Acoustic guitars are absolutely
fantastic, and easily any musician’s best friend! Their perfect ‘pick-it-up-and-play’
nature makes them the perfect instrument for any occasion – indoors or
outdoors. You can take an acoustic guitar with you to just about anywhere, play
them any time you want, and keep yourself and the people around you
entertained. Plus, guitars do make good gifts as well! And let’s not forget,
chicks seem to dig guitar players! ;)
Here is my list of top acoustic
guitars out there, all of which can be had on the cheap!
1. Epiphone DR-100
The DR-100 costs a measly $99, and
for the price, is one hell of a good acoustic guitar! Granted, you will most
certainly need to invest in a new set of strings as soon as you buy these, it
doesn’t change the fact that this is an excellent musical instrument which
comes with the reliability of Gibson (Gibson owns the company Epiphone). For an
acoustic guitar, it has a great action, and once you hook it up with a good set
of after-market strings, sounds fantastic! And while it might not be a looker
(perfectly reasonable in this price range), it does come with a spruce top,
mahogany neck and body, and chromium hardware. The DR-100 is available in
natural finish, vintage sunburst finish or a glassy black finish (the last one
is an absolute fingerprint magnet!). It is important to note that the EpiphoneAJ-100 makes for a good alternative at around the same price.
2. Yamaha F335
If you can shed a little more than
$99, Yamaha’s F335 is a solid guitar, and would make an excellent choice.
Yamaha is vastly underrated in my opinion; they have continued to produce some
of the best acoustic (and reasonably good electric) guitars since quite a while
now. For 150 of your greens, you simply cannot do better than the F335. The
guitar sounds and plays as good as much more expensive acoustics (even some of
the more expensive Yamahas!). It features a dreadnought body with spruce top
(laminated), meranti sides and rear, and rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Plus
a gold die-cast tuners and a tortoise shell pickguard truly come together to
make this guitar look great. For $150, it is a great, sturdy guitar that does
the job pretty darn well!
3. Vintage V300
In 2006, the Vintage V300 was
voted as the Best Guitar Under £1000, and several years later (in 2011), I had
the pleasure of extensively using one; I am pleased to report that it most
certainly lives up to the billing! First off, at $210, it has a great, vibrant
tone, with a bright high-end; ideal for pop, rock (or pop-rock) and blues. For
the price, I’ve rarely come across guitar which sounded better than this,
particularly in this price range: the tone of the guitar really is just that
good! In addition, the V300 has a spruce top with a nato-wood neck and 20
frets. The wood really is to-notch, which makes it one of the most durable
guitars in this price range. Even after taking quite a few knocks, the guitar
did not have any signs of wear and tear. Impressive, considering it was already
a 3-year old guitar when I’d received it!
4. Jasmine by Takamine S35
At $169 retail and as low as
$80(!) after saving, good acoustics don’t come any cheaper than this! One of
the best entry-level guitars out there, I would recommend any beginner, learner
or someone who’s looking to get into guitars to get this, simply because of how
easy it is to play! The S35 features a
spruce top, with nato back and sides, chrome tuners, and satin finish which maximizes
its resonance. It is one of the most highly-rated budget guitars out there, and
for good reason! Comes with a mahogany neck, a 21-fret rosewood fretboard, and
Takamine-designed NEX body shape and headstock. Its tone is loud, clear, crisp
and rich. The one thing that really stands out when you play the S35 is its
impressive bass range. ‘You get what you pay for’ turns out to be an inaccurate
assumption to make when it comes to this guitar!
5. Epiphone Hummingbird
Saved the best for the last! You
can probably tell that I am a bit of an Epiphone fan. The Hummingbird is my
second Epiphone pick out of the first 3 guitars, and while this beauty of a
guitar might be worth significantly more than the first two ($349.99, to be exact)
– which is not exactly ‘cheap’ – it is worth every penny you pay for it! The
first thing that strikes you about the HummingBird is the looks. It has a solid
spruce top, a mahogany body with mahogany back and sides, a mahogany neck,
all-chromium hardware, and above all, a seriously good-looking Heritage Cherry
Sunburst finish. We then move on to the sound, where once again the Hummingbird
really excels and leaves its competition in the dust! It produces a warm, rich
and full sound, and is probably one of the best guitars for multi-genre guitar
play – you will be able to kill it with the Hummingbird whether you play
country, classic rock or blues! The Gibson Masterbuild strings with come with
the package are tremendous. Overall, $349 for the package you’re getting is
most certainly pretty cheap!
Hopefully, this will help you pick up a cheap yet fantastic acoustic guitar for yourself. As a beginner, the next step would be to learn how to play your shiny new instrument. There's a plethora of some fantastic courses online, but I personally recommend GuitarTricks or JamPlay (reviews here). All the best! See you in the comments section.
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