There is a question I keep on getting from parents and students looking to learn acoustic guitar:
Which beginner acoustic guitar should I buy?
There are many guitars you can choose from, but as beginners have no experience with guitars yet, they have a difficult time choosing.
I am a guitar teacher of 20+ years now, and I want to help you choose a suitable acoustic guitar in this article.
I went to Guitar Center, compared the most popular beginner guitars, and played them all.
Here are my findings and nominations for the best acoustic guitar for beginners in 2024.
Contents
Top 3 Acoustic Guitars for Beginners
After searching through reviews sites, forums, and the acoustic guitar enclosure at Guitar Center, I’ve narrowed the list of the best beginner acoustic guitars to these 3 instruments.
Why just 3 guitars, not 10? I didn’t want to have a long list to make choosing a guitar more complicated. The top 3 is plenty to choose from.
Yamaha FG800 ($200)
Solid sitka spruce top, light weight entry-level guitar
Ibanez AC340 ($300)
All mahogany construction, with bone nut & saddle
Seagull S6 ($400)
Solid cedar top dreadnought guitar from Canada
Despite their low price tags, all 3 guitars above are fine instruments.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of their specifications, after which I’ll go into the details and my opinion of each instrument.
| YAMAHA FG800 | IBANEZ AC340 | SEAGULL S6 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Gloss | Open pore | Semi gloss |
| Top wood | Solid Sitka Spruce | Solid Mahogany | Solid Cedar |
| Back & sides wood | Laminated Nato | Laminated Mahogany | Laminated wild cherry |
| Neck wood | Nato | Mahogany | Silver leaf maple |
| Fingerboard wood | Rosewood | Rosewood | Rosewood |
| Nut & saddle material | Urea | Bone | Tusq |
| Frets | 20 | 20 | 21 |
| Tuners | Chrome | Chrome | Chrome |
| Nut width | 1.69″ | 1.75″ | 1.8″ |
| Scale length | 25.5″ | 24.96″ | 25.5″ |
| Body length | 19.88″ | 19.25″ | 19.8″ |
| Body width | 16.22″ | 15″ | 15.86″ |
| Body depth | 3.93″ – 4.65″ | 4.5″ | 4.9″ |
| Made in | China | China | Canada |
| Price | About $200, check Amazon for discounts | About $300, check Amazon for discounts | About $400, check Amazon for discounts |
Yamaha FG800 | Solid features at a bargain price
The FG800 is a new model, which replaced the FG700. By the way, the Yamaha FG is the best selling acoustic guitar series ever.
At $200, the FG800 presents great value to beginners looking for a quality guitar at an acceptable price.
First off, it has a solid Sitka Spruce top. This makes it unique on the market, as no other brand name guitar has a solid top at this price point.
Spruce is a good tone wood, since it is suitable for just about any style of playing. It provides a powerful, wide dynamic range. No overtones, just a nice, uncomplicated tone.
One of the best parts of the Spruce tone is that it remains clear, even when strummed hard. The quality of the tone does not diminish with volume, unlike other tone woods. Ah, but there is always a compromise. With Spruce, it is that its tone isn’t particularly colorful.
Second, the craftsmanship is good compared to budget guitars at this price. No sharp fret ends hurt your fingers, and it has good tuners.
The lower price point means there are some compromises to be made:
- The action out-of-the-box is high, your setup technician should fix that.
- The nut, saddle and bridge pins of the FG800 are made of plastic (urea). That’s not a real problem on a beginner guitar, but down the line, you should upgrade them to bone or tusq (it will cost around $40). The difference in tone will be huge.
- The stock strings aren’t too good, but you’ll get a new set with your setup anyhow.
After you take care of the above, this guitar will play like a guitar 3x its price.
The Yamaha FG800 is a large body guitar. It is somewhat smaller than a dreadnought, but still big.
If you prefer a smaller body guitar, the Yamaha FS800 is the slimmer concert body version.
Here are a few reviews from others who have purchased the Yamaha FG800. There are many more reviews as well, which you can reach by clicking the links below.
Yamaha FG800
Solid top under $200!
Great value
This popular guitar is a favorite of beginners and guitar teachers alike. Its sub $200 price tag is a bargain, considering that it has a solid wook top. This guitar is perfect for the budget conscious beginner.
Check today’s prices on:
Ibanez AC340 | Unique looks, quality hardware
The Ibanez AC340 is the newer version of the 240 Artwood. It is a unique guitar in this price class.
First of all, let’s talk about the tone wood selection. The AC340’s entire body is made of Mahogany.
Mahogany is usually used for the side and back, not the guitar top. It is a hard, dense wood type, that has a distinct look and tone. Because it is so dense, it needs more “playing in” than Spruce or Cedar. With enough playing time, the real character of the guitar will open up, resulting in a warm, woody, colorful tone.
The more you play the AC340, the better it will sound through the years.
The natural look of this wood type is also very unique. The AC340 has an open pore natural finish (instead of the shiny glossy finish common on most guitars), making it’s looks reflect the raw woody tone it produces. The open pores release more sound than glossy guitars.
Secondly, you will notice the shape of the guitar is different than what you might be used to.
This shape is called a Grand Concert body, and roots back to the early days, where guitars would need to be loud, as there was no amplification. It is loud and strong.
Thirdly, this guitar screams quality. It has:
- Grover brand tuners
- A bone nut and saddle
- Advantage bridge pins
- D’addario EXP strings.
Oh, and did I mention the solid Mahogany construction? 🙂
With all of its features, the Ibanez AC340 is good value. By the way, the Yamaha FG800 has an FG850 cousin, which also uses Mahogany tonewood, but it costs $400 ($100 more than the Ibanez).
As with the Yamaha, here are a few customer reviews of the Ibanzer AC340. It is good to read up on the opinion of others before making a purchase.
Ibanez AC340
Full mahogany goodness
Unique looks
The AC340 is made of solid mahogany, which is why it has this unique look. It sounds unique as well, with a punchier sound than spruce-top guitars.
Check today’s prices on:
Seagull S6 | Superb quality beginner acoustic
Seagull is a Canadian guitar manufacturer, who make their guitars in Canada (not China). This makes them stand out from the Asian built competitors.
The S6 is a long-time staple in their lineup, the present version received an aesthetic redesign in 2017.
It comes in several builds, but the one I chose for this review is the S6 Original. Why? Because it is a time-proven guitar, which has been refined over the years.
There is also a version with Godin Quantum IT electronics built in (pickup, tuner and EQ).
The S6 features a solid Cedar top, which is the 2nd most popular top wood. The 1st is Spruce (FG800).
It is not as dense as Spruce, which means its tone is somewhat warmer. It has a definite character when played at a normal volume, but hard strumming results in less clarity. The guitar is a good choice for fingerstyle players, but not so great for players favoring more “aggressive” styles of playing.
I have to admit, it plays beautifully. Sitting at Guitar Center, I played Martins and Taylors that cost $2000 + , and S6 sounded comparable to all of them.
Even better than some of the expensive brands on some songs I played.
The S6 is not just a beginner guitar, it’s will serve advanced players as well. There is just 1 thing I would upgrade later on: the tusq saddle and nut could be swapped for bone. This would make this fine instrument even better.
Here are a few customer reviews on the Seagull S6 so you get an idea of what others think about it. If you want to read even more, click the links below.
Seagull S6
Highest quality beginner guitar
Premium pick
The Seagull S6 might be the best sounding guitar in this price range. In fact, it beats guitars that are much more expensive. If you have the extra dollars to spend on your beginner acoustic guitar, this is the best choice.
Check today’s prices on:
Which is best?
All of these guitars make for great beginner instruments, but:
“There can be only one!”
All 3 of these instruments make for excellent beginner guitars. So which one to choose?
That’s easy:
Whichever one you think looks best.
Not the answer you were expecting?
It’s simple really. The more you love your guitar, the more you’ll want to play it. Learning to play guitar isn’t easy, so having one you think is beautiful is important. You’ll want to pick it up more often, giving you more practice, meaning you’ll get better at a steady pace.
Ok, so which one would I choose?
- Seagull S6 – Since it feels great to hold and play, and has the most character.
- Yamaha FG800 – After a professional setup and the upgrade of the plastic parts, it would be my 2nd choice.
- Ibanez AC240 – Looks great, plays great. I like my tone a little softer though, but that is subjective.
So which one would you choose? Let me know in the comments section below!
How to choose an acoustic guitar for a beginner?
I remember the first guitar I ever bought, it was love at first sight.
It was a real beauty: an electric-acoustic Samick Greg Bennet made in S. Korea. It cost around $250. It actually had a solid top, but I had no idea what it meant at the time of purchase. I bought the guitar on impluse, but I learned to play on it and had it for many years before finally selling it.
If you’re in the process of buying your first guitar and want to take a more educated approach than I did, here are the things you should keep in mind.
How much should you pay for a 1st guitar?
You should expect to spend $200 – $400 on your 1st beginner acoustic guitar, if you are serious about learning to play the instrument.
I advise against buying a $100 all in one guitar pack. Those contain bad quality guitars, and you’ll just end up buying what you should have bought originally within a few months.
Be realistic. A cheap guitar will sound and play cheap.
If you do not have the funds to spend the $200 – $400 on a new guitar (even after a few months of saving up), you could consider getting a used guitar. BUT ONLY IF you have a knowledgable guitarist buddy who can help and test the guitar before you buy it. Do not try to buy a used guitar as a beginner, you could end up buying a dud.
You don’t need to spend more than this on your 1st guitar. Modern guitar building techniques alongside better wood choices have made these relatively inexpensive guitars perfectly able instruments.
Nylon or steel strings?
Nylon strings are easier on the fingertips, but steel strings are more versatile with regard to what you can play on the guitar.
Nylon stringed guitars are also called classical guitars, and they are used for classical guitar pieces. Steel stringed acoustic guitars are used for everything else, like pop, blues, rock, jazz, etc.
My professional opinion is that if you’re learning on an acoustic, your first guitar should be a steel stringed guitar, not a classical nylon stringed one.
A guitar student needs to be able to learn to play a wide variety of music, not a single genre.
But in the end, it is up to you.
- If you can imagine yourself playing some blues, strumming along to pop songs, singing with others around a campfire, than you need a steel-stringed acoustic guitar.
- If you only listen to classical music, your choice is clear: nylon stringed guitar.
Solid or laminate top?
When you talk about the “top” of an acoustic guitar, you are talking about the entire front part of it. So the part with the sound hole in the middle.
Laminate top guitars use several layers of densely pressed plywood for this.
Solid top guitars use a solid piece of tonewood.
Solid tops will always resonate more freely than a laminate top guitar. As you might guess, they are more expensive as well. Solid top beginner acoustics start at $200 (Yamaha FG800 above).
This is not to say that a laminate top guitar can’t be good enough to start learning on, but they will never sound as good.
Other considerations
- Tonewood – There is a plathera of tonewood types, but this shouldn’t be of much concern for you as a beginner.
- Body style – The bigger the body of the guitar, the more base and volume it will give out. The smaller the body, the more focused the sound will be.
- Plastic material – Suitars that have plastic hardware (tuning pegs, nut, bridge) will not sound as good, but are OK for beginners.
- Electronics – You can buy an acoustic-electric guitar and amplify it, but you probably won’t as a beginner. You can always install a pickup later on if you want to.
- Children – Check out this guide if you are buying a guitar for a child, as you will want to get a 1/2 or 3/4 scale guitar.
Should you get your new guitar set up?
Yes, absolutely.
Do you know how you can get a $200 guitar to sound like a $1,000 guitar?
With a proper setup at a guitar store.
Now I know what you are asking. “What is a setup?”
When you take your guitar to be set up, a guitar technician will perform a series of guitar maintenance procedures and adjust various things to make sure that:
- The guitar plays perfectly without any fret buzzing
- It iu comfortable to play on
- The intonation is spot on, meaning that the correct notes sound at the correct frets all over the fretboard
And your next questions is probably: “Why isn’t my new guitar set up at the factory?”
Inexpensive beginner guitars do not get a factory setup, since a skilled guitar technician would need to spend a considerable amount of time testing and tweaking each instrument.
The solution is to get your new guitar setup by a professional guitar tech at your local guitar shop.
The results of a guitar setup
After a setup, your guitar will be easier to play, feel much more comfortable, and sound better than it did out of the box.
I kid you not when I say that the difference after a proper setup can be amazing.
- The action will be optimized, with the height at the bridge and nut set properly.
- Your guitar won’t buzz at any fret.
- The guitar will intone to its best.
- Rough edges will be eliminated.
- Guitar will be restringed (factory strings on beginnre guitars are cheap).
Can you DIY a guiter setup? You’ll find many articles online on how to do it yourself, but leave it to a professional who has the proper tools and experience.
It will cost between $50 – $100, depending on what your guitar needs.
Fret dressing, where they round off sharp frets, is the most expensive part, and your bull will near $100. But not all guitars need fret dressing.
You should factor the price of the initial setup into your budget. It may sound high compared to the modet price of the guitar, but its playability and sound will be 5x better.
