Look, anyone who plays guitar would love to have an unlimited budget at their disposal. There are so many great instruments, amps, pedals, and other important gadgets and accessories that all of us would love to have. Unfortunately, we can’t just drain all of our life savings on guitars and gear. But worry not, as there are countless affordable solutions these days that will be more than enough for your needs. A great category to start is the Best Acoustic Guitars Under 200 Dollars department.
Besides, there are plenty of overpriced instruments, amps, and pedals out there, so getting yourself an affordable piece of gear can still be enough to have some really solid tones. This is why we decided to come up with this brief guide for beginner guitarists, focused on cheap but great acoustic guitars. With some patience and research, it’s not really that hard to find an affordable yet great acoustic guitar, even below the $200 mark. In case you’re a beginner and are looking for a reliable instrument that will serve you for a long time, you should definitely check out one of these.
Before you go into it, bear in mind that this is a guide for steel-string acoustic guitars, not the nylon-string classical ones.
Best Acoustic Guitars Under 200 Dollars Start With Yamaha FG800
Just right below the price mark for this guide, we have Yamaha’s FG800 dreadnought body style guitar. Yamaha is pretty well-known for quality instruments, even in the lower price range. We’re looking at a spruce top, one of the features the company carried over from the previous model, FG700. As for the sides, the back, and the neck, the company went for nato wood. From top to bottom, this is a pretty great instrument when it comes to tone, playability, and design. Bonus points to Yamaha for the scalloped bracing in this price range.
Epiphone DR-100
And Epiphone’s DR-100 is an even cheaper guitar. Design-wise, we are not looking at a flashy guitar compared to the FG800. But, it gets the job done. Once again, a spruce top with mahogany back and sides. The slim taper neck profile is pretty playable. The package is rounded up with the standard rosewood fretboard. It’s a fairly simple instrument that plays pretty well and is most certainly a handy tool for a beginner on a budget. What’s more, there’s a chance this instrument will serve you even in your later phases of guitar playing.
Jasmine S35
Although somewhere in the $100 price range and not as famous as some other guitars on the list, Jasmine’s S35 is a pretty decent acoustic guitar for a novice, possibly even a mid-level player. The body features a spruce top and laminated nato wood sides and back.
It’s pretty interesting to see such an instrument in this price range, as the first look and feel make it seem like something that belongs in a more expensive price range. Overall, it’s a cheap yet reliable acoustic guitar that can serve any beginner musician well.
Cort AD810 OP
Over the years, Cort built its reputation for quality instruments in both cheaper and expensive ranges. Up next, we would like to mention their AD810 acoustic guitar with the standard dreadnought body design, made of a spruce wood on the top and mahogany on the back and sides.
Overall, just like most of the stuff by Cort, the AD810 is a pretty reliable acoustic guitar. It offers stability in tuning, comfortable neck shape and string action, and great tone. If you’d look into numerous reviews online, you’d see that pretty much anyone is satisfied with this guitar. Pretty great deal for the money.
Cort Earth 70 OP
While we’re at it, there’s another great acoustic guitar from Cort that we wanted to mention here. Earth 70 is another dreadnought-shape guitar with spruce top and mahogany back and sides. Here, however, we have a somewhat unusual Guibourtia fingerboard. The natural mate finish gives it a look that’s more typical of a higher-end instrument, making this a great choice for those who care about the aesthetics as well.
Maybe a slightly better option than the AD810, Earth 70 is a great value for the money. It’s at the very price limit for this list, but it’s in the same quality tier as some guitars that go up to $500. You can’t go wrong with this one.
Ibanez AW54OPN
It would be hard not to mention one of the Ibanez acoustic guitars here in this guide. It was hard to pick the best one, but we’re going with AW54OPN. Now, this guitar is slightly different compared to the rest on the list. This is because it’s almost entirely a mahogany instrument, all with sides, back, top, and the neck. The only exception here is the almost unavoidable rosewood fingerboard.
This kind of a mahogany guitar will give you some pretty mellowed out tones. This doesn’t make it better or worse compared to these other guitars, it’s just different. If you want something in this price range but don’t feel like playing brighter-sounding guitars, then you can go with AW54OPN.
Fender FA-115
While everyone remembers Fender for their electric guitars like Stratocasters and Telecasters, the company has some pretty great acoustics to offer. One of these is definitely FA-115, a simple guitar intended for beginners. This dreadnought packs the expected Spruce top, while the back, the sides, and the neck are made of basswood.
This one often comes in those packages where you get the standard “starter pack” deal with a strap, picks, and a whole new set of strings. But don’t let this fool you fooled. These guitars can surely serve you well even when you hit some higher levels. Not like you’d expect anything less from Fender. One of the best acoustic guitars under 200 bucks for sure!
