If you’re considering a new guitar either for yourself or your partner, there are many acoustic and electric guitars that would easily qualify as a great guitars for women.

What to Look for in a Guitar for a Woman

Let’s start with some obvious assumptions:

• The guitar should fit a woman’s body reasonably comfortably
• The guitar’s neck should be comfortable for smaller hands
• The sound should match the player’s taste in music
• The guitar’s price should fall within an expected budget
• And finally, it’s gotta look good!

Granted, the above list isn’t exclusive to females guitars for women or girls.

Compared to guitars for guys, finding a perfect fit in a guitar for a woman or a girl will have its own variations. In other words, a guitar that might appeal to a guy doesn’t necessarily mean it works for a woman.

Still, finding a perfect guitar for a female player is easy – if you know what to look for.

To help you make a better informed decision, we’ll weed out the junk and stick to better choices available from reputable sources – and that’s what we’re here for.

Women Know, Guitar is Not Just for Dudes

Reacting to a slump in guitar sales, guitar manufacturing giant, Fender, saw an opportunity in marketing guitar playing to women – and why not? There’s no reason guitar playing needs to be male-dominated.

In December of 2018, GuitarGirlMag.com published an article reporting:

“Fender Study Reveals Women Continue to Account for 50% of Emerging Guitar Market”.

Then a couple of years later, thanks to a pandemic, even more women started picking up the guitar to kill time while the storm blew over.

Fender Blazes New Paths for Guitar Girls

In a recent article from Forbes, Fender has also been keeping up with the latest in social media trends. Tops on that list is TikTok:

“It’s way more female and a lot younger than it used to be even 20 or 30 years ago.”

Fender Chief Marketing Officer Evan Jones

Women Guitar Players That Lead the Way

It doesn’t take much to conjure up a host of famous female guitar players. Well recognized personalities such as Bonnie Raitt, Joan Jett, Joni Mitchell and Sheryl Crow have been sources of inspiration for decades.

As musical styles have continued to diversify over time, so have the number of names attached to female players.

In more recent times the landscape has given way to landscape to popular names like Orianthi, Samantha Fish, Nita Strauss and St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark).

In terms of overall musical inspiration, let’s not forget Taylor Swift. Early on in her career, we saw a huge uptick in young female players picking up the guitar after being influenced by her songwriting, performance and creativity.

How to Choose the Best Guitar for a Woman – What to Look For

What Size Guitar is Best for a Woman?

While most women can easily adapt to with a full-sized guitar, you might want to consider guitars with slightly smaller bodies and shorter scale lengths of 23.5″ to 24″.

Otherwise, here are a few typical body sizes to choose from:

• Parlor
• Concert
• Classical
• Auditorium
• Contoured Electric

The long and short of it is, depending on your own physical body type, the best size guitar for a woman can be slightly different person to person.

Are You a Young Beginner or Upgrading?

Another factor to consider is where you are on your guitar playing journey.

Are you a female beginner who’s new to the instrument? Or are you looking to upgrade from an entry level guitar you’ve been using for some time.

Depending on your age, the size and type of guitar can be directly related to your age and body size.

As a gender-specific example, a typical teenage boy may be looking to upgrade to a full-size dreadnought whereas a young girl may be moving from a 3/4 size guitar into a more professional grade small bodied instrument – a guitar that will last her right through to adulthood.

Acoustic vs Electric

When you’re first starting out, choosing either an electric or acoustic guitar is a major consideration and will be directly related to your own taste in musical style.

Are you drawn more to acoustic oriented music? Or does the electric vibe suit your senses better?

There’s no right or wrong answer.

In comparison, acoustic guitars are a superb choice for beginners due to their simplicity. Being self-contained, you’re ready to go right out of the box.

Electric guitars on the other hand need extra purchases like an amplification and hook-up cables.

One important point to make between acoustic and electric guitars is the fact that some electric oriented songs don’t translate well to acoustic guitar. But an electric guitar can cover acoustic material rather convincingly with the right approach.

In a sense, you get the best of both worlds.

Having said that, there is the acoustic-electric type of guitar which, as the name implies, has one foot in each sonic camp as well. Though they do tend to lean more towards the acoustic side in terms of body style.

Overall Sound

Ultimately and as mentioned, the biggest deciding factor will be your music taste. Your sense of what speaks to you as a female guitar player has an impact.

If you want to thrash and noodle with high-gain metal, you’ll have to go electric.

With electric guitars, a major consideration is in the pickups. Being the engine of an electric guitar, they’re responsible for reproducing the the natural energy of the guitar.

Variations in different pickups types will produce more or less bottom, midrange and high end, while others will centered around warmth or modern clarity.

Plus endless combinations of all possible features designed to satisfy virtually any musical taste.

If your musical tastes lean more towards the lighter side, such as folk, you might want to go acoustic.

With acoustic guitars, the tonewoods themselves, particularly those used for the top of the instrument, become the major driving factor in sound.

Traditional top materials such as solid sitka spruce, cedar and mahogany will influence the natural tone of the guitar.

Depending on the structure of the guitar, the sound can vary from full and rich, to something like a tissue box with rubber bands!

Either way, regardless of whether your guitar is electric or acoustic, it should sound reasonably good to you.

Body Style

The design, size, and color of the guitar body, being the largest element, can make or break a decision.

Since beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, it makes sense that your choice is based on visuals. Whatever your gender, you want it to look good!

Editor’s note: I’ve personally passed on some incredibly great playing and sounding guitars – near perfect 10’s – just because they were butt-ugly!

Style Factors Worth Considering:

Body Size: Depending on your own body type, the best size guitar for a woman can be slightly different person to person.

While most women can easily adapt to with a full-sized guitar, you might want to consider the various body styles mentioned above.

The different shapes, scale lengths, and necks are all factors that contribute to buying a guitar you’re sure is comfortable for you.

Body Type: Most female beginners will generally find a more natural fit with relatively small bodied electric guitars.

If you’re leaning more toward acoustic instruments, Parlor guitars, Concert size guitars, and Auditorium guitars would be most comfortable.

Dimensions: Body width and contour will have a significant impact on comfort. Edges that dig into your ribs or are uncomfortable under your elbow can be a deal-breaker.

Performance Style: Are you more of a rhythm player or go for leads? A guitar body with a cutaway will help you gain easier access to the upper frets allowing you to play higher notes in a killer solo.

Tonal Versatility: Do you need sonic variety? If you want versatility, consider guitars with controls that modify the output of the guitar.

With more switching combinations, you’ll have more opportunities to shape your tone.

Playability

Many factors contribute to a guitar’s playability. For instance acoustic guitars use heavier strings which, compared to electric guitars, are much stiffer to play.

Along with build general build quality, there are a few inherent properties that have a direct impact on what helps qualify a good guitar for a woman.

Scale Length

A guitar’s scale length, which is the distance between the nut and the bridge, is very much associated with the size and style of the instrument.

Generally speaking, the smaller the guitar ,the shorter the scale length.

Technically speaking, a scale length below 24.75″ can be considered a short scale, whereas a long scale would be 25″ and over.

Here’s a few examples of common guitar scale lengths:

24″ – Fender Jaguar and Mustang

24.75″ – Most Gibson and Epiphone models

25″ – PRS, Carvin, and Danelectric models

25.5″ – Most Fender, Squier, Ibanez, Jackson, Kramer and Schecter models

30″ – Short scale bass guitars

34″ – Standard length bass guitars

“What difference does scale length make?”

Simply put, the scale length will have a huge impact on how flexible the strings are to play.

Compared to long scale lengths, shorter scale lengths will feel more “slinky”. In other words the strings will feel more loose.

A short scale length combined with a smaller body style can in many cases, make a perfect size guitar for a woman.

Neck Size and Radius

The neck radius, which refers to the curve of the fretboard, is much less important than the overall shape of the neck itself.

For someone with smaller hands, a slender neck will be much more comfortable.

Most women would find guitars made Ibanez and Taylor, and many others, produce excellent instruments with player-friendly necks that are easy to get used to.

As for the neck shape, the most comfortable guitar neck profile for a woman would be the modern “C” and “D” shapes.

General Setup

When you first pick up a guitar, it should at least be playable right from the start.

A good setup will ensure the guitar is easy to manage – for instance the strings aren’t too high, and that all the controls are functioning properly.

Better guitar suppliers will offer this service for free. Plus many of the better manufacturers make sure their guitars leave the factory in great playing condition to start with.

Still, regardless of quality control, it’s not uncommon for guitars to need adjustments after the fact.

The beauty of this is, as a female guitar player, you can have the instrument tailored specifically to your playing style.

Build Quality and Materials

A guitar’s build quality can be directly related to, but not exclusive to its price point.

The brand name will also have a huge impact on the quality and materials used – and warranty.

Generally speaking, established brands like Gibson, Fender, Taylor, PRS and others exercise higher standards of quality control to ensure their customers get a better built guitar.

Whether the guitar is made in north America or overseas, you can find the right combination of quality, materials and price point that works for you.

For instance, Fender’s Squier Classic Vibe series offers an excellent value dollar for dollar. But the Squier series is not necessarily made in North America.

On the whole, look for trusted brands and buy from reputable, recommended sellers.

Price

Like the saying goes – “You get what you pay for.”

Still, there are some great deals out there. In a highly competitive market, better guitar companies want to make sure their customers are getting a good bang for the buck.

Most major guitar manufacturers will have their signature brand guitars as well as sub-brands that cover lower price points.

Here are a few examples of major guitar companies and their related brands:

• Gibson – Epiphone
• Fender – Squier
• Ibanez – Ibanez GIO
• PRS – PRS SE
• C.F. Martin – Sigma Guitars
• Takamine – Takamine G-Series
• Ovation – Jasmine

And many more.

If you’re just starting out, you might want to stick to a relatively low budget – somewhere between $200 and $400, or around the $300 mark. This is the “sweet spot” for entry-level acoustic and electric guitars.

If you have a little more to spend, the next level would be around the $600 price point.

Looking to upgrade? There are many fine and professional grade instruments starting in the high hundreds and going well up into the thousands.

Acoustic and Electric Guitars for Women – Treasure Hunting for the Eyes And Ears

Our Top 3 Acoustic Guitars for Women

1. Yamaha FG800 Dreadnought

Known for building excellent quality instruments for nearly every price any price point, Yamaha’s FG800 represents one of the greatest values in beginner acoustic guitar.

Featuring a solid top, it delivers a rich, full-bodied tone usually found in more expensive acoustic guitars.

The smooth feeling neck is extremely playable and comfortable – perfect for players just beginning their musical journey.

2. Martin LX1E Little Martin Acoustic Guitar

With well over 150 years of experience, Martin certainly knows how to build acoustic guitars. The small bodied LX1 is no exception.

Though it’s not full size, it still projects a powerful full tone, plus it benefits from Martin’s expertise in building quality instruments.

With two versions to choose from, one with electronics and one without, the LX1 hits a home run in the lower mid-hundreds sweet spot.

3. Taylor GS Mini-e Mahogany Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Not that long ago, Taylor set the bar much higher for the competition. Using innovative build methods combined with superior materials and design elements, it’s no wonder the GS Mini gets the acclaim it does.

In terms of sound and projection, this little powerhouse easily stands up to instruments sporting larger bodies, plus it plays like a dream.

Better yet, thanks to forward thinking design, Taylor guitars are also very easy to maintain compared to more traditional acoustic guitar construction.

Our Top 3 Electric Guitars for Women

1. Squier Bullet Mustang HH

Considering its entry-level price point, the Squier Bullet Mustang is without a doubt one of the best electric guitars for women looking to start playing.

With its broad sounding electronics and relatively small size, it’s fully capable of providing a truly enjoyable – and fun, playing experience.

As a well established brand under the umbrella of guitar manufacturing giant Fender, Squier is known for making electric guitars tailored to smaller budgets, and the Bullet Mustang is no exception.

2. Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster

Squier’s Classic Vibe Telecaster is hands down one of the best values in a vintage-style guitar you can get.

With it’s traditional styling and high levels of quality control manufacturing, this electric guitar represents an excellent value right out of the box.

Since its parent company, Fender, had the good sense to use really good pickups to start with, there’s very little you need to upgrade to get an instrument literally worth twice as much, plus It’ll easily last a lifetime!

3. PRS SE Standard 245 Electric Guitar

Paul Reed Smith guitars are known for exceptional build quality, astonishing playability and killer sound. The PRS Standard 245 Electric holds true to that ideal.

Though it is a more cost-effective version, the company sourced one of the absolute best offshore firms to reproduce its iconic designs to maintain the standards the PRS customers expect.

Overall the PRS SE series is, without a doubt, one of the best imported electric guitars you can get for the money – period.

Final Words

Regardless of your inspiration, guitars for women come in wonderful combinations of different body shapes, scale lengths, and necks.

All of these features should be considered to ensure you’re buying a guitar that’s the right fit for you.

All of these factors should be considered to ensure that when buying a guitar, you’re getting one that’s the right fit for you.

The post Guitar For A Woman – How To Find The Perfect Fit first appeared on GuitarNiche.

Considered as one of the major manufacturers, Ibanez is a guitar brand with a strong reputation in the industry. But compared to the competition, are Ibanez guitars good?

If we take a snapshot of the brand’s best qualities, Ibanez guitars are easy to play, comfortable, and dollar-for-dollar, offer excellent and consistent build quality.

In short, we can say yes. Ibanez is a very good brand of guitar. But let’s have a closer look at what makes the Ibanez brand tick.

What Makes Ibanez Special?

Over the years, Ibanez has managed to gain an exceptionally strong following by developing their own trademark.

The brand offers unique designs, a continuous commitment to quality, and like any smart guitar manufacturer, fosters relationships with artists.

They’ve also managed to make user-friendly improvements to their predecessors original designs such as:

• Easier to play comfortable necks
• Ergonomic design
• Extended tones through electronics
• Lightweight construction
• Consistently great build-quality
• Affordability

You’d be hard pressed to find all of these qualities offered to the same degree by one of the more established brands.

Where Did the Ibanez Brand Come From?

It’s a matter of fact – the Ibanez brand is actually older than Fender, but not as old as Gibson or Martin.

Back in 1935, Japanese manufacturer Hoshino Gakki (the literal translation being “Hoshino Musical Instruments”) decided to leverage the name “Ibanez” in tribute to Spanish luthier Salvador Ibanez.

The newly launched brand name was then used for the production of their spanish guitars.

In the late 50’s , the Ibanez brand was used to promote instruments hitting the emerging and energetic electric guitar market.

Around that time though, imported Japanese products had a reputation for inferior quality. A result of a defeated country trying to rebuild its manufacturing industry after the ravages of WWII.

In terms of perception by the average North-American consumer, the 60’s was a time where “Made in Japan” was very similar in meaning to “Made in China” today.

The “Lawsuit” Years

As the 70’s rolled around, Japanese guitar manufacturers sensed an opportunity as major North American brands, such as Fender and Gibson, became more interested in siphoning off corporate profits instead of reinvesting in the companies and maintaining quality levels.

Thus, the Ibanez brand, along with others such as Greco, Aria and Tokai, were able to gain a foothold by offering guitars that were very well made and reasonably priced by comparison.

Of course, American guitar manufacturers (particularly Martin, Gibson and Fender) became concerned about the influx of copies such as Ibanez’s Destroyer which was a blatant reproduction of Gibson’s Explorer.

The long and short of it is, Gibson sued the distributor of the Ibanez brand (Elger) during the late seventies.

But Ibanez had already decided to shift production to their own designs such as the original Artist Series and popular Iceman designs – which are still in production today.

Is Ibanez Popular?

A brilliant decision to create their own designs, along with a commitment to building quality guitars, was the official launch of Ibanez becoming popular and considered as one of the better guitar brands available.

The interesting thing is, this rise to mainstrem popularity happened only a couple of short decades after the inception of the Fender brand.

To this day, the Ibanez brand is still considered by many to be “the new guy”, which essentially gives them license to design and do whatever they want.

The additional benefit is that this gives Ibanez the stylistic freedom to freely pivot and easily maneuver through changing market pressures.

In contrast, iconic brands such as Gibson, Fender and Martin are still heavily dependent on their historically original designs, which are often perceived as expensive.

Where Are Ibanez Guitars Made?

The majority of Ibanez guitars come from factories located in Japan, China and Indonesia.

Cheaper Ibanez guitars, such as the GIO and S Series which make up a large portion of overall sales, are produced in Indonesia and China.

Meanwhile, high-end Ibanez guitars such as Prestige Series are produced in Japan and Korea.

Furthermore, just as major competitors such as Fender have Custom Shop instruments developed for individual artists and promotional purposes, custom Ibanez guitars are often made in the US.

Why Do Metal Players Use Ibanez?

As mentioned, Ibanez as a brand is a relative newcomer to the guitar landscape. In a similar sense, metal is a relatively recent addition to the musical landscape.

Even though a lot of time has passed since these inceptions first came about, they happened to be born within a few short years of each other.

Whether or not the guitars were intentionally designed to appeal to emerging metal players is debatable. But considering the timing and the affinity the two share, the connection is highly probable.

It’s also easy to point out the visually sharper Ibanez guitar aesthetics perfectly compliment the harder audio edge that comes with metal music.

Who Plays Ibanez Guitars?

Here’s a short list of popular guitar players who use Ibanez guitars:

• Paul Gilbert
• Lari Basilio
• Munky
• Ichika Nito
• Noodles
• Joe Satriani
• Paul Stanley
• Nita Strauss
• Fredrik Thordendal
• Andy Timmons
• Steve Vai
• and many, many more

Ibanez vs Gibson

Is Ibanez better than Gibson?

It would be better to consider each brand as neither better or worse, just different with their own strong and weak elements.

Everybody has an opinion and, depending on many factors such as musical taste, budget and style, will prefer either one over the other.

Regardless, there are some objective points that can be pointed out:

As you can see, for every benefit there’s an equally important drawback.

If we could nail down one particular item that separates the two, it would have to be price points in the higher-end instruments.

As the price goes up, Gibson products (and Ibanez as well) will have more refined, expensive and labor-intensive cosmetic elements.

Pricier Ibanez guitars will also incorporate more diversity in electronics and sonic output.

The other key factor is a Les Paul will pretty much always sound like a Les Paul – which is a trademark tone many players desire.

Ibanez on the other hand, has a much wider sonic footprint and can reproduce nearly any tone you’re looking for.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you as to which one you prefer.

Which is Better Ibanez or Fender?

As with comparing Gibson and Ibanez, each brand will have it’s own sweet spots and corresponding detriments.

For the sake of taking a different approach, let’s compare two popular models offered by each brand to see where they really differ:

Ibanez vs Fender Comparison

Are Ibanez Guitars Good Quality?

Being a production made instrument using the most modern engineering methods ensures Ibanez branded guitars stay within tightly controlled specifications.

But, like any product that’s made using such processes, the end product is subject to the quality of the materials being used and the training of those who actually put the product together.

Depending on the price-point, you can expect to see minor variations or little imperfections. This is true for virtually any major guitar manufacturer.

Within just a few seconds of research (especially on social media channels) you’ll easily find complaints from those buying anything from a relatively expensive Gibson Les Paul, to a reasonably priced guitar made by Fender.

To answer the question directly, in terms of dollar-for-dollar quality, you can’t go wrong with Ibanez.

Are Ibanez Acoustic Guitars Any Good?

Ibanez acoustic guitars, as with their electrics, are feature design innovations that make them stand out.

Many models feature eye-catching finishes and body styles, with quality electronics found on their acoustic-electric models.

For the most part, Ibanez acoustic guitars tend to lean more towards the affordable range. Hence, many of them are laminate construction. Still, they do offer acoustic instruments using traditional tonewoods and solid tops for better resonance.

If you’re looking for an acoustic guitar design that’s stylistically a little off the beaten path, Ibanez acoustic guitars are definitely worth looking at.

Are Ibanez GIO Guitars Good?

When you consider these entry-level guitars cost no more than a nice night out over dinner, it’s hard not to be impressed.

in comparison, the Ibanez Gio Series is to the Ibanez brand what Epiphone is to Gibson and Squier to the Fender brand.

Designed to provide a versatile range of guitars for beginners, the Gio series offers new players a reasonably priced and very well made instrument that easily satisfies a look, sound and budget.

By keeping costs under control through material choices and cosmetic appointments, the Gio range is an ideal Ibanez guitar for any newbie player.

This also makes it a great choice as a second instrument for those just starting to add new voices to their guitar collection.

In terms of overall quality, you get the usual comfortable and very playable Ibanez neck, plus the excellent build quality.

If you’re in the market for a budget guitar from a recognized brand, you can’t go wrong with in Ibanez GIO.

Are Ibanez Guitars Worth the Money?

This is where the rubber meets the road. Regardless of your personal taste in musical styles, there are a few points that make Ibanez guitars stand out:

Excellent Playability

Fast, thin necks and innovative extended range designs are hallmarks of the Ibanez brand.

Their electric guitars in particular aren’t just great instruments, but strong competitors compared with similar offerings from other brands.

Sonic Versatility

Known for being creative with electronics and tonal shaping, Ibanez is not shy about offering factory options you’d normally find on custom built or electronically upgraded instruments.

Great Price Points

From entry-level instruments to signature guitars of exceptional quality (and everything in between), you’ll have no trouble finding an Ibanez model that both fits your budget and looks good.

The post Are Ibanez Guitars Good? (And What Makes Them So Special?) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

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Top 10 Guitar Apps for Beginners and Players Reviewed

For many, the guitar is not as easy as it could be, and apps for learning guitar are still relatively recent.

Up until just a couple short decades ago, guitarists didn’t have the benefit or availability of countless learning platforms that we have today.

Now with the mind-boggling number of guitar leaning apps available, where do you start?

To help you wade through a sea of options, we’ve filtered the top 10 best guitar learning apps that offer a wide array to choose from:

1. Fender Play App

Fender Play is pretty much a guitar app for beginners. An intermediate guitarist might find an interesting piece of advice and a tip here and there, but overall, Fender Play is a good app for learning guitar .

Known primarily as an electric guitar company, Fender is helping novice guitarists wrap their heads around this somewhat complicated instrument.

Though relatively recent to the world of online lessons, Fender’s historical knowledge of players from pros to beginner guitarists has been used to generate one of the best guitar apps launched in recent times.

How does the Fender Play App work?

Simplicity is the essence of this platform – the moment you sign up for Fender Play, you get to choose between five music “paths”: Rock, Folk, Blues, Country, and Pop.

This might seem a bit limiting, but offering more genres would only complicate things.

Your Custom Path To Learning Guitar

After choosing your “path,” you are offered a custom set of lessons, teaching you about all the guitar play basics – from the first couple of notes in a song to proper hand positions and guitar play dynamics.

Get 50% Off Fender Play Today! >> Use Code “learntoplay50“

Given the fact that Fender is a company that makes popular guitars and basses, but also ukuleles, the electric/acoustic guitar isn’t the only option on the platform.

The bass guitar and ukulele lessons are equally content-rich as those for the guitar. But keep in mind, all these lessons are for beginners.

The structure of every lesson is such that it’s short, sweet, and easy to understand. After each one, you move on to the next one.

Furthermore, the lessons gradually increase in difficulty, which is where progress comes from.

Even though we’re talking about a beginner-centric platform, you’ll still get access to plenty of theory, tone, chord, and scale basics.

Naturally, skipping lessons is always an option, but we wouldn’t recommend it, especially if you’re a beginner.

Finally, in terms of sheer video quality, you can expect a lot here. We aren’t only talking about the resolution.

Each lesson is approached from various angles so that you can study and learn as you observe.

• Innovative “paths” allow you to progress in the direction of your favorite genre
• Learn slowly, at your own pace
• Track your progress
• Videos short and easily digestible

Fender Play is available on iOS and Android.

2. Guitar Tricks

Learning guitar online has never been easier. Beginners and intermediate players can hugely benefit from the Guitar Tricks platform.

How does the Guitar Tricks App work?

The Guitar Tricks App gives you access to a wide variety of video lessons that you can download and use offline.

If you are a complete beginner, Guitar Tricks will cater to your needs.

Their core learning system video lessons will hold your hand as they take you on a guitar learning journey.

With these easy guitar learning apps you’ll get access to simple chord changes, easy songs, basic melodies, and other beginner’s essentials.

Not all videos are for beginners, though. Some content is focused on helping intermediate players progress toward guitar mastery.

The intermediate lessons are all about niche topics and tackling them in great detail.

Whereas websites that offer free guitar lessons have a ton of content you can learn from, they are usually unorganized.

With Guitar Tricks, you get a well-structured core learning system that won’t leave you lost in a world of video lessons, like on YouTube.

Guitar Tricks is Constantly Updated

Well known for being among the best guitar lesson apps, each week Guitar Tricks adds a new song lesson to its extensive library.

To help you constantly improve and organize your guitar skills, each song lesson is sorted by artist, genre, date, popularity, and technical difficulty.

The focus here, however, is on more straightforward guitar songs that work with your skill level.

As a useful learning tool, Guitar Tricks lessons are very impressive and easy-to-process.

Though we do consider it one of the best guitar apps, Guitar Tricks’ downside is that it may not impress an advanced player – their concepts of online guitar lessons tend to range from basic to intermediate.

• More than 600 licensed songs from popular artists that range from The Beatles to Jimi Hendrix
• From scales and chords to modes and intermediate guitar concepts, you’ll find it all at Guitar Tricks
• 50-100% fast learning guaranteed
• All this is available through an affordable subscription

Guitar Tricks is available on iOS and Android.

3. TrueFire

Online guitar lessons giant TrueFire has a robust suite of apps covering just about any device you can imagine.

How does the TrueFire App work?

The latest TrueFire 3 desktop app works with Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, and Android.

Once installed, you can download purchased courses and then play them offline whenever you like.

For truly mobile use, you might find some of the compatible apps tend to favor iPhone or iPad.

If you do tend to be out and about regularly, these apps let you conveniently take advantage of the TrueFire lessons platform wherever you happen to be.

Apps for Learning Guitar On The Go

For jamming anywhere, In the Jam and JamBox apps help get your ya-yas out. You can customize the mix and play along with the pros on your iPhone or tablet.

Eye and Ear Exam for Guitarists is an innovative app that challenges your chord recognition abilities.

Much like a gaming experience, you achieve ranks and scores posted to a leaderboard.

Overall, it’s essentially an ear, and eye, training tool that helps motivate learning through new techniques.

With Notes on Call, you can relive the days of audio lessons by phone, which is how TrueFire began back in 1991.

Much like an audiobook experience, you can listen to any of over 1,200 guitar lessons while you’re driving or riding in the car.

The Lictionary app opens up hundreds of free guitar licks lessons on your device.

There’s also an app for Private Guitar Lessons that makes it easy to interact privately with your instructor.

With so many years behind them, it’s no wonder TrueFire offers up an impressive list of features:

• Access to over 45,000 video guitar lessons
• TrueFire’s entire library of over 900+ courses
• Learn from the best educators in the business: Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Tommy Emmanuel, Steve Vai, Pat Martino, Stu Hamm, Jennifer Batten, Dweezil Zappa, Johnny Hiland, and many more
• Covers all levels, techniques and styles

TrueFire 3 for desktop can be found here, other mobile apps are available on iOS and Android.

4. Justin Guitar by Four Chords

Justin Guitar is a YouTube channel by one of the world’s most popular online guitar teachers.

Justin Sandercoe takes a slow, patient approach to guitar teaching, which is very effective, educative, and enjoyable.

How do guitar lessons work with the Justin Guitar App?

Well, he released an app as a beginner’s course. The course comes in three different lesson levels: the Beginners Guitar Course, the Intermediate Method, and the Style Modules.

The Beginners Guitar Course level is free. Each of these is split into stages.

Similarly, the Style Modules feature both free video lessons and instructional videos and courses. Go through these modules and see if anything sparks your interest.

Free for Novices

Although Justin encourages donations, if you are a novice guitarist who doesn’t have enough money for lessons or other guitar learning app options, we recommend trying Justin’s app.

If you’re an intermediate player, you’re going to have to cash out if you want to learn.

Of course, you can always visit Justin’s YouTube channel, which offers a wide variety of interesting lessons to help you learn guitar at all skill levels.

However, the app option emphasizes structured learning, and this is definitely something you’ll want to check out.

Overall, the main thing with the in-app lessons (and Justin’s YouTube channel) is its gradual, perfectly-paced approach. This teacher takes his time to explain everything down to the tiniest detail.

• The best guitar teaching app from a beginner’s guitar YouTuber, Justin Sandercoe
• Great slow-paced courses for various skill levels and ages
• Available subtitles include Croatian, Finnish, French, Spanish, and Romanian
• Lesson organization is fantastic

The Justin Guitar Beginner’s app is available on IOS and Android

5. Amped Guitar

Amped Guitar developed in association with Gibson, is a different kind of guitar learning platform.

By making use of augmented reality (AR), it helps you have more fun while learning while amplifying your overall feel and knowledge.

How does the Amped Guitar App work?

Well, it’s relatively simple. If you’ve ever played one of the Guitar Hero games, you’ll be very familiar with the whole vibe.

On your iOS or Android device, the Amped Guitar app will confirm the notes when you hit them (precisely like on Guitar Hero, only with a real guitar instrument).

This is possible by using the microphone on your phone/tablet. So, you put on earbuds and connect them to your phone.

Then, a backing track is played. The app listens to what you’re playing and plays those notes back in your ear.

Amped Guitar is not only an immersive experience but also helps you learn how to play along to other instruments while you can hear your actual playing.

This is much better than merely jamming to songs, making it the best guitar practice app out there.

Besides this, you get a full curriculum for learning the guitar, which tackles everything from the most basic guitar techniques to some advanced skills.

Don’t worry, this guitar app for beginners wasn’t built by some amateur.

It was developed by some guitar teachers who wanted to offer their students an immersive yet remote guitar learning experience.

• AR learning method based on Guitar Hero games
• Developed by seasoned guitar teachers
• Full curriculum for learning
• Fun jamming to AR music

Amped Guitar is available on iOS and Android

6. JamPlay Apps

JamPlay is one of the largest guitar learning apps on the market. This platform offers about 5,000 varied lessons from over 200 courses.

With JamPlay, you get access to different lessons, including live video lessons, for all guitar-centric music genres across all skill levels.

How do the JamPlay Apps work?

The platform features more than 450 songs to jam to and practice with.

About guitar 1,000 lessons out of the 5,000 focus on building up technical skills on the road to guitar mastery.

When it comes to chords (advanced and basic), riffs, licks, and scales, you won’t be disappointed here.

But for those looking learn guitar with a more immersive experience, JamPlay has included a wide variety of cool features.

Progress reports, training games, and tracks to play along to are extremely useful and encourage you, as a player, to make progress while having fun.

The most basic course types on JamPlay are Foundational Courses. These are focused on helping novice players get a firm grip on guitar playing basics.

Foundational Courses

There are three types of Foundational Courses – “Never Played Before,” “Self-Taught Guitarists,” and “The ‘Forever’ Beginner”- All of which are relatively self-explanatory.

The Genre Courses focus on giving you basic and advanced knowledge according to one of the 20 available genres.

The Skill Building Courses focus on understanding how you can improve your conceptual and technical playing abilities.

If you want to simply learn songs in a fun, interactive way, the Song-Learning Courses are the perfect match for you.

This is the smallest set of the bunch but definitely the most interactive.

The Master Classes feature unique content from guitar legends such as Emil Wrestler, Bumblefoot, Tosin Abasi, and many others.

Alternatively, if a fully creative experience using multiple instruments is more of what you’re after, GarageBand may be what you’re looking for.

Finally, the Live Courses and Sessions option enables you, the learner, to directly interact with your instructors.

• A library for scales with dozens of varied patterns all across the fretboard
• A chord library for a wide variety of different chord voicings
• A customizable metronome for timing and accuracy improvement
• Mic-based tuner
• Backing tracks for jams

JamPlay is available via iOS and Android apps.

7. Ultimate Guitar Tabs HD

If you’ve ever looked for a guitar tab on Google, you’ve seen that there are countless tabs available out there.

They are usually user-curated and textual. Ultimate Guitar has always been a website focused on tabs in textual form, as well.

How do Ultimate Guitar Tabs HD work?

Ultimate Guitar Tabs boasts an interactive option, which essentially allows you to play them back as if they were Guitar Pro files.

In other words, their method of learning guitar online provides you with a MIDI tablature that you can play, stop, and slow down at any time you want.

Ultimate Guitar Tabs HD also allows you to turn off any of the instruments that you hear, which typically include guitars, bass, and drums.

In some tabs, you may also find vocal lines and other instruments.

Over 1,000,000 Tabs & Chords

Although downloading the Ultimate Guitar app itself and installing it is entirely free, you won’t be able to get any access to tabs unless you opt for a subscription.

There’s a one-week trial, though, after which you’ll be charged for the following year of using Ultimate Guitar Tabs HD.

Under the Tools tab, however, you get access to the chromatic and brain tuners, metronome, and libraries of chords and chord progressions.

You also get a Beginners course and various other Video tutorials that can help boost your guitar playing.

Under the Shots tab, you’ll see a TikTok-like list of performances by various Ultimate Guitar Tabs HD users. You can also add your own shot and join in.

• This app features more than one million tabs
• You get access to more than 600,000 tabs with lyrics
• Full control over the tab playback
• Video tutorials and the Beginners course
• Join in on the network of musicians who share their playing via the Shots option

Ultimate Guitar Tabs HD is available on iOS and Android

8. Yousician

Yousician is not just a guitar learning app, but much more than that. It’s used for bass, ukulele, piano, and voice training, in addition to guitar.

This app is beginner-centric, although anyone can learn a thing or two from it.

How does the Yousician App work?

While many guitar apps focus on what the market demands – learning things quickly, Yousician takes an entirely different approach.

This platform exercises repetition and exposure to create a foundation for your guitar playing knowledge.

Don’t expect too much tutorial-type instruction – Yousician uses more interactive methods.

Guitar Missions and Workouts

Once you start the app, you’ll see the Learn tab at the top. Navigate to it, and two options will be displayed: Missions and Workouts.

Missions offer a video game-like experience with interaction for learning guitar while going through the content (kind of like Guitar Hero).

On the other hand, workouts are more typical videos, courses, and other interactive material forms.

The Yousician web app uses your device’s microphone to pick up on the played chords.

As you play through a backing track, guitar chords will be displayed (in various colors).

Your job is to hit the appropriate chord at the right time. The interactive part here is done rather brilliantly, and it responds very quickly.

The interactive solo parts are displayed in the form of the guitar neck and strings.

As the indicator hits each note, you play it on your guitar. Notes are designated by numbers rather than by chord letters.

The interface can be adjusted in a few ways, including a combination of the “solo interactive part” mentioned above and actual music notation.

Of course, you can make various other necessary adjustments like, for instance, tempo.

• Brilliantly interactive Guitar Hero-like experience that will help you memorize the patterns, chords, and songs
• Some video game-type features help make the learning experience much more fun
• The app slowly guides you through the entire setup process
• Progress through repetition and exposure creates a fantastic foundation for guitar playing skills

Yousician is available on IOS and Android

Yousician and GuitarTuna

Of course, reviewing Yousician wouldn’t be complete without mentioning its premiere, and extremely popular guitar tuning app: GuitarTuna.

Out of the hundreds of tuning apps freely available for download to your device, GuitarTuna, self-described as “the #1 tuning app worldwide“, is a favorite among musicians around the globe.

GuitarTuna is available on IOS and Android

9. Chordify

Chordify is based on helping you figure out exactly which chords you need to play that fit a particular song.

How does the Chordify App work?

Essentially, the app plays a song from YouTube using the embed function, and the chord recognition software displays the guitar chords that you need to play.

The app’s web version shows the chord name and the chord fingering below, as the song plays back in real-time.

On mobile/tablet apps, you get to switch between these two views. For the most part, you’ll be looking at the letters, but reminding yourself of how a chord is played is necessary at times.

Learning Chords Has Never Been Easier

Now, there’s a cool feature here called the Overview view. Essentially, it displays all the chords in the song in order.

As the song plays, there’s a black square that moves across the fields. If a field has a chord name in it, that means that a chord change is in order.

Impressive as this sounds, chord recognition here is limited. More complex chords might take some further looking into or using another tool.

Still, for a beginner guitarist, being able to play along to a song with an app like this is pretty amazing.

Unfortunately, only the Play, Rewind, and Simplify Chords buttons are available on the app’s free version.

You’ll note that every other option is grayed-out. These are all premium features.

The premium features include Transpose, Capo, Chord volume, Song volume, Tempo, Loop, MIDI, and Print.

Most of these options are relatively straightforward. The Chord volume feature allows you to adjust the volume of a particular chord when played back.

And the MIDI option enables you to use a MIDI device for extra features.

• A unique app that makes playing to songs very straightforward
• Basic features are more than enough for most songs and tunings
• Premium features include some excellent tools to help you simplify the song learning process
• Overview view is probably the easiest method of reading chords while the song is played back

Chordify is available on iOS and Android

10. FaChords Interactive Apps

The guitar is all about finding your way around the fretboard, memorizing scale patterns, intervals, chord shapes, and so on.

Basic as this may sound to a seasoned guitar player, this has been known to turn away many beginners. These shapes can get too overwhelming.

In fact, even some intermediate players still struggle with learning the logic behind scales and chords.

They often turn to their ear, which is fine in its own respect. But knowing your way around the fretboard is of huge importance.

How does the FaChords App work?

FaChords is an app conceptualized with interactive fretboard learning in mind.

This guitar app can help you memorize every single note on the fretboard, improve your music theory knowledge, teach you about intervals and fretboard navigation, as well as help you memorize all the essential scale and arpeggio shapes.

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Another cool thing about FaChords is that the app allows you to use custom tunings.

It can be adjusted for 7-string guitars and covers the mandolin, bass, and ukulele. Oh, and it can be used to accommodate left-handed players, as well.

If you come up with a cool-sounding chord but have no idea how to get to the bottom of its actual name, FaChord allows you to input the fretboard fingering (very simple) and find out about the chord’s exact name.

The app also helps you better understand how to use modes while playing over solos and allows you to actually solo over chords.

• Unlock the mystery that is the guitar fretboard once and for all
• Find out all about chord names
• Understand scales, modes, arpeggios, intervals, and chord progressions
• Work on your pitch recognition

FaChords interactive guitar apps are available only via the browser.

Beginner’s Guide To The Best Guitar Learning Apps

Before you subscribe to any guitar lesson app, there are a few more things that we want to go through. Think of this as a sort of a FAQ section.

What is the Best App for Learning to Play Guitar?

The question of what’s the best app to learn to play guitar isn’t a simple one to answer. You can rest assured that every app on this list is fantastic in its own right.

The guitar apps in this article are listed according to user ratings.

Keep in mind that guitar apps with subscriptions offer a better experience and are constantly updated.

Your Best Options for Learning Guitar

During our research, we found the top three best guitar apps were from Fender Play, Guitar Tricks and TrueFire.

But the choice boils down to your own preferences, resources and skill level.

If you are a complete novice, learning guitar is about the approach.

Do you want to sit down, study, and put in a lot of effort? Go with a guitar learning app that reinforces this teaching style.

If you want to create a solid foundation for your guitar playing skills and don’t mind taking things slowly, then use one of the guitar apps from our recommended online guitar lessons providers.

Fender Play, Guitar Ticks and TrueFire all offer a free trial to help you find the best guitar teaching app for you.

Alternatively, you can always start with a free guitar learning app if spending money is a major consideration.

However, if you are an intermediate-level player, expect that you’re going to have to pay for it.

The alternative here is going on YouTube and browsing for the perfect lesson style for you.

The YouTube lessons, though, tend to be all over the place. If you want learn guitar with structure, go with a quality learning tool.

What is the Best Free Guitar Lesson App?

Chordify is probably the best guitar chord app option for learning some basic guitar playing.

This is because it uses a unique system to give you karaoke-style chord hints that help you play through any song available on YouTube.

Additionally, thanks to its YouTube integration (via embed), Chordify can give you the audio quality you get off of the world’s most popular video streaming app.

Therefore, you don’t have to pay up for access to certain songs and videos.

Is Free Everything it Can Be?

The premium subscription actually gives you some extra controls for playback, such as Transpose, Capo, Chord volume, Song volume, Tempo, Loop, MIDI, and Print.

These are all very useful (especially the tempo control). Still, as long as you’re just starting out and are practicing relatively simple songs, you’re going to be satisfied with the free version.

If you are a beginner who isn’t looking for an interactive experience but just want some structured beginner’s lessons, go with the free app from Justin Guitar by Four Chords.

He is a brilliant teacher with perfect teaching pacing.

What is the Quickest Way to Learn Guitar?

Do not misunderstand; every app that we’ve mentioned can teach you a lot and even develop a sense for future learning.

But counter-intuitive as it sounds, the quickest way of learning guitar is by ear.

With all the technology available these days, you can get your hands on audio slow-downer apps that will help you discern the notes of even the most complex solos.

But the by-ear method requires patience. The “quickness” here doesn’t lie in learning the basics in a few days.

In the beginning, it will take a while.

But with each new by-ear learned song, segment, or solo, you’ll gain motivation.

Plus the better guitar apps from well known brands such as Fender Play, Guitar Tricks and TrueFire all offer quick-start methods to help beginner guitarists build their skills.

After your ear has been trained, you’ll start absorbing every new lesson more and more quickly.

The by-ear method is definitely the best way to learn guitar, and the quickest, in the long run.

If all you want from your guitar skills is to play easy songs for your friends, the best guitar app for beginners is any from the list that helps you get to this level fairly quickly.

Is Yousician or Fender Play Better?

Yousician and Fender Play are vastly different guitar apps. Whereas the former focuses on the karaoke-style chord hints, the latter takes you down a “path” and holds your hand.

Choosing between the two apps boils down to personal preference.

If you want to play more obscure genres and songs, you’re better off with Yousician, as it has every song available on YouTube.

However, if you want structured learning, the Fender App will definitely show you around the basics of your preferred genre, or, shall we say, “path.”

There’s something that you should keep in mind, though; Fender Play is a paid app that offers a free trial. The payments are subscription-based.

If forking out the money is not up your alley, Yousician is the better guitar learning app of choice here.

What is the Best Way to Learn Guitar Online?

Again, the answer isn’t that simple. And still, it boils down to your personal preference.

If you are more of a DIY kind of person, digging through YouTube, learning stuff by ear, and creating your own technical exercises is probably the way to go.

On the other hand, if you don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of guitar lesson content available out there, dedicate yourself to one of the guitar apps from the list and see where it takes you.

What are My Choices?

The best way to learn guitar and any other instrument is a combination of everything.

The vast majority of teachers, courses, tools, and apps are taking the correct teaching method. Notice that we wrote “a correct” here. That’s because there is no correct way to go about things.

Likewise, the best guitar lesson app will be the one that resonates with your thinking.

Sign up for a course and give that a shot. Or just try going around the web and looking for useful information. Exploration is the key to progress.

Final Thoughts On Guitar Lesson Apps And Modern Learning Methods

Which one of these is the best guitar learning app? We’ll have to disappoint you with the answer.

We can’t choose a single one that’s objectively the best option. We’ve already explained the reasoning behind this – to each their own.

Fortunately for you, every single guitar app from this list has a free trial period, at the very least. Our recommendation would be to give each a try.

You have everything to gain if you try a new one each week and write down its pros and cons.

Ultimately, you’ll be able to tell which is the best guitar app for you.

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The post Top 10 Best Guitar Learning Apps (Tools To Play Better And Faster) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

if you had to start from scratch, what would be the essential must-have guitar setup tools you’d need to get started?

Guitar Setup Tools 101

Whether you prefer electric or acoustic guitars, here’s a comprehensive guide to all the guitar maintenance tools you need to tackle most common guitar adjustments like a pro!

Even better, when combined with our guide on How To Set Up A Guitar, you get the full power of a one-two punch!

In other words, if you like doing things yourself, this is the perfect guide to assembling your own guitar tools kit – without having to break the bank, or be a rocket scientist.

Furthermore, if you’re new to the instrument, it’s still totally possible to set up your own guitar without having to pay a pro and wait while it’s in the shop.

Or maybe you just want to improve the factory setup so it plays exactly how you like it.

Whatever your reasons, if you’re confident you can do a reasonably good job, you’ll at least need a basic guitar setup kit to get started.

With experience, you can always add more specialized guitar luthier tools that let you deal effectively with bigger problems.

We hope you find this article helpful, informative and unbiased. By using links on this page we may receive compensation at no extra cost. If you do use them, thank you so much!

What Tools Do I Need to Set Up a Guitar?

For convenience, the tools are broken down into three main sections in order of priority starting with guitar tools for beginners. The individual guitar tools sections are:

Essential Tools, Intermediate and Advanced Tools respectively.

The first list is the basic tech guitar tool kit anyone should need to start working on their own guitars.

As your skills improve , the remaining guitar adjustment and repair tools in remaining lists can be added gradually.

Since many players appreciate a fine setup but don’t service their own guitars, either because they don’t have the time or the desire to do so, you might even consider doing guitar setups for other people.

Other than the following straight forward items, the remainder of the tools you’ll need will be a little more specific to working on guitars.

30+ Guitar Setup Tools That Work

Let’s be clear about one very important fact; there are gadgets designed to give you the illusion of practicality, then there are those essential guitar setup tools that actually function in the real world, and you can depend on on a regular basis.

Question is: do you prefer the former, or the latter? Personally, I prefer to get the job done with as few headaches as possible.

Having said that, what follows is a comprehensive, meat-and-potatoes list of guitar setup tools derived from practical (and professional) experience spanning over 30+ years:

Essential Tools

Intermediate Tools

Advanced Guitar Setup Tools

Note: Most of these tools are related to fretwork for the levelling, crowning and polishing processes. Since re-fretting involves a next level of skill and expertise, the tools required are omitted and will be found in an upcoming separate article.

Some Guitar Setup Tools are Obvious, Others Can Be Repurposed

Even the best guitar setup tools kit includes items that are relatively obvious. They can be found in utility drawers, in the garage, or your existing arsenal of general tools.

Everyday tools you probably already have:

• a utility knife
• CA glue
• painter’s tape for masking
• lots of sandpaper in various grades
• screwdrivers of various kinds
• utility files of various types
• a small 1/4″ socket wrench set

• scissors
• toothpicks
• cordless drill with adjustable clutch
• drill bits of various sizes
• small (very bright) flashlight
• a small hammer
• Cleaning cloths or quality paper towels

Oddly enough, a couple of the more frequently items I personally use for guitar maintenance are tongue depressors and fine wooden dowels (about 1/8″ – 3/16″). They’re dirt cheap and you can find them in just about any craft store.

The tongue depressors come in handy for keeping strings away from the fretboard area (loosened strings can be safely corralled under the neck).

When making floating system adjustments, a tongue depressor can be set flush under the back end of the trem system to keep it from drawing back down into the body.

Another trick is to taper the flat edge so it can be used to gently pry up guitar knobs.

sorts of things; from filling larger holes, to probing and safely cleaning out gunk in tight spots when sharpened to a point.

Another way to look at it is to think a little outside the box. You don’t necessarily need all the setup tools mentioned on this page.

You can also find substitutions and variations for each tool, but the list as it is makes a great start!

What Tools Do I Need to Change Guitar Strings?

The tools required to change strings on a guitar are pretty minimal, especially if it’s just a matter of replacing your strings without any other guitar maintenance issues.

Here’s a quick list of guitar restringing tools every player should have readily available:

Tools for changing guitar strings

Guitar Tuner

Check Availability!

Guitar Capo

Check Availability!

String Winder

Check Availability!

Side Cutters

Check Availability!

Getting Started With Ready-Made Guitar Setup Kits

If you want to keeps things quick and simple, here are a few pre-packaged guitar setup kits and guitar tech equipment to help kick-start your skills:

Basic Guitar Tool Kit

26 Pc Guitar Repairing Tool Kit

Check Availability!

Better Guitar Tool Kit

Ernie Ball Guitar Tool Kit

Check Availability!

Best Guitar Tools Kit

27 Pc Guitar Tool Set

Check Availability!

The post Guitar Setup Tools Guide (How To Make Your Own Player’s Tool Kit) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

7 Best Electric Guitars for Kids Compared:

Guitar	Image	Rating	Relative Price
#1 Editor’s Pick! Squier Stratocaster Pack Three pickup configuration for tone simplicity		(4.9)	$$
#2 Best Budget Model Jackson JS Series Dinky Minion JS1X 22.5” scale length – ideal for small hands		(4.5)	$
#3 Best Premium Pack Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster HSS pickup configuration for playing diversity		(4.6)	$$$
#4 Epiphone Les Paul Player Pack Comes with a clip-on tuner		(3.9)	$$$
#5 Loog Pro Three-string simplicity		(3.6)	$$
#6 Ibanez Gio GRX70QA HSH pickup configuration for top genre versatility		(4.8)	$$
#7 Squier Bullet Mustang Incredibly resilient and stable		(4.1)	$$

We hope you find this article helpful, informative and unbiased. Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

There are more benefits to playing the guitar other than simply mastering an instrument. Some are social, while others revolve around the discipline of technical achievement.

This is what makes the guitar an excellent gift for your kid.

Of course, the price ballpark here isn’t thousands of dollars, meaning that you’re looking for the best electric guitar for kids, not adults.

However, bear in mind that most of the models on our list aren’t “kids’ guitars;” they’re simply guitars that are better suited for kids and beginners.

Top Electric Guitars for Kids Reviewed

1. Squier Stratocaster Pack

A classic-looking Stratocaster beginner’s pack from Squier.

A Traditional Stratocaster Pack

The typical Fender-built Stratocaster guitar has a SSS (three single coil) pickup configuration, which is fantastic for getting funky tones.

This Stratocaster Pack from Squier replicates its parent Fender guitar’s famous look, feel, and tone.

An affordable package that includes a kid’s electric guitar and amp, a gig bag, cable, picks, and some basic tools you need for this guitar’s setup.

Highlights

The Fender Frontman 10G amp that’s included here offers a range of brilliant crunch tones.

There’s a quick button that toggles between clean and crunch that allows your kid to adjust the gain level.

This is a fantastic for letting your child learn about the dynamics of electric guitar playing.

The guitar comes equipped with the typical tremolo bridge that will introduce your kid to the dynamic world of the whammy bar.

Squier Stratocaster Pack Features

• Lightweight body made of poplar is perfect for kids, plus it brings out a superb tone
• Custom-voiced overdrive from the Fender 10G amp
• Synchronized Tremolo bridge for whammy style of playing
• Included strap, picks, gig bag, cable, and setup tools
• Maple neck and rosewood fretboard for tonal stability

A Variety of Features at a Low Price

For a remarkably low price, you get a cool-looking beginner’s Squier Stratocaster, a solid amp, and various other features.

The SSS pickup configuration allows your kid to get introduced to the world of electric guitar gradually.

This is a truly classic beginner guitar package that offers a decent starter instrument with various simple tonal properties.

No Tuner

A clip-on tuner would be a nice addition to the package. It’s important that kids learn about guitar tuning from the get-go.

Fortunately, there are various smartphone tuner apps available out there.

Squier Strat Pack in Review

View the Latest Squier Stratocaster Packs from Fender >>

2. Jackson JS Series Dinky Minion JS1X

A serious-looking rock/metal guitar for kids from Jackson.

A Future Metalhead’s Ax

Jackson is a popular name, especially in heavier music. And the JS1X is as cheap as a Jackson model gets.

Although this guitar is aimed at the young future metalheads, don’t be surprised if you end up liking it yourself.

The default color of this model is Gloss Black, but Bright Blue, Neon Orange, and Ferrari Red are options that may appeal more to your kids.

Potent Humbuckers and No Whammy

You can use this guitar for various genres, but it’s primarily aimed at heavier music styles.

The two high-output Jackson humbucker pickups work wonders for heavily distorted sounds.

It comes with a fixed bridge, so your kid won’t be able to do any whammy bar tricks that compromise tuning – simplicity is definitely desired here.

Play this guitar through a decent amp, and you’ll be surprised at how good it sounds.

Jackson JS Series Dinky Minion JS1X Features

• Poplar body with a maple top for tonal balance
• 5” scale is ideal for small hands
• Fixed bridge for tuning stability and overall setup simplicity
• Four color options to appeal to everyone’s taste
• Graphite reinforcement truss rods for even more stability

Small Hands Love It

Normally, Jackson guitars feature a 25.5” scale used on many instruments such as Fender Guitars.

Nevertheless, a regular scale length might not be ideal for the young ones. The JS1X has a 22.5” scale, which is just perfect for small hands.

This shorter scale length makes the strings a little more flexible and easier on fresh fingers.

Furthermore, we’re talking about a relatively cheap, straightforward guitar that’s more than decent enough for talent shows and similar children’s performances.

Large Hands Do Not Love It

As time passes, your kid’s going to grow past the unusually short 22.5” scale. This model will last them a few years, but they’ll probably grow out of it. Fortunately, the price is perfectly fitting.

Jackson Dinky Minion in Review

3. Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster

Another Squier Stratocaster offering – but with a lot more oomph!

Similar to the previous Strat Pack, this is a quick-start guitar beginner’s pack from Fender’s daughter company, Squier.

Unpack, Plug In, and Play

The familiar Stratocaster look is known far and wide across the world. Many of the greats adore this model.

The Affinity Series Stratocaster is a great choice with a range of diversity. Inside the package, you get a strap, cable, gig bag, picks, and the Fender Frontman 15G amp.

In other words, your kid gets everything they need to get started right away.

Comfort and Diversity

Comfort is hugely important when it comes to beginner guitars. We’re talking about a complex and a fairly hard instrument to play here.

After all, making it easy for your kid to get started with it is the right way to go.

Thanks to the crisp maple neck and the fretboard made out of laurel hardwood, the player gets a ton of smoothness and ease of playing.

Diversity is another cool thing about the Affinity Series. With the HSS (humbucker, single, single) pickup configuration, you get to rock out with heavier music.

The super versatile pickup combination also lets you have fun with jazz, funk, and any other style you, or should we say, your kid, prefers.

Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster Features

• Poplar body brings rock-solid tone to the table
• HSS pickup configuration for maximum playing diversity
• 5-way blade selector for tone shaping variety
• A bunch of features inside the package to get you started
• Vintage-style tremolo

Undeniable Comfort

Expect unexpected comfort from this model. In fact, you might feel sort of jealous that you didn’t get the chance to own this guitar as a kid yourself.

With most guitar purchases, you get a guitar, and then you have to go out of your way and find various other features necessary to get your kid started.

With the Affinity Series, you get everything you need, including an upgrade, in a single package.

Pricey

Although the price point is low compared to more professional-level guitars, the Affinity Series is the most expensive option.

Nevertheless, when put against other products on this list. It does bring a lot of quality to the table.

Affinity Strat Pack in Review

View the Latest Affinty Series Models >>

4. Epiphone Les Paul Player Pack

Beginner’s pack from Gibson’s daughter company, Epiphone.

The Good Old Les Paul

Back in the day, there were two claimants to the throne of the best guitar in the world: Les Paul and Stratocaster.

The Les Paul model remains very recognizable. This from Epiphone also comes with a 10-watt amp, gig bag, cable, strap, picks, and a clip-on tuner.

A Simple Tuner Means a Lot

Unlike strat-style guitars, Les Pauls are more about that fat, rock/metal sound. This is why this Epiphone features two humbuckers in its pickup configuration.

The neck build is fairly standard – maple with a rosewood fretboard. This gives it a solid, balanced tone.

Also available in a Vintage Sunburst finish, the guitar itself is surprisingly good for the price, it’s also about all the additional things you get inside the package.

It may not seem like much, but the included clip-on tuner is incredibly useful for your kid’s ear development.

Epiphone Les Paul Player Pack Features

• Every piece of equipment your kid needs to start playing immediately
• 10-watt amp with clean and crunch settings
• Solidbody build – among the most popular design options
• Maple neck with rosewood fretboard
• One volume knob, one tone knob, and a 3-position switch – simplicity is king

HH Simplicity

If your kid is into rock-style music, the double humbucker setup is the best pickup configuration for them. This configuration is very straightforward.

The same goes for the included 10-watt amp. You get two channels – clean and crunch – and some basic amp options. Nothing too complicated.

Although it’s not the most affordable kids beginner electric guitar option, it offers everything you need to get started.

Your Kid Might Not Be Into Rock

If your kid’s into heavier music, this is a good place to start. But it can turn out to be less than ideal for a kids’ first guitar.

Epiphone Les Paul Pack in Review

5. Loog Pro

A real beginner’s three-string guitar from Loog, specifically aimed at kids.

A Kid’s Guitar That’s Not a Toy

You can always get a standard guitar and have your kid learn how to play it. But Loog is a manufacturer that’s specifically oriented toward youngsters.

To avoid any off-putting string confusion, this model has only three strings.

The idea here was to make a kid’s guitar that isn’t a toy. Although the string spacing is smaller and the neck is thinner, the feel of it is very much like on a real grown-up guitar.

Simplicity is King

The body here is made out of solid wood, and the maple neck brings out the classic trebly quality.

Control-wise, things are very straightforward – a single volume knob (no tone knob), a single-coil pickup, and an input jack. Simplicity is key when it comes to an absolute newbie guitar.

Loog Pro Features

• Lightweight, stable basswood body for tuning stability and solid resonance
• Low string action for ease of playing while learning
• Three real guitar strings to keep things simple but replicate the feel of a real guitar
• Fantastic sound and excellent intonation from the single-coil pickup
• Maple neck and fretboard for crispy spunkiness

Arguably the Best Kid’s Beginner Solution

Simply put, there isn’t a better way to get used to the feel of a guitar than playing a real guitar made for kids’ hands.

The bridge system is adjustable, which is fantastic for ideal comfort.

This instrument’s price is also appealing, especially when you consider the fact that a regular beginner’s guitar will set you back about the same.

Only Three Strings

Although the three strings feel and work the same as on a regular guitar, we’re still talking about three strings.

Some kids may find the transition from three to the traditional six strings a bit confusing.

Loog Pro in Review

6. Ibanez Gio GRX70QA

An affordable and versatile shredder-style guitar from Ibanez’s Gio line.

Overview

Ibanez’s Gio is a well-known affordable line of electric guitars. The GRX70QA is among the cheaper Gio options, which makes it ideal for kids.

This guitar is far from top-notch, but offers a ton of versatility. Plus, the finish looks simply fantastic.

Highlights

The HSH (humbucker-single-humbucker) pickup configuration makes this Ibanez very versatile.

You can get a very heavy lead tone from the bridge pickup, but the warmth of the neck humbucker for clean tones is not to be understated.

If you like the tonal properties of a single pickup, there is one available in the middle position.

Like most Ibanez guitars, this one puts an emphasis on the neck. It’s very comfortable, and the hand glides across it – amazing playability for the price.

Ibanez Gio GRX70QA Features

• Basswood body for tuning stability and light weight
• Maple neck for crisp, trebly tones
• Purpleheart fretboard works perfectly with the maple neck
• Solid FAT 6 tremolo bridge with a whammy bar
• 3 Powersound pickups

A Breathtakingly Good-Looking Beginner’s Guitar

The Gio GRX70QA from Ibanez definitely doesn’t look like a kids’ model. This is because it wasn’t primarily intended for youths.

Electric guitar practice starts with a comfortable guitar, and the Ibanez Gio GRX70QA is remarkably playable for its price.

Is it only for beginners? No. Is it a recommended electric guitar for beginners? Absolutely. And don’t forget its breathtaking looks.

Pickups Not Perfect

For a beginner, the pickups sound just fine. But given that the build quality of this model is more than decent, you may end up desiring a better pickup set.

The thing is, a set of solid pickups is likely to cost more than the original price of the guitar.

Ibanez Gio in Review

7. Squier Bullet Mustang HH

A cheap HH-configuration guitar from Squier.

An Indie Kid’s Guitar

It’s difficult to imagine the indie, underground, and alternative scenes without the popular Mustang guitar shape.

Well, here it is – a beginner’s Squier guitar with the popular Mustang shape and feel.

Yes, you get only two humbucker pickups, but this only means straightforward playing simplicity.

Your kid will rock out with the bridge pickup and enjoy the deep, resonant tones of the neck humbucker on clean settings.

Solid Workhorse

At 24 inches of scale length, this guitar’s neck is compact and a perfect fit for smaller kids’ hands.

Thanks to the dual humbucker configuration, expect a midrange-oriented tone. This guitar is quite the workhorse – a resilient and stable model.

Considering that kids aren’t exactly careful with their things, this means a lot.

Squier Bullet Mustang HH Features

• This is a no-nonsense, straightforward workhorse guitar
• Lightweight basswood body offers setup stability
• Smaller hands will greatly benefit from the 24” scale length
• Crunchy, hot, rock tone
• Soft laurel fretboard simply feels great

Brilliant Resilience

Kids aren’t careful. They will break things. This affordable guitar is very tough and, although dents and scratches may occur, the playing quality is unlikely to be affected by wear and tear.

The Squire Bullet Mustang is a perfect model for heavier tones. The 24” scale length is a true gift for smaller hands.

There are shorter-scale guitars on this list, but the 24” will prepare your kid for moving on to longer scales down the line.

Too Sturdy?

The sturdy build does come at a price. This guitar might feel a bit too stiff for some. This boils down to personal preference, though.

Squier Bullet Mustang in Review

Best First Electric Guitar For Kids Buyer’s Guide

The guitars that you’ll find on this list all make for great choices for the young ones.

Whether you’re a guitar player yourself or not, you should know what to look for when buying a guitar for your kid. They’ll undoubtedly have no idea where to start themselves.

With this in mind, here’s a buyer’s guide that will help you better understand the world of kids’ guitar playing.

What is the Best Age to Start Learning Guitar?

Ask any guitar player about the perfect age to get into guitar playing, and they’ll say “as soon as possible.”

Unlike the piano, for example, guitar playing does involve brute force, to an extent (fretting notes is not easy for beginners).

Buy your kid a guitar too soon, and they might end up being put off by this struggle.

Many top-of-the-line guitar players first picked up their instrument of choice in their teenage years. So, the age of 13 is optimal. It all boils down to knowing your kid, though.

Some will benefit from starting out as early as age seven, while others won’t pick up the instrument until they’re 17.

In any case, pushing your kid into guitar playing is not the way to go. Even if you get them a guitar early on, they might end up picking it up later in life.

What Guitar Should I Buy for a Beginner Child?

If you are a guitar player yourself, you probably have a small old amp lying around somewhere.

In this case, you don’t need to get them a beginner guitar package with an included amp and other guitar essentials.

If you don’t have any guitar-related equipment at home though, focus on getting them the best electric guitar starter kit that you think will fit them.

Get the best electric guitar starter kit that fits them, and your budget.

You can get them a guitar separately and buy them a cheap amp, but this will set you back quite a bit more.

The starter kits are usually the best idea; the included equipment is more than decent enough for young beginners.

Are Electric Guitars Worth It?

We tend to underestimate the importance of having a hobby. What’s great about music is that it can grow into a passion, leading to a profession that your child will love and cherish.

However, even if it forever remains a hobby, the value that playing the electric guitar brings to the table is immense.

In fact, even if they completely drop the instrument after a few years, the guitar can do wonders for your child’s motor development.

As opposed to acoustic guitars, electric guitars require much less brute force for playing. Starting with one of the mentioned is usually preferable to getting an acoustic model.

Therefor, yes, buying an electric guitar for your kid is definitely worth it, especially considering that the outlined models are very cheap.

How Big is a Junior Guitar?

Junior guitars tend to be a quarter, a half, or three quarters of the regular guitar size.

Most guitars on this list aren’t considered “junior” guitars, although some feature shorter scale lengths.

This is because we think that starting out with a normal-sized guitar is generally preferable – let your kid grow into it instead of out of it.

We have included the Loog Pro model, which is much more compact than the other models on the list and features three strings.

If you want your kid to start out with a non-adult model, why not introduce them to fewer strings as well, to avoid confusion.

Still, we think that your kid will have an easier time adjusting to the world of guitars if they have an instrument that has realistic proportions.

Can You Make a Cheap Electric Guitar Sound Good?

Go ahead and ask any guitarist out there if this is possible. In all likelihood, they will answer with a “yes.”

While acoustic guitars produce their sound, well, acoustically, electric guitars rely on electronics to reproduce sound.

Naturally, the wood quality, the overall build, the pickups, and other components each have a role here.

Even the cheapest electric guitar can sound good with a good setup, and some practice.

However, as long as you have a good amp, you can make pretty much any guitar sound at least decent.

In fact, learning how to set the tone on a cheap guitar will help develop your ear for this.

Additionally, not only can you make a cheap guitar sound good, but it’s even preferable to starting off with an expensive model. For your kids, $300 is the recommended ceiling.

How Much Does a Good Quality Electric Guitar Cost?

Most guitarists would answer, “depends.” And it truly does depend on many factors.

But, as a rule of thumb, the $1,000 ballpark is a reasonably certain range for a high quality electric guitar. With most products, you’re looking for quality.

Do not look at quality guitars when browsing the models for your kid. We don’t just say this for the sake of your budget, but for your kid’s guitar learning process, as explained above.

In reality, you can find production model and boutique guitars that go as far up as $3,000 or much more.

And then, you’ll see a famous musician rocking a $600 workhorse on the stage. There is absolutely no need to go overboard with your kid’s first model.

What is the Best Electric Guitar for Beginners?

The best electric guitar for a beginner is the one they like to observe while it’s played.

In truth, there is no way to tell whether your kid will find a perfect match on their own.

Taking them to the guitar store and having an employee play each model for your kid is the best way to have them choose their first instrument.

See what they like the most – unless you really want them to go with a junior-style guitar. In that case, we recommend the above-mentioned Loog Pro.

Who Wins Top Seat For The Best Electric Guitar For Kids?

Although we’ve reviewed many quality guitars, we’re going to have to go with a guitar-amp-essentials pack here.

The Squier Stratocaster Pack offers the most comprehensive set of extra features. The triple pickup combo is perfect for a beginner, and the included amp will help your kid learn how to dial in their tone.

With the Squier Stratocaster Pack, your kid has a chance to start learning electric guitar basics, from its playing aspects to the technicalities and tone.

This is why we think that the Squier Stratocaster Pack is the best electric guitar for kids.

EDITOR’S PICK

Squier Stratocaster Pack!

What Do Squier Stratocaster Pack Owners Think? >>

The post Best Electric Guitar for Kids (7 Exceptional Instruments) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

To play bluegrass the way it was intended, you’re going to need a good weapon. In this article, we’ll show you some of the best bluegrass guitars available. Don’t expect low prices – expect quality, awesome tone, and playing comfort.

Great Bluegrass Guitars Compared

Guitar	Image	Rating	Relative Price
#1  Best Bluegrass Acoustic Gibson J-45 Standard A top quality workhorse guitar		(5.0)	$$$$
#2 Best Mid-Range Acoustic Taylor 214ce Deluxe Modern design with exceptional transparency		(4.3)	$$$
#3 Best Budget Model Epiphone Dove Studio Fishman Sonitone pickup system		(4.8)	$
#4 The King Of Acoustics Martin D-28 Traditional tone and huge bottom projection		(4.9)	$$$$
#5 Classic Engineering Yamaha LL16D ARE ARE tone aging		(4.4)	$$$
#6 Style and Electronics Washburn Comfort G25SCE Mahogany elbow binding		(3.9)	$$
#7 The Underdog Seagull S6 Pressure-tested cedar top		(4.2)	$

We hope you find this article helpful, informative and unbiased. Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Top 7 Bluegrass Guitars in Review

1. Gibson J-45 Standard

(5.0)

A top-end round-shoulder dreadnought acoustic-electric guitar from Gibson.

Top-Tier Bluegrass Axe

Gibson is, without a doubt, one of the two most popular guitar brands on the planet.

You may love them, you may hate the brand, but the fact remains – they make fantastic guitars for almost every player’s need. Of course, bluegrass musicians have a lot to be happy about here.

The J-45 Standard from Gibson features a top-notch tone wood blend and has a lot of style.

The Workhorse

The J-45 Standard has been aptly nicknamed “The Workhorse” – used on stages and in studios all across the world.

Its premium mahogany side and back build is highly resonant and brings a lot of depth to the J-45 Standard’s tone foundation. Of course, this is contrasted with the Sitka spruce top, which evokes tonal clarity and presence.

The high-grade rosewood on the fretboard is visibly different to most other fingerboards of the same base material. The VTC pickup system from LR Baggs has a lively, robust, and, above everything else, natural sound to it.

Check Today’s J-45 Standard Price >>

Gibson Acoustic J-45 Standard Features

• Workhorse acoustic guitar
• Back and sides made out of solid mahogany, bringing out a round and warm sound
• The Sitka spruce top evokes tone clarity and projection
• Soft fretboard edges for extra comfort
• VTC pickups from LR Baggs help the J-45 Standard sound natural even when plugged in

Huge Attention to Detail

Gibson’s J-45 Standard offers a uniquely good build. A lot of attention to tonal and physical details went into this guitar’s design.

The result is an all-round workhorse that performs brilliantly for studio recording and stage performance.

Expect to Pay a Lot

This is a Gibson guitar. Not only that, but it’s a quality Gibson guitar. So, expect quite a hefty price tag here. Other than that, it’s pretty much perfect.

Gibson J-45 Standard Key Points

2. Taylor 214ce Deluxe

(4.3)

A modern-shaped grand auditorium acoustic-electric guitar from Taylor.

Grand Auditorium Bluegrass Machine

Taylor is a widely renowned acoustic guitar brand that’s popular with various bluegrass musicians.

Out of all Taylor guitars, however, the 214ce Deluxe is probably the best fit for a bluegrass enthusiast who’s looking for a quality mid-range guitar.

Although it’s still a fairly large-bodied instrument, this bluegrass axe isn’t a dreadnought. It boasts a grand auditorium shape, like many other Taylor-made guitars.

A Very Comfortable Shape

The grand auditorium shape appears smaller than the popular dreadnought. If you’re worried that the size of the 214ce Deluxe will compromise its volume capacity, you can rest easy.

Although grand auditorium guitars feature a narrower waist than dreadnoughts, their lower bout is actually wider. Many bluegrass musicians will find this guitar shape more comfortable than the dreadnought shape.

The sides and the back of this guitar are Indian rosewood, which brings that claret sweetness type of vibe to its overall tone.

To balance things and bring out that crisp, clear sound, the Taylor 214ce Deluxe has a Sitka spruce top.

Check Taylor 214ce Deluxe Availability >>

Taylor 214ce Deluxe Features

• Sitka spruce top for tone balance and projection enhancement
• Ebony fretboard on a Sapele neck helps you play smooth and fast
• Taylor’s proprietary Expression System 2 (ES2) amplifies the tone accurately
• The tasteful Venetian cutaway helps with upper-fret access
• A grand auditorium model with a huge tone

Versatility Is King

The best thing about this guitar is that it’s comfortable for guitarists of any size. Thanks to its slick action, it will appeal to electric enthusiasts and bluegrass guitar players alike.

While the rosewood adds capacity for strumming and flatpicking, the spruce top brings out clarity for fingerpicking.

Strength vs Weakness

The biggest upshot of this guitar (its versatility) is also its downside. More experienced players who know what they’re looking for might not like the emphasized versatility.

Taylor 214ce Key Points

3. Epiphone Dove Studio

(4.8)

An extremely affordable acoustic-electric guitar from Epiphone.

Fishman Sonitone in a Cheap Guitar

If you’re looking for a dirt-cheap acoustic-electric guitar for bluegrass that provides great value for the price, look no further.

Epiphone, a daughter company of one of the most popular guitar manufacturers on the planet, Gibson, has released the Dove Studio guitar that sits at a remarkably low price.

Cheap as it is, it sports Fishman Sonitone electronics, which is among the best acoustic guitar pickups available on the market.

The Dove Studio is worth the purchase for the pickups alone. But this model has much more to offer than the fancy electronics.

Enhanced Tone as It Breaks In

Perhaps the most surprising thing on this guitar (in addition to the Fishman electronics) is the fact that it actually sounds better as it ages.

This is thanks to the tonewoods used on it – maple on the sides and back and a solid spruce top.

Epiphone Dove Studio Availability >>

Epiphone Dove Studio Features

• Spruce top and maple sides and back help enhance the tone as the Dove Studio ages
• Brilliant Fishman Sonitone pickups make Epiphone Dove Studio sound much more expensive than it is
• Vintage Dove artwork reminiscent of the original Gibson model
• Tuning stability and precision from Grover tuners
• Fast and smooth playing thanks to the SlimTaper D neck

A Whole Lot of Cool Features

There is a mind-boggling amount of value packed into this very cheap acoustic-electric guitar.

You get quality Grover tuners, Fishman Sonitone system, and a neck profile called SlimTaper D. This neck profile helps bring smoothness and speed out of your playing.

You Get What You Pay for

It’s important that you note that this is a budget guitar. Expect certain parts like the nut and the bridge to be subpar in quality terms.

Epiphone Dove Key Points

4. Martin D-28

(4.9)

The undisputed standard, and extremely popular acoustic from a widely renowned guitar brand Martin.

An Age-Old Dreadnought

The Martin D-28 is, without a doubt, the most popular bluegrass guitar in the world. Quite a feat, as it’s been around since the 1930s, and still retains the top popularity title.

The D-28 hasn’t changed much since its inception, because there’s been no need for change. It remains a powerful dreadnought guitar that’s held dearly in the heart of many bluegrass musicians.

Smooth and Balanced Tone with a Punch

Originally designed to project through a the sonic wall of folk instruments such as fiddles and mandolins, the D-28 sports a well-balanced and dynamic acoustic tone – the foundation of any bluegrass guitar performance.

Thanks to the Sitka spruce and East Indian rosewood, this Martin bluegrass guitar delivers balance to a punchy, full warm tone and volume.

Its build is immediately recognizable, and understated in appearance, there’s really nothing overly ornate about the standard aesthetics. But this is the humble profile greatly preferred by many bluegrass enthusiasts.

Martin D-28 Acoustic Guitar

Martin D-28 Features

• Familiar dreadnought shape
• Tone depth and “bassiness” perfect with vocals
• Fantastic in all “unplugged” environments
• High-quality tonewoods for a timeless tone
• Low frequency response is never boomy – expect a tight tone

Familiar Tone

If you happen to find the D-28’s tone familiar, that’s because it’s been used on countless records over time. Modern bluegrass musicians either own this model, desire to have it or have a great deal of respect for it.

The Sitka spruce top fits the guitar’s rosewood body brilliantly and helps deliver projection and clarity.

May Be Too Boxy for Some

The iconic boxy-shoulder dreadnought build is great once you get used to it, whether you’re performing sitting down or standing up.

However, it might be a bit off-putting to electric guitarists, or individuals with a more compact body frame.

Martin D-28 Key Points

5. Yamaha LL16D ARE

(4.4)

A mid-range premium acoustic-electric guitar from Yamaha.

Rosewood Warmth

Yamaha is a world-renowned company that makes a variety of products. Quality guitars happen to be one of them, and the Yamaha LL16D is a prime example when it comes to acoustic-electric models.

Every bluegrass player knows how important a warm and rich sound is for this music style.

This is why Yamaha has introduced solid rosewood back and sides on the LL16D’s body. To evoke clarity and a crisp tone, they’ve gone with a solid spruce top.

Artificial Tone Aging

Quality guitars tend to start sounding better with age. Of course, for that smooth aged broken-in tone, years of playing are required.

Yamaha has developed a process called Acoustic Resonance Enhancement (ARE ), that brings the aged tone right out of the box.

The neck is made out of mahogany for extra resonance, and a rosewood fretboard is added for extra depth in tone.

Yamaha LL16D ARE Original Jumbo

Yamaha LL16D ARE Features

• ARE tone aging qualities – broken-in tone on a brand-new guitar
• Mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard for more resonance and depth
• SRT Zero Impact pickup with piezo
• Engelmann spruce top complements the rosewood sides and back perfectly
• Innovative design

A Top-Tier Guitar for a Mid-Range Price

Piezo is a guitar technology that is usually used to make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic one.

The passive SRT Zero Impact pickups provide each string with piezo elements, further enhancing the LL16D’s tone while plugged in.

Considering all the innovative features and a fantastic build, Yamaha LL16D ARE brings much more value to its mid-range price.

Outside The Box

Unfortunately for dreadnought lovers, this guitar simply isn’t one – meaning it’s lacking in terms of the bottom end and loudness.

Still, there are many bluegrass players who aren’t looking for a dreadnought-style guitar.

Yamaha LL16D ARE Key Points

6. Washburn Comfort G25SCE

(3.9)

An affordable acoustic-electric guitar with an elbow comfort binding from Washburn.

Uniquely Washburn Look

Washburn is a reputable guitar brand that makes fantastic mid-range acoustic guitars. Washburn Comfort G24SCE is a great example of a mid-range-level guitar that’s cheaper than most mid-range models.

The guitar boasts a really unique appearance that truly stands out. But appearance is not the only feature that sets the G25SCE model apart from its peers.

Mahogany Elbow Comfort

The G25SCE has a mahogany binding for elbow comfort, located on the guitar’s left lower bout.

The Fishman Presys+ pickup system is generally found on much more expensive models, but the G25SCE comes equipped with it.

The sides and the back are made out of solid mahogany, which emphasizes resonance. The alternating maple strips help compliment the aesthetics and tighten up the potentially muddy mahogany tone qualities.

Washburn Comfort G25SCE Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Washburn Comfort G25SCE Features

• Mahogany binding for extra elbow comfort on the lower bout
• Fishman Presys+ pickup perfectly replicates the unplugged sound
• Ovangkol fretboard is a beautiful, atypical choice for a guitar
• Bookmatched mahogany back panels for a unique look
• Neck has a satin finish for playing smoothness

Looks That Deceive

Apart from the fact that you get a high-quality instrument for a fairly low price, with Washburn Comfort G25SCE, this is a very unique looking guitar that will definitely turn a few heads.

Expect surprised reactions when you tell people how much you paid for it. You also get awesome Fishman Presys+ pickup and Grover 18:1 tuners for a fantastic sound and tuning stability.

An Acquired Taste

You may find the ovangkol fretboard weird at first. Don’t worry – it’s an acquired taste.

Washburn Comfort G24SCE Key Points

7. Seagull S6

(4.2)

A simple, capable bluegrass acoustic guitar from a Canadian brand Seagull.

Overlooked Quality

Although this is not the cheapest guitar on the list, it’s certainly very close to it. Unfortunately, owing to its non-mainstream name, the Seagull S6 often gets overlooked.

Still, this guitar is offering a full-range tone that fits all music styles, although it’s predominantly used in bluegrass.

Years of Maximum Harmonic Vibration

Tuning stability is definitely something that Seagull S6 prides itself on. This is all owing to the compound curved top and the integrated set neck. These features also ensure projection and resonance.

To ensure the best possible harmonic vibration, each S6 top is tested for stiffness and rigidity. The overall guitar build here will give you years and years of great performance. Certainly well worth the low price.

Seagull Guitars S6 Cedar Original Acoustic Guitar

Seagull S6 Features

• Cedar top is pressure-tested to ensure maximum tonal, response, and projection quality
• Proprietary TUSQ nut offer more harmonics than bone nuts
• Modified dreadnought body to avoid extra boominess
• Perfect neck relief and alignment thanks to the dual-function truss rod
• Custom-polished finish for better vibration

Brilliant Guitar for the Money

When put into perspective of how good this guitar’s build is, the S6’s price point becomes really ridiculous.

You get a high-quality TUSQ nut, excellent neck alignment and relief, pressure-tested top for best tonal quality, and rich, resonant sound.

Some Parts Aren’t Perfect

Don’t expect a top-of-the-line instrument with maximum-quality parts. You’re still paying much less than $1,000.

Seagull S6 Key Points

Bluegrass Guitars Buyer’s Guide

Every guitar from our list will find its ideal owner. We hope that the information provided is more than enough to help you make an educated decision about your new guitar.

However, knowing some basics of the genre and the guitars used for it can help you find the perfect guitar for you.

Here are some common questions that you may be wondering about yourself.

Is Bluegrass Hard to Play?

Bluegrass isn’t the most fast-paced genre, but it can’t be considered slow, either. Some bluegrass songs are fairly fast.

The genre is relatively straightforward, and most artists tend to use similar chord progressions. When it comes to rhythm, playing bluegrass with your guitar isn’t very complex.

First-position G, C, D, F, A, and B chords are used for the most part. These are very basic and pretty much the first thing a beginner bluegrass guitar player learns.

However, as far as solo playing is concerned, bluegrass can be very hard. Although the solo playing mostly involves pentatonic scales, these are played at high BPMs, and there are lots of “runs” involved.

Usually, one guitar is playing rhythm, while the other is soloing. The magic of bluegrass, though, boils down to lead-follow switches.

In other words, as a bluegrass player, you’ll be expected to know how to lead and how to follow. More importantly, you’ll be expected to know when to start and stop leading.

This is a skill acquired through practice and is based on the “feel” of the performance.

Start with solid rhythms and practice the chord patterns

The best way to practice bluegrass playing is to start with the rhythm. Learn the chords mentioned above and practice them.

Then, find someone to practice with. Be open and don’t be afraid to contact people – you’re just starting out, that’s nothing to be ashamed about. Try not to practice lead and rhythm playing in combination, take turns.

Bear in mind that you are going to have to practice a lot. Jams are awesome, but you also need to put in time on your own, at home. Combining practice and jams will help you learn bluegrass guitar.

What Key is Most Bluegrass In?

As a lively, upbeat genre, it is hardly a surprise that bluegrass relies mostly on the major scale.

Learning the major scale shape and the major pentatonic shape is a great idea for learning how to lead in bluegrass music.

Particular keys are less important. If you learn different major scale patterns, you can move them across the fretboard.

Still, the most common bluegrass keys are G, C, D, A, E, and F. Naturally, the bluegrass genre is rich with quality bands, and there is plenty of diversity to go about.

You’ll find bluegrass songs in different keys than these and even those who don’t rely on the major scale.

However, the mentioned keys and the major scale (and its pentatonic) are a great place to start your bluegrass guitar playing journey.

Learn the shapes in different scale patterns and play them across the keys mentioned above.

Then, move on to the minor scale and the minor pentatonic scale. It’s the most popular scale in the world used in various genres.

Finally, learn the Mixolydian scale. Don’t worry, it’s a tricky name, but the concept is simple: Play the major scale and move the 7^th note down a semitone (one fret back towards the headstock).

Although it’s important to learn these patterns, it’s even more critical that you play them. Practice soloing over music in various different keys.

What Guitars Do Professionals Use?

You might think that only the pros use the most expensive guitars on the market. In part, you are right; you’ll find many professional bluegrass players using expensive top-tier brands such as Gibson and high-end Taylor models, for instance.

But in truth, most popular players are endorsed by a brand, meaning that they don’t pay for the instrument or pay only a small fraction of it.

You’ll also find many professionals who use relatively cheap guitars. Don’t be surprised if you see one of the models mentioned above at a high-profile show.

Therefore, the simple answer here would be professionals use any kind of guitar that suits them best. Until you learn what works for you, don’t think about expensive models.

What are the Best Acoustic Guitar Strings for Bluegrass?

Every guitar player will tell you that they know that a particular brand of strings is the best one.

What you won’t hear often is the truth: It boils down to personal preference. Don’t put too much stock in any one person’s opinion.

Try the wide variety of guitar string brands available

As long as we are talking about bronze acoustic guitar strings, anything goes. Bronze banjo, phosphor bronze, nickel bronze, etc., are all great options for bluegrass. Get out there and try out different strings.

What is the Best Guitar for Bluegrass?

The best guitar for bluegrass would be one that featured all the greatest aspects of the models mentioned above.

Unfortunately, such a model doesn’t exist, and you’re probably going to have to compromise.

If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line guitar, take a look at the brands such as Martin, Taylor, and Gibson.

If you’re looking for a mid-tier solution, Washburn might not be a bad idea.

But as an absolute beginner, don’t go north of $500. If you already own a guitar, even if it’s not particularly good for bluegrass, you can start there.

Always keep in mind that good bluegrass guitars aren’t necessarily built solely for bluegrass.

Who Wins The Battle For Overall Best Bluegrass Guitar?

All of the mentioned instruments from this list feature great qualities. It all depends on how much you want to spend on a bluegrass guitar.

But the prize for the king of the best bluegrass guitars goes to the renowned Gibson Acoustic J-45 Standard.

This is a reliable, durable workhorse guitar with excellent resonant properties and great clarity and projection.

Its soft fretboard edges ensure player comfort, and LR Baggs VTC pickups are some of the most natural-sounding ones on the market.

We hope that this guide has helped you make the right choice. If not, keep on searching for the instrument that fits you best.

EDITOR’S PICK

Gibson Acoustic J-45 Standard

What Do Gibson J-45 Owners Think? >>

The post Best Bluegrass Guitars (7 Killer Acoustics) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

If you’re prepared to make a significant investment on an instrument, you’re no doubt looking for a solid build along with playability, resonance, and various other subtleties that make a particular acoustic guitar speak to you.

Great Acoustic Guitars For Less Than $2,000

Compare Select Instruments:
#1 Best Acoustic Under $2000 Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio		(4.9)	Fantastic projection and warm bass tones
#2 Best Modern Acoustic Taylor 224ce-K DLX		(4.2)	Sounds better with age
#3 Best Value In A Heritage Brand Martin D-15M		(4.5)	Rich, vibrant tone
#4 Legendary Acoustic Electronics Takamine Legacy EF341SC		(3.8)	Mahogany neck + rosewood fretboard for playability
#5 Best Affordable Modern Acoustic  Taylor 214ce Deluxe		(4.2)	Sitka spruce top is excellent for strumming
#6 Traditional Triple-0 Tone Martin 000-15M		(4.7)	All-mahogany build for powerful and warm tone qualities
#7 Best Parlor-Sized Value Guild M-20		(3.7)	Warm, balanced mahogany tone

We certainly hope you find this article helpful, informative and unbiased. Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Top 7 Acoustic Guitars Under $2,000 In Review

1. Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio

(4.9)

Best Features Fantastic projection and warm bass tones Cutting-edge acoustics Walnut helps it age brilliantly Mahogany helps tame the high frequencies

Specs Walnut fretboard and body Fishman Sonitone pickups Extremely unique and memorable tone A quality Gibson below $2,000

A Masterfully Made Guitar

This is a “workhorse” acoustic-electric guitar from one of the world’s most popular guitar manufacturers, Gibson.

Gibson sits side-by-side with Fender when it comes to the world’s most popular guitar manufacturers. Although they make electric guitars as well, Gibson’s acoustic game is strong, to say the least.

The J-45 studio is a dreadnought round-shoulder instrument with warm bass tones and fantastic projection. The J-45 offers brilliant playability and cutting-edge acoustics.

Highlights

The premium Sitka top brings tremendous amounts of presence to this guitar’s tonal properties.

On the back and on the sides, walnut is used, which is somewhere between rosewood and maple when it comes to tonality, but it’s similar to Koa, when it comes to the clarity brought on by high frequencies. Like Koa, walnut ages gracefully, in terms of tone. The fretboard is also walnut.

The J-45 Studio has Fishman Sonitone electronics which sound as clear as day. Fishman is a renowned guitar pickups company, popular for tonal clarity on their electric and acoustic pickup models.

Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio Key Features

• Walnut body with Sitka spruce top
• Mahogany clarity to tame the high frequencies
• Walnut bridge to accompany the body
• Fishman Sonitone pickups with brilliant clarity
• 75” scale length – slightly shorter than standard

Truly Memorable

Even though it’s still considered a mid-range guitar, Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio is an instrument of extreme quality. You can try hundreds of excellent acoustic guitars, but the tone you hear coming out of the J-45 is truly unique and memorable. It’s built with great care and attention to detail.

Gibson-Level Prices

Gibson is a brand that’s notorious for its high-priced instruments. Although the J-45 doesn’t go over $2,000, it is at a fairly high price point. Still, you get a high-quality piece of gear, no one’s denying that.

Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio Review in Review

Check Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio Availability >>

2. Taylor 224ce-K DLX

(4.2)

Best Features Sounds better with age Resonant Sparkling highs, stable mids Comfortable neck

Specs Koa build Shaded edgeburst Sapele neck Forward shifted pattern body bracing

Full Koa Tone

This is a top-quality shaded edgeburst and layered Koa acoustic-electric guitar from a world-renowned acoustic guitar manufacturer, Taylor.

Taylor is one of the world leaders in the acoustic guitar production business. Although the price tag on Taylor 224ce-K DLX doesn’t feel very comfortable, its full-Koa body, fantastic resonance, and rich tone justify it.

A Great-Sounding Guitar That Gets Better as It Ages

Taylor is a widely popular and renowned guitar manufacturer that specializes in acoustic guitars. Thanks to the Hawaiian Koa predominant build, this Taylor guitar brings sparkling highs and solid mids to the table, wrapped with nice crisp snappiness.

The unique thing about this guitar’s Hawaiian Koa build is the growing range of sweetness, richness, and resonance over time.

Plug in this acoustic-electric guitar, and the ES2 electronics will give you a rich amplified tone without diminishing any of its acoustic properties.

Brilliant resonance and great EQ qualities have no impact on playability, though. And playability is just as important as a guitar’s sound properties.

The stiff Sapele neck will appeal to guitarists who want uninterrupted comfort while playing. Thanks to its stiffness, however, the feel that it has and the sound that it produces remain powerful.

Taylor 224ce-K DLX Key Features

• Amazingly, thanks to the Koa-predominant construction, the 224ce-K actually starts sounding better as it ages
• Neck is very comfortable but still capable of delivering powerful sound and tone
• The ES2 electronics amplify the brilliant acoustic properties of this Taylor guitar without compromise
• Gorgeous looking – the top wood is solid Hawaiian Koa, while the back and the sides are Layered Koa with Koa veneer
• Gold tuners fit this guitar’s style perfectly

The Best Taylor Model for the Price

Don’t misunderstand us – Taylor 244ce-K DLX is arguably the best Taylor acoustic guitar for under $2,000.

Still, the feature that shines the brightest on it is the amazing Koa-based build. This tonewood is immensely stable, without sounding dull.

The ES2 electronics were a perfect choice here, as they are capable of providing (picking up) the most realistic tonal picture from an acoustic guitar. Other than that, it looks brilliant, and all the parts work perfectly.

Maple Might’ve Been Better

Although ebony is the most common fretboard wood type, we feel that a maple fretboard would help bring out even more sparkling brightness out of this guitar without compromising the mids.

Still, this is not to say that ebony doesn’t work great here; just that we think that maple would’ve been a better choice. Roasted flamed maple would’ve been a great choice. It’s also one of the priciest guitars on this list.

Taylor 224ce-K DLX Review in Review

Read the Latest Taylor 224ce-K DLX Reviews >>

3. Martin D-15M

(4.5)

Best Features Rich, vibrant tone Comfortable satin neck Resonance Elegant appearance

Specs 1940s Style 15 throwback Satin neck finish Very complex, dark, rich voice Perfect for singers

1940s Guitar from a 180-Year-Old Brand

This is a throwback Martin guitar that brings elegance, tonal richness, and comfort to the player’s hands.

Martin is a guitar manufacturer that has been around for more than 180 years. Over time, their guitars have changed but the quality of their builds has remained top-notch.

The Martin D-15M is a perfect representation of that craftsman’s attention to detail. It’s a throwback to the 1940s Style 15 models, and what a throwback it is!

All-Mahogany Guitar Dreadnought

Mahogany is among the most resonant tonewoods out there. Typically, a manufacturer will choose to use it for the guitar’s body.

The Martin D-15M is an all-mahogany guitar, with the top, back, sides, and the neck made out of solid mahogany.

This gives the guitar a surprisingly dark and full voice, which is astonishing in its complexity. This perfectly complements a higher voice.

Don’t expect a fancy-looking guitar here. Its elegance is reflected in its simplicity and straightforward looks.

And, of course, its mahogany build. To supplement the complex, dark, and rich voice, Martin has gone with the traditional rosewood fretboard here.

The neck feels comfortable, making the guitar very easy to play. The satin-finished neck makes sure that your thumb glides smoothly up and down it.

This is a dreadnought-style guitar – bolder, larger body than most guitars, for a richer, louder tone.

Martin D-15M Key Features

• Rich, vibrant voice brought to you by a solid, genuine, all-mahogany build
• The rich sound goes hand in hand with the rosewood fretboard
• Minimalist elegance
• Dreadnought guitar
• Natural color for extra minimalism
• Satin neck for extra playability

The Best of Both Worlds

We’ve always loved the simple, respectable looks of the Style 15 guitars but never appreciated the ancient build.

The D-15M’s build brings the best of both worlds, plus it emphasizes comfort. It is very playable; we love the low oval neck carve. This is absolutely the best acoustic dreadnought guitar under $2,000 that you’ll find out there.

Could’ve Used Electronics

There isn’t a whole lot that we have to say against this model. But, the fact remains, no matter how well it fits the singer-songwriter style, it doesn’t come with any electronics.

And, loud as it is, bringing a regular microphone to the soundhole will provide a muddy picture for this guitar’s brilliant rich and vibrant tone. An optional electronics system would’ve been nice here.

Martin D-15M Review in Review

What are Martin D-15M Players Saying? >>

4. Takamine Legacy EF341SC

(3.8)

Best Features Mahogany neck + rosewood fretboard for playability Gorgeous black gloss finish Cutaway provides easyaccess to higher frets Maple-cedar combo delivers tight lows and warm highs

Specs CT4B II preamp Maple back and sides Solid cedar top Bruce Springsteen’s choice

Pricey Cheap Guitar

This is a handcrafted acoustic-electric guitar with a dreadnought body from the renowned brand Takamine.

Takamine is a company that generally produces mid-range guitars. They are widely renowned for their affordable prices. The Legacy EF341SC isn’t exactly a “cheap” model.

Expect a quality build and great resonance. The CT4B II preamp successfully replicates the Legacy’s sound, so you don’t have to worry about its stage performance.

Bruce Springsteen’s All-Round Dreadnought of Choice

Diversity has always been a part of Takamine’s style. With the Takamine Legacy EF341SC, the company has created an instrument for all acoustic needs, cozy or on the stage.

The EF341SC has been a part of Bruce Springsteen’s arsenal for decades now for good reasons – its versatility and all-round capability.

The Legacy EF341SC is probably the best acoustic guitar for strumming on this list. But this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t sound absolutely brilliant for flatpicking.

Thanks to the tonally accurate CT4B II preamp, every playing intensity, from gentle fingerpicking to aggressive strumming, is sonically portrayed in the most brilliant way. The CTB4B II preamp has a 3-band EQ, as well as an accurate tuner.

Thanks to a very comfy cutaway, the player can effortlessly access those upper frets. This cutaway also gives it a modern, fresh look.

The top wood is solid cedar, while you can find maple on its back and sides. The neck is made out of resonant mahogany, and the fretboard is rosewood.

Takamine Legacy EF341SC Key Features

• CT4B II preamp with a 3-band EQ and a tuner
• Solid cedar top, maple on back and sides, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard
• Fantastic tonal properties for fingerpicking, flatpicking, and strumming
• Cutaway for higher string access
• Sleek black appearance

Stage-Worthy but Cozy

Takamine guitars aren’t expensive, so you can rest assured that you get a fantastic instrument at this price range. The guitar itself sounds perfectly resonant – you get a powerful low end, very clear highs, as well as complex mids.

But it’s the CT4B II preamp that truly blew our minds, but then again Takamine has always been known for excellent acoustic electronics.

If you’re looking for a guitar that sounds equally good in room conditions and on the stage and plugged in, the Legacy EF341SC might just be your last stop for many years to come.

The Wood is Close

The choice of wood here is decent. That’s it. If the manufacturer went with, say, an all-mahogany build, we are certain that this guitar would’ve deserved and gotten a much heftier price tag.

But, more importantly, it would bring better tonal and feel properties to the table. Still, the guitar sounds and feels better than many $2,000+ guitars.

Takamine Legacy EF341SC Review in Review

Check Takamine Legacy EF341SC Availability >>

5. Taylor 214ce Deluxe

. (4.2)

Best Features Sitka spruce top is excellent for strumming Ebony fingerboard and Sapele neck for fast playing ES2-guaranteed natural amplified sound Grand Auditorium shape

Specs Popular with recording engineers Layered rosewood back and sides Brilliant for fingerpicking and strumming Fantastic treble zing

Sounds Bigger Than It Is

This is an acoustic-electric guitar with a Grand Auditorium body that brings dreadnought-level depth and width but features a tapered waist and a contoured body.

The world’s leading acoustic guitar company is back with a beautifully contoured, modern-looking Grand Auditorium guitar.

A blind test of this guitar would amaze you – it sounds like a dreadnought model, but it’s got a tapered waist, making it appear much smaller.

The Recording Engineer’s Favorite

When you hear that a guitar is a recording engineer’s favorite model, that means much more than you probably think.

This says a lot about its sound quality. The Taylor 214ce Deluxe has particular treble zing that all the sound engineers (and most guitar players) simply adore because it helps clarify note definition. When recording music, you’ll want instruments to sound as clear as day.

Although the 214ce Deluxe can follow through with every playing style, fingerpicking and medium strumming is where its heart is at. This guitar isn’t for heavy strummers, but a thinner pick makes strumming sit perfectly in a mix.

The wonderfully balanced and clear tone here is owed to the solid Sitka spruce top, in combination with rosewood on the sides and on the back.

This model features Taylor’s proprietary ES2 system, which does a great job of accurately reproducing the instrument’s natural tone.

Taylor 214ce Deluxe Key Features

• Balanced and clear tone, ideal for recording
• The ES2 system accurately reproduces the guitar’s natural tone on stage
• Treble zing that sharpens the note definition
• Tapered waist and contoured body make the 214ce look smaller
• Sitka spruce top with rosewood on the back and on the sides

Great Woods for Balanced Tone

Taylor 214ce Deluxe performs remarkably well when it comes to recording. Clear tones and great tonal balance are to be expected here.

However, thanks to the ES2 system, the 214ce is favored by many live performers. The tonewoods of choice work great – they accentuate the treble zing, while balancing the tone out.

A Gentle Beast

This guitar is not for heavy strummers. The balance that the treble zing provides can easily go overboard if impacted by high velocity strumming. Still, using a thinner pick can help here.

Taylor 214ce Review in Review

Read the latest Taylor 214ce Reviews >>

6. Martin 000-15M

(4.7)

Best Features All-mahogany build for powerful and warm tone qualities For strummers and fingerstyle players Dark wood complements the warm tone Reasonable price

Specs Complete satin finish Classic build Extremely cheap Unparalleled craftsmanship

This One’s a Steal

This is a very reasonably priced Martin instrument of quality tonewoods and brilliant craftsmanship.

Martin guitars have sort of a typical look to them. This is why Martin guitars are so easy to recognize. The 000-15M model has the recognizable Martin first-class craftsmanship.

This model’s build is just amazing, with the best tonewoods out there and fantastic craftsmanship. At this level of quality, getting a guitar for such a low price is a real steal.

Unparalleled Resonance

First of all, we’re talking about an all-mahogany build here. This means that the top, the back, the side, and the neck are made out of solid genuine mahogany. This brings unparalleled resonance to the table.

The Martin 000-15M may not be a dreadnought guitar but, thanks to the mahogany build and the rosewood fretboard, you can expect warm, balanced tones. Whether you’re a fingerstyle enthusiast or prefer strumming, the 000-15M won’t disappoint you.

Martin 000-15M Key Features

• All-mahogany build
• First-class Martin craftsmanship
• Classic, sleek appearance
• Warm and balanced tones
• Satin finish

Warm Satin Sleekness

The price tag here is definitely lower than the value of this guitar. The tonewoods used are simply amazing and brilliantly crafted – that, accompanied with the satin finish evokes a classic, sleek vibe.

In terms of craftsmanship, it’s unparalleled here, like on most Martin models. The guitar itself is very playable and comfortable, and the tones it provides are warm and well-balanced.

No Electronics

Unfortunately, there are no electronics on this guitar. Some people will like this and others will be deterred by it. But, in reality, this isn’t the world’s best acoustic guitar.

$1,000 to $2,000 is the price range we’re talking about on this list, and being closer to the former number is always desirable, which is exactly what the 000-15M offers. At this price range, you can’t expect a cool electronics system.

Martin 000-15M Review in Review

Check Martin 000-15M Availability >>

7. Guild M-20

(3.7)

Best Features Warm, balanced mahogany tone Free wood vibration thanks to the satin finish The comfort of the concert body style Gorgeous vintage looks

Specs Concert-style (very compact) Its satin finish enhances its tonal properties You feel its magic instantly Extremely clear tone

A Reintroduction of an Old Star

This is a compact concert body-style guitar from Guild. It’s also one of first guitars from the brand.

Guild is a guitar manufacturer based in the US that has been making guitars for well over six decades. Back in 1967, Guild produced their very first acoustic guitar.

The M-20 is the modern version of the 1967 model. By reintroducing this compact concert body guitar made out of solid mahogany, Guild has rounded up many new fans. We are one of them.

A Comfy, Tone-Rich Model

Usually, all-mahogany acoustic guitars are larger models, like dreadnoughts. The Guild M-20 is a concert-style guitar, meaning that it’s compact. Still, it features an all-mahogany build.

It’s top, back, sides, and neck are solid mahogany, which helps produce a warm, clear tone that doesn’t get muddy or shrill. Thanks to the rosewood fretboard and bridge, the M-20’s harmonic overtones are even further enhanced.

The biggest problem with large guitars is body comfort. Concert guitars, on the other hand, are built with lack of obstruction in mind.

The M-20 tone is midrange-focused, which further enhances the intensity and clarity of each note on the fretboard.

Guild M-20 Key Features

• Vintage appearance, to account for the original model’s look
• Warm, balanced, all-mahogany tone
• Clear sonic qualities
• Satin finish looks great and helps the wood vibrate
• Balanced sound of a concert body style

Extremely Well-Balanced Concert Body Guitar

Everyone can fall in love with all-mahogany builds. This is a tried and true way to evoke warm, balanced, and beautiful tones.

The all-mahogany construction works in tune with the concert build to bring out midrange-focused tones.

This means that clarity and intensity are to be expected here. The rosewood fretboard was a perfect choice – anything else would’ve disrupted the perfect tonal balance.

Not a Lot of Features

This is a guitar, plain and simple. It isn’t especially large and it doesn’t have any electronics. Although this model’s price tag isn’t mind-boggling,

it isn’t the best acoustic under $2,000. But this is the kind of a guitar that you try, and feel its magic instantly.

Though it lacks electronics, an LR Baggs Element pickup system would be a perfect upgrade for this instrument.

Guild M-20 Review in Review

What Do Guild M-20 Owners Think? >>

Buyer’s Guide

Guitars are complex instruments. There is a wide variety of things to consider when shopping for the best acoustic guitar for under $2,000. Allow us to help you out here.

What Acoustic Guitar Has the Lowest Action?

Before we get to our preferred choice, a little explanation: the lower the action, the closer the strings are to the frets.

As a result, the lower the action, the less effort you need to put into fretting a note/chord while playing. This doesn’t make a guitar better, but some people certainly prefer their acoustic guitars that way.

To an extent, action can be lowered on any guitar. On electric guitars, this is done in one of two ways: by adjusting the truss rod from the headstock end of the guitar and by lowering the strings from the bridge part of the instrument.

On acoustic guitars, you can’t lower the action from the bridge side of things, as it is set in place. You can use certain tools to adjust an acoustic guitar’s bridge, but these changes are permanent. Have an expert set this up for you.

But getting a guitar with a low action in the first place is the best idea here. Taylor guitars are famous for their low action and playability. From our list, Taylor 214ce Deluxe has the lowest action.

How Do I Know if My Guitar Action is Too High?

Action that’s too high can be a matter of taste. Some people prefer comfort when playing, while others like guitars that “fight back.” Too low action will result in dead and dull fretted notes.

This requires raising the action by turning the truss rod end on the headstock counter-clockwise.

A high action will always result in clear, resonating fretted notes. However, the higher the action, the more difficult it is to fret a note. The best way to go would be to adjust the truss rod and set the action to your preference.

If you think your guitar needs some adjustment, we have an extensive guitar setup guide that should help.

How do you know that the action is too high? Well, it’s too high the moment it gets uncomfortable for playing.

Don’t worry, you aren’t imagining things, the action can change as a result of factors such as temperature changes and moisture. These affect the truss rod and, as mentioned, can affect a guitar’s action.

What is the Best Acoustic Guitar for Strumming?

When it comes to strumming, you’ll want to look for a guitar that has well-balanced tonal properties and tamed high frequencies.

Guitars with tonewoods that boast high frequencies will sound too shrill when strummed with high velocity. When it comes to tonewoods, Sitka spruce is a good choice for aggressive strummers.

A combination of a large body and rich tonewoods will produce great sounds for strumming.

Another important factor is the guitar’s size. Dreadnought guitars work great in this department, as they have a higher volume ceiling. This means that you get more oomph when you strum harder, but without distortion at the top.

From our list, Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio is the best strummer’s choice, as it’s a dreadnought guitar with Sitka spruce.

What’s the Best Acoustic Guitar for the Money?

Although the guitars on our list have different price tags, they are in the similar price range. Regardless of how much you like a guitar’s features, it’s advisable that you try it before you buy it.

See which of your local guitar stores have the models from the list and get one that suits you the best.

Are Taylor Guitars Better Than Martin?

Taylor and Martin guitars are often put side-by-side. There are various debates as to which one of these two guitar manufacturers makes better products. Taylor and Martin guitars are very different. You’ll rarely stumble upon a player who is a devoted fan of both.

Martin is a very old company, with more than 180 years of history. Their most famous D-series models are boomy and loud, capable of cutting through an entire band.

They tend to have a deep, warm sound, rich in mid-range. They have a high noise ceiling, which is why many hard-pickers go with Martins.

For a full overview of their differences, check out our popular article: Martin versus Taylor

On the other hand, we have Taylor, a brilliant brand, launched more than 40 years ago. As a relatively young company, Taylor has brought many improvements to the world of acoustic guitars.

They’ve bridged the gap between dreadnoughts and more compact guitars with their Grand Auditorium design. Taylors are bright and rich in sound and offer more clarity, but less body, compared to Martin.

So, Taylor guitars aren’t better than Martin, and it’s not the other way around, either. In the end, it all boils down to the player’s preference.

Closing Thoughts

Although we are certain that each guitar on our list will find an ideal owner, we have to give the best acoustic guitar under 2000 dollars award to Gibson Acoustic J-45 Studio. It has by far the best electronics, is fantastic for strumming, fingerpicking, and flatpicking, and is one of the most comfortable acoustic guitars on the market.

However, keep in mind that taste plays a vital role in picking a guitar, electric or acoustic, so don’t take our word for it, but go ahead and try these acoustic models out.

EDITOR”S PICK!

Gibson J-45 Studio

Check Today’s Gibson j-45 Studio Price! >>

The post The Best Acoustic Guitar Under $2000 (Player’s Guide) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

What’s the Best Telecaster Guitar Kit?

Apart from buying a Telecaster guitar, many passionate guitarists decide to take a DIY approach and build one.

With numerous guitar kit manufacturers to choose from, not all of them offer the same level of quality and durability of components.

Buying a kit from a substandard manufacturer will end up with inferior parts making what should be a very gratifying project, a miserable experience.

For this reason, sourcing a good quality Telecaster guitar kit is imperative, and we’re about to help you do so.

In this article, we’ll list the five best DIY Telecaster guitar kits, recommend the best brand, and point out several details to consider when buying your guitar kit.

We certainly hope you find this article helpful, informative and unbiased. Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Telecaster Guitar Kits Compared

Product	Image	Rating	Key Feature
*TOP PICK* #1 SOLO TCK-1 DIY Electric Guitar Kit		(4.7)	Excellent quality considering the low price
#2 SOLO TCK-100 DIY Semi Hollow Electric Guitar Kit		(4.7)	Outstanding pre-made wood cutting, drilling, and shaping
#3 SOLO TCK-1SM DIY Guitar Kit With Spalted Maple Top		(4.5)	Offers superior materials such as spalted maple and top binding
#4 The FretWire TL Style DIY Electric Guitar Kit		(4.5)	Custom fitted neck joint for maximum tone
#5 StewMac T-Style Electric Guitar Kit		(4.5)	Mahogany body and neck are higher quality for its price range

Top 5 Telecaster Guitar Kits in Review

1. Solo TCK-1 DIY Electric Guitar Kit

SOLO TCK-1 DIY Electric Guitar Kit

This model produced by SOLO Guitars, is the most affordable guitar kit in our roundup. Still, the manufacturer managed to put together many high-quality components in this item.

Solo TCK-1 Kit Overview

This SOLO Telecaster electric guitar kit features a basswood body with a poly sealant. The neck is made of maple, whereas the fingerboard’s material is rosewood. The construction is a bolt-on, and there are 22 frets.

Solo TCK-1 Kit Highlights

The kit has gorgeous black binding around its basswood body. Assembling the guitar can be done quickly due to the pre-shaped headstock.

This might not be ideal if you’re looking for a customized headstock carve, but it will save you some time while putting all the pieces together.

Solo TCK-1 Features

• Basswood body with a poly sealant
• Maple neck
• Rosewood fingerboard
• Predrilled holes
• Pre-shaped headstock

SOLO TCK-1 DIY Tele Kit Key Points:

The Good

Apart from excellent materials, this kit boasts many other benefits. First, all the tough woodworking is already complete.

The same goes for all the hardware. This model also has a pickguard assembly, strings, a neckplate assembly, and all the other components necessary to put the guitar together.

Additionally, the price is one of the most significant advantages of this kit. It’s the cheapest item here, and you’re highly unlikely to come across equally good equipment at the same price.

The Bad

The only hole that’s not predrilled is the string tree. This may not be a deal-breaker, but having an option to use this hole would have been nice.

Moreover, once assembled, the guitar is one of the heaviest models available, which might not suit some players.

What We Like

• • • Cost-efficient
    • Solid materials
    • Complete woodworking
    • Contains all the pieces necessary for the assembly

What We Don’t Like

• • • Lack of a string tree hole
    • Quite heavy

Check SOLO TCK-1 DIY Guitar Kit Availability >>

2. Solo TCK-100 DIY Semi-hollow Electric Guitar Kit with Maple Top

SOLO TCK-100 DIY Semi Hollow Electric Guitar Kit

This is another kit found at SoloMusicGear.com. The item is slightly pricier, and some materials are different from the previous entry.

Solo TCK-100 Kit Overview

Just like the TCK-1 model, this TCK-100 Kit contains 22 frets and a bolt-on construction. The body is also made out of basswood, but this item has a maple top. The fingerboard is maple as well.

Solo TCK-100 Kit Highlights

The guitar has stylish white binding enclosing the body. The manufacturer has already handled the challenging wood cutting, drilling, shaping, leveling, and dressing.

The kit includes all the items you need for the assembly, such as mounting screws, an Allen key, strap buttons, strings, etc.

Solo TCK-100 Thinline Kit Features

• Bolt-on construction
• Basswood body
• Maple top and fingerboard
• Straightforward wiring
• Pre-made fret leveling and dressing

SOLO TCK-100 Tele Kit Key Points:

The Good

This guitar kit is convenient for several reasons. For example, the assembly is rather straightforward. The wiring is simple, and the nut slot depth setup is quick and easy.

After you’ve put all the components together, you’ll find that the guitar is relatively light and easy to play. Lastly, the maple parts give your instrument an appealing appearance.

The Bad

As for the downsides, the neck pocket fit isn’t perfect. Although it sits within acceptable parameters, it could be more snug. Another problem is that there are no instructions on removing the sealer from the body and neck.

What We Like

• • • Simple installation
    • Easy wiring and the nut slot depth setup
    • Lightweight
    • Elegant appearance

What We Don’t Like

• • • The neck pocket fit isn’t ideal
    • No advice on how to get rid of the sealer from the neck and body

Check SOLO TCK-100 DIY Semi Hollow Kit Availability >>

3. Solo TCK-1SM DIY Electric Guitar Kit With Spalted Maple Top

Solo Guitars TCK-1SM DIY Guitar Kit

The SOLO TCK-1SM guitar kit is another stunning entry from SOLO. It’s one of the more expensive items on this list, but it justifies the cost due to various properties.

SOLO TCK-1SM DIY Kit Overview

This DIY Telecaster guitar kit features a great look. The body is made of basswood with a stunning spalted maple top finished with a beautiful dark binding for contrast.

The neck and fretboard are constructed of high-quality maple and rosewood respectively. The kit also sports chrome hardware with 22 medium standard frets.

TCK-1SM DIY Kit Highlights

The kit is easy to assemble and is an outstanding base for a fun DIY project. Again, the materials are excellent, and the two single coil pickups are punchy with twang to spare.

Moreover, every hole is predrilled, meaning that the beginners will just need to screw in the parts that come with the kit.

You may need to do some finish coating and sanding since the the back of the neck is unfinished. However, this can give you a lot of freedom – choose any finish you want.

On top of that, there’s no detailed woodworking involved with this Telecaster-style DIY kit.

TCK-1SM Tele-Style Kit Features

• Bound basswood body with spalted maple top
• Rosewood fretboard with maple neck
• Vintage-voiced single coil pickups
• Predrilled holes
• Chrome hardware
• Step-by-step instructions

SOLO Guitars TCK-1SM Tele Kit Key Points:

The Good

Despite being modestly priced, many other kits on the market don’t come close to this model. Namely, you usually don’t see complete user-friendly kits this visually appealing in this price range.

The same goes for the single coil pickups, which help provide traditional sounds. Finally, even novice guitar players will have an easy time putting the kit together.

The Bad

The unfinished maple of the neck does give some freedom to experiment with the finish, but this means you’ll have to put in some extra work with the guitar build.

What We Like

• • • Quality materials
    • Cost-effective pricing
    • Simple assembly

What We Don’t Like

• • • Some finishing may be required

Solo TCK-1SM DIY Electric Kit With Spalted Maple Top Availability >>

Looking for Inspiration?

Check out Fender’s Telecaster Collection showcasing the classic design in any combination of color and configuration you can imagine!

4. The FretWire TL Style DIY Electric Guitar Kit

DIY Electric Guitar Kit – TL Build Your Own Guitar

The next item on our list is the DIY TL Guitar Kit manufactured by The FretWire.

The FretWire TL Overview

This model features excellent materials. The body is made of basswood, while the choice for the fretboard and neck is maple. There’s also the standard fret style with 21 frets and chrome hardware.

TL Style Kit Highlights

Each component in this kit is designed to fit the body perfectly. It includes a predrilled body, a fretted neck, and all hardware and electronics required for installation. This FretWire DIY Tele guitar kit also comes with a pre-installed truss rod and a bolt-on neck joint.

TheFretWire DIY TL Kit Features

• Basswood body
• Maple fretboard and neck
• Chrome hardware
• Bolt-on neck joint
• Pre-installed truss rod

FretWire Tele Kit Key points:

The Good

Out of the box, the kit looks great due to the ash body. The wood is lightweight, and once you build your DIY Telecaster guitar, you’ll find that the material gives it a pleasant tune. Moreover, the ash body will provide you with good sustain.

Additionally, this model features the S-S pickup configuration. Therefore, it’s ideal if you’re looking for articulate tones on your electric guitar.

Lastly, the price isn’t steep at all, considering the high-quality components this kit provides.

The Bad

To get the desired final product, you might need to do some patching and sanding on your guitar. Plus, you’ll need to add some holes to mount the bridge and pickguard.

The FretWire TL Style Electric Guitar Kit in Review

What We Like

• • • Graceful look
    • Lightweight design
    • Pleasant sound and good sustain
    • Articulate tones
    • Reasonable price

What We Don’t Like

• • • You’ll need additional holes for the bridge and pickguard
    • Some patching and sanding may be necessary to get the desired finish

Check The FretWire TL Style DIY Kit Availability >>

5. StewMac T-Style Electric Guitar Kit

StewMac T-Style Electric Guitar Kit

The final contender is a T-style electric guitar kit produced by StewMac. It’s one of the most prominent brands on the market, and this item delivers in many areas.

StewMac T-Style Kit Overview

This guitar’s body is made of mahogany, and the same material is used for the neck. There’s also the pre-fretted Indian Laurel fingerboard. Moreover, the neck has a blank peghead and a pre-installed two-way truss rod.

StewMac T-Style Kit Highlights

The body and neck are made of higher-quality mahogany than other Telecaster guitar kits that go for the same price. The parts fit each other perfectly, and the fretwork itself is excellent.

Also, the tuners are solid, and you don’t need to replace them. The same goes for the pickguard, which is great-looking and thick.

StewMac T-Style Kit Features

• Mahogany body and neck
• Pre-installed two-way truss rod
• Pre-installed fingerboard inlays
• Classic Tele-style bridge and chrome hardware
• Thick pickguard
• Pre-slotted nut

StewMac T-Style Guitar Kit Key Points:

The Good

This StewMac Tele kit features a marvelous price-to-quality ratio. You receive all the electronics and the hardware necessary for the installation, and most of the materials are of good quality.

The body comes in three pieces, but all of them blend in very well. The holes are accurately drilled, and all the Tele guitar kit instructions are clear and easy to follow.

The Bad

While most of the construction is satisfactory, some parts aren’t up to par. More specifically, the pickups included in the kit are low-quality ceramic pieces. If you want to get a better tone out of this instrument, you’re going to need to swap them out.

Another potentially problematic issue can be fret sprouts. Though fairly common with inexpensive, quick dried necks, the sharp fret ends that protrude beyond the sides of the fretboard need to be removed to make the neck comfortable.

What We Like

• • • Relatively affordable
    • Most of the kit includes high-quality materials
    • The three body pieces are a snug fit.
    • Accurately drilled holes
    • Clear and simple instructions

What We Don’t Like

• • • Low-quality pickups
    • Relatively expensive

Check StewMac T-Style Guitar Kit Availability >>

Telecaster Guitar Kit FAQs

When purchasing your Telecaster build kit, you want to look for the most renowned and reliable brand available.

This way, you’ll make sure all the pieces of your kit fit together perfectly and that the guitar sounds good once assembled.

In this section, we’ll recommend the finest Telecaster guitar kit on the market and present crucial details you should bear in mind when buying one.

Are DIY Guitar Kits Any Good?

Not all guitar kits are equally good, and this depends on the manufacturer. For example, reputable brands, such as Solo Guitars, are almost guaranteed to sell you a high-quality item.

Therefore, you should buy your kit from a trusted company to significantly lower the risk of purchasing a defective instrument.

The main factor that determines whether your kit is good is probably durability. You should buy a guitar that’s verifiably strong, stable, and sturdy.

It may force you to spend a bit more, but at least you’ll know you’re getting your money’s worth. If the wood is high-quality and sturdy, you’re much more likely to have a long-lasting instrument.

Another detail you should consider is the customizability. Some manufacturers let you customize almost every component in your kit.

Simply put, if you want to build a unique guitar, try to buy a kit that gives you the most freedom to experiment.

Are FretWire Guitar Kits Any Good

Update:

Unfortunately, products from The FretWire have become nearly non-existent. Whether this is fallout from recent supply chain issues over the last few years or other business related decisions, we don’t know. Only time will tell.

We’ve covered a couple of FretWire Tele kits here, and we wouldn’t have if we thought they were junk.

The brand is known for creating quality products that both beginners and advanced guitar players can enjoy.

The main parts of the guitar (the body and neck) are pre-drilled and well fitting, plus their kits include all the items you need to put together a fully functional electric guitar.

Whether a mahogany or ash body, and with fast playing necks, rest easy knowing that FretWire offers guitars that sound and perform great.

They also offer a convenient option to upgrade the tuners and pickups to professional brands right off the order page.

Are Solo Guitar Kits Any Good?

Solo Guitar kits can be a great grab. Even though it’s not the most renowned brand in the guitar kit industry, the manufacturer still has some excellent items.

As we mentioned in the reviews above, the company makes some of the most affordable guitar kits out there. Best of all, this doesn’t come with a considerable drop in quality.

Solo features several different body materials, such as basswood. You can also choose from solid options, such as maple and mahogany, for the neck and top. For the fingerboard, pick rosewood or maple.

Overall, despite not belonging to top-class guitar kit manufacturers, Solo still offers some decent, cost-effective items.

Is It Hard to Make Your Own Guitar?

Despite how clear and straightforward some instruction manuals are, making your own guitar can be quite challenging. Many details can lead to frustration while putting your instrument together.

For instance, if you’re used to buying fully-assembled items from stores, you know how straightforward it is – plug it in and play it.

With guitar kits, the learning curve associated with DIY assembly is steep because it consists of various components and processes.

Furthermore, building a guitar can be quite time-consuming. Even though the kit features all the necessary components, you’ll need to assemble them in the correct position and sequence.

Another obstacle could be looking for other parts if you purchased a basic kit only.

On top of that, there are several tasks you may need to perform on your guitar. These include cutting, sanding, drilling, painting, gluing, staining, etc. All these jobs require a lot of time and patience, depending on your skill level.

Another potential hindrance is the lack of necessary tools for the job. If you don’t have all the required items, the assembly will take even longer.

A few essential tools include:

• Ruler

You’ll need a ruler to keep the distance between components accurate. A good practice is to get a ruler with measurements in both millimeters and inches. You don’t have to buy a cutting-edge item – all you need is an accurate ruler.

• String Cutter

Trimming your guitar strings to an appropriate length requires a sharp string cutter. Since the strings for Telecasters are made out of metal, a pair of scissors won’t do the trick.

• Truss Rod Wrench

If your guitar kit doesn’t have a truss rod wrench, you’ll need to buy one. The item is necessary to adjust the relief of your guitar’s neck, and the proper size depends on the size of the truss rod bolt.

• Screwdriver

Screwdrivers will allow you to loosen or tighten the bolts. They’re also used to adjust the intonation. Just make sure that your screwdriver matches the size of the screws and bolts from the kit.

• String Winder

Twisting the tuning pegs using just your hands is tedious. That’s why you should use a string winder. It’ll expedite and facilitate the whole process.

• Hex Keys or Allen Wrench

Either of these tools will help you adjust nut pressure, neck, saddles, pads, and other parts.

• Work Mat

A work mat isn’t essential but will help shield the guitar from slips and scratches during the assembly.

Is It Cheaper to Build Your Own Guitar?

If you want to get a build-your-own Telecaster guitar kit and assemble the instrument by yourself, it can be both cheaper and costlier than buying a finished product. It ultimately depends on what you consider to be the basic price point for a finished guitar.

For example, some guitar kits require additional materials and components, such as pickups, that significantly raise the project’s cost. Additionally, a fully parted out guitar using premium supplies will run you many hundreds of dollars.

Another factor that influences the total cost is whether or not you have all the tools. If you lack some of them, the price goes up even further and can exceed the cost of buying a pre-assembled guitar.

What Are the Best DIY Guitar Kits?

We’ve already listed the top five build-your-own Telecaster kit options. To sum up, FretWire appears twice in this roundup with the Ash TL and TL Thinline Style guitar kits.

Solo Music Gear also has two noteworthy, affordable models – the Solo TCK-1 and the TCK-100 Semi-hollow guitar kits. Finally, StewMac have deserved their spot on the list with the top-grade StewMac T-Style electric guitar kit.

It’s worth noting though, if price is your primary driver, the TC-10 from Saga is well worth a look for those on a budget.

Who Wins the Best Tele Kit Shootout?

In our opinion, the best overall brand is the Solo Guitars (solomusicgear.com) with their two top options – the TCK-1 DIY and TCK-100 Thinline Style guitar kits. Both kits have a lot to offer, but the beginner-friendly TCK-1 is the best Telecaster DIY guitar kit at the moment.

Each item features high-quality tonewoods (basswood and rosewood) and has appealing maple components. Also, the assembly process is relatively straightforward in both cases.

Overall, the Solo TCK-1 guitar kit is the winner because of its traditional style and slightly lower price. It’s sibling, the TCK-100 Thinline Style, offers the same durability and ease of assembly. It’s marginally pricier but offers the same familiar style and functionality players prefer.

All in all, we pick the TCK-1 from Solo Guitars as the superior Telecaster guitar kit.

EDITOR”S PICK!

SOLO TCK-1 DIY Electric Guitar Kit! >>

The post Best Telecaster Guitar Kit (Complete Guide with Reviews) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

The Best Small Tube Amps!

Great Small Practice Tube Amps at a Glance:

#1 Overall Best Value! BUGERA V5 5-Watt Class Amplifier Combo	(4.6)	Relative Price $$$
#2 Best Budget Pick! Monoprice 5-Watt 1×8 Guitar Combo Tube Amplifier	(4.4)	Relative Price $$
#3 Best Classic Head BUGERA T5 Head	(4.2)	Relative Price $$$
#4 Best Modern Tones Blackstar HT1R MKII Guitar Combo Amplifier with Reverb	(4.1)	Relative Price $$$
#5 Best Lunchbox Head Orange Micro Terror	(4.5)	Relative Price $$
#6 Best EL84 Combo Vox AC4C1	(4.5)	Relative Price $$$$
#7 Best Full Featured Combo Fender Super Champ	(4.1)	Relative Price $$$$

There are lots of amplifiers available, and each can be used for different reasons. For those who intend to find a low wattage guitar tube amp that they can use for practice, a low watt guitar amplifier is a great choice. These produce good tones in low volumes.

Top 7 Low Watt Amps Reviewed

1. Best Low Watt Tube Amp: Bugera V5 Infinium Combo

BUGERA V5 5-Watt Infinium Combo

The Bugera V5 5-Watt Infinium comes from Behringer’s line of more affordable, high-quality amplifiers. The knobs or controllers are all found on the front side of the amp and it features a very nice color that complements the 8” speaker.

The controls are for gain, tone, volume, and reverb. It has an attenuator too, but the 5 watts itself is enough to produce a sound loud enough, but which won’t disturb your neighbors.

The headphone jack found at the back of the amp enables you to practice all you want, even in the middle of the night. You won’t be disturbing people who live with you or near your house – that’s a good thing.

It has a 12AX7 preamp tube and EL84 power tube with an 8” speaker to produce a clean and warm tone. It is small and portable, which makes it easy to transport or store.

This Bugera unit the best low-watt tube amp for those who intend to use a headset with it or those who are looking for an amp with an attenuator.

Bugera V5 Key Features

• 5-watt tube amplifier
• Preamp design is from the 60’s and it includes a 12AX7 valve
• Has an excellent sounding custom designed “Turbosound” 8” speaker
• Has a vintage equalizer
• Has a 2-way power attenuator

What Do Bugera V5 Owners Think?

BUGERA V5 5-Watt Infinium Amplifier in Review

What are Bugera V5 Owners Saying? >>

2. Best Budget Amp: Monoprice 611705 5-Watt, 1 x 8 Guitar Combo Tube Amplifier with Celestion Speaker

Monoprice 611705 5Watt 1 x 8 Guitar Combo Tube Amp

The Monoprice 611705 5Watt Combo Tube Amp is a well-built amp that allows players to have control over volume and tone.

Although it may seem that there is not much control, these two are enough, especially for beginners. You can always alter the sound through the different controls found on your electric guitar.

This amp has a small and compact size and it produces rich, harmonic and clean tones. It is not loud enough for stage performances but it is surely large enough for practice.

It’s the best low-watt tube amp for those who are looking for an affordable and small amp that has Celestion speakers, or those who want to play the blues.

Monoprice 5-Watt Tube Amp Key Features

• It has a ECC83/12AX7 preamp as well as a 6v6GT power tube
• Made from synthetic leather exterior with cloth grill for the speaker
• Capable of handling frequencies that are within 80Hz to 10kHz
• Has controls for volume and tone
• Has a Celestion speaker

Read What Monoprice Customers are Saying >>

Monoprice 5-Watt 1×8 Combo Tube Amp in Review

What Do Monoprice Amp Owners Think? >>

3. Best Classic Amp Head: Bugera T5 5 Watt Cage Style Head

Bugers T5 Cage Style Head

Bugera’s T5 is a 5 watt amplifier head that packs plenty of punch within its small cage. Perfect for bedroom players or small live shows when paired with a quality cabinet, the T5 features a mix of modern and vintage features.

Like many other amps in this roundup, the size makes it incredibly portable for players on the go. Considered one of the best 5 watt tube amps on the market, the Bugera T5’s tones can be easily shaped using the gain, equalizer, reverb, and “phat” controls. However, remember any amp head will require the purchase of a cabinet alongside itself.

With all these tones alongside a master volume, it’s easy to go from clean to modern, high gain sounds and all the vintage crunch in between.

Despite the built in diversity, Bugera is best known for its modern, high gain sounds. This makes the T5 amp head a great option for a more modern guitarist looking for a low wattage tube amp.

The INFINIUM Tube Life Multiplier system allows the tubes to not only last longer but compensate for the sound of aging tubes and light up an LED above each tube that needs to be replaced when the time comes.

Bugera T5 Low Watt Head Key Features:

• 1x 12AX7 tube and 1x EL84 tube
• Headphone accessibility
• Built in reverb and 2 band EQ
• 5-Watt amp with 3 attenuation options
• “Phat” switch acts as signal boost
• INFINIUM Tube Life Multiplier System

Read the Latest Bugers T5 Reviews! >>

Bugera T5 Amp Head in Review

Are Bugera T5 Head Users Happy? >>

4. Best Amp for Modern Tones: Blackstar HT1R Series Guitar Combo Amplifier with Reverb

Blackstar HT1R MKII Guitar Combo

The Blackstar HT1R Series Guitar Combo is capable of producing a great tone at low volume levels. It is meant as a practicing amp that you can also use for recording.

It comes in a very small size that you can easily take with you when you need to practice someplace else. It allows players to take control over the gain, volume, ISF and reverb.

An overdrive button is also present for a more warm and dirty sound. This Blackstar amp versatile, and can go from a clean sound to dirtier, which is well suited for classic rock music.

This is the best low-watt tube amp for those who are looking for an amp that is capable of producing great quality tone at a low volume.

It’s versatile and can go from a low volume to a louder one when you choose to connect it with an external speaker. It is small, compact and has a simple logo design on the front.

Blackstar HT1R Key Features

• 1-watt amp
• Tube components include a ECC83 (12Ax7) and a ECC82 (12AU7) power tube
• Provides control over volume, gain, and tone
• It has an overdrive switch
• It also has a headphone output and an 8-ohm speaker output
• There is a MP3 line input
• Has a reverb control

Check Blackstar HT1R Availability >>

Blackstar HT1R Series Guitar Combo Amp in Review

Check Today’s Blackstar HT1R MKII Price! >>

5. Best Lunchbox Amp Head: Orange Micro Terror 20W Amp Head

Orange Micro Terror Head

The Orange Micro Terror is one of the most popular “lunchbox” best low watt tube amp heads of all time. Packing a powerful 20 watts of sound into its small and light body, the micro terror has far more live gig applications than most amps on this list.

With only three controllable parameters, including volume, tone, and gain, the Micro Terror is pretty easy to use but limited in tone shaping.

Despite these limitations, the Orange Micro Terror, considered one of the best mini valve amps, does a great job reproducing the beloved Orange distortion tone popular in modern hard rock and heavy metal.

Remember that you’ll have to own or purchase a cabinet to pair with this amp head. Orange does sell some packages that pair the Micro Terror 20W with a great cabinet, giving you everything you need.

The Micro Terror does have headphone and aux input jacks on the front panel, enabling you to play against a backing track or into headphones if volume is an issue.

Considering this is 20 watts and a bit louder than many other amps here, you’re going to need that headphone jack at some point.

For more in-depth info, check out our full Orange Micro Terror review!

Orange Micro Terror Key Features:

• 1x 12AX7 tube preamp and solid state power amp
• Headphone and auxiliary cord accessibility
• Gain and Tone controls
• 20 watt amplifier head

Check Orange Micro Terror Availability >>

Orange Micro Terror Amp Head in Review

What Do Orange Micro Terror Owners Think? >>

Find Great Tube Amp Deals at Reverb.com >>

6. Best EL84 Combo: Vox AC4C1-12 1×12 Combo Amp

Vox AC4C1 Combo

Vox’s AC line of amplifiers has been the driving force behind some of the most legendary guitar tones of all time. The AC4C1 is no different, just in a smaller, more portable package.

The Vox AC4C1 is an all tube, mini combo amplifier that features Vox’s popular “top boost” channel. The extra chime and top end clarity is what has made the AC series is one of the best small tube amp combos for players such as Brian May and Jimmy Page.

Bass and treble controls give you tone shaping possibilities alongside a gain and master volume knob, letting you go from sparkle to sizzle with ease. While it doesn’t possess the full EQ found on other amps, it faithfully reproduces the classic tones may players are searching for.

Unlike it’s big brother AC15C1 and AC30C1 models, the AC4C1 doesn’t contain the classic Vox reverb and tremolo controls.

The Vox AC4C1 provides 4 watts of power and output, making it an ideal amp for bedroom or apartment players who don’t want to have to sacrifice tone for volume’s sake.

Vox AC4C1 Combo Key Features:

• Classic Vox Top Boost channel
• 2x 12AX7 preamp tubes and 1x EL84 power tube
• 4 watts of output
• 2 band EQ
• All tube combo amp

What Do Vox AC4C1 Combo Owners Think? >>

Vox AC4C1 Amp in Review

Read the Latest Vox AC4C1 Amp Reviews! >>

7. Best Full Featured Combo: Fender Super Champ X2 15-Watt Combo Amp

Fender Super Champ Combo

Fender’s Super Champ combo amp is a nice mix of modern modelling amps with classic tube tone. Coming from a trusted brand like Fender, the Super Champ captures that classic “American” tube amp feel at a far cheaper price than many of Fender’s other offerings.

The Super Champ’s 15 watt combo output also provides plenty of versatility, it’s quiet enough to be played inside a bedroom but also loud enough to hit small stages or jam sessions.

Alongside the tube pre- and power amps is a voicing knob letting you choose from over 16 popular amplifier styles. Even better, the Super Champ comes with 15 built in effects, including a tap tempo control for delay sounds.

Other controls included to shape the Super Champ’s tone include treble and bass, as well as two distinct channels. Channel one serves as more of that classic Fender clean sound, while channel two features a gain, voice, and volume control.

Fender Super Champ Combo Key Features:

• 15 built in effects with dedicated effects control knob
• 16 built in amplifier voicings
• Two channels for clean and dirty sounds
• 15 watt combo amplifier
• 2x 6V6 tubes and 1x 12AX7 tube

Check Fender Super Champ Availability! >>

Fender Super Champ Combo in Review

What are Fender Super Champ Owners Saying? >>

What to look for in a low watt tube amp

When searching for low-watt tube amps, such as the best small amps for home use or for a small stage, there are a few things that should be considered.

Small watt tube amp pricing

One of the first things that is considered when buying any amp would be the price. Low-watt tube amps are much more affordable than the high-powered models, but it is still best to set a budget.

Pricing can also vary quite a bit in low-watt tube amps due to different features offered.

Small tube amp combo style

Another thing that you should consider is your own style in music. You should also consider what style you want to play. Some tube amps are more suitable for rock styles, and some are others best for the blues.

Many brands aim to be good at multiple styles, and a few do it quite successfully.

Small tube amp effects

Adding digital effects to your guitar’s sound is something that can be done to improve it, or just to have fun with a broader sound palette while playing.

Some amps may have digital effects, but others, which are usually more affordable, may not. It’s up to you to decide whether you really want the extra effects built in, which usually come at a premium, or if you’re satisfied with the effects you may already have in external floor pedals.

To find the best small guitar amp, try before you buy

Although technology has made it extremely convenient for us to shop online, it’s still better if you first try the amp you want to buy before purchasing it.

If you have a local music store, you can try a few amps that they have, or even try the amps that your friends have so that you can be sure about your purchase.

If it’s not really possible to try the amp, then next best thing you can do is read about the experiences and reviews of other owners.

Compare Featured Small Low Watt Tube Amps:

BEST LOW WATT TUBE AMP!

Bugera V5 INFINIUM 5-Watt Class-A Tube Amplifier...

BEST LOW WATT BUDGET AMP

Monoprice 5-Watt, 1x8 Guitar Combo Tube Amplifier...

BEST LUNCHBOX STYLE AMP HEAD

Bugera T5 Infinium 5-watt Class-A Tube Head

Final Verdict: Which is the Best Low Watt Tube Amp for You?

Low-watt tube amps are great because they’re typically more affordable, easy to transport, and don’t use too much energy. Plus they have a low enough volume to let you practice inside your room without disturbing other people in the house or neighborhood.

Out of the three mentioned here, our winner would definitely be the Bugera V5 Infinium Combo. It’s versatile, sports greta modern upgrades, and can produce good tone at low volumes or at louder volumes when connected to another speaker.

It also easily covers various music styles from those that need a brilliant clean sound to more aggressive styles that need tones with more controlled distortion.

EDITOR”S PICK!

Bugera V5 Infinium Combo

Check Today's Bugera V5 Infinium Price! >>

The post 7 Best Low Watt Tube Amps (With Wicked Tones and Killer Price-Points) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

The best tablet for musicians should be lightweight, powerful and easy to carry. Find out who qualifies in our expert buying guide!

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Finding the Best Tablet for Musicians and Live Performance!

Compare Tablets for Musicians at a Glance:

Product	Image	Rating	Relative Price
#1 Our Top Pick! Apple iPad Pro Largest screen, all the bells and whistles		(4.8)	$$$$
#2 Best Speed for $$ Samsung Galaxy S3 Great speed for the price		(4.3)	$$$
#3 Best Budget Model Amazon Fire 7 Tablet Lowest priced choice for a tablet		(3.9)	$
#4 Best Expandable Storage ASUS ZenPad S3 More space through expandable storage		(3.6)	$$
#5 Best Conventional Keyboard Microsoft Surface Pro 4 More conventional style keyboard		(3.8)	$$$$