If you’re just starting to learn how to play guitar, your budget is certainly going to be a concern when trying to choose the best acoustic guitar. But, it’s also important to play a quality guitar to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck. With so many different acoustic guitar brands out there and many cheap options to choose from, it can be difficult finding the right acoustic guitar to get started.
That’s why we took the time to put together this list of the 10 best acoustic guitars under $300 for beginners. You can’t go wrong starting out with any of these six-strings!
Related: How to Choose the Best Acoustic Guitar for You
10. Jasmine S34C NEX Acoustic Guitar
Jasmine guitars are designed by the same craftsmen who make the world’s hottest-selling all wood acoustic guitar: Takamine. this full-line consists of mini-jumbos, dreadnoughts, 12-strings, cutaways and acoustic/electrics all with popular body styles and features for today’s player. each model features all-wood construction, popular finishes, ping machines, durability, and quality, “Takamine level” construction and D’Addario strings for rich tone and long life and the woods notice the Japanese laminated spruce tops (solid spruce tops on some models), the fully bound rosewood fingerboards. select jasmine models include a KMC music designed cp-100 in-bridge pickup and pre-amp system. An exclusive series of guitars at remarkably affordable prices.
9. Alvarez Artist Series AF30 Folk Guitar
New Artist Series acoustic guitars from Alvarez look stunning and come in a huge variety of shapes, colors and wood choices. All of their components are made of natural materials such as mother of pearl and abalone inlays, real bone saddles and nuts and rosewood appointments. But the magic really starts when you pick one up and play it. Each model is designed to get the best out if its components, and for them to work together to produce a tone and player experience, rarely found in affordable instruments. The solid ‘A’ grade Sitka spruce and cedar tops are hand selected from quarter-sawn wood. This ensures consistent quality, and its no secret better guitars are made from better wood. Our tops not only look great but they are stiff and strong and finely grained. This allows us to cut them just that tiny bit thinner, which lets them dance a little more and produce a lot more vibration, and ultimately a richer tone.
8. Bristol BD-16 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
Check out the Bristol BM-16 14-fret 000 acoustic guitar by the makers of Blueridge guitars! Named after the city of Bristol, Tennessee-known as the Birthplace of Country Music and home of the museum sharing its name. This inexpensive acoustic guitar has all the best features one would expect from a professional grade guitar. The top is made of spruce. The back, sides and slim fast neck with adjustable truss rod are made from mahogany. All combined to make the perfect instrument to faithfully explore traditional American folk music or any other style!
7. Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic Guitar
The DR-100 has long been Epiphone’s best-selling acoustic guitar with the look, sound, and build quality that first time players and professionals expect to find when they pick up an Epiphone. The dreadnought is considered the classic go-to shape for bluegrass, folk, rock, country, and everything in-between. The dreadnought sound is commanding when required, but its balanced sound means that at any volume, you can be heard and hear yourself well, too.
This affordable acoustic guitar has all the basic elements you want-traditional shape Mahogany back and sides, Select Spruce top, Rosewood fingerboard and bridge make this a great entry-level instrument. The top of the DR-100 is made from select spruce, while the back and sides are constructed from mahogany, giving the DR-100 balanced expression, warm bass, and excellent projection.
6. Alvarez Artist Series AD60 Dreadnought Guitar
Artist Series is now “The Award Winning Artist Series” – winning competitions and receiving rave reviews in the States, Europe and around the world. It’s a truly designed line of guitars that stands tall and sounds sweet in the solid top guitar market. Hand selected solid tops; forward shifted scalloped bracing, awesome tone and player experience.
The term “solid top” of course refers to the soundboard of an acoustic guitar being made of solid wood, rather than being laminated. However, just because the top is solid, it does not necessarily mean the sound automatically benefits from this feature. The tone of the instrument only improves significantly when the whole guitar is built correctly to really release the energy a solid soundboard can generate. Artist Series is built to do exactly this.
5. Yamaha APXT2 3/4-Size Acoustic-Electric Guitar
The Yamaha APXT2 is a 3/4 size version of the world’s best-selling acoustic-electric guitar, the APX500III. This well-constructed, compact guitar makes a great companion when you’re on the road. The APXT2 features an ART-based pickup system and Yamaha’s proprietary tuner, offering great sensitivity and accuracy for quick tuning. The APX T2 also includes a gig bag.
4. Epiphone Pro-1 Acoustic Guitar
The Epiphone PRO-1 Acoustic is designed to be a terrific first step into the world of guitar. Epiphone rethought acoustic guitar design from top to bottom in an effort to make an instrument that anyone can play right away. The result is the PRO-1 Collection, truly “PRO” guitars that are easy-to-play, easy-to-own, and most importantly, delivers the full, vibrant sound Epiphone is known for. And the PRO-1 Acoustic has all of the PRO-1 Collection’s breakthrough features!
3. Yamaha APX500III Thinline Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar
The world’s best-selling acoustic electric guitar, the 500-series embodies the pure spirit of Yamaha guitars – the perfect balance of performance, value and dependability. The new 500III models feature all-new pickup systems with a more powerful, dynamic tone and upgraded cosmetics that combine on-stage attitude with refined, timeless good looks. APX’s thin-line body combines incredible comfort, easy top-fret access and a sound perfectly suited to on-stage use with bright, clear mid , balanced highs and controlled lows. Specially designed non-scalloped X-type bracing allows the guitar’s top to sing and maximizes the resonance of the unique body shape for a full, natural tone. With dynamics, sensitivity and clarity built into the design from day one, APX is a guitar not to be underestimated.
2. Fender FA-100 Beginner Acoustic Guitar
Getting started as a guitar player was never easier than with the Fender FA-100 Acoustic. It’s priced so affordably that jumping in doesn’t require a big investment. This instrument features a protective and glossy finish encompassing the body, time tested quarter sawn X bracing, a compensated saddle and laminated Spruce top. Included with purchase is a Fender padded gig bag that lets you safely carry it wherever you go. Also included with purchase is Fender’s limited lifetime warranty.
1. Yamaha FG800 Solid Top Acoustic Guitar
When it was introduced in 1966, the Yamaha FG proved that a great acoustic guitar didn’t need to cost a fortune. With a focus on great playability, musical tone and outstanding build quality, the original FG180 quickly became a classic with countless careers and hit records starting life on an FG. 50 years since the introduction of the FG acoustics, the new range features the best-ever FG tone and the same great playability and class-leading quality that’s made it the choice of millions of guitarists.
The 800 Series has a louder and stronger sound in the low to mid-ranges, thanks to cutting-edge acoustic analysis technology developed by the Yamaha R&D Division. Yamaha’s engineers have achieved this sound by utilizing analysis and simulation to arrive at the best bracing design without depending on tradition.
If you’re looking for a step up from here, you might also want to check out our list of the 10 Best Acoustic Guitars Under $500. If you have any other cheap acoustic guitar recommendations, please share them in the comments!
Jefferson Santos