BEGINNER LESSON
BEST ACOUSTIC GUITAR FOR BEGINNERS
The best acoustic guitars for beginners – that you can buy for under $1000
Best Acoustic Guitar For Beginners to buy
Time to buy a guitar?
Are you thinking about buying a guitar? Want an acoustic guitar that you can treasure and fingerpick on for years to come?
They say that dog is man’s best friend but anyone who has a guitar for more than 20 years can tell you that a real relationship begins when you buy your first good guitar. So I’ll examine the best options that I see on the market under $1000 or so.
GUITAR 1 TAYLOR 12E
BEST CHOICE FOR FINGERPICKERS
This is my choice of acoustic guitar under $1000 for fingerpickers. There are a few reasons for this:
- low action (which just makes holding the notes down, changing chords and hammer-on & pull-offs all a lot easier and better-sounding)
- spruce top which gives a beautiful resonance, sparkling mid-range and shimmering treble sounds (ideal for fingerpicking)
- beautiful looking guitar (which for me has the look for a guitar five times more expensive) featuring mahogany stripes on the edge between the sapele sides and Sitka spruce top.
This guitar has the most quality construction, beauty of instrument and mark of quality of all the guitars in this list. It would make a really strong option for any type of acoustic guitar playing. Taylor guitars can be quite loud so if you want your gentle fingerpicking to reach an acoustic audience, this could be a great choice for you!
SOUND
The guitar has a more mid and treble sound. The bass is more subtle in the mix and there is no pickup setting for the bass. Rather the treble is “rolled-off” or controlled by dialing it down. This makes it ideal for solo fingerpicking, particularly with the ‘flat’ treble setting (i.e. 12 o clock). The bass is a bit lower in the mix which allows the mids and trebles to ring and oscillate beautifully. This guitar resonates beautifully for fingerpickers and its why I would recommend it so highly.
- solid Sitka spruce top
- laminated birch
- fiber rope braid design rosette
- mahogany stripes
GUITAR 2 MARTIN D-X2E
Best Acoustic Guitar For Beginners
This Martin D-X2E is a dreadnought sized guitar (i.e. full size) featuring a solid Sitka spruce top and koa patterned HPL back and sides.
Martin has relentlessly improved their entry level models over the years. This is their latest offering, and the results are quite impressive.
My first impressions were that the guitar was quite light to hold and not as heavy as a regular Martin guitar like the D28. The guitar also looked a little plain which is no surprise because the cost of this guitar is order of magnitudes less than a D28. There is no finish on the body and the necks are ‘hand rubbed’ with oil.
You still have a guitar with that Martin logo on it and it still looks great – but certainly less than standard Martin models.
INSTRUMENT DETAILS
The sound of this guitar is truly fantastic given the price point. The notes have excellent sustain, a nice balance between difference strings and again between bass, middle and treble. The action on the guitar I played was perfect right out of the store and it sounded incredible on a gig I played fingerpicking on through a sound card and a PA system. It is the sound where this guitar really excels.
- Katalox bridge & fingerboard
- Pearloid dot inlays
- Koa patterned HPL back and sides.
- Select hardwood neck (spanish cedar, sapele or mahogany depending on availability
- Schaller-style tuners
- Compensated Tusq saddle
- Corian nut
- Dotted white plastic bridge pin
GUITAR 3 MARTIN D-X2E BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOd
BEST QUALITY
The acoustic-electric D-X2E features the iconic Dreadnought body shape, now available in three eye-catching high-pressure laminate (HPL) patterns- mahogany, Brazilian rosewood, or ziricote. If you haven’t heard of Brazilian Rosewood, it is the most expensive wood you can make a guitar with. So to see this model available for $969 is just incredible. The satin-finished spruce top features an elegant abalone pattern rosette, while HPL back and sides give you durability and classic Martin style. Playability enhancements include a thinner fingerboard with a gently beveled comfort edge and refined string spacing, and a modernized bridge contour for a smooth and comfortable playing experience.
Its signature size is loud and projective with strong bass, lending itself to any genre and experience level. The D-X2E also features a select hardwood neck, fingerboard, and bridge, and Martin E-1 electronics with a built-in chromatic tuner and volume, tone, and phase controls, letting you plug in and play at any volume. This guitar also comes with a softshell Fender case.
GUITAR 4 GRETSCH
BEST LOOKING GUITAR
The classic guitar manufacturer Gretsch has a range of parlor style guitars in a “penguin” style or shape. A parlor guitar is a little smaller than regular acoustic guitars so you’ll find them not to be quite as loud acoustically and obviously a little bit smaller in your lap and hands.
The Gretsch guitars look fantastic (in my opinion). They have a defining look of the 40s and 50s and this guitar features gold hardware. This range comes in a variety of colours (black, white, mint metallic and shell pink) but my favourite by far is the Mint Metallic (as featured in the accompanying image). The primary reason to have a guitar is to play it but this would look amazing on any wall. A friend of mine has a wonderful book of guitars which I could look at all day. There is something just so beautiful about this range that I am drawn to them.
SOUND
This guitar sounds great acoustically (owing to the solid spruce top) with a beautiful mahogany neck (back) with laurel fingerboard (front).
It also has an excellent pickup FIshman Presys III which enables you to plug in a guitar lead and play it on stage or use it for recording in a studio. This is where the laminated maple sides come in to play as they act to reduce feedback when plugged in.
- Laminated Maple Body with Solid Spruce Top
- Mahogany Neck with Laurel Fingerboard
- FIshman Presys III Pickup System
- Gold Hardware – Inspired by the golden era of Gretsch, these glitz and glam designs are perfect for the nontraditional, stage-ready players
- Pearloid Neo-Classic thumbnail inlays
- Synthetic bone nut
- 20 vintage style frets
- Gold plexi pickguard
- Gold hardware
The price is very reasonable – not using up the full $1000 but coming in at roughly half of that ($549.99 USD, £579.00 GBP, €669.00 EUR, $1199.00 AUD, ¥91,300 JPY)
summary
These are 4 of my favorite acoustic guitars under $1000. Any of these would be a great choice for a fingerpicking guitarist (or any acoustic guitarist) who wants to step up from an entry level guitar
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