If you are looking for an acoustic guitar that won’t cost you a fortune, you have come to the right place. Let’s get to it and take a look at the top five contenders for the best acoustic guitar under $500.
Best Acoustic Guitar Under $500: Reviews
1. Fender CD-60 Dreadnaught Acoustic Guitar
Here we have an absolutely beautiful acoustic guitar that comes to us at a very reasonable price. Not only does it look good, but it’s also made out of very high quality materials.
Review
This particular acoustic guitar features a dreadnought body style. This is a very classic guitar style, one that looks extremely nice. This guitar also looks nice thanks to the black finish it has. Although, it is available in a variety of different colors.
The Fender Dreadnought acoustic guitar is made with a spruce top that features a scalloped X style bracing system. This does make it extremely durable. Moreover, spruce itself is also very resilient, not to mention flexible too.
This type of wood is ideal for acoustic guitars. It’s a very well rounded type of tonewood. It allows for a very broad dynamic range, and it stands up well to being strummed very hard. It also produces an extremely resonant tone and plenty of volume too.
The back and the sides of this Fender guitar are made out of high quality mahogany. The mahogany sides and back of this guitar allow for plenty of volume and a great mid-range tone.
You then also get a bridge and a fingerboard that is made out of authentic walnut wood. Although a walnut fret board is not the most durable, it does sound very nice.
Something that you may like about this guitar is that it features an easy to play neck that has a rolled fingerboard edge. You might also like the fact that the Fender dreadnought comes complete with a hard case for easy transportation and storage.
Some other things you get with this guitar include an improved pickguard, a mother of pearl acrylic rosette design, and a dual action truss rod with diecast tuners. All in all, for the low price that this guitar comes in at, we would say that it is a great deal.
Pros
- Bright, crisp, and resonant sound
- Plenty of volume
- Ideal for most playing styles
- Durable materials
- Looks very nice
- Reasonable price
Cons
- Included strings could be better
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2. Ibanez AW54OPN Artwood Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
Here we have what has to be one of the most natural looking and natural sounding acoustic guitars out there. It’s designed to look extremely nice as it has a natural wood grain.
Review
In terms of the style, this is of course a dreadnought style guitar. Most people really like this style, as it looks very nice, and it plays really well too.
This guitar does feature an open pore natural finish that helps to show off its natural wood grain. We would say that this is probably one of the most beautiful guitars on the list today.
In terms of the construction, this particular acoustic guitar is made out of mahogany. In fact, the top, the neck, the back, and the sides are all made out of very high quality mahogany.
This allows this guitar to have a very resonant and crisp sound, combined with plenty of volume. It also performs well in all tonal ranges, including the highs, the lows, and in the mid range. Let’s not forget that mahogany guitars also produce a very resonant tone that sustains for a long time.
Both the fingerboard and the bridge of this guitar are made with rosewood. If you are looking for a very sweet and warm tone, rosewood is of course a good way to go. Therefore, if you are looking for really rich and warm tones, as well as plenty of resonance and sustain, this is a good guitar to consider.
This Ibanez dreadnought guitar then also comes complete with chrome diecast tuners and a tortoise shell pickguard. Considering that this is one of the most affordable acoustic guitars out there, we think that it is a great find.
Pros
- Warm and rich tone
- Lots of resonance and sustain
- Looks beautiful
- High quality mahogany and rosewood
- Comfortable to play
- Great price
Cons
- Frets may be slightly unlevel
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3. Yamaha GigMaker Standard Acoustic Guitar
Here we have another very reasonably priced guitar that comes to us from a trusted brand name. Yamaha is of course well known for making high quality guitars that don’t cost a fortune.
Review
Yes, here we have another guitar that features that awesome dreadnought design. It just tends to look extremely nice. In terms of the design, this guitar is available in a couple of different colors. We do like the relatively natural aesthetic of this guitar.
This Yamaha guitar is made out of a combination of tonewoods. For one, the top of the guitar is made out of natural spruce. Spruce is of course a fantastic material to use for guitars.
Spruce is a great type of wood to use for this type of guitar because it allows for a fantastic dynamic range and excellent resonance. There is also the fact that it is quite durable, yet also fairly flexible at the same time.
The back of this guitar is then made out of meranti wood. Meranti wood is very lightweight and flexible, yet also durable, and budget friendly too.
It’s a decent budget friendly type of wood to consider when selecting a guitar. It does have a good deal of volume and resonance, although it’s probably not the number one type of wood out there.
Keep in mind that the neck of this guitar is then made out of nato wood. For those of you who don’t know, this type of wood is often referred to as eastern mahogany. It looks very similar to mahogany, and also has similar characteristics.
That said, it is more cost effective, yet also looks nice and has fantastic tonal output. The bridge of this guitar is then made out of rosewood, as is the fingerboard. Rosewood is of course fantastic for producing a warm and sweet tone.
Included with this guitar you also get chrome tuners and steel strings. Even better, you also get picks, a guitar strap, and digital tuner, and a nice gig bag too. In fact, this is a fantastic beginners kit that comes with everything you need to get started.
Pros
- Very low price
- Many accessories included
- Great combination of tonewoods
- Sweet, warm, and resonant sound
- Fantastic dynamic range
- Looks nice
Cons
- Not the number one most durable guitar out there
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4. Master Play Beginner Guitar Kit
If you are looking for an affordable acoustic guitar set for your kids, this might just be the best one on the market today.
Review
Whether for beginners or children, this is certainly a great guitar to learn on. One of the reasons why is because it comes complete with a wide variety of accessories. For instance, it does come complete with a very soft yet durable gig bag for easy transportation and storage.
You then also get a microfiber towel for cleaning, a clip on guitar tuner, guitar picks, spare strings, a guitar strap, and even a nice spring loaded guitar capo as well. This is all the case for one very low price. Now, let’s not forget that you can select from about a dozen different guitar designs and colors.
Something to take note of here is that you can choose to go with the full size 38 inch guitar or the smaller 30 inch model. Of course, the former is ideal for adults, whereas the latter is ideal for children to learn on. A lot of people are also going to like how this guitar has a very smooth yet glossy finish.
Now, something that does need to be said about this guitar is that as per the description, it is made out of wood. Wood is the best thing to use for an acoustic guitar. The problem here is that the exact type or types of wood used are not specified.
However, from experience, we can tell you that this guitar does feature a good dynamic range with plenty of resonance and sustain. It should also produce a fairly crisp yet warm sound.
It does appear as though this particular guitar is made out of lightweight materials that makes it very user friendly and maneuverable. It’s also designed with a very ergonomic neck to make playing for hours on end as comfortable as possible.
Pros
- Great for kids and beginners
- Comes in two sizes
- Many colors to choose from
- Made with real wood
- Warm and resonant sound
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Tons of accessories included
Cons
- Has trouble staying in tune with vigorous playing
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5. Fender Malibu Player Acoustic Guitar
We had to finish the list off with a Fender guitar. Let’s face it, this is hands down one of the best guitar makers out there. Now, as you are going to see, this is definitely the most unique acoustic guitar on the list today.
Review
OK, so the reason why this is such a unique guitar is because it is actually an acoustic electric guitar. Yes, you can play exactly like an acoustic guitar, but you can also plug it in.
This unit comes complete with a Fishman preamp system that makes plugging it in very easy. It’s easy to connect to an amplifier, all without compromising the natural sound of this guitar. At the same time, it also features a built in tuner. This makes tuning your acoustic electric guitar extremely easy.
Something that you may also like about this guitar is that it features a mahogany neck with slim taper C shaped profile. This makes it quite comfortable to hold, and also allows for a great tone. People do like this slim neck profile as it is easy to hold for prolonged periods of time. Of course, mahogany is one of the best types of woods that could possibly be used for this purpose.
Something else that stands out about this guitar is that it features an optimized bracing system that helps keep the mass to a minimum while allowing for excellent resonance.
What you also get here is an extremely high quality nut and saddle system that allow for fantastic sustain. Not only is this guitar resonant, but it can sustain that resonant tone for a very long time.
Moreover, this guitar features a gloss metallic solid spruce top combined with a mahogany back and sides. As we have covered by now, spruce is of course a great material to use for an acoustic guitar top. It has excellent sound, dynamic range, resonance, and strength as well. It’s then features a matching painted 6 in line matching headstock.
What is also worth noting is that both the fingerboard and the bridge on this guitar are made out of high quality walnut. Walnut is of course an extremely durable type of wood that also produces excellent tones and sounds. It’s also worth noting that this guitar should be able to stand up to more or less any playing style out there.
Something else to consider here is that this particular guitar is available in a very wide variety of colors and patterns to choose from. All in all, we think that this might just be the number one best guitar on the list today. No, it’s not a normal acoustic guitar, but it is still a fantastic option then the less.
Pros
- Many colors to choose from
- Spruce top with mahogany back and sides
- High quality walnut finger board and bridge
- Resonant sound with great sustain and dynamic range
- Looks very nice
- Lightweight yet durable
- Acoustic & electric
Cons
- Fairly cheap nylon strings
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Conclusion
We think that the best acoustic guitar under $500 on the list today is the Fender Malibu Player Acoustic Guitar. It looks really nice, it’s made out of high quality materials, the tonewoods are fantastic, and you can even go electric if you so choose.
