Finding the best acoustic guitar under $500 that is made of real tonewood and plays great isn’t easy. Not all acoustic guitars in the $500 price range play the same or have acoustic/electric pickups. They also vary in body shape and size. You want to get something that fits your playing style and feels comfortable in your hands.
Depending on what type of sound you prefer, you will also need to consider the tonewood of the guitar. Harder guitar tops like spruce tend to sound brighter than softer, warmer woods like cedar. Both are great choices. They just have different sounds.
We’ll show you the difference between all of the top $500 acoustic guitars that won’t break your guitar budget in the guitar review. Let’s check out some guitars!
Compare the Top Acoustic Guitars Below $500 in 2021
Contents
- 1 Compare the Top Acoustic Guitars Below $500 in 2021
- 2 What We Recommend and Why
Here is a list of the top acoustic guitars under $500 that will make your guitar playing sound amazing and bring your tone to the next level.
- Yamaha L-Series LS6
- Taylor GS Mini
- Seagull S6
- Yamaha AC1M
- Epiphone EJ-200SCE
- Martin DXMAE
- Epiphone Hummingbird Pro
- Breedlove DSCO01SSMA
- Fender Sonoran SCE
- Gretsch G5022CE
- Blueridge BR-43
Yamaha L-Series LS6
Specs, features, and benefits
The Yamaha LS6 is a concert-sized guitar with a comfortable neck, and luxurious sound!
The body of the Yamaha LS6 is made of solid Engelmann spruce top and laminated rosewood back and sides. The top of the guitar has Yamaha’s advanced bracing and has gone through Yamaha’s “A.R.E.” process, which makes the wood sound balanced although it is new. The neck of the guitar is a five-ply rosewood/mahogany made, and it has ebony fingerboard with twenty frets. It is joined to the body at the fourteenth fret.
The guitar has a rosewood bridge and gold-plated die-cast tuning machines. Under the bridge, there is the Yamaha’s SRT Zero Impact pick-up, with no onboard controls. With the first glance of the guitar, you probably won’t even notice that there is a pick-up on the guitar, which is really cool if you ask me. Due to the A.R.E. processed Engelmann spruce top, and the rosewood back and sides, the Yamaha LS6 sounds rich, sweet, and powerful. And when plugged-in, the guitar remains its natural sound. Great instrument!
Pros and Highlights
- Amazing sound – This guitar sounds incredible and inspiring both unplugged and plugged-in!
Great for live playing, for recording, accompanying… - Comfortable neck – The neck profile is designed to be very comfortable and extremely playable. It is finished in a satin finish, which makes the guitar feel very smooth and nice on your hands.
- Handcrafted – All the L (Luxury) series guitars are built handcraft with huge attention to detail. They are very well crafted. In fact, that’s what makes the guitar sound so good!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons! – The guitar is definitely a bang for the buck! It looks, it sounds, and it performs flawlessly!
Bottom line
The Yamaha LS6 is truly a great guitar. The sound of the LS6 is amazing. It is handcrafted and it just screams high-quality. Definitely a bang for the buck. Great for recording, and for stage performance, it has all that a professional musician would need. Awesome instrument!
Taylor GS Mini
Specs, features, and benefits
The Taylor GS Mini, as the name suggests (Taylor Grand Symphony Mini) is a guitar with a smaller body, which makes the guitar perfect for players with smaller hands, and of course, for the traveling musicians.
The body of the guitar is made out of Solid Mahogany top and layered Sapele back and sides. The neck of the guitar also has a smaller profile; it is made out of Sapele wood and sports an ebony fingerboard with twenty frets. The bridge on the guitar is also made out of ebony. It has a Micarta “Wave” saddle, Tusq nut, and Chrome GS Mini tuning machines.
The sound of the Taylor GS Mini Mahogany is way bigger than you would usually expect with a guitar of this size. It has a rich, full, and very stable, balanced sound. The whole guitar is finished in Matte, which adds to the playability of the neck, and the looks.
Pros and Highlights
- Short scale – This guitar is perfect for guitar players with smaller hands, and it is a great travel guitar!
- Great sound – Although it is a smaller body guitar, the Taylor GS Mini sounds very rich and powerful, due to good tonewoods!
- Top-notch build-quality – This build-quality of the guitar is really worth mentioning. It is built with great attention to detail. The hardware, the body, and the neck – they work together great. And the guitar looks very nice!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No flaws found!
Bottom line
Great for smaller hands guitarists, beginners, and traveling musicians, the Taylor GS Mini Mahogany is an awesome friend to many players around the world. It is a very comfortable guitar due to its smaller size, and it sounds great! Great little guitar!
Seagull S6
Specs, features, and benefits
The Seagull S6 is a very good example of what this little brother of Godin actually produces. The Seagull S6 is a dreadnought style guitar with a body made out of Solid Cedar top, and wild cherry back and sides. The neck of the guitar is made out of Silver Leaf maple and sports a rosewood fingerboard with twenty-one frets. The body of the guitar is finished in a light semi-gloss finish, while the neck is finished in matte, which adds to the smooth feel of the neck.
The hardware on the guitar consists of a rosewood bridge, synthetic saddle, Tusq nut, and set of really good tuning machines. Due to the design on the body, and the good tonewoods used on the guitar, the Seagull S6 sounds very powerful and clear, rich, warm, and it has a good amount of sustain.
Pros and Highlights
- Amazing craftsmanship – The guitar is designed and crafted in North America with great attention to detail.
- The sound of the guitar… – It just speaks for itself. The guitar sounds amazing! You are hardly ever going to get this kind of sound with another guitar at this price.
- Great hardware – The tuning heads hold the tune much better than any guitar at this price point. The bridge, the saddle, and the nut are of high-quality too!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons!
Bottom line
If you are considering buying a dreadnought guitar, you must try out this one too! The chances are you will fall in love with it. The Seagull S6 is a very well constructed guitar, with top-quality woods and great hardware. The sound of this guitar will make any guitarist of any level starting to think about getting this guitar. Great guitar with unbeatable sound at this price-point!
Yamaha AC1M
Specs, features, and benefits
The Yamaha AC1M is an electro-acoustic concert guitar with a single cutaway for easy access the higher notes. The body of the guitar is made out of solid Sitka Spruce top, and mahogany back and sides, and it has scalloped X bracing, for ultimate sturdiness and full, balanced tone.
The neck is made out of three-piece mahogany, and it features rosewood fingerboard with twenty frets. The bridge is also made out of rosewood, with compensated bone saddle and nut. On the headstock, there are six chrome die-cast tuning machines. Speaking of hardware, we must mention the SRT preamp system with under saddle pick-up.
The preamp features three-band EQ and Volume controls, and a built-in tuner. With this guitar sounding great is easy, both live and in the studio.
Pros and Highlights
- Warm tone – Due to the good choice for tonewoods, the Yamaha AC1M has a warm and beautiful sound.
- Cutaway – It makes soloing a pleasure!
- The SRT pick-up system is amazing – Now you don’t have to worry about micing up your guitar. The pick-up and the preamp this guitar has are great-sounding both for recording in the studio and on-stage.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No flaws, no cons!
Bottom line
If you are looking for a rich sounding, sturdy-built, very playable, and awesome looking acoustic guitar in the price range under $500, you won’t make a mistake if you go for the Yamaha AC1M. Yamaha is well-known for its high-quality construction, and the AC1M is a beautiful example of that. Great guitar to practice acoustic guitar styles!
Epiphone EJ-200SCE
Specs, features, and benefits
The EJ-200SCE model is Epiphone’s recreation of the legendary Gibson J-200. The guitar has a Jumbo-style body made out of a solid Spruce top, and maple back and sides. It has a single cutaway, which of course, makes a huge difference for the soloing guitarists.
The neck of the guitar is made out of maple, and it has a rosewood fingerboard. The bridge on the EJ-200SCE is also made out of rosewood. The nut and the saddle are made out of synthetic bone. The tuners on the headstock are Grover Rotomatic ones, which are one of the best tuning machines ever. The EJ-200CE stands out from other guitars with its eSonic-II preamp and pick-up system too! It is a revolutionary pick-up system that guarantees a great sound!
Pros and Highlights
- Powerful, yet balanced – Due to the big Jumbo body, the EJ-200SCE is very loud and powerful, and due to the good tonewoods on the body, it sounds very balanced and natural in the mids and the highs.
- Single cutaway – It lets you play the highest tones on the guitar with ease.
- eSonic2 Preamp and Pick-up system – This one is amazing. This guitar has two pick-ups, Nanoflex under the bridge, and Nanomag at the fingerboard position. You can use them separately or blend them with the knob on the control panel. The control panel also has a built-in tuner, separate EQ control knobs for each pick-up, and phase control knob.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Poor quality control – Many owners reported having issues with the guitar like loose knobs on the preamp system, some even reported having the batteries constantly dying. Others reported having problems with the neck of the guitar.
We don’t recommend buying this guitar online. Try it before you buy it, folks! Go to the guitar store!
Bottom line
Although it is a really beautiful guitar, very nice sounding and very playable, there are many disappointed owners. Our recommendation is to go to the guitar store and try it before you buy it. It seems like Epiphone has a poor quality control system for online purchases.
Martin DXMAE
Specs, features, and benefits
Martin guitars are holding their place on the top of the best acoustic guitars list for decades, due to their high-quality sounding/performing guitars. The Martin DXMAE is a real Martin guitar, for an affordable price.
The body of the guitar is made out of a high-pressure laminated Spruce top, and high-pressure laminated mahogany back and sides. The neck of the guitar is joined at the fourteenth fret. It is made out of Stratabond, and it features Richlite fingerboard with twenty frets. The Martin DXMAE has a Richlite bridge and compensated TusQ bridge and compensated nut, and chrome sealed die-cast tuning machines. It has Fishman Sonitone electronics, with control knobs for Volume and Tone set at the soundhole, without ruining the aesthetics on the guitar with planting a control panel on the body. This will make perfectionists very happy.
Pros and Highlights
- It’s a Martin! – At a very affordable price!
- Great sound! – You know you’ll have a great sounding guitar when you buy a Martin!
- Very playable – Of course!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Made in Mexico, made out of laminated woods – Well, common folks, you can’t expect a Martin guitar made out of solid wood in the USA at this price. However, it is still a great-sounding guitar – both plugged-in and unplugged.
Bottom line
Although made from laminated woods, the Martin DXMAE sounds and performs great. The preamp on the guitar won’t ruin the aesthetics on your Martin, it is set at the soundhole, and it is barely seeable. It also looks great!
Epiphone Hummingbird Pro
Specs, features, and benefits
The Epiphone Hummingbird Pro is, of course, a tribute to the original Hummingbird by Gibson. It is amazing how Epiphone makes such great guitar models for an affordable price. The Hummingbird Pro is a dreadnought body guitar made out of a solid spruce top and laminated select mahogany back and sides, select mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. It has twenty frets.
The hardware on the guitar is making this guitar very reliable. The Hummingbird Pro has a rosewood bridge, compensated bone saddle and nut, and Grover tuners. This guitar is a great gigging guitar, due to the Shadow ePerformer preamp and the NanoFlex pick-up. The preamp has control knobs for Master Volume, Bass, and Treble. It also has a mute button and a dynamics control slider. The Epiphone Hummingbird Pro sounds warm, rich, and balanced both plugged-in and unplugged!
Pros and Highlights
- Great sound! – Due to the great design and the Solid Spruce top, the guitar sounds beautiful.
- Very playable – The neck of the guitar is very playable, and the hardware is doing its job flawlessly. The Grover Tuners are amazing!
- Great looks!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Poor quality control – The electronics on the guitar are something that many owners had problems with. Many players had the electronics on their guitar completely dead on arrival, or it died after a short period of usage.
Bottom line
The Epiphone Hummingbird Pro is a beautiful sounding, beautiful looking guitar. This guitar is Epiphone’s tribute to the famous Gibson Hummingbird, and it looks very similar to it.
The downside of the guitar is the fact that many owners have had problems with the electronics. Other than that, the guitar is a great one.
Breedlove DSCO01SSMA
Specs, features, and benefits
The Breedlove DSCO01SSMA is a “Concerto” body shape guitar with a body made out of Solid Sitka Spruce top and layered Okoume back and sides. The neck of the guitar is made out of Nato wood, and it features Ovangkol fingerboard with twenty frets.
The bridge on the guitar is a Breedlove pinless one; it is made out of Ovangkol, while the saddle and the nut are made out of Graphite. The guitar has closed Chrome tuning machines. The sound of the guitar is very powerful, yet balanced, and it could easily be compared with the sound of a bigger dreadnought guitar. Great sounding guitar – at a very affordable price.
Pros and Highlights
- Concerto body – Smaller than the dreadnought body shape, much more comfortable for playing;
- Great sound – The Breedlove guitar sounds amazing!
- Affordable – The guitar comes for a very reasonable price, although its sound and playability can be compared to much pricier guitars.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons!
Bottom line
If you are looking for a great sounding and extremely playable acoustic guitar, you won’t make a mistake with buying the Breedlove DSCO01SSMA. It is a great guitar, and very importantly – it is affordable. It can easily be compared to guitars of higher prices in every aspect. Oh, it comes with a gig bag included in the price!
Fender Sonoran SCE
Specs, features, and benefits
Fender was shaping and re-shaping the music world for decades, and they continue to do so today, and they will in the future, for which we all are thankful for.
Their Sonoran SCE guitar is an electro-acoustic guitar that sports the playability of an electric one.
The body of the guitar is a dreadnought type, and it is made out of Solid Spruce Top, and laminated Mahogany back and sides. The slim C-shaped neck is made out of maple, and it has a rosewood fingerboard with twenty frets. The bridge on the guitar is made out of rosewood too, while the saddle and the nut are both made out of compensated bone material.
On the Stratocaster-style headstock, there are sealed vintage-style tuning machines that do their job perfectly. Speaking of hardware, the Fender Sonoran SCE has Fishman Isys III pick-up and preamp system, with controls for Volume, three-band EQ, and built-in tuner. The guitar is extremely playable, and it sounds powerful and beautiful!
Pros and Highlights
- Great playability – The Fender Sonoran SCE has a great, extremely soft, comfortable and smooth neck, that will make even the most hard-core electric guitar players fall in love with an acoustic
- Awesome sound – The guitar sounds great unplugged and plugged-in. This is due to the good quality tonewoods and electronics.
- Cheap – The guitar is very reasonably priced, and in this price range it is truly one of the best
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons!
Bottom line
The Fender Sonoran SCE is a great electro-acoustic guitar, perfect for gigging especially for the electric guitar players. The guitar is very affordable for what it offers. It is extremely playable and it has beautiful sound both plugged-in and unplugged.
Gretsch G5022CE Rancher Jumbo
Specs, features, and benefits
The Gretsch G5022CE Rancher Jumbo guitar is a country-style electro-acoustic guitar with vintage looks and massive sound. The G5022CE’s design is inspired by the 1950’s Gretsch 6022 Rancher.
The Gretsch G5022CE is made out of Jumbo body with single “Venetian” cutaway, made out of Solid Spruce Top, and laminated mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard sporting twenty-one frets. The guitar has a rosewood bridge, compensated bone saddle, self-lubricating Delrin nut, and gold-plated deluxe die-cast tuning machines. Gretsch G5022CE is loaded with Sonicore under saddle pick-up, and Fishman Isys III preamp system with a Volume control knob, Bass knob, Treble knob, Phase switch, and Digital Tuner. This guitar sounds great with many different techniques such as fingerpicking, slide, etc.
Pros and Highlights
- Robust, sturdy – The guitar feels very robust, it is made like a tank!
- Very playable – The neck on the guitar is just perfect!
- Retro looks – The looks of the guitar are very beautiful. It has a retro vibe to it – The triangle-soundhole, the finish, and the Venetian cutaway… Beautiful guitar!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It lacks a bit of low end – The guitar sounds very articulate, bright, and beautiful, but when played unplugged some players will miss a bit more of a low end. However, when plugged-in, the guitar sounds awesome and balanced.
Bottom line
If you are a “retro” kind of fella, and you like the aesthetics and the quality of the old times, Gretsch G5022CE is the guitar for you. And not only it looks great, the guitar feels robust, plays extremely well, and sounds good. It is a good touring guitar – It has a pick-up, so you don’t have to worry about micing it up. Great, beautiful looking guitar!
Blueridge BR-43 Contemporary Series 000
Specs, features, and benefits
The Blueridge is a great guitar that can compete with much, much higher priced guitars. Why? Because it is an awesome-sounding, great feel, beautiful guitar with amazing construction and design.
The body of the guitar is made out of Solid Sitka Spruce Top, and Select Mahogany back and sides. It has hand-carved “X” bracing for additional support and balanced sound. The neck on the guitar is a slim profiled mahogany neck, with rosewood fingerboard featuring twenty frets. The bridge on the guitar is made out of rosewood, the saddle and the nut are made out of bone, and on the headstock, and you can find six vintage-style open-back nickel-plated tuning machines.
The sound of the guitar is warm and balanced, articulated and resonant. Many players compare the guitar’s sound to the sound of a Martin guitar. Cool, right?
Pros and Highlights:
- Smaller body – The guitar fits great into your lap, and when resting, it doesn’t take a lot of space;
- High-quality build – The guitar is made with a great amount of attention to detail!
- Amazing sound – The guitar sounds at least double its price!
Cons and Potential Flaws:
- You will fall in love with it – And marriage with a guitar is still not allowed in most countries in the world…
Bottom line
If you are an experienced guitar player, the chances are big that you will fall in love with this guitar. If you are a beginner guitarist, it will be hard to outgrow this beauty.
Great guitar, for a very affordable price. Great design, awesome construction, great sound, and extremely playable guitar.
What We Recommend and Why
If you are looking for a sturdy built, awesome sounding, reliable, and playable guitar, that will serve you for home playing and for gigging too, we recommend you the Yamaha L-Series LS6 guitar. Of course, there are a lot of good options in this price range, so you will have to decide for yourself. The reason why we recommend the Yamaha LS6 is because it is a guitar that will probably suit the most of the players out there. It is made with a great attention to detail, it sounds awesome, it is very playable, and it has a pick-up and preamp system. Awesome instrument!