If you’re in the market for a new acoustic guitar, you’ll need to know how much is a good acoustic guitar going to cost.
Knowing how much you need to spend is the first step of knowing how to buy a good acoustic guitar.
Whether you’re looking for an entry level guitar, intermediate or performance level guitar you need to know what the price ranges are, so you can get an excellent quality guitar at any price range.
While you can find acoustic guitar starting at 50-100 dollars, how much is a good one going to cost you?
Shopping around you’ll quickly realize that you can easily spend a few hundred dollars upto a few thousand.
So, how much is a good acoustic guitar, and what should you be looking for in order to get an instrument with great sound quality for the price?
How much does a good acoustic guitar cost?
A Good acoustic guitar will cost at least 300-400 dollars. Depending on your skill level and you aspirations, you may want to consider spending a little more for a medium range guitar that will grow with you as a musician.
There’s a wide range of guitars out there to fit every need and style.
Whether you’re a rocker, classical player, or a budding guitarist, there’s a guitar to fit you from amateur to experienced guitarist.
Good beginner, entry level acoustic guitar cost
For amateur guitarists, you’ll want to weigh a few options here.
Do you buy a cheap guitar to play and learn on for a few month or a year and then move up to a medium range guitar?
Or do you get a solid entry level guitar to learn on and grow with? What brands should you be looking at?
There’s nearly unlimited options for acoustic guitarists, but when you’re starting out you should aim to spend somewhere in the 200-400 dollar price range.
Luckily for acoustic guitarists you don’t need to pay for amplifiers or cables, so you can save some cash in those areas.
Some of the brands you might want to consider are Squier by Fender, Takamine, and Yamaha, or anything comparable.
These brands offer upper entry level guitars at very attractive prices. Squier regularly offers bundle deals for begginers, that usually include a rock solid guitar, strap and case.
These bundles are awesome, they’ll get any aspiring guitarist set up with everything they will need to play for months.
A solid Takamine or Squier will also grow with your skills, well into the intermediate range.
While it wasn’t an acoustic guitar, my first guitar was a Squier electric, by Fender.
My squier still holds up to this day and I’m regularly playing it, even when I have multiple guitars that cost me $1,000+.
I do, heavily recommend, that when looking for your first guitar, you opt for one that is from a solid brand like I mentioned above.
They’re still built to last a lifetime, and you won’t be paying more that a few hundred dollars.
Alternatively, you could save yourself probably only about a hundred dollars to go with a cheaper entry level guitar before you start getting into the Cheap acoustic category.
Be wary of cheap guitars, there’s a difference between affordable and cheap.
There are lots of toy manufacturers that make a guitar, and they’re toys, the action and playability on these toys is usually terrible.
They will not last a lifetime, and you’ll find yourself outgrowing the instrument within a few months.
The way I see it, when buying a good acoustic guitar for a beginner you’re either going to spend 200-400$, or 50-150$.
The first option will get you a guitar you can keep and play for the rest of you life.
The second option will get you something that will let you learn enough that you can buy a more expensive guitar in a few months, maybe a year.
The first option is a better budget option, clearly, the difference is about 100-200 dollars.
So you need to decide, lifetime option, or cheap option.
Price for good intermediate level acoustic guitar
Ahh the intermediate, medium range guitars. Once you’ve “graduated” out of the entry level or beginner range of instruments there’s a couple things that change.
First thing that changes is the cost, medium range guitars cost more of course and a good acoustic guitar in the medium range will run you from 400-1,000 dollars.
The second and lesser known thing, is that with intermediate level guitar, you have more options for specific styles.
Luthiers know that people buying medium range guitars tend to have a bit of playing experience.
This means they make their guitars for a wider range of styles and musicians.
If you’ve been playing for over a year, you probably known what type of music you enjoy playing.
What you consider a good acoustic guitar for you might be different than someone else, at the same skill level.
Perhaps you want a nice warm, sounding dreadnought to play around the campfire. Or, maybe you need a cutaway because you still want to noodle around passed the 12th fret.
There’s a greater variety in brands, and a greater selection within those brands, at the intermediate level.
At the medium range, what makes a good acoustic guitar is going to be more than basic performance and price, but also style and feel of play.
You’ll need to get your hands on a few different types and styles of guitars.
Do you want a neck with a painted polished finish? that’s fine, you’ll have a lot of options.
Personally, I like to have neck with a open wood grain feel, so that’s what I went for.
However, I wouldn’t have known this if I didn’t go out and test a number of guitars.
Price range for high end professional acoustic guitar
A good acoustic guitar in the high end range is usually any guitar made by a reputable brand or luthier thats $1,000+.
There are many guitars that qualify as high end, but are in the 800 dollar range, and these are still good acoustic guitars.
I’d recommend checking brands like Martin, Taylor and Guild, aside from the obvious Fender and Gibson selections.
I won’t say too much to the high end guitars, as if you’re in the market for a high end guitar, you probably already know what general type you want.
Also, it comes down to preference so much at this level that there’s not much useful information I can provide.
All I will say is go to a number of shops and test, test, test. See what you like and don’t like.
How much should a good acoustic guitar cost?
A good acoustic guitar for beginners should cost you about 2-400 dollars. Intermediate guitarist should be looking in the 4-1,000 dollar range, and high end is anything over 1,000 dollars.
Finding a good acoustic guitar isn’t difficult. The difficulty is finding one that you like, feels and plays right, and will last you a lifetime.
Getting a good acoustic guitar doesn’t have to be a chore, but it will take a little bit of time on your part.
Even if you’re looking for your first entry level guitar, you can still buy a good acoustic guitar that will last a lifetime, so you may as well put some effort into the right guitar for you.
Here’s a great guide from Taylor on finding what the right type and fit of guitar for you will be.
Further, here’s a great video on some good beginner guitars, and what’s different between them.
