The 5 Best Guitars for Beginners (That You’ll Want to Keep Playing)
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So you’re looking for the best beginner guitar, are ya?
We’ve all been there. You’re excited and you’re ready to buy a quality starter guitar, but you end up struggling with the stiff strings and buzzing that you don’t know how to control.
From there, you either hobble your way through your guitar journey, or your guitar ends up in the closet while your calluses disappear.
Our goal is to help you not only hobble, but thrive during your first year of playing guitar. We’ve compiled a list of the five best beginner-friendly guitars that feel good enough to keep rewarding you as your skills grow.
These guitars are reliable, easy to set up, and ready for upgrades if you decide to make modifications later.
#5. Yamaha FG820 Dreadnought
If you want a first acoustic guitar that you’ll hold onto forever, the Yamaha FG820 is the classic dreadnought. It has a big voice for strumming and clean fundamentals for singer-songwriters.
Yamahas in general tend to be solid picks. We recently asked our audience about the most underrated guitar brands, and Yamaha won by a mile. So rest-assured that you’ll get a quality guitar with the FG820.
SOUND
It’s got a solid spruce top, so the tone opens up and gets better the more you play it. The mahogany back and sides add some warmth to the midrange, which is nice if you’re singing while you play, and the scalloped bracing and Yamaha’s Traditional Western body shape make it feel more responsive than most guitars in this price range.
FEEL
The neck has a comfy medium profile, and the 43 mm nut width keeps open chords from feeling cramped. Strum it hard and you’ll feel that big dreadnought thump.
It also sounds great right out of the box and only gets better with age. This isn’t a guitar you’ll outgrow, even if you get more serious about acoustics down the line; you’ll still reach for this one around a campfire or when you’re writing songs.
SETUP
Light or medium phosphor bronze strings work well here. If the action feels too high, just take the saddle down a hair, it doesn’t take much. And don’t be surprised if you need a tiny truss rod adjustment when the seasons change since wood moves with humidity.
OTHER OPTIONS
If you like this one, take a look at the Yamaha FG830 too, it’s got a slightly glassier top end. And if a dreadnought feels too big, Yamaha also makes the FS in a smaller body.
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#4. Guild OM-240 / OM-320 (Orchestra Model)
Guild doesn’t get talked about as much as Martin or Taylor, and that’s a shame because the OM-240 and OM-320 are two of the best guitars for beginners.
They’re smaller and easier to hold than the dreadnought, and it’s a great shape if you’re into fingerpicking or lighter strumming.
SOUND
The OM-240 has a solid Sitka spruce top with mahogany sides and Guild’s arched mahogany back, which adds some extra projection and sustain you don’t always get from a smaller-bodied guitar.
The OM-320 goes a different direction with a solid mahogany top, back, and sides, so it’s warmer and woodier instead of bright and projecting. Neither is “better”, they just sound like different guitars.
FEEL
The OM shape naturally encourages good posture, which matters more than people think when you’re starting out. It sits well in your lap, doesn’t fight with your picking hand, and because you can hear every note in a chord clearly, it trains your fretting hand to land more accurately without even thinking about it.
The OM-320 also has a comfy C-neck and a rosewood fingerboard, and it’s finished in the open-pore satin look. A lot of bundles throw in a gig bag, too, which is nice.
And the best part is that both models get better as you get better. The more nuance you bring to your playing, the more the guitar gives back to you.
SETUP
Try 11-52 (light) if you want easier bends and barre chords, or 12-53 (medium) if you want a bit more push and volume. Also, pay attention to the midrange too, it’s a good indicator of whether your pick attack is too heavy or too soft.
OM-240 OR OM-320?
Go with the OM-240 if you want a classic spruce top brightness and Guild’s signature projection. But, go with the OM-320 if you’d rather have a warmer, more vintage-leaning voice.
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#3. Yamaha PAC112V Pacifica
The Yamaha Pac112V Pacifica does almost everything well, which makes it a great pick if you don’t know yet whether you’re a blues, indie, pop, or classic-rock player.
SOUND
It’s got an HSS pickup set with Alnico V magnets, plus a push-pull coil-split on the bridge humbucker, so you’re not locked into one tone.
Flip the switch and you’ll go from a fuller humbucker sound to something closer to single-coil. The alder body keeps things balanced rather than going too bright or too dark.
FEEL
The neck carve feels really right, and you’ll know it the second you pick it up. It’s got 22 frets, plays like a Strat, and the controls are simple so you won’t be thinking about them mid-song.
If you’re just starting to mess with a trem bar, the vintage-style vibrato is forgiving, so you’re not going to wreck your tuning every time you touch it.
The coil-split alone is worth it because you get two completely different sounds out of one guitar.
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#2. Squier Affinity Series (Strat or Tele)
Squier’s Affinity line got a solid refresh a while back, and now these feel much more like Fenders instead of cheap knockoffs. They’re light, comfortable, and pretty dang close to the real thing that a lot of people hang onto theirs even after buying something nicer.
SOUND
The Strat’s got three single-coils and a tremolo, so you get the whole range, bright chime on the neck pickup, quacky in-between sounds, and sharper bite from the bridge.
The Tele’s a different animal. It’s got two ceramic single-coils and a string-through bridge that gives it the twangy bite Teles are known for. It’s great for rhythm playing or riffs that need to cut through a band.
FEEL
Both the Strat or Tele sit nicely against your body whether you’re standing or sitting. The Strat’s got a light poplar body and a C-shaped neck that’s easy to get used to. The Tele’s basically the same weight and same neck shape.
We recommend messing around with the pickup selector and the tone knobs for a bit to start figuring out what you like.
SETUP
For the Strat, let the bridge float a little or lock it flat, it doesn’t really matter, it just depends what feels right. For the Tele, get the pickup height dialed in so your chords ring clean but your leads still bite a little.
Down the road, a better nut or cleaning up the wiring makes a big difference. Both use standard Fender routing too, so swapping pickups later isn’t a big deal.
STRAT OR TELE?
Honestly it comes down to what you want. Choose a strat if you like messing with a tremolo bar and want more range. But pick the Tele if you’re more of a rhythm player and want something that cuts through.
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#1. Jackson Dinky JS11
If a guitar makes you grin, you’re going to practice more, and it’s as simple as that. The JS11 plays fast, it gets loud and aggressive when you want it to, and still cleans up nicely for quieter practice time.
SOUND
It’s got two high-output Jackson humbuckers with ceramic magnets, so you get easy sustain even at low amp volumes, which is nice if you’re practicing somewhere you can’t crank it.
FEEL
The neck’s easy to move around on, so you’re not fighting the guitar just to play a chord. Power chords feel solid, and when you’re playing single notes your fingers can move fast without getting stuck.
It’s also got a tremolo bar (that’s the arm you push to bend the pitch of the strings) and bigger frets, which make it easier to bend notes once you get more comfortable.
The fingerboard’s pretty flat too, so your hand isn’t working as hard whether you’re strumming chords or running scales.
Honestly, this is the kind of guitar that makes you want to try stuff like vibrato or start using your pinky finger more; the little things a lot of beginners put off.
SETUP
Start with the trem decked flat until your ear and hands are ready to deal with a floating bridge. Keep the nut slots smooth and put a little lube on the string trees while you’re at it. Light 9-42 strings make the jumbo frets feel really smooth.
Down the line, locking tuners are worth it once you’re leaning into the trem a lot, and a better bridge block adds more sustain if you want it. It’s a pretty mod-friendly platform overall.
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How These Were Chosen
The biggest thing I cared about was playability. A beginner guitar needs to feel good in your hands, with a neck you can move around easily and a body that sits right whether you’re on the couch or standing up with a strap on.
If you’re constantly fighting your posture just to hold it, you’re going to spend more time adjusting than playing.
Tone mattered too, of course. With acoustics, a solid top makes a huge difference because the wood opens up and sounds better the more you play it. With electrics, having pickups you can switch between means you can try out different sounds instead of feeling stuck, or worse, thinking you need an entirely new guitar a few months in.
I also wanted these to be easy to set up. You just need a truss rod that works right, a bridge you can adjust, and hardware that holds tune. It’s pretty simple.
And probably the most important, none of these are guitars are ones you’ll outgrow. If you ever want to upgrade down the road, you can. You can swap a pickup, throw on better tuners, etc. Every guitar on this list gives you room to grow.
Quick Buyer’s Guide: Acoustic or Electric First?
If you want to sing while you strum, you’re into folk, country, or indie, or you just want to plug in and go without needing an amp, acoustic’s probably your move. The Yamaha FG820 is a great fit here.
If you’re more into riffs and solos, and you want lighter strings that are easier on your fingers while you’re learning, go electric.
The PAC112V is versatile and covers a lot of ground. The Affinity Strat and Tele give you the classic Fender feel. And the JS11 is the kind of guitar that makes you want to pick it up again.
Beginner Guitar Setup Tips
When you put new strings on, give them a gentle stretch; tune up, pull lightly along the length of each string, then tune again. Do that a few times and the strings settle in, so your guitar stays in tune instead of drifting all over the place.
It’s also worth checking what’s called neck relief, which is basically how much the neck bows under string tension. To do that, put a capo on the first fret, press down at the last fret with your other hand, and look at the gap around the 7th fret. You want just a tiny sliver of space there. If it needs adjusting, small turns on the truss rod, like a quarter turn at a time, are usually all it takes.
How high your strings sit above the frets (that’s called the action) makes a big difference too. If they’re sitting too high, chords are going to feel like a fight. Bringing them down a bit makes it way easier to build clean technique and you won’t strain your hands.
A little maintenance where the strings rub against the guitar helps too. Some graphite in the nut slots, a drop of lube on the tremolo’s moving parts, and making sure the string trees (the little guides that hold the strings down near the headstock) are smooth. All of that keeps you in tune longer.
One last thing, wear a strap even when you’re sitting down. It keeps the guitar in the same spot every time, so your hands build muscle memory faster.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, the right beginner guitar just needs to work. It should make you want to pick it up again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. That’s really all that matters.
Okay…I have read and studied all this information. The fact is that I am 87 y/o, have some arthritis in my fingers, but still am able to bend them; used to pick chords from an inexpensive box, so am not completely unfamiliar with strumming. All I want to do is play chords and write and sing at home. How am I supposed to put all this available informaton into play as I try to find a guitar that suits me? Any other suggestions?
Old Man of the Sea