The Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide

Buying an acoustic guitar when you don’t know what you’re looking for can feel like walking into a car dealership blindfolded. There’s a lot of options, a lot of opinions, and a lot of money on the line. In this guide, I’m going to walk you through everything I’ve learned about buying acoustics over 45+ years of playing, teaching, gigging, and even purchasing 500 guitars at a time for a major music store. No sponsored opinions. Just honest, practical advice.

The video above covers all of this in detail, with me demonstrating on five different guitars from my own collection. If you’d rather watch, grab a coffee and settle in — it’s a thorough one. If you’re reading, here’s a table of contents to guide you:

You Don’t Have to Start on Acoustic

Let’s get this out of the way right now. There’s a persistent myth that beginners should start on acoustic guitar first. Not true. The finger movements are the same on electric and acoustic. Pick whichever one makes you want to play.

People say acoustic is more portable, but nowadays you can get a little battery-powered amp no bigger than your fist that clips right onto your belt. You can buy three-quarter size travel electrics too. So portability isn’t really the argument it used to be.

If you’re drawn to acoustic guitar, that’s great — the sound of a good acoustic strumming open chords is one of the most beautiful things in music. Just make sure you’re choosing it because you love the sound, not because somebody told you it’s what beginners are “supposed” to do.

Set Your Budget First

Before you walk into any store, have a rough price range in mind. You don’t need to spend a fortune, and you don’t need to buy the cheapest thing on the wall either.

Here’s the reality of acoustic guitar pricing. Under $200 can get you a surprisingly decent instrument if you know what to look for. The $300 to $500 range is where you start finding really solid guitars with good tone. Between $600 and $1,000, you’re into serious quality territory. And above that, you’re paying for premium woods, craftsmanship, and brand reputation.

One thing to factor into your budget right now: a professional setup. Every guitar needs one. Plan for an extra $50 to $100 on top of whatever you spend on the guitar itself. I’ll explain why that matters so much in a minute.

Also budget for a case or gig bag. I cannot stress this enough. If you buy a guitar and walk out of the store with it bare — exposed to cold, heat, rain, whatever — I’m going to be upset with you. A gig bag costs $30 to $35. A hard shell case runs $50 to $80. Factor it in.

Where to Buy (And Where Not To)

Don’t buy your guitar at a department store. I know, they’ve got those starter kits at Costco with a Yamaha guitar, a tuner, a gig bag, and a guitar stand all for a great price. Tempting. But the problem isn’t usually the brand — it’s the storage and handling.

Department stores don’t keep their instruments in humidity-controlled environments. Guitars sit under fluorescent lights on a shelf for months. The wood shifts. The action goes high. What might have been a perfectly fine guitar at the factory becomes borderline unplayable by the time it reaches your hands.

A cheaper guitar is more sensitive to this than an expensive one. The wood moves more. It changes more. And by the time you’ve fought with it for a few weeks and decided guitar isn’t for you, it wasn’t you at all. It was the guitar.

Go to a local music store instead. A real one, where the staff actually plays. Some music stores work on commission and some don’t — you can ask right up front. The non-commission stores tend to be better because their salespeople aren’t trying to upsell you. They’re trying to match you with the right instrument.

How to Shop Smart

If you don’t play yet, bring a friend who does. Even someone who plays a little bit can help. Have them strum a few chords on different guitars so you can hear the differences. If you don’t have a friend who plays, that’s okay too — ask the staff.

Be honest about where you’re at. Tell whoever’s helping you: “I’m just starting out. I don’t know much about guitars yet, but I’ve got a budget of [whatever it is] and I want something that sounds good and feels comfortable.” Any decent music store will respect that. The only thing that’ll annoy them is if you pretend you know more than you do.

I had a student in his late 50s who wanted to buy a nice acoustic on a trip to New York. He felt completely out of place walking into this well-known professional guitar shop. I told him: be honest. Tell them your budget, tell them your teacher sent you, and ask them to play some guitars for you. He did exactly that. They treated him great, played a bunch of guitars, and he had a wonderful experience. Nobody made him feel foolish.

When they’re playing guitars for you, listen carefully. Stand close, then walk away a bit. Ask to hear it in a different room if possible. Guitars sound different in different spaces, and what sounds amazing in the acoustic room at the store might sound different in your living room. Get a feel for it.

And don’t buy right away. Go home and think about it. Visit another store. Come back. If you found a guitar you like but saw a better price somewhere else, politely mention it. Most stores will match or come close, or throw in some extras — a set of strings, some picks, a discount on a case. Just be polite about it. Don’t grind them on price before you’ve even looked around.

What Matters Most: Sound and Feel

This is the single most important piece of advice I can give you: do not buy a guitar by color, brand, or looks. Buy by sound and feel.

My favorite acoustic is a Gibson Hummingbird. It’s a beautiful guitar, and yes, it cost over $3,000. But I didn’t buy it because it was a Gibson or because it looked gorgeous. I bought it because when I strummed a G chord, it sounded so good it made me want to keep playing. That’s the test. Does the guitar make you want to pick it up?

The last thing I considered was the finish and how it looked. The first thing was the sound. The second thing was how the neck felt in my hand.

Now, you might be thinking “I don’t even know how to play yet — how can I judge sound?” That’s fair. This is where having someone play it for you matters. Even if you can’t play a chord, you can hear whether a guitar sounds warm and full or thin and lifeless. Trust your ears. They’re smarter than you think.

The Neck Test

After sound, the feel of the neck is the most important thing. And this is something you can evaluate even as a complete beginner.

Sit down with the guitar. Wrap your hand around the neck. Does it feel comfortable? Can you picture yourself spending hours with your hand in that position? Everybody’s hands are different — my palms are big but my fingers are a bit shorter. What works for me might not work for you.

If you have small hands, avoid thick, blocky necks. You want something that feels natural, where your fingers can reach across the strings without straining. For women and smaller players, a parlor or folk-sized guitar with a narrower neck is often a much better fit than a big dreadnought.

You should also run your fingers along the edge of the fretboard where the frets meet the wood. If those fret ends feel sharp or rough, that’s a sign of poor finishing or wood shrinkage. It’s fixable, but it’s something to be aware of.

Understanding Action

“Action” is a word you’ll hear a lot. It just means the height of the strings above the fretboard — specifically, how far the string has to travel before it touches the fret when you press down.

Low action means the strings are close to the fretboard. This makes the guitar easier to play, especially for beginners and people with less hand strength. High action means more distance, more effort, and more frustration.

The catch is that if action is too low, you get fret buzz — that rattling, ugly sound when a string vibrates against a fret it shouldn’t be touching. A well-set-up guitar has action that’s low enough to play easily but high enough to ring clean on every note.

Here’s the good news: action is adjustable. A guitar technician can raise or lower it. So if you find a guitar you love the sound of but the action feels too high, don’t walk away. That’s a setup issue, not a guitar issue.

If you’ve ever tried to play a bar chord and given up, thinking your hands aren’t strong enough — the problem was probably the action, not your hands. I’ve lost count of how many students, especially women, have told me they’ll “never” be able to play an F chord. First thing I do is check the action on their guitar. Almost every time, the string height is the real culprit.

Types of Acoustic Guitars

Let me walk you through the main types, using some guitars from my own collection as examples.

Dreadnought

This is the big, classic acoustic guitar shape — the workhorse. My Gibson Hummingbird is a dreadnought with a spruce top and mahogany back and sides. It projects beautifully and the open chords just ring.

The trade-off is size. If you’re a smaller person, a dreadnought can feel like wrestling a greased alligator. The body is big, your arm has to wrap further around it, and the neck is often thicker. For someone with a bigger frame, though, it’s comfortable and the sound is hard to beat.

Price-wise, you can find excellent dreadnoughts from about $300 all the way up to several thousand. The body shape alone doesn’t determine the price — the wood quality, construction method, and brand all factor in.

Parlor and Folk Guitars

A parlor or folk guitar has a smaller body. I’ve got a little Hagstrom that I paid under $200 for — bought it because I was traveling for three months and needed something that would fit as a carry-on. The body is about an inch and a half smaller on each side compared to the Gibson.

It sounds different than a dreadnought — a bit lighter, less boomy — but it’s a legitimate musical instrument with a lovely tone. For smaller players, women, or anyone who finds a big dreadnought uncomfortable, a parlor guitar is worth trying. The smaller body and often narrower neck make a real difference in playability.

Vintage and Used

One of my favorite acoustics is a 1972 Framus I found at a pawn shop for $250. It was rough when I got it — needed cleaning, fret work, and a full setup. I put about $150 in labor into it. For $400 total, I’ve got a guitar that would cost close to $1,000 to replace. It’s got a beautiful spruce and maple construction and it sounds gorgeous.

Old guitars that have already settled are incredibly stable. The wood has done all its moving. Once a good tech sets it up, it’s not going anywhere.

If you’re considering a vintage or used guitar: don’t refinish it. Even if the finish looks worn and tired, leave it alone. Stripping old finish can damage the guitar and tank whatever vintage value it might have.

Cutaway With Pickup

A cutaway is that scoop in the body near the neck that lets you reach the higher frets more easily. For a beginner, it’s not critical, but it doesn’t hurt either.

The more important question is whether you want a pickup — the built-in electronics that let you plug into an amplifier or PA system. I’ve got an Ibanez with a Fishman pickup that cost around $700. It’s my gigging guitar for live performances. It sounds good unplugged, but it really shines plugged in.

Here’s a tip: if you think you’ll ever want a pickup, it’s cheaper to buy a guitar with one already installed. The factory buys pickups by the thousands at a bulk discount, and the guitar is built around the pickup from the start. Adding one aftermarket means paying for the pickup plus the labor to install it — and the guitar wasn’t designed for it.

That said, if you’re just starting out and don’t plan on playing live anytime soon, save the money. You can always add a pickup later, or buy a pickup-equipped guitar down the road.

Nylon String

Nylon string guitars (sometimes called classical guitars) have lower string tension than steel string acoustics. That means they’re easier on your fingers and require less pressing force. The trade-off is a wider neck, which can make bar chords harder, and a softer, mellower sound.

I’ve got an Ovation nylon string from the early ’80s that I picked up used for $450 and put about $250 of labor into. It was originally close to $2,500 new. It’s a beautiful instrument with a built-in pickup, and I use it for specific styles of music.

One important rule: never put steel strings on a guitar built for nylon. The tension will damage the instrument. And nylon strings on a steel-string guitar won’t project well at all. They’re designed for different instruments.

Willie Nelson plays nylon string guitar. Earl Klugh plays nylon string guitar. It works for a lot of styles. Just be aware of the wider neck before you commit.

Every Guitar Needs a Professional Setup

This is the part most people skip, and it’s the part that matters the most.

Every guitar — cheap or expensive, new or used — needs a professional setup before it’s truly ready to play. Even my $3,000 Gibson needed tweaking after it settled. The wood shifts, especially on guitars that traveled from overseas. A guitar that left the factory playing great in Indonesia might need attention after it’s been on a boat for a month, sat on a dock, sat in a warehouse, and then sat in a music store for who knows how long.

A setup includes checking and adjusting the action, the truss rod (a metal rod inside the neck that counteracts string tension), the string nut height, intonation, and fret levelness. A good technician will get your guitar playing the way it should.

Budget $50 to $100 for a standard setup. If the guitar needs more extensive work — fret leveling, nut replacement, saddle adjustment — it might run up to $150. Still worth every penny.

Think of it this way: you don’t drive a car off the lot without the dealer doing their inspection. Your guitar deserves the same treatment. For a deeper dive into what goes into a proper setup, check out the guitar setup and maintenance guide.

Finding a Good Technician

This part matters. Not all guitar techs are equal.

Ask around. If you know anyone who plays — even a friend of a friend — ask who they take their guitars to. Go to a reputable music store and ask who they use for their repair work. If a tech has referrals and a good reputation, that’s your best bet.

A good technician usually has a wait time of one to two weeks. If they can take your guitar immediately with no wait, that might not be the best sign. Busy techs are busy for a reason.

Don’t let your buddy who “knows a lot about guitars” do the adjustment. Acoustic guitars are more sensitive than electrics. A bad setup can make things worse. I once gave a guitar to a technician who came recommended, and when I got it back, nothing met my expectations. I redid the whole thing myself. Ask for references.

If the tech is also a guitar builder — a luthier — that’s a bonus. Builders understand the instrument at a deeper level because they’ve constructed them from scratch.

Strings, Cases, and Basic Care

If you have smaller or weaker hands, ask your technician to put on the lightest gauge strings available. A set of 10s (that’s the thickness of the thinnest string in thousandths of an inch) will make a noticeable difference in how easy the guitar is to play. Martin Studio Specials are a good option. Some techs will have opinions about this, but lighter strings on a well-set-up guitar with low action can turn a frustrating experience into a comfortable one.

For care: guitars are wood. They react to their environment. Don’t store your guitar by a window where sun comes through. Don’t leave it near a heat register or in a damp basement. Moderate humidity is ideal — too dry and the wood cracks, too wet and it swells. You can buy humidifiers that sit inside the sound hole for dry climates, and silica gel packets for humid ones.

And buy a case. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. A gig bag at minimum, a hard shell case if you’re moving the guitar around regularly. Protect your investment.

Buying Used: The Smart Way to Save

Some of my best guitars are used ones I picked up for a fraction of their original price. That Framus from the pawn shop. The Ovation that was originally $2,500 and I got for $450. Used guitars can be incredible deals if you know what to look for — or if you have a tech you trust to evaluate them.

When buying used, sight down the neck using the string as a straight edge. You want a slight concave curve (the neck bowing slightly toward the strings). If the neck has a hump or is bowed the wrong way, that could be a bigger problem.

Check the bridge area for any lifting or bubbling in the finish — this can happen when string tension pulls at the bridge glue over time, especially on cheaper guitars that weren’t stored well.

Run your fingers along the fret edges for sharpness. Pull the strings back and look at the fret surfaces for wear grooves — deep grooves mean heavy playing history and might eventually need a refret ($150 to $200).

If the guitar sounds good and the neck is straight, most other issues are fixable with a setup. Don’t be afraid of a cosmetically rough guitar if it has good bones.

Your Pre-Purchase Checklist

Before you hand over your money, run through this:

Does the guitar sound good to your ears? Not someone else’s ears — yours.

Does the neck feel comfortable when you wrap your hand around it? Can you picture yourself playing this guitar for years?

Does the body fit your frame? If you’re small, did you try a parlor or folk size?

Are the fret edges smooth, or do they catch your fingers?

Do the machine heads (tuning pegs) feel solid and turn smoothly?

Do you have a case or gig bag to take it home in?

Have you budgeted for a professional setup?

If you can check all of those, you’re in good shape. Take the guitar to your tech, get it dialed in, and you’ll have an instrument that plays well, sounds great, and makes you want to practice every day. That last part — wanting to pick it up — is really the whole point.

If you’re also considering an electric guitar, check out the electric guitar buying guide where I walk through the same process for electrics, including pickups, bridge types, and what to know about solid vs hollow body guitars.

And if you’re just getting started on your guitar journey, come check out the Riff Ninja Academy — you can try it free for three days and see if my teaching style works for you.