Acoustic guitar is an excellent, exciting, and inspiring musical instrument to learn music and have enormous fun. But, choosing your first acoustic guitar is not easy as at first glance it seems like a herculean task to play it and judge the intensity of the instrument.
To help you figure out, we have rounded up 8 best acoustic guitars for beginners. Moreover, we tried to spice up the list with different types of acoustic guitars in terms of tone production and style.
How We Choose The 8 Best Acoustic Guitars For Beginners
We have prioritized the comfortability of playing an acoustic guitar for beginners. So, all 8 guitars have low action strings as it is much easier to play. We considered the shape and size as well. A smaller, lighter guitar with a slim, contoured body is generally more comfortable playing.
Beginner guitars are all about the fundamentals, which is why exotic woods are rarely used. A solid spruce top with a laminate back and sides is an excellent starting point for a tone-and-durability combination.
It is not wise to invest a lot of money on your first guitar. Rather we suggest, you get a budget-friendly guitar and get to know your instrument. When you learn more, develop your musical senses, and become experienced with the instrument you can invest more to get your choice of acoustic guitar.
Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy
Key Features:
- A vintage 12-fret guitar that triggers the vibe and tones of the 1930s and 1940s
- This guitar’s parlor-sized body makes it a great choice for relaxing couch strumming.
- The 12-fret design and extended bouts offer amazing projection and volume.
- Rich warmth, a mellow, lyrical sound, and clear resonance are all provided by the basswood back, sides, and top.
The Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy Flat Top acoustic guitar transports you to the era of smaller parlor guitars, such as the Gretsch Rex, which ruled front porch strumming and backyard get-togethers in the 1930s and 1940s. It features a traditional 2-color sunburst finish, nickel hardware, and vintage open-gear die-cast tuning machines from the 1950s, along with a single-ply white pickguard with a “G” graphic.
The G9500 Jim Dandy is ideal for fingerstyle and picked playing as well. Its non-cutaway basswood body with X-bracing produces a rich, full-bodied sound, and its top-load walnut bridge with compensated synthetic bone saddle ensures consistent intonation down the neck.
This little gem is perfect for both newbies and seasoned musicians equally. It’s great for songwriting, practice, or even as a travel guitar. The Jim Dandy will provide hours of enjoyable playing because it is comfortable to play and has a rich, vintage tone with a deep bass.
Yamaha FG800M
Key Features:
- A budget-friendly acoustic guitar with professional features and appearance
- An exceptionally well-balanced sonic range is provided by a cozy folk body shape.
- Full and balanced solid spruce top
- The nato/mahogany sides and back provide a lovely warm tone.
- The back and sides made of nato/mahogany have a warm tone and look fantastic.
- Rosewood fingerboard and a swiftly satin-finished neck slide through the hand.
When it comes to student-friendly instruments, Yamaha is still the brand to beat. Thus, it seems appropriate that we highlight the Yamaha FG800M, as one of the best acoustic guitars for beginners.
The FG800’s solid top is its most unexpected feature, as solid tops are uncommon in this price range. This produces a richer, warmer tone by allowing the guitar to resonate freely. Plenty of volume and power are produced by Yamaha’s new scalloped bracing, which is located beneath the solid top. All of these features come together in the large Dreadnought body to create a vibrating rich tone.
Martin LX1 Little Martin
Key Features:
- A resonant and lively response is provided by the solid spruce top.
- Design in mahogany With a full and distinct midrange-biased tone, the HPL back and sides are exceptionally durable.
- Suitable for players of all sizes, the 23-inch scale length provides a relaxed and easy playing feel.
- A modified low oval neck shape with a taper for enhanced playing performance
- Satin finish, hand-rubbed, smooth and low-maintenance
The Little Martin may be our smallest guitar but it is still very big In terms of tone, quality, and versatility. Its remarkable tone is based on a solid spruce top. It is the top wood of choice for acoustics because spruce has a balanced frequency response and produces a clear, articulate sound
Apart from that, the Mahogany HPL back and sides sound warm and are far less likely to dry out and crack than solid wood designs. Rich overtones bloom in full chords, while single notes have a piano-like clarity.
Fender CD-60S
Key Features:
- Massive, full-bodied sound is produced by the dreadnought body and traditional tonewoods.
- The solid spruce top and the mahogany back and sides provide excellent tone.
- The 20-fret walnut fingerboard’s smooth 12-inch radius and rolled edges provide extra comfort.
- The walnut bridge delivers excellent tonal support.
Fender CD-60S brings together an unrivaled blend of quality, playability, aesthetics, and affordability. Its rolled fingerboard edges make it easy to execute barre chords and other similar chords, which is why we especially like its neck. One nice feature that beginner guitars frequently lack is depth of tone. The solid spruce top adds just that.
As you begin to move into the depth of learning guitar, the large dreadnought body projects a pleasing boomy voice to enrich your satisfaction. The CD-60S Dreadnought is an excellent acoustic partner for your fingerpicking and strumming patterns in a variety of musical styles, including bluegrass, folk, and indie rock.
Taylor Academy 10
Key Features:
- The powerful tone that flat pickers and strummers enjoy is captured in Taylor’s Dreadnought.
- Sitka spruce delivers a wide dynamic range and can be played in a variety of ways
- Dreadnought shape with armrests that lessen fatigue
- Thin varnish finish that enhances tone
- Layered sapele back and sides
- Hard rock maple neck with ebony fingerboard, 20 frets
The Taylor Academy 10 is the most priciest guitar in this list but it comes with a supreme value as well. Its thoughtful design mechanism is completely devoted to inspiring the beginner’s passion for learning guitar.
With its solid spruce top and comfortable, playable neck, Taylor’s Academy A10 will encourage you to play more and advance your playing skills. The most noticeable addition is the integrated armrest, which reduces the point of contact between the player’s arm and the body of the guitar. The slightly shorter neck of the guitar reduces the force applied to the strings.
This Dreadnought is ideal for learning, jam sessions, practice, and performing in front of an audience because it is constructed with layered sapele on the back and sides, which produces a powerful voice with clear projection.
Ibanez AW54CE
Key Features:
- Excellent acoustic guitar feel, sound, and style
- A dreadnought body gives you a lot of naturally projected space.
- Okume construction has a full, rich sound with substantial sustain.
- The AEQ-TP2 pickup system offers a great plugged-in tone and convenient built-in tuning.
- Open pore finish for a rustic, organic look
- Laurel fingerboard and Nyatoh neck give you strong action.
The Ibanez Artwood AW54CE is an excellent choice for an acoustic-electric guitar because it hits all the right notes. The Ibanez AEQ-TP2 preamp offers two bands of EQ, an easy-to-read digital tuner, and the added punch of on-board EQ.
The rich, warm tone of the Laurel fretboard is complemented by the warm, natural tone produced by the Laurel bridge, which directly transmits string vibration to the body. When the guitar is played lightly with fingers, the woody, warm tone produced by the Okoume back and sides is appealing. When it comes to strumming, it produces punchy high-mids with distinct projections.
Epiphone Hummingbird Studio
Key Features:
- Affordably priced acoustic-electric guitar with a vintage vibe
- The hummingbird pickguard is instantly recognizable for a classic look.
- The tone of the solid spruce top will improve over time.
- The back and sides of mahogany add richness and depth to your tone.
- Fishman pickup produces excellent plugged-in tones.
The Epiphone Hummingbird Studio is one of the most classic-looking acoustic guitars. A gorgeously ornate hummingbird pickguard adds that final touch of class to the Faded Cherry Sunburst finish. It also has a striking split parallelogram inlay running the length of its Pau Ferro fingerboard.
Epiphone furnished the Hummingbird Pro with a solid spruce top and a mahogany body to ensure a beautiful, singing tone. Moreover, Epiphone’s built-in Eperformer preamp is versatile enough to deliver a wide range of tones for electrified sessions.
Also Check Out: 9 Best Free Guitar VST Instrument Plugins
Epiphone DR-100
Key Features:
- Reasonably priced acoustic guitar made of genuine tonewoods
- The lively, bright tone of a select spruce top makes it a wonderful accompaniment to other instruments.
- Mahogany sides and back give your tone body and depth, perfectly balancing the spruce top.
- Beginners will find the SlimTaper neck shape perfect.
Completing the beginner acoustic guitar category, the Epiphone DR-100 is a full-size dreadnought with an all-laminate construction, meaning that the sides, back, and top are all laminate wood instead of solid wood. It has the traditional mahogany back and sides paired with a spruce top.
As the wood ages, the DR-100’s tone will get better. Moreover, the playability is outstanding because of the SlimTaper neck shape of the Epiphone. For the price, the Epiphone DR-100 is an excellent guitar.
Conclusion
This list can be used as a base for you to start your guitar learning process. Remember you can learn with any guitar but if you would like to get started the right way, you can pick any from the above choices and begin.
Happy Playing! 🙂