Top 10 Best Acoustic Electric Guitar Under 500 in 2022
The acoustic guitar market is full of impressive instruments that sometimes confuse the buyer to pick the best acoustic electric guitar under 500. It becomes hard to find the best options, especially when you are new to this process. There are so many choices of gorgeous and best cheap acoustic electric guitar that it feels pretty overwhelmed.
With a significant number of choices and increased availability, the quality of the acoustic guitar is steadily increasing. There are different body shapes, materials, tonal characters, and price ranges when purchasing acoustic guitars. For choosing the best budget acoustic electric guitar, you may want a balance of all these features.
Many cheap acoustic electric guitars offer a balance of features and value to money. A cheap acoustic electric guitar might be the best sounding cheap acoustic guitar, too, if the features and materials used are up to the mark. If you are new to guitar playing, then you can find a good balance of features.
But when choosing between the features and value for money, don’t forget to look for the best guitar string , a cool strap, and the best guitar cable for the best experience. We have compiled some of the best mid-range guitars under $500 for you.
Top Best Acoustic Electric Guitar Under 500
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | RATING | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|
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EDITORS CHOICE
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Takamine GD11MCE-NS Acoustic Electric Guitar
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4.8/5
|
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|
BUDGET PICK
|
Martin Guitar D-X2E Acoustic Electric Guitar
|
4.7/5
|
Check on Amazon |
|
TOP CHOICE
|
YAMAHA FG800 Acoustic Guitar
|
4.7/5
|
|
|
BUDGET PICK
|
Fender Newporter Acoustic Guitar
|
4.6/5
|
Check on Amazon |
Top Acoustic Electric Guitars under 500 Reviews
Takamine GD11MCE-NS Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Takamine Dreadnought GD11MCE-NS is the best $500 acoustic electric guitar on our list because it offers a beautiful Mahogany body representing the same material on the top, sides, and back of the guitar. Mahogany hardwood proves to be great material for guitars due to its durability and lightweight properties.
Dreadnought’s body provides a solid low-end volume with its renowned shape. The neck of this acoustic guitar features the same Mahogany hardwood-craved material. For better and warm tones, it features a Rosewood fingerboard. Overall, all the material has a natural look and finish throughout the body.
Many other great features distinguish the Takamine Acoustic Guitar from its competition because of its features like a synthetic bone nut and pinless rosewood bridge. Because of this rosewood bridge, it becomes easy to change the strings.
Key Features
- Mahogany wood body
- Weight: 5 pounds
- Dimension: 43.31 x 19.69 x 5.91 inches
- Color: Natural
- Pickup Configuration: Piezoelectric
- Right-hand orientation
Martin Guitar D-X2E Guitar
Martin Guitar D-X2E is the best inexpensive acoustic electric guitar that offers a good blend of high-pressure laminate and wood material. Unlike many other affordable acoustic electric guitars, it does not features a single material build. It contains a mixed build of KOA, Macassar, Rosewood, and Sitka spruce.
This martin guitar under 500 is the best value acoustic electric guitar in the market because of the features it offers in this price range. It contains Martin Authentic Acoustic Lifespan 2.0 strings and Fishman MX electronics combinations for a beautiful pitch. These high-quality components make it easy to play jazz, rock, folk, country, or any other.
This Martins guitar has hand-crafted wood that gives premium looks as compared to many other budget guitars. That provides an excellent experience for late-night jams. They generate unique sounds and provide an enjoyable playing experience with the most professional pitch you can get on an acoustic electric guitar. Compared to other guitars on the list its provides a more accurate pitch.
Key Features
- Material: Natural, Koe back, Macassar back, Mahogany, Rosewood
- Righ and left-hand orientation
- Top Material: Spruce
- Weight: 15 pounds
- 6 string model
PROS
CONS
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YAMAHA FG800 Acoustic Guitar
Yamaha FG800 Acoustic Guitar features an ideal acoustic structure with a scalloped bracing pattern. It maintains the top board’s durability and brings a natural and more realistic sound when played in fine-tune. It offers the best cutaway acoustic guitar under 500 with all the perks of the regular electric guitar.
Yamaha offers the best thin body acoustic electric guitar in two body shapes with concert-size guitars. The five-grade tonewood options provide a myriad of color options. Aside from myriad, it has electric-acoustic and acoustic models. Both these variants offer well-toned and pitched sounds for a joyful experience.
Yamaha electric acoustic guitar price is affordable, and it does not compromise on craftsmanship and quality of the materials. The wood used in this guitar is well dried and seasoned. Therefore you will observe that it feels more durable and premium as compared to the competition. Overall it’s an excellent pick for a budget acoustic electric guitar.
Key Features
- Material: Spruce, Nato wood, Mahogany, Rosewood
- Dimensions: 42.50 x 20.70 x 6.10 inches
- Right-hand orientation
- Top Material: Spruce
- Weight: 6.38 pounds
- Color: Ruby red, natural
- Adjustable truss rod
PROS
CONS
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Fender Newporter Acoustic Guitar
Fender Newporter is the best acoustic electric guitar for under 500 dollars provided with the tonal element and stage ready-to pickup system. The easy-to-pick neck is comfortable and has a C-style mahogany material build. There are 20 frets on it with a satin finish to give it a greater visual appeal than other acoustic guitars.
This fender thin body acoustic electric guitar has various controls for sound. It amplifies the sound without compromising its resonant, pure, and rich tone. The acoustic instrument has a built-in tuner for convenient settings that give a better sound than the competition.
The taper is comfortable and super slim on this acoustic electric guitar cheap, but a well-crafted guitar. It has 6 headstocks imparts that are inline and provide an attitude to the instrument. Overall the energetic riffs and sound provide a great pitch to the vocals.
Key Features
- Material: Mahogany
- Dimensions: 45.5 x 17.7 x 7 inches
- Right-hand orientation
- Weight: 9.25 pounds
- Color: Various color options are available
- Steel made durable strings
PROS
CONS
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Ibanez AEWC400 Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Ibanez AEWC400 Acoustic Electric Guitar is a small body acoustic electric guitar representing a flame maple design on the top, back, and sides of its body. The design is very comfortable and provides an asymmetrical mahogany neck which ensures easy access to the neck and fingerboard.
Ibanez is famous for its skinny acoustic guitars, especially acoustic electric ones. This guitar features a walnut fretboard that is very elegant and well finished. On the list of slim acoustic guitars, Ibanez ensures that AEWC400 marks its success due to excellent craftsmanship and perfection.
This acoustic guitar has an Ibanez AEQ-SP2 preamp with a tuner. It has Fishman Sonicore pickup for the perfect notes. The chrome die-cast tuner with the abalone rosette provides a spectacular design and an elegant finish. Overall, it’s a great combination of decently built guitars with an impressive tuner.
Key Features
- Material: Mahogany, Rosewood, Maple
- Dimensions: 42 x 18 x 6 inches
- Right-hand orientation
- Weight: 10.5 pounds
- Color: Transparent black sunburst
- Fishman Sonicare bridge
PROS
CONS
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Cordoba C5-CE CD Classical Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Cordoba C5-Ce CD is the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players and offers a durable combination of rosewood and mahogany materials. Owing to the Canadian cedar top, it gives a warm tone. The back and side have mahogany material that is durable and cost-effective.
This Cordoba best acoustic guitar under 500 has a rosewood bridge that ensures rich and warm tones with a long haul as compared to other materials. The 50 mm net width is essential for a balanced spacing of the strings and included in this guitar base model.
These great acoustic guitars have Savarez Cristal Corum strings that are flexible and provide outstanding nuances and perfect sounds. However, you can replace the strings with lighter and heavier gauges later. However, there is no need for replacement unless you feel that notes are not producing nuanced tones.
Key Features
- Material: Mahogany, Rosewood, Maple
- Dimensions: 46 x 8 x 18 inches
- Right-hand orientation
- Weight: 3.5 pounds
- Color: Natural, Spruce, Cedar, Spalted Maple
- Piezoelectric configurations
PROS
CONS
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Fender CD-140SCE Acoustic-Electric Guitar
This fender acoustic electric cutaway guitar features a dreadnought body style. It features modern tonewood that has spruce material. The spruce has unbeatable strength, dynamic range, and brightness. So it is the ultimate choice for your day-to-day need of an acoustic electric guitar.
Fender Thinline acoustic guitar is very responsive to the acoustic playing and responds well to the fast Flatpicking, hard strumming, and delicate touch. The fingerboard has well-rounded edges. So it feels very comfortable in the hands.
It is one of the breeziest guitars for playing the notes. The neck is easy to access because of its excellent design. It has an excellent built-in tuner that provides accurate tuning without letting anyone know that any electronic tuner is playing. Overall, it is well built and lightweight.
Key Features
- Material: Mahogany, Rosewood, Spruce
- Dimensions: 46 x 8 x 19 inches
- Right and left-hand orientation
- Weight: 15 pounds
- Color: Natural, black
- 6 string model
PROS
CONS
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PR-4E Best Acoustic-Electric Guitar
PR-4E is a shallow body acoustic guitar that is the best small body acoustic guitar under 500. This guitar from Epiphone is famous among stage and studios because of the value-packed acoustic player pack. It has a studio 10 acoustic amp for balance and microphone inputs. The chorus includes a gig bag, cord, tuner, and instructional CD.
This best nylon-string guitar under 500 has a cutaway style that gives the frets the best access. These cutaways are responsible for changing the sound quality as well as reach to the frets.
The studio 10 amp included in this acoustic guitar is a 10-watt solid-state amp by Epiphone. You can control the mid, bass, treble, and volume with this amp. It also features a boost switch, and the controllers are best for this amp category.
Key Features
- Material: Mahogany, Rosewood, Oak, Spruce
- Dimensions: 43 x 22 x 8.5 inches
- Right-hand orientation
- Weight: 6.61 pounds
- Color: Natural
- 6 string model
PROS
CONS
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Fender CD-140SCE Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
Fender Acoustic Electric thin body guitar has a solid spruce top and design with a laminate back and sides. The body contains a single-cutaway style with an easy-to-play rolled fingertips edge neck. Besides the neck design, the fretboard is well-rounded and feels suitable for comfortable handling and grip.
This best-sounding acoustic electric guitar has a Fishman CD pickup that provides a good sound experience because the sound notes are not buzzy and have a crisp in their pitch. One main thing to mention is the durability of the guitar as it comes in a lightweight design with a durable body.
It has nickel steel strings that give a crispier tone. The hand position is accurate and perfectly aligned with the guitar fingerstyle, thanks to the elegant design. The icing on the cake is the hard case that allows easy transport when moving from studio to home or any concert.
Key Features
- Material: Mahogany, Ovangkol
- Dimensions: 44 x 18 x 7 inches
- Right-hand orientation
- Weight: 13 pounds
- Color: Natural, Mahogany, Sunburst
- Nickel steel strings
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CONS
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Traveler Guitar Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Traveler 6 string acoustic guitar is the best thin body acoustic guitar on our list. It has a custom preamp that features a built-in tuner which gives a better sound pitch than most of the built-in amps that come with acoustic guitars. The top and back are durable and have Koa as its primary material. This best Thinline acoustic electric guitar contains striped ebony bindings.
Out of our all-thin body acoustic guitar reviews, it has only 9 pounds of weight. Carrying it is very easy because of the inclusion of a compact gig bag, you can carry it around without any additional strings. This mobility makes it the perfect choice for concert, home, and studio use.
The 6 string setup on the Traveler Guitar is cost-effective. You can set the ups and lowers by toning the strings. For a custom setup, replace the music store’s strings with a heavier or lighter gauge string according to your requirements. Overall, it offers more than enough features in this price range.
Key Features
- Material: Koa, Mahogany, Spruce
- Dimensions: 35 x 13.3 x 4 inches
- Right-hand orientation
- Weight: 9.13 pounds
- Color: Natural
- 6 string model
PROS
CONS
Acoustic-Electric Guitars Under 500 Buyers Guide
When looking for cheap acoustic electric guitars for sale, specific things need consideration when buying them. The first consideration on our list is the quality of parts.
Pick Up
When looking for solid wood guitars under 500, pickups are critical equipment. Although they do not affect the performance of electric acoustic guitars much still, they are the pieces of equipment that need your consideration.
Many people confuse the pickup function because they have no clear understanding of what they can do. They improve the signal of the vibrations and modify it to make it worthwhile for the amplifier. Magnets perform this function well on an electric guitar, but in the acoustic electric guitars, a piezo-style pickup boosts the signal for the amplifier. Choose the guitar with the pickup that provides a good quality signal and perfect sounds.
Strings
Most expensive acoustic guitars come with a set of strings that are premium and give a perfect tone. A budget guitar can compromise the guitar tone’s quality, but it does not affect the purchasing decision.
The rule is simple and straightforward. An expensive acoustic guitar features higher-quality strings that are durable and provide a premium quality tone. While the strings on the most budget acoustic electric guitar deal, the quality of the strings can be of lower grade. This can influence the tone quality and durability of the strings in the long run.
Amps
Amps on the Guitar amplify the sound and give your electro-acoustic guitar a good aid in the amplification process. A standard amp does fulfill the need, but certainly, they are not good enough for every guitar type.
Our acoustic guitar reviews under 500 already covered the amp selection briefly. The right amp choice can change the tone and effects of the guitar. If you need some kinds of effects, then choose the amp with built-in effects. This will save your money on a separate pedal for the effects.
Amp influences your decision for the best acoustic electric guitar under 500 if you want feedback control because they help to control the feedback by reducing the feedback in the electro-acoustic guitars.
Fretboard
The fretboard is part that you make more contact with than any other. They are also known as fingerboards and are essential for the functioning of the guitar. From the alone quality of fretboard semi acoustic guitar price can vary. It alone can influence the design and craftsmanship of the guitar.
A good quality fretboard has a finish that is smooth on the edges and uniform throughout the structure. If the distance between the fretboard and strings is more significant than usual, it makes playing a problematic task. If the distance is too little or big, it affects the playing ability. Aside from the quality of the fretboard, looks also matter if you want the impressive design on the guitar.
FAQs
Should you go for a new or used guitar?
When buying the guitar, the choice of new and old guitar is a matter of personal satisfaction as guitar models don’t change much over time. We only see a few improvements in technology over the last few years. So, there are many acoustic electric guitars for sale at cheap prices, even in new conditions. You can prefer the options that you want but remember to never compromise on the guitars’ quality.
What things should you be looking for in a Guitar?
If you have already read our review on the best $500 acoustic electric guitar, then you already know the answer to this question. Overall, you need to consider looks, design, size, the material used, and build quality when buying thin-bodied acoustic electric guitars. It is best if you look for a combination of all these features in a balance.
Is buying an Acoustic guitar under $500 a good decision?
When buying the best acoustic electric guitar under 500, many people get confused regarding the decision-making. People mostly believe that low pricing and budget guitars are inferior quality products. But it is not valid in all cases as we have reviewed some high-quality acoustic electric guitars under 500. They all are suitable for professional as well as personal use. Pick a guitar that fulfills most of your requirements and gives you a better experience.
What is the best electric acoustic guitar on a budget?
Out of all the acoustic electric guitars that we have reviewed here, Martin Guitar D-X2E Acoustic Electric Guitar is the best budget guitar you can buy because it offers value for your money and provides all the basics that a good guitar can provide you. It features hardwood material that is durable and lightweight.
Are acoustic electric guitars suitable for beginners?
Electric guitars are a big push for the beginner from the nylon strings because they are the best option for switching from beginner-level guitars. If you are willing to learn tuning, cords, and cord changing practices then they are the best option for your needs. But selecting a proper budget acoustic guitar makes your transition easy and worth your money.
Bottom Line
We have listed the best acoustic electric guitar under 500 for you in this review. All the guitars on the list are best for you and fulfill your needs very well. Martin Acoustic Guitars are the best choice for less money, while if you are looking for the narrow body acoustic guitar, then Ibanez AEWC400 Acoustic Electric Guitar is your best bet.
If you are looking for an acoustic guitar that offers a mix of quality and value to money, then YAMAHA FG800 is best for you because it offers excellent features under the $500 bracket.
Hey, I’m Freddie, the owner and author of Music Mention. Playing the Guitars has been my love from childhood, and now in the swift developing world, the acoustic-electric guitar has taken my heart. So, I decided my passion be transformed into words, and for that, I’ve started Music Mention. Here you’ll read unbiased reviews based on my personal experience. I play, adventure and then write about each guitar which will help you buy the best guitar according to your taste. So stay with me!
