Here are the best beginner guitars below
Yamaha F310
This 44 x 21.5 x 5.5 inch, 10 pound Yamaha acoustic guitar has 20 frets, is made of mahogany, with a laminated spruce top and rosewood fretboard. The guitar may be a little bulkier than some entry level options, but it is made of quality wood which means it can still produce a decent tone – something that can’t be said about several of the other cheapest options out there. The Yamaha F310 holds up well over time, but one selling point is that if it does get beat up too much, it wasn’t that big of an investment in the first place and is easy to replace. For these reasons, you can see why it is a popular option for an entry-level Japanese style acoustic guitar.
When it comes to how the F310 feels in your hands, the neck is slender and comfortable to grip. Because it’s not too wide, it’s a good choice for younger players whose hands may be smaller and have a difficult time fitting around a guitar with a wider neck. Additionally, the strings on the guitar don’t have tons of action – making it easy for anyone new to guitar to correctly finger chords as they build up finger strength.
Fender CD-140SCE
Performance
As a guitar aimed at the beginner or budget-conscious player, the CD140SCE needs to meet a few narrow but crucial critia. It has to have a good action. After all, nothing discourages a beginning guitarist more than a guitar that’s difficult to play. It also has to have a build quality that can take abuse from people who don’t quite yet know how to take care of a guitar properly. The Fender CD140SCE excels in all of these areas. All that was needed was a minor adjustment of the truss rod. Once the guitar was set up properly, it played well with a nice low action that was sounded good all the way up the fretboard. The cutaway made access to the upper frets effortless. The gloss finish was similarly well done, particularly for a bargain-priced instrument. You won’t confuse it with a high end Taylor or Martin, but you won’t be disappointed either.
Fender Squier Bullet Stratocaster
I know a lot of guitarists can have a bad opinion about “cheap” guitar brands like Squier—I used to be one of them.
I think the fact is that if these starter guitar companies really sucked, they wouldn’t be succeeding today. Fender (Squier’s parent company, if you didn’t know) reported record sales last year, and the trend doesn’t seem to be stopping now.
So let me ask you to set aside any negative preconceptions you have about Squier. I approached the Bullet Strat with an open mind, and all in all, I think it’s a nice guitar under $200.
If you just want to see what it’s like to play a Stratocaster but need to keep costs low, this is a great option. The Bullet Strat HSS is a pretty versatile axe that gives decent tones considering its price.
It’s comfortable to play for beginners, but if you’re planning to play shows anytime soon you might want a better guitar. It sounds and plays good for the cost, though it’s definitely not a professional guitar.
Epiphone DR-100
The is an affordable acoustic guitar for the beginner who wants to learn how to play the instrument.
Features of the Epiphone DR-100 (Dreadnought), Ebony
- Select Spruce Top. Spruce is a complex tonewood that improves with time. This ensures that as the wood matures and ages, the rich and robust sound will improve. The select spruce top gives the guitar’s sound an additional clearness and definition making this acoustic instrument suitable for any occasion.
- Mahogany Body and SlimTaper Neck. The design of the DR-100 features a classic mahogany dreadnought guitar body made of select spruce top for optimum resonance and volume. The laminated body is also mahogany and has a tapered neck glued into the body that adds sustain and enhanced acoustic tone.
It also has the vintage Epiphone Sloped Dovewing Headstock with the Epiphone logo on it, together with die-cast chrome tuners.
The neck, also made of mahogany, features a rosewood fingerboard with 20 frets on it with the standard perloid dot inlays marking it. The matching carved rosewood bridge completes the overall look of this guitar with a 25.5-inch scale and a classic pickguard. The slim neck also makes playing it easy and comfortable.
- Sound Quality. Although the tuning pegs of this acoustic guitar are advertised as premium, at its price range one cannot really expect the quality of the sound to be the best.
The quality of the guitar’s sustain and resonance is satisfactory and it produces good higher end tones. This model also reduced the buzzing to a minimum which gives it more value for its price.
Although it may sound quite flat at times, it still performs well as an all-around guitar that plays good-sounding chords for different genres like jazz, contemporary, country and blues.
Pros
- The Epiphone DR-100 is built with real tonewoods but still priced affordably.
- Because the guitar is made of mahogany, the sound it produces has an enhanced depth and body which also complements the spruce top that it has.
- Because the Epiphone DR-100 features a SlimTaper neck, it becomes easy for beginners to learn how to hold the guitar properly and play chords.
- According to some people who reviewed this product, the stock strings that came with it were usable and sound well.
- Beginners will also find this guitar very easy to use since the fret board is comfortable and easy to fret and play.
- According to some people who reviewed this product, the strings were quite easy to get out of tune, and some of them experienced some notes sounded flat when played.
Some of the people who reviewed this product did not like how lightweight it was and that the glued neck doesn’t look like it would hold up long enough especially when used frequently.
Some users also found the distance from the strings to the frets were too close that some buzzing of the strings can be heard.
Verdict
The Epiphone DR-100 (Dreadnought) is a great entry-level guitar, although it is an affordable $100 guitar, its overall quality does not show it. The sound is decent and the built is great, although the neck may be a bit fragile for some.
