Buying guide · updated 2026-08-24
The Best Guitars Under $500
Under $500 is where the guitar market is most competitive, and where the difference between a good specification and a marketing one matters most.
As an Amazon Associate we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through our links, at no additional cost to you.
Our picks
Best under $500JacksonX Series Dinky DK3XR HSSNeon Green
A compound radius, 24 jumbo frets and a double-locking tremolo. Nothing else here offers that combination.
8.3/10 Fretline5.0 (6)
Best acoustic under $500FenderCD-60SCE Dreadnought, All-MahoganyNatural
A solid top and a Fishman system — the two things that usually push an acoustic past this budget.
8.0/10 Fretline4.4 (888)
Best valueSquierAffinity Series Stratocaster3-Color Sunburst, Laurel fingerboard
Comfortably the cheapest instrument here, and still the most versatile.
7.5/10 Fretline4.6 (531)
Best neckIbanezGIO GRX70QATransparent Black Sunburst
The thinnest profile in this price bracket, and the reason the model has stayed in the catalogue for over a decade.
7.2/10 Fretline4.6 (2,567)
Not sure between them?
Add any of these to the comparator and see every specification aligned, with the differences marked and the score profiles overlaid.
Open the comparatorWhere the money goes below $500
At this level, manufacturers make three choices, and understanding them tells you almost everything. The first is the body wood: poplar and basswood are stable, light and neutral; mahogany and alder cost more and have more character. The second is the hardware: a licensed double-locking tremolo or a branded preamp is a genuine cost, and a guitar that has one has usually saved money somewhere else. The third is the pickups, which are almost always the component the manufacturer economises on — and, conveniently, the easiest to upgrade later.
A useful rule: buy the guitar with the best neck and hardware you can afford, and treat the pickups as provisional. Replacing a pickup is a one-hour job. Replacing a neck is not.
What you should expect for the money
A properly cut nut is not guaranteed at this price and fret-end finishing is inconsistent across every brand here. Neither is a defect so much as a consequence of volume manufacturing, and both are inexpensive to correct. Tuning stability, on the other hand, is largely determined by the hardware you bought, and no amount of setup will make a basic vibrato behave like a locking one.
Common questions
- Is a solid top worth paying for on an acoustic?
- Yes, more than any other single feature. A solid top vibrates as one piece and continues to open up over years of playing; a laminate top sounds much the same in a decade as it did on day one.
Instruments in this guide
Jackson · Electric guitar
X Series Dinky DK3XR HSS
Neon Green
A double-locking Floyd Rose and a compound radius, in the loudest finish Jackson makes
Fender · Acoustic-electric guitar
CD-60SCE Dreadnought, All-Mahogany
Natural
A solid mahogany top and a Fishman system, well under the price that usually buys either
Squier · Electric guitar
Affinity Series Stratocaster
3-Color Sunburst, Laurel fingerboard
The default first Stratocaster, and it earns the position
Ibanez · Electric guitar
GIO GRX70QA
Transparent Black Sunburst
The cheapest honest route into a fast neck and a humbucker at each end
Keep reading
The Best Guitars Under $1,000
Under $1,000 is where hardware stops being a compromise. Here is what that buys you, and what is in our catalogue at this level.
The Best Guitars for Beginners
The specifications that matter to a beginner are not the ones on the front of the box. Here is what to look for, and the four instruments we would recommend.
The Best Electric Guitars
The electric guitar is not one instrument but half a dozen, each solving a different problem. Here is what separates them, and which one to buy.