Every player needs an acoustic guitar. It’s a fundamental: an essential part of the world we love as guitarists. It’s the zero point from which all other elements spring, and they’ve remained relatively unchanged for over a century now.
Acoustic guitars are superficially simple objects - a hollow wooden box strung with steel strings - but as with all things, there are almost innumerable variations on the theme. Most of the models you’ll see today are based on guitar designs from a century or so ago, with differences in shape, size, construction and other features all contributing to a wide range of potential guitars to choose from.
Price is also a factor: modern construction facilities have meant that affordable guitars are better than ever, but there has always been a huge market for instruments that are handbuilt, using the best timbers. We’ll look at all of this today as we run down twelve different guitar models that have impressed us recently.
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We’ve divided these into three price points, which will hopefully serve to illustrate the overall marketplace and what to expect for certain prices. Our three delineations are under £500, under £1000 and over £1000. Typically, the higher the price, the better the grades of wood are used, and indeed solid timbers come into play. All solid (top, back and sides all made from solid wood) is the most expensive way to make a guitar, so less costly models use a solid top along with layered wood (or indeed plywood) for the back and sides. This allows for a more cost-effective build whilst still featuring a solid tonewood where it’s most needed. Indeed, the guitar’s top does more work in determining the sound than any other factor. Resonance is what’s wanted, and layered wood resonates less effectively than solid timber.
As well as timber (and other materials), fit & finish are big elements in determining the cost of a guitar, as are special onboard features such as pickups. Country of manufacture still plays a big part in price, but less to questions of quality. Needless to say, the guitars on our list today are more than up to the task of high performance on a daily basis.
So, with no focus other than what we believe to be great examples of guitar making at different price points, let us check out the selections! We’ve opted for a selection of body shapes and styles, based essentially on their own merits, so this is not so much a comparison as a set of suggestions, all of which have been personally picked by us.
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Our first tier is for guitars that cost less than £500, but we purposefully have not included beginner models here. Today, £500 buys you a lot of guitar, and we wanted to reflect that. Our choices demonstrate that a relatively modest spend will still buy you an instrument capable of being gigged and recorded with excellent results.
Our first selection is for those who simply want a well made, natural finish acoustic guitar with no pickup. Yamaha are a very respectable brand who offer instruments in all price points. This FS800 is far from their cheapest, but it’s still very affordable. It’s a concert sized guitar, which means the body is somewhat smaller than a typical dreadnought, which for most of us is the default ‘normal’ acoustic style.
This Yamaha FS800 has been well put together, and the addition of a solid Spruce top ensures that the tones will be lively and resonant. A matt finish neck adds to the playability, and the tinted finish adds an extra touch of class. For everyday playing, this is a superb choice.
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Alvarez are currently aiming to take over the affordable market, judging by the quality of their last few years’ output. Always a brand worth checking, in recent years Alvarez have doubled down on quality, choice and spec, meaning that anybody looking for a new acoustic will have a hard time saying ‘no’ to one of their models!
Today, we’ve gone for a good quality cutaway dreadnought, the Alvarez AD66CE. It’s made from Mahogany (solid for the top, layered for the sides) which results in a warm tone. Dreadnoughts are great at projecting sound, so this one will suit singers looking to accompany themselves, and the more mid-centric sound will actually help the guitar sound mesh better with vocals.
Specially designed tone bars within the inner bracing help focus the tone, and a high quality LR Baggs pickup system mean that this Alvarez is destined for the stage. If you are a performer and want an affordable, attractive, highly playable guitar with a quality tone, then look no further.
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Takamine are a seasoned choice for the gigging player. Since the 70s, Takamine have expanded outside their native Japan to become an international proposition thanks to their great ‘plugged’ sound and easy playability. Today’s model is from their massively popular G-Series, designed in Japan but made in China for a more cost-effective guitar.
This model, the GN30CE, uses Takamine’s own NEX body design, which is somewhat akin to a slightly shrunken jumbo. Jumo guitars sound large and impressive, and so does this thanks to intelligent design and well-placed inner bracing. A solid Spruce top and a good pickup system make this a sound choice for all strummers anticipating live performances.
Sigma started life as an official overseas wing of Martin guitars, introduced in the 70s to counterattack the flood of imitations that were being built in the far east. Nowadays, the company has no direct links to Martin & Co, but the reputation for quality remains.
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The Sigma OMTC-1E is a pretty gorgeous Orchestral model guitar (OM for short) and is another guitar designed with a cutaway and fitted with a pickup. This is a very normal site for acoustic guitars around this price: they are designed as well-priced guitars for gigging players, and fashion/habit has long since dictated that gigging players also require a cutaway to reach the top frets. Whether that’s actually true or not is a matter of debate, but it has long since become tradition in the market. That said, cutaways always look nice and if you do use them, then they make a big difference. This Sigma has all you need to write, record and perform with class.
This area focuses on a hotly contested area of the market. Between £500 and £1000 is where many guitarists look for their semi and fully pro instruments. These are the guitars for gigging players who want the benefits of upgraded woods and electronics, as well as those who are looking to begin buying onto one of the ‘big brands’ such as Taylor and Martin. At this price, there’s still a lot of competition, so you can be assured that whatever you pick, it’ll be of excellent quality and playability. Let’s see which models have caught our eyes and ears…
Taylor’s GS Mini guitar has swept through the acoustic guitar market like a delirious storm these past 8 or so years. The idea was simple: take Taylor’s design and engineering nous, and pour that all into a smaller, more portable model, built in Mexico and ready to go anywhere. Travel guitars have existed before, but nobody took the concept as far - or as seriously - as Taylor. As a result, they totally cleaned up in the market: the Taylor GS Mini, in its various iterations, remains easily one of the most popular acoustic guitars in the world.
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Why? Well, it’s just an excellent design, made well. The guitar is small enough to be considered a travel instrument (and comes with a good quality gig bag to reinforce its mobile nature) but large enough to really shift some air, making this one resonant and sweet sounding guitar. The scale length is 23.5 inches, which sounds pretty short until you consider that it’s only half an inch less than a Fender Jaguar! Players worried about the fingerboard size should just try one: one of the GS Mini’s many strengths is that it feels instantly familiar and comfortable, and never like a ‘child’s guitar’ in any respect.
Whether you go for a Koa top, a Spruce and Rosewood model, a Mahogany one or any other iteration, you are making a great great decision.
From a small popular guitar to pretty much the biggest popular guitar, we have included Epiphone’s most recent take on Gibson’s famous jumbo. The Epiphone Inspired by Gibson J200 is, like its American namesake, a big, curvy and beautiful instrument. The Gibson model is a stone cold classic, played by everyone from Elvis to Sheryl Crow, but its high-end price puts it beyond the reach of many players. This affordable Epiphone levels the playing field to quite a degree.
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You get all of the recognisable visual flair here, from the flower pickguard to the moustache bridge: it’s a very faithful replica, within the limits set by the brands (the headstock shapes will never be exactly the same, but this one is as close as it’s ever been), which is understandable. More significantly, that signature sonic boom of a sound is
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