A good instrument is extremely important for developing finger dexterity and proper technique on the guitar.  I cannot overstress the importance of having an appropriate instrument.  Unfortunately, many students and parents spend too much money on guitars that are hard to play, hurt fingers, and don't sound great.

There is something about a quality instrument that cannot be quantified.  I have found that the higher the quality of the instrument, the more serious the student is about practicing.  Almost always, I see a huge jump in love of music and in time spent practicing whenever a student obtains a higher quality instrument.

If you are considering a guitar purchase, please read this page thoroughly before you do so.  There is a wide variety of quality in each price range.  Let me help you find a quality instrument in your price range.

NOTE: I don't have time to keep the prices on this page current with the crazy inflation going on in our economy since our current president took office.  The prices shown here were accurate around the year 2000. 

Scroll to the end of this article for information and advice about where to buy these instruments.

RECOMMENDED ACOUSTIC GUITARS

$6,000+

At the very top end of the top price spectrum are custom guitars that are specially designed and hand-built by master guitar craftsmen.  In fact, we have an excellent custom guitar builder right here in Logan: Ryan Thorell.  If you are interested in such a guitar, talk to me and I will arrange a meeting for you with Ryan.  His workshop is less than a block from my teaching studio.  (One of his beautiful guitars is shown above.)

$2,000-5,000

Most guitar players would agree that the top two mass produced acoustic guitar brands are solid-wood, USA-made Martin and Taylor.  Other excellent instruments in this price range include solid-wood, USA-made guitars by Larrivée, Breedlove, Gibson, and Takamine.  If you pursue acoustic guitar throughout your life, it is likely that someday you'll own one or more of these guitars.  I personally have the most knowledge about Martin and Taylor, so I will focus on them.

The quintessential "Martin sound" is their D-28 model (below).  Martin has been making guitars for nearly 200 years, and the D-28 has been in their lineup for nearly 100 years.  It has been copied by other manufacturers ever since, but nobody else has been able to capture the tone of the D-28, which can be described as rich and warm.  Many people consider it to be the best sounding guitar in the world.

Taylor is a much younger company, established in 1974.  Its commitment to quality has paid off, and it is now Martin's equal in quality and in beautiful tone.  The quintessential "Taylor sound" is their 814ce model (below), which can be described as bright, clear, and modern.  Like the Martin D-28, it uses a spruce top and rosewood back and sides... but it sounds VERY different than the Martin. 

What's fun about Taylor is that they offer a HUGE variety of models with different body shapes and woods that sound very different from each other.  For example, I own a beautiful Taylor 324ce Builder's Edition (below) that has the same body shape as the 814ce but instead of a spruce top and redwood back/sides, it has a mahogany top and ash back and sides.  It has unique overtones and warm harmonics that make it sound like no other guitar I have ever played... absolutely gorgeous tone!

I also own a wonderful Taylor 717e (below)  It has a spruce top and rosewood back and sides, and it sounds nothing like a stereotypical Taylor at all.  It sounds reminiscent of a vintage Gibson but without the intonation woofiness problems.  It is impossible for me to play either of these guitars without smiling, but they sound VERY different from each other.

Taylor makes so many other body shapes and offers many other wood combinations that I can't give you any recommendations, you just have to go play them and decide which you like the best.  For example, Taylor is the only major guitar manufacturer that offers guitars made of Hawaiian koa wood, which has a unique tone and is visually gorgeous. 

For someone with smaller fingers and shorter arms, a slightly smaller guitar that is definitely worthy of your consideration is the Taylor Grand Theater series, or "GT", as they call it.  The GT811e (below) has a little smaller body (about 15/16ths size), with a little shorter and narrower neck.  Top quality solid spruce top over solid rosewood back and sides, with a brand new bracing system called "C-class" give this guitar an astonishing sound.  Online reviewers are raving about it, calling it the "Goldilocks guitar" because it's not too long and it's not too short; it's not too wide and it's not too thin; it's just right.  The neck is slightly narrower which makes it easier to play for people with smaller hands, and the scale length is slightly shorter, which slightly reduces the tension on the strings, making it less painful for fingers and wrists.


Again, don't limit yourself to Martin and Taylor.  If you are shopping for a quality solid-wood, made in the USA guitar, don't overlook Larrivée, Breedlove, Gibson, and Takamine.  Each of them has a unique tone that is some people's favorite.

$1,400-1,900

Historically, this price range has been "no man's land" for guitars.  Too much money to pay for a foreign made guitar, but not a high enough price for the manufacturers to cover the cost of building a USA-made guitar.

In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, Taylor's wood supply was in question.  So they set about to design and produce an affordable American guitar, using their finest guitar designs and production techniques, but creatively using inexpensive woods (for example, "urban ash" from dying trees in cities in southern California).  The results were two new, stripped down but great sounding guitars: the American Dream and the Grand Theater.  In my opinion, these guitars have an excellent quality-to-price ratio.  Unlike the 100 and 200 series Taylors (discussed below in the next price range), they are all solid wood, and American made.

The American Dream is the exact same body style (Grand Pacific) as the 717e (discussed above), but with less expensive woods, and priced at $1,400 without electronics and $1,600 with electronics.  In my opinion, it is one of the best sounding under-$2,000 guitars available.  It is offered with a spruce top in either natural or black (AD17 Blacktop below), or in all mahogany.  The spruce top gives a brighter sound with more dynamic range, while the mahogany tops sound warmer with some natural compression.

For people with smaller hands and arms, the Taylor GT Urban Ash (below), is the exact same 15/16ths sized body style as the GT811e (discussed above), but with less expensive woods, and priced identically to the American Dream ($1,400 without electronics and $1,600 with electronics).  The GT is a very good choice for anyone who wants a bit smaller performing guitar in this price range.

$800-1,300

Both Martin and Taylor have some full-sized, made-in-Mexico models priced in the $800-$1,300 range.  I'm personally not a fan of the Martins in this price range.  The manufacturing processes and quality control in Martin's Mexican factory are not as good as Taylor's.  That's not to say you can't find a fantastic Martin that you'll fall in love with, but you may want to have me check it out before you buy it.  In contrast, the quality control and manufacturing processes in Taylor's Mexican factory are top notch, and I do recommend the Taylor 100 and 200 Series guitars made there. These are high quality instruments that in my opinion are a good value.  They have solid tops with laminate sides and backs.  They play wonderfully, they sound great, and they all come with electronics so you can plug them into a PA system.

The Taylor 114ce (grand auditorium, curvy shape) sells for about $800.  If you can afford slightly more, the next step up is the Taylor 214ce which has a cutaway, rosewood back and sides, gloss top finish, and a slightly richer sound.  It also comes with a better carrying bag, and sells for about $1,000 (Link here to hear the difference between the 114ce and the 214ce).  The 214ce Deluxe (below) is a beautiful guitar for about $1,300.  (Link here to hear the difference between the Standard versus the Deluxe).  It comes with a hard shell case rather than a hard bag.  But, to be honest, when you get to the $1,300 price, I'd seriously consider paying the extra $300 to get an AD or GT... or spending half as much and getting a wonderful sounding Yamaha A1R (see the next lower price section.)

Breedlove is another contender in this price range.  However, be sure to have me play it before you buy it; one of my students spent too much on a Breedlove that was very pretty to look at but had a mediocre tone and a bad action.

$500-700

Many various manufacturers offer guitars in this price range, but most do not have an excellent quality/price ratio, so there are only three that I recommend.  One is the Taylor GS Mini, which is discussed below, in the section on 7/8ths size guitars.  Another is the Taylor Academy Series.  The Academy 10 (below) is a traditional shape, and the Academy 12 is a grand concert style (slightly smaller, curvy shape similar to the grand auditorium).  These guitars are $500 without electronics and $650 with electronics, and they are excellent, easy-to-play guitars for the price.  With solid spruce tops and layered back and sides, they sound decent for their size.  In my opinion, the Academy 12 without electronics is an excellent choice for many beginners.

The other guitar that I highly recommend in this price range is the Yamaha A1R.  This guitar sounds as good as, or better than, other guitar twice its price, which is under $700.  With a full-sized solid Sitka Spruce top and layered Redwood sides and back, its tone is incredible.  It comes with electronics and a cutaway.  The only potential downside is that it is a full sized dreadnought, so it may be uncomfortably big for women and young teens.  But there is no other guitar with a better sound-to-price ratio than this guitar, anywhere.  Put some Elixir Phosphor Bronze strings on this thing and strum a chord, and the only word that comes out of your mouth is "WOW!!!"  This guitar would be an excellent choice for anyone who can handle the size of a dreadnought, from beginner to expert, not only for practicing but also for performing.

Martin also has guitars in this price range, but they are overpriced for the tone you get.  And Breedlove has some absolutely beautiful looking guitars in this price range, but some of them fall short on tone and action.  Two other brands carried locally (at KSM Music) are Teton and Ibanez.  I'm not a fan of Teton guitars, at all, in any price range.  To my ears they sound woody and dull compared to Yamaha and Fender guitars.  Ibanez does have some nice models, but I keep asking myself why anyone would spend $500-700 on an Ibanez when for the same price they could get an easy to play Taylor or an absolutely fantastic sounding Yamaha.

$200-400

If your budget is too tight for one of the guitars listed above, I recommend either the Fender CD line or the Yamaha FG/FS line.  These guitars are decent, for surprisingly low prices.  Smooth straight necks, nice finish, solid spruce tops, and decent sound.  For example, the Fender CD-140S sells for only $200!  (Stay away from guitars priced under $200; they have a laminated spruce top, rather than a solid spruce top.  The solid top makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the sound.)  The comparable Yamaha is the FG800 (full sized "dreadnought" style, below) or the FS800S (smaller, curvy body that might be a little better for most teens and women.)  The Fender and Yamaha are similar to each other on quality, and identical on price.  Try them both and see which one has a tone and feel you prefer.  (I personally prefer the Yamaha, but some of my students have liked the Fender better.)  For an extra $100, you can get electronics and a cutaway in either of these two brands.

(NOTE: Stay away from the Fender and Yamaha shallow-body guitars, including the brightly colored ones.  They are horrible-sounding instruments for way too high of prices.)

7/8 SIZE GUITARS

7/8ths size guitars have not only a smaller body, but also a shorter neck and more compact fret spacing.  They can be an excellent choice for a woman with short arms and/or small hands, or for a young teen who is serious about guitar, because the smaller size makes it a little easier to reach the left hand fingerings.  They can also be attractive to adults as a second instrument because the small size, light weight, and backpack style carrying bags make them easier to take wherever you go (on vacations, to friends' houses, to school, to the park, etc.)  They are not quite small enough to be considered true "travel" guitars, but they are noticeably smaller than full sized guitars, and sometimes airlines will allow you to put them into overhead bins if the flight is not full.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that most 7/8ths sized guitars are terrible instruments that sound shallow and tinny, like they were made out of a cardboard box.  Many of them also have bad actions that make them hard to play. 

The exception is the Taylor GS Mini (below), which has an amazing sound for its size.  In fact, it actually sounds better than some full-sized guitars of other brands.  A nice padded gig bag is included.  I own one of these, and it is what I use for my daily guitar.  I teach lessons with it, and I take it with me just about everywhere I go.  I even occasionally perform with it at venues where I'm not comfortable taking my expensive full sized Taylors.

The GS Mini guitars are some of the most popular guitars in the world.  They sell like hotcakes.  They are Priced identically to the Academy Series guitars (discussed above).  A solid spruce top with layered back and sides without electronics is $500 (above).  A solid spruce top with layered rosewood back and sides plus electronics is $150 more.  An all mohagany version is about the same price.  An all koa wood guitar is a couple of hundred dollars more.  The spruce tops are brighter and clearer, with a solid bass and big dynamic range.  The mahogany top is smoother and more mellow, with a rich bottom midrange and a compressed dynamic range.  The koa top sounds somewhere between spruce and mahogany, with a nice upper midrange and a tamed top end, and it is by far the best looking. 

The top of the line GS Mini is the GS Mini Plus.  For a couple of hundred dollars more than the all koa model, the Plus model includes the best electronic package Taylor makes (the same pickups and preamp as on their most expensive American made guitars), and also an upgrade to a very strong very light protective case instead of a gig bag.  The Plus is offered with either spruce/rosewood or all koa.  The Koa has a beautiful burst finish (below), and based on those I've heard online and played in person, I think Taylor is using a better quality of koa with tighter grain in the wood that has a richer tone in the Plus model than in the regular koa version.  If I were a small person looking for a guitar to perform with, and I couldn't afford a Taylor GT811e, I'd buy either the GS Mini Koa Plus, or the GS Mini Spruce/Rosewood Plus.  The better case and the better electronics are worth the price difference.

GUITARS FOR CHILDREN

Steel string acoustic guitars and elementary school children are not a good match for each other.  The vast majority of young children ages 6-10 who start taking guitar lessons give up in just a short time.  This is because the guitar is too large, and the neck is too wide for the child to reach the frets comfortably, and most importantly the steel strings have WAY much tension for their small fingers to press onto the frets, making it painful and frustrating to play.  Classical guitars have nylon strings that are much easier to press, but their necks are WAY too wide for children to reach across to fret the strings.  Electric guitars also have strings that are easier to press, but the necks are WAY too long and the frets are too far apart for kids to reach, and the guitar bodies are ridiculously heavy for kids.

For children 11-12 who are average size for their age, I recommend a GS Mini (discussed in the previous section, above).  For children ages 9-10 who are of average size for their age, I recommend a 3/4ths sized steel string guitar (these are discussed in the next section, below).  For children 8 years old and younger, I recommend that they learn ukulele first and switch to guitar after a couple of years (this is discussed two section headings below.) 

3/4 SIZE GUITARS

Unfortunately, most of the 3/4ths sized "guitars" that people buy for their children are not musical instruments at all; they are merely toys.  Every guitar teacher rolls his or her eyes when a new student shows up with something that the parents bought for $50 or $80 at WalMart or whatever.  The manufacturing quality is pathetic, the tone is disgusting, it won't stay in tune, and worst of all, the action is horrible, making it even more difficult and painful to play than a full sized guitar. 

If your child exhibits a genuine interest in guitar, it makes sense to equip him or her with a decent, playable instrument.  There's no point in spending $100/month on lessons but scrimping on the guitar.  Here are the 3/4ths sized guitars I recommend:

The Baby Taylor (above) and the LX1 Little Martin (below) are decent instruments.  Priced around $350 new ($250 used), they may seem expensive for a child who will only play them for a few years before growing out of them.  But keep in mind that, unlike less expensive instruments, the Baby Taylor or Little Martin can be sold on the used market when the child grows.  I do recommend these instruments for young students who are genuinely interested in guitar and firmly committed to practice and persevere.  The Taylor and the Martin are about the same size, price, and quality as each other, so pick whichever one you think sounds best.  (LINK HERE to hear the difference; to my ears the Martin has a little more pleasing, rounded tone, but that's just personal taste.)

Do I recommend 3/4ths size guitars for adults?  No.  Never.  They sound absolutely terrible, and they are too small for anyone over five feet tall.  (No offense to Ed Sheeran, who often uses a Martin LX1E on stage... I have no idea why... does he think it looks cool???... whatever his reason may be, it sounds like garbage.)  If an adult wants a travel guitar, there are other travel guitar options listed at the bottom of this page.  If a small adult wants a main instrument, the GS Mini described above blows every 3/4ths size guitar out of the water.

UKULELES

If a young grade school aged child wants to learn guitar, my recommendation is to start on ukulele and switch to guitar later.

If your child is 7-8 years old and average size for his/her age, I highly recommend the "baritone" ukulele.  Baritone ukuleles are bigger than other ukuleles, but are smaller than mini guitars.  The advantage of the baritone over than the more popular soprano and concert ukeleles is that it is tuned exactly like the top four strings of a guitar.  As a result, the chords are named the same as those on a guitar, and the fingering is identical to that of the top four strings of a guitar.  Thus, graduating from baritone ukulele to guitar later on is very easy.  With a baritone, the child can play most guitar songs in the original keys without special "ukulele" music books.  Both KSM Music and The Book Table carry baritone ukuleles and between the two stores there are almost always a few in stock.  If you buy locally, I recommend the $150-ish price range.  Instruments priced below that are usually poor quality, and anything priced above that is overkill if the child will be moving to guitar in a few years.

The baritone ukulele is too large for most 5-6 year olds, so for very young children, I recommend a soprano or concert ukulele.  But make sure it has gear action tuning pegs that stick out the sides of the headstock.  Stay away from the "souvenir" ukuleles with friction fit tuning pegs that stick out of the back of the headstock.  Those are not musical instruments, they are toys, and they absolutely will NOT stay in tune for more than 10 seconds of playing.

TRAVEL GUITARS

The definition of "travel guitar" is somewhat ambiguous.  The general idea is a travel guitar is small enough to take with you when you travel.  Some people call the GS Mini a travel guitar, but in my opinion it is too large to qualify as a true travel guitar because it's too big to fit into the overhead bin of an airline.  Most guitars that are marketed as travel guitars are appx. 3/4ths size, which is generally small enough to fit in the bins of most airlines.  The Baby Taylor and LX1 Little Martin (discussed above in the section on 3/4ths size guitars) are the best of that bunch.  I personally dislike their tone and the action, but they are the highest quality of the 3/4ths size wood instruments, and may be worth considering... merely because the other 3/4ths size wood guitars sound even worse than they do.

However, there are two other travel guitars that are departures from the 3/4ths size wood instruments, that I think fill the need better because they are more rugged and are able to withstand the changes in temperature and humidity and rough handling involved with travel. 

First, there is a company named Traveler Guitars that specializes in guitars specifically designed for travel.  Their Pro Series (below) is an ingenious design that has the same length of neck and the same scale of frets as a full-sized guitar, so the feel to your fingers is just like your normal guitar.  Yet it is by far the smallest of all the travel guitars on the market.  They accomplish this by getting rid of the headstock and the body.  The tuners are moved to where the sound hole would be in a normal acoustic guitar.  It is made of a single piece of solid maple, so it is very strong.  Because it has no soundboard, it is very quiet (similar to an unplugged electric guitar.)  But it can be plugged into an amplifier.  The Pro Series has two pickups.  One is a piezo pickup under the bridge (just like most acoustic-electric guitars) that sounds somewhat like an acoustic guitar, and the other is a single coil electric guitar pickup that sounds somewhat like an electric guitar.  It has a volume knob for each pickup. It also features a completely crazy and unique way to listen to it: there is a stethoscope (just like doctors use) that allows you to listen to it without headphones or amp or batteries!  Because it is so quiet, you can even play it in public places like an airport without bothering other people.  It is 2.5 feet long and 6" wide in storage position, and weighs 3 lbs.  Because of the solid hardwood design, it is rugged enough to take camping or on a hike and not worry about breaking it.  I own one of these and enjoy taking it places where no other guitar can go.  It sells for $400. 

Traveler Guitars also offers another model, the Ultra Light series, that sells for $100 less.  It is the same size and design, but without the electric guitar pickup, volume knobs, and stethoscope, and it has a less comfortable knee rest.

Until recently, there was no practical way to play these guitars for other people to hear, because you needed to haul around a big, heavy amplifier, which obviously defeated the whole point of a travel guitar.  Happily, a company called Positive Grid has recently introduced a tiny, powerful, inexpensive, good sounding guitar amp that is perfect for the job: the Spark GO (below).  It is lithium battery powered and charges with a USB-C port, and it is so small that it will fit into the pocket of the Traveler Pro Series guitar's gig bag.  (Below you can see its size next to an iPhone).  It has four programmable amp presets so you can have four different amp sounds at the push of a button, and you can even download free amp presets that other people have created.  In addition to different types of amps and tone controls, these presets can include virtual pedals for reverb, delay, chorus, and other sounds.  The Spark GO sells for $120, which is a bargain!

The other innovative option in the travel guitar market is the LAVA ME 2 (below).  I have never played one myself, but it is getting rave reviews.  It is about the size of a Baby Taylor or Mini Martin (appx. 3/4ths size), but the entire guitar, including soundboard, body, and neck, is all one-piece, unibody, injection-moulded carbon fiber.  It sells for $800, and it's nearly indestructible.  It has built in reverb, chorus, and delay that work even when the guitar is not plugged in.  It is good from 0 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and from 10 to 90% humidity, so humidity and temperature are never a concern.  It has no truss rod, because the neck never needs adjustment.  Reviewers say the neck is very comfortable to play.  There are many cool colors to choose from, and from what I've seen online it plays perfectly and sounds awesome for its size.

SUMMARY

In summary, in the high price range ($2,000-5,000) the best mass produced professional level guitars in the world are made in the USA by Martin, Taylor, Larrivée, Breedlove, Gibson, and Takamine.  Of these, Taylor offers the greatest variety to choose from.  In the medium-high price range ($800-1,900), you can't go wrong with Taylor.  In the medium-low price range ($500-700), the Yamaha A1R is a full sized guitar that is competitive in sound and quality with guitars double its price.  For those who want a smaller guitar, the Taylor Academy (teens and adult beginners) or the Taylor GS Mini (young teens and smaller adults) are also excellent values.  In the low price range ($200-400), Yamaha and Fender offer the best quality for the price.  For "travel" guitars the smallest is the Traveler, and the most indestructible and best sounding is the LAVA.

WHERE TO BUY YOUR GUITAR

My advice for buying a guitar is: 1) Shop in a quality guitar store.  Do not buy guitars online.  Buying a guitar you haven't held in your own hands and played is sort of like marrying someone you haven't actually met, thinking that photos and an online description is sufficient. And 2)
don't pay attention to brand name or specifications.  Instead, go to Main Street Guitars and KSM Music and Music Village and play all of the guitars in your price range, and see which one "speaks to you".  Buy the guitar that makes you smile when you play it.  Buy the one you don't want to put down.  Don't write down the model number and go shop online.  When the one you want is in your hands, buy that specific guitar.  There is no guarantee that if you buy one online that it will sound exactly like the one you played in the store.  I will be happy to go with you during one of your lessons to help you select a good one.

Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Yamaha, and Fender are all carried locally at Main Street Guitars, located downstairs at The Book Table in Logan, which has an excellent selection and very competitive prices (identical to those of online dealers).  A limited selection of Breedlove guitars are available at KSM Music.  Larrivée and a wider selection of Breedlove are available an hour's drive away at Music Village in Riverdale.  LAVA and Traveler are available available online directly from the manufacturers.  (It is okay to buy LAVA and Traveler online, because LAVA is not made of wood, and Traveler is made of a single piece of hardwood.)

Buying a used guitar is a gamble, even if you have held it in your hands, unless you know what problems to look for.  If you are considering purchasing a used guitar, have me play it first.  Don't be lured into thinking you're getting a bargain by buying a used guitar for a bargain price.  If it has worn frets, a warped neck, a stripped truss rod, or a bad soundboard, repairs might cost more than the price of a new guitar.