How to choose the best low-cost electric guitars for beginners? We have tried to make the best guide to choose the best cheap electric guitars with everything you need to know.
Do you want to learn to play the electric guitar without having to spend a lot of time and effort choosing the one that meets your needs without spending a large amount of money? On this website, we are going to show you the 7 best cheap electric guitars that we have selected after an intensive analysis of several models.
Yes, there is indeed a wide variety of brands, colors, and models of electric guitars, as well as price ranges. But from the Table, we confirm that it is not necessary to invest a large amount of money in an electric guitar if you are starting.
Therefore, any of the models analyzed on this website is a great choice.
What is the best economical electric guitar?
Your old model does not suit you anymore, you need a new electric guitar. The decision is made but the choice is not stopped. It is true that faced with the diversity of products on the market, we do not know where to turn. To facilitate your search, we offer in this comparison a small list of qualities to require in one of these instruments.
A complete guitar is always more interesting. By complete, we mean the presence of the various accessories which are the picks, the strap, the carrying case, the amplifier, and the spare ropes.
Epiphone Les Paul SPECIAL-II Electric Guitar Heritage
Are you looking for an economical but good-quality electric guitar and have a budget of around 200 $? Look no further and choose this Electric guitar from Epiphone, one of the most famous electric guitar brands in the world. This model will surprise you with its incredible quality about its price.
It has a black and red design that always looks good, although you can find it in different colors. Without a doubt, it is a guitar with a striking design. This guitar is perfect for beginners especially for its size and weight, since it has dimensions of 101.6 x 8.9 x 35.6 cm and weighs 5 kilos, which makes it a very affordable model to start playing the guitar.
It is a model that is also made of wood, with a laminated body that is a mixture between alder and poplar from 1960 (on a 14: 1 scale) and a fingerboard made with rosewood. We must also highlight the system of the fixed bridge of this guitar since it is very simple to keep it in time. All this makes the visual result and sound level very good.
It is a very good model to start taking our first steps as guitarists. One of the best electric guitars for beginners at a quality price.
Discover more and the price here
Yamaha Pacifica Series PAC012
This is another of the best cheap electric guitars to buy. Made of maple wood, this Yamaha brand guitar is a good option to start practicing. In addition, one of the things that stands out about this model is that it is available in several colors. Of course, all are a combination of white with another color. This makes the design traditional but the result looks great.
Another advantage of this model is its dimensions since it is a 6-string guitar that only weighs 3.4 kilos and has dimensions of 108 x 45 x 10 cm. As you can see, it is a very light model, so it is easy to get used to it and start playing.
It certainly has a very affordable price if we consider that it is a Yamaha brand guitar, well known in the instrumental world for its great reputation. This even has a lacquer finish specially set to protect the guitar from moisture!
It comes with strings of the number 0.09 but it is recommended that when evolving in terms of learning change to 0.10, to achieve a sound with greater maintenance in time and body. If you want to be sure that you are going to have a guitar that sounds good, this electric guitar is a good option.
Discover more and the price here
Squier by Fender Bullet Stratocaster Beginner
This is one of the most recommended options if you are starting. This electric guitar is a true Fender, has a good and clear sound, a great touch on the dishes, and is quite easy to play. For its price, it is of extraordinary quality. In addition, the mast is perfectly aligned and has a good height adjustment.
This Stratocaster is made of maple wood with a rosewood fretboard. It has a size of 4/4, so it is suitable for adults and teenagers aged 15 and up. Very high quality at a competitive price. It’s a very comfortable guitar to hold and, surprisingly, it sounds very good even without being connected to an amplifier. The sound is on the bridge humbucker and has less impact on single coils.
This is also a suitable tool for entry-level (though they are already familiar with an acoustic guitar) but this does not mean that even longtime musicians cannot play rock riffs by famous artists or bands. This Fender Squier offers moments of real music.
Discover more and the price here
Ibanez 6 String Solid-Body Cheap Electric Guitars
This is another of the best cheap electric guitars to buy. This electric guitar from the Ibanez brand is ideal if you are looking for a good quality product at an affordable price.
The material of this electric guitar is of very good quality, honoring the famous Ibanez brand. The finish is original, and its sound is very clean, both with distortion and without it. It is certainly a highly recommended guitar.
This guitar, excellent for beginners and medium-level guitarists, is well-finished and well-designed, so it’s easy to play whether you’re standing or sitting. Even after a massive use of the instrument and despite the almost vehement pressure exerted on the strings, the latter resisted well.
Its only drawback may be its weight. With 5 kg it is the heaviest guitar of those analyzed in this guide and if you are a beginner it can cost you to play it until you get used to it. In addition, this electric guitar does not include accessories.
Discover more and the price here
Squier by Fender Affinity Telecaster
The Squier Affinity Telecaster is another best-budget electric guitar that may appeal to fans of good sound. Signed by the brand that has become synonymous with its rock, the Fender guitar is well-built and very affordable.
First of all, there is a solid alder body, but also a neck and a maple fingerboard. Equipped with chromed hardware and 21 frets, this Fender guitar also includes two microphones (single coil). The tuning fork does not exceed 648 mm.
It’s a visually interesting telecaster (especially because of its color Butterscotch Blonde) and quite vintage offering a sound quite satisfactory. It reaches its full potential on clean sound and will delight especially fans of jazz, blues, and country. Finally, it does not tend to detune quickly.
Certainly, the sound produced by the Fender Squier Telecaster Affinity does not have the finesse that some very high-end guitars have. Made in China, this Telecaster will not satisfy professional guitarists. But it’s an excellent electric guitar to start and train at home. Another important and positive point: it is sold at less than 200 dollars.
Discover more and the price here
Rocktile Warhead MG-3008 Cheap Electric Guitars
This is another of the best cheap electric guitars to buy. Do you want to buy an electric guitar for beginners, but you do not know which to choose? Discover the Rocktile MG-3008 Warhead. As the name suggests, it’s a Warhead model. It is one of the quality guitars on the market that are not expensive. Black in color, the Rocktile MG-3008 Warhead has a very beautiful appearance and excellent manufacturing quality all along the line.
She has good acoustics. This guitar is made of rosewood. Its amplifier is a passive type. As for its technical characteristics, it has two Humbucker reading heads with 24 frets. Regarding its dimensions, they are 120 X 52 X 10.2 cm. She weighs 4.26 kg. Note also that she has 6 strings. These are made with Nickel Wounds.
It adapts to all levels of players: beginners, intermediate, advanced, and professional musicians. She could even be a child electric guitar.
Discover more and the price here
Best Cheap Electric Guitars: Epiphone G-400 Pro
With its 5 kg, this guitar is perhaps a bit underestimated among musicians and this is a pity because this instrument is built in mahogany and rosewood, high-quality materials, and offers the Alnico Classic Pro pickups, the newer version of the pickups of Epiphone made under license. These are two Humbucker pickups and each of them has an independent tone and volume control.
The fretboard is 22 frets made of rosewood, the handle is inspired by the 60s and is easy to use, especially for Gibson sound lovers.
However, this is a low-end guitar that gives a pleasant sound experience. Small negative note, the volume, which is induced by the pickups, has a slight excursion upwards when switching from one Humbucker to another, thus obtaining volumes that are not always homogeneous. However, it remains a very interesting and excellent quality electric guitar.
Discover more and the price here
Guide to Buying an Affordable Electric Guitar
There are so many cheap electric guitars for beginners that sometimes it can be quite an odyssey to find exactly the one we need. Therefore, we have prepared a short buying guide that will be very useful to find the perfect model for you.
If you follow these steps you will see how it will be much easier to find the model or brand of guitar that suits what you need. In this way, you will save yourself from unnecessary inconvenience and returns since, as they say, you will go to a fixed pull.
The body of the guitar
One of the main details when buying a guitar is to look precisely at the type of body it has. There are endless types of guitar bodies, but above all, we can divide them into three types:
- On the one hand, is the solid body, which is usually considered the most popular body type because of the sound it has. Most guitars have this type of body since they allow the sound volume to be amplified naturally without using any effect.
- On the other hand, is the hole, which is not often seen so often. It usually has a tone similar to that found in jazz music, with bass and the most characteristic sound. Of course, with this guitar, it is more difficult to obtain a higher volume.
- It should also be noted the body of the semi-hollow guitar, allows it to be easier to use an amplifier to increase the volume, although we can also not use it. As a general rule, it is considered a very versatile body type and suitable for different styles without problems.
Are you left or right-handed?
A detail that we do not usually think about is looking for a guitar that suits if we are left-handed or right-handed, but the truth is that it is something that we have to constantly keep in mind. A left-handed guitar is not comfortable to use for right-handed people, and the same goes for the opposite.
The good thing is that there are more and more models that allow you to change from left to right as needed. These types of models are much more versatile and make it much more comfortable to choose a guitar without worrying whether it will work for us or not.
Design
Another thing that is important when choosing a guitar, especially an electric one, is the design. Do not fool yourself: we want an electric guitar that sounds good and comfortable, but also that is beautiful and leaves us with our mouths open when we see it.
The good thing about this is that there is so much offer in the market that it will not be difficult for you to find a design that completely suits what you like and your style. From the shape to the colors, there are many ways to customize a guitar so that the final result is unique and you have even more desire to use your new guitar.
The price of cheap electric guitars
It is also very important to think about the price of the guitar and what our budget is, to adapt the search to it. The good thing about the instruments is that there is a wide variety of prices, so it should not be difficult for us to find one that fits into our budget. There are many cheap electric guitars on the market!
Of course, you have to keep in mind that sometimes cheap is expensive. There are times when it is worth spending a little more if we know that in the end, it will be a good investment.
Is it worth a cheap electric guitar or am I still saving?
In short: yes, it is worth it.
Whatever they say, a cheap guitar can be good. The proof is the Fender Squier and the Yamaha Pacifica.
Also, if you’re starting to play the instrument, do you want to spend $500 on something you don’t know if you’re going to use it in a year?
The good thing is that, if you discover your passion for the guitar, any of my 7 recommendations will last for years before you have to level up and by then you will have enough experience to decide on the guitar that suits you best.