinued.
As a result of the January
Submitted by Jason Horton on
As a result of the January 2018 update of this guide the following guitars were removed from our recommended list above, either because there were more highly rated options to recommend in the case of acoustic guitars which hadn't been discontinued, or because they were acoustic-electric guitars which we are no longer featuring in this guide:
As part of today's update to
Submitted by Jason Horton on
As part of today's update to this guide we have removed our recommendation of the Epiphone PR-150 due to a lack of availability and replaced it with the now equally highly rated Epiphone DR-100.
Where would you rank an
Submitted by George (not verified) on
Where would you rank an Augustino Loprinzi acoustic from late 70's to early 80's?
We only provide ratings for
Submitted by Jason Horton on
We only provide ratings for music gear and instruments that are currently available new so we can't really help you with that request.
The Seagull SWS you have
Submitted by Vincent Masson (not verified) on
The Seagull SWS you have listed has 21 frets. I first humbly checked my two Seagulls and the image you provided and sure'nuff all three have 21 frets. It would suck if a prospective buyer sees it's specs listed here and not bother to look at the image.
Thank you Vincent, there was
Submitted by Jason Horton on
Thank you Vincent, there was a typographical error which I've now fixed thanks to you.
Post a Comment or Question