Acoustic guitars are among the most popular instruments today. They are affordable, easy to learn, and offer a wide variety of styles and tones. Playing an acoustic guitar doesn’t require much skill or expertise either. You can accompany just about any song with it because it is that flexible.
However, buying your first acoustic guitar can be challenging because there are so many manufacturers and models available on the market today. This guide will help you narrow down your choices and find the best acoustic guitar under 400$.
Best Acoustic Guitar Under $400: TOP PICKS
Best Overall: Takamine 6 String Acoustic Guitar
- Solid cedar top with mahogany back and sides
- Slim satin-finish mahogany neck and 12"-radius rosewood fingerboard provide great feel and playability
- Split-saddle design of the pin-less rosewood bridge provides superior intonation for sweeter-sounding chords and single-note runs
- Bone nut and bridge saddle
- Elegant Natural satin finish
The GD20 is a lovely dreadnought-type acoustic guitar with a unique tonewood mix that gives a fresh approach to this traditional body design. The GD20 blends a solid cedar top with mahogany back and sides to provide a warm, rich tone that works nicely for various musical genres for players searching for a new sound. The thin satin-finish mahogany neck and 12″-radius rosewood fingerboard create a comfortable and playable feel.
Best Small-knob Tuners: Martin LX1 Little Martin Acoustic Guitar
- Mahogany pattern HPL (high pressure laminate) textured finish, solid sitka spruce top
- Rust Stratabond neck, shortened 3/4 scale
- Chrome small-knob tuners. Tusq saddle.
- Solid Morado or East Indian Rosewood fingerboard
- Includes padded gig bag
The Little Martin guitar is highly regarded for its tone, craftsmanship, and adaptability. The solid Sitka spruce top on this LX1 model is complemented with a mahogany HPL high-pressure laminate back, sides, and back. It’s excellent for travel, student internships, playing around the home, or building a fire. The product is textured and finished in HPL pattern mahogany (high pressed), solid Sitka spruce top, antique Rust Stratabond, and 3/4 scale truncated.
Best Professional Sound: Little Martin LXK2 Acoustic Guitar with Gig Bag
- PROFESSIONAL SOUND: Martin Guitar's Little Martin LXK2 acoustic guitar has a Sitka spruce and koa high-pressure laminate (HPL) construction and is Martin’s smallest guitar. While small in size, it is very big on tone, quality, and versatility. It sounds great being played around the campfire or while practicing around the house.
- SUPERIOR APPEARANCE: The Little Martin LXK2 acoustic guitars are made with high-pressure laminate (HPL) top, back, and sides and built with sustainable wood certified parts. They feature a mortise and tenon neck joint, non-scalloped X-Brace, standard tapered neck, and chrome-enclosed gear tuners, making it look as captivating as it sounds.
- PREMIUM HANDMADE GUITARS: Handmade from the highest-quality wood, Little Martin guitars are built to stand up to late-night jams, long studio sessions, and plenty of strumming or picking. These solid-wood, acoustic guitars deliver classic designs, professional sounds, and enjoyable playing.
- PLAYABILITY ENHANCED: In addition to Martin's iconic tone known worldwide, our guitars deliver enhanced playability that makes playing a pleasure, no matter your experience or skill level. Whether you're playing rock, country, folk, bluegrass, or jazz, these guitars deliver a natural playing experience that you will love.
- LITTLE MARTIN GUITARS: Martin's superior guitar and string products remain the choice for musicians around the world for their unrivaled quality, craftsmanship, and tone. Still handmade. Still the standard. Martin guitars are the real deal—not an imitation.
Martin Guitar’s Little Martin LXK2 acoustic guitar is made of Sitka spruce and koa high-pressure laminate (HPL) and is the company’s smallest model. Despite its diminutive size, it packs a powerful punch in terms of tone, quality, and adaptability. It sounds fantastic while practicing around the home or over a campfire. It is constructed with certified sustainable wood components and has a high-pressure laminate (HPL) top, back, and sides. They boast mortise and tenon joints, caseless X-Braces, standard taper necks, and chrome-coated gear shifters, making them appear as wealthy as they sound.
Best Tortoise Body: Recording King 6 String Acoustic Guitar
- Single 0 Body with Tailpiece and Floating bridge
- Solid AAA Spruce Top
- Black Headstock Overlay with JTE Signature Initials
- Gold Tuning Machines with Tortoise Buttons
- Satin Tobacco Sunburst Finish with Tortoise Body Binding
Before Justin Townes Earle died in 2020, Recording King worked directly with him to create the Justin Townes Earle Signature model. From the first strum, fans of his percussive approach will identify his dry, woody tone. The JTE Signature’s characteristic small-body tone begins with a strong Sitka spruce top. RK’s proprietary CrossLap bracing provides exceptionally tight bracing tolerances, letting the top vibrate more freely for outsized projection. JTE adored the early RK Dirty 30s guitars and expressly wanted a signature model with the typical floating bridge and gold tailpiece.
Best Lightweight: Ibanez AEG62 6-String Acoustic
- Preamp: A nyatoh neck and walnut fingerboard offer stellar playability and response, and an Ibanez T-Bar II bottom saddle and AEQ-TTS preamp deliver beautifully articulated amplified tone
- Construction: The AEG62 features a Sapele construction that results in a rich, bottomless low end with a lively midrange
- Lightweight: With a shallow body depth, this slimmer acoustic is lightweight and easy to play
- Features: The AEG62 also features a smooth, deep cut that gives you access to those higher notes in the neck. A new easy-to-read onboard tuner with LCD (liquid crystal display) is located on the preamp
- AEQ-TTS Preamp with Onboard Tuner: The small and simple preamp has only two control knobs, volume and shape. This at-a-glance tone control offers natural acoustic sound in the center position. It allows players to adjust the tone easily and enables them to go from low, fat and powerful tones to a bright and crisp sound while adjusting only one knob
The Ibanez T-Bar II bottom saddle and AEQ-TTS preamps give a matched amplified tone. The guitar has a good neck and walnut fingerboard for superb playability and responsiveness. Lovely connection. The Sapele structure of the AEG62 offers deep, bottomless bass with a vibrant midrange. This thinner sound is lightweight and simple to play due to its modest body depth. In addition, the AEG62 features a deep and smooth cut that lets you reach the upper notes in the neck.
COMPARE PRODUCTS
- COMPLETE ALL-IN-ONE ADULT GUITAR KIT: No need to purchase any additional accessories, this all-inclusive set comes with a carrying case, extra strings, a strap with a pick holder, a tuner, pick guard, cleaning cloth, capo, and pick set
- ULTIMATE BEGINNER & INTERMEDIATE GUITAR: This full-size guitar is perfect for beginners and experienced players alike, with a dreadnought shape that produces a pleasant, warm tone
- PROTECTIVE PADDED CASE: Take your guitar with you to school or on trips with a stylish and protective carrying case, designed with foam pads, a shock-proof rubber bottom, and even a front storage for your capo and extra picks
- COMFORTABLE DESIGN: This classic, acoustic guitar is designed with a 41in body for a comfortable fit, perfect for beginners and experienced players alike
- CLASSIC DESIGN: Elegant inlay provides a classic, acoustic look and the cutaway shape allows you to reach higher on the fret to reach high notes; place the included pickguard underneath the guitar sound hole to protect from pick scratches while playing; Dimensions: 15.75"(L) x 4.25"(W) x 41"(H)
- The Squier SA-150 is a full-size steel-string acoustic that offers big sound at a small price.
- It's strong enough to stand up to the everyday use (and abuse) that beginning players might throw its way thanks to its all-laminate construction with lindenwood top and mahogany back and sides.
- This guitar also features scalloped "X"-bracing, mahogany neck and a durable dark-stained maple fingerboard to give you an instrument that looks as good as it sounds.
- With its slim, easy-to-play neck and full-bodied dreadnought tone, the SA-150 is an ideal choice for all rookie strummers.
- EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN ONE BOX: A gig bag is included so you can keep your instrument safe when you're on the go. The included clip-on tuner is easy to use and delivers reliable performance. Included in this bundle is a guitar strap, extra strings, string winder and picks so you can start playing your instrument immediately. Our exclusive Austin Bazaar instructional DVD provides the guidance you need as you learn your new instrument.
- ♫ A TASTE OF CARBON FIBER - Carbon Fiber may have become a buzzword in the acoustic guitar world. You are intrigued. But the price of at least hundreds of dollars scares you off a little bit. Then you discover Nova Go. It's carbon fiber and less expensive. You are thinking about giving this a shot, right? This is what we intended: bringing quality carbon fiber acoustic guitar, that's of great value.
- ♫ WHY CARBON FIBER - Nova Go is made of carbon fiber composite material, which means it's impervious to temperature and humidity change. Taking it to chill on a beach with the hot bright sun up above, or to a hiking trip deep in a mountain, or even further to shoot some beautiful Instagram posts in a snow land, Nova Go would stay stable, with no warp nor cracks. That's the edge of carbon fiber acoustic guitars.
- ♫ SOLID BUILD & EASY TO PLAY - The body of Nova Go is 1/2 sized (35 in.), molded all in one piece, meaning that the bridge is a cohesive part of the top, not glued upon like traditional acoustic guitars. It would never snap or fall off. Meanwhile, we've put a truss rod into the neck, giving your more adjustability for the string action, even though the factory setup is already optimum.
- ♫ ZERO FRET - Also, the "Zero Fret" feature is added to this acoustic guitar for smoother tuning, and fret ends are polished to round edges for a more comfortable hand feel. 5 colors available: black, white, pink, blue, purple.
- ♫ PRACTICAL ACCESSORIES - This Nova Go acoustic guitar comes with a gig bag. The packaging is colorful and delicately designed. You can send it straight as a gift to someone you love or care about. A hexagon wrench is also included for you to adjust the string action.
- Solid sitka spruce top
- Nato back & sides
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Rosewood bridge
- Diecast tuners
- Fender-exclusive Malibu body shape
- Painted solid spruce top; painted mahogany back and sides
- Fishman pickup/preamp system
- Mahogany neck with slim-taper "C"-shaped profile; walnut fingerboard and bridge
- Matching painted 6-in-line headstock
- Thin-line cutaway Body design for exceptional playability
- 25" Scale Length and narrower string spacing for Enhanced comfort
- New scalloped bracing pattern for increased bass response
- Abalone sound hole rosette
- Stage-focused pickup system for shaping your sound in the mix
- 36” BEGINNER GUITAR SET: Pyle brings you a complete all-in-one acoustic guitar set, everything you need to start playing. The guitar comes with a gig bag case, pitch pipe tuner, spare strings, pearloid picks, cleaning cloth, and a gift card
- JUNIOR SCALE SIZE: A junior scale 6 string guitar perfect for use on lessons, recitals, band rehearsals, onstage performances or when practicing at home. Has a traditional classic body style great for beginners and children learning to play guitar
- HANDCRAFTED: The classical guitar features handcrafted construction w/ linden wood body, birch headstock, dyed maple wood fretboard, high gloss polished body back w/ protective binding, rosette linden laminate finish, chrome 3-in-line machine head
- BEGINNER READY: This traditional junior classic acoustic stringed instrument kit is excellent for both beginner and children looking to start guitar playing. It brings you everything you need to start playing straight out of the box
- SPECIFICATIONS: Total length: 36”; Scale length: 22.8”; Total body length: 17.3”; Total neck length (Nut to body): 18.5”; No. of frets: 18 frets; Guitar body material: Linden wood; String material: Nylon; Total dimensions: 35.8” L x 13.4” W x 3.35” H
- ALL-IN-ONE ACOUSTIC-ELECTRIC GUITAR KIT: No need to purchase any additional accessories, this all-inclusive set comes with an amplifier, carrying case, strap, pick set, tuner, and more
- ULTIMATE BEGINNERS & INTERMEDIATE GUITAR: Experiment with the sound settings to better fit your genre and style; adjust the treble, bass, middle, tone, and volume from the guitar's body and amplifier
- PLAY ACOUSTIC OR ELECTRIC: This classic guitar can be plugged into an amplifier for a customizable electric tone, or played without one for an acoustic sound. A headphone jack in the amplfier lets you practice privately without disturbing those around
- FIT FOR ALL AGES: Playing guitar is easy for beginners and experienced players alike with 11accessories including a pick-guard that keeps your guitar body scratch-free
- EASY TO PLAY: This acoustic-electric is comfortable to hold, with a cutaway shape that allows you to more comfortably reach past the neck and hit higher notes on the fretboard
- The ideal first guitar for children ages 3+.
- Award-winning 3-string design allows for an easier and faster learning process. With the Loog Mini, kids feel rewarded and encouraged to keep on playing and learning.
- Approved by educators: Learn on a Loog, play any guitar.
- Real wood, real guitar: specially designed for small hands, with low string action, perfect intonation and nylon strings for a beautiful classical guitar sound.
- Includes chord flashcards, free video lessons, and full access to the Loog Guitar app (iOS and Android), so they can learn on their own, at their own pace.
- Fender-exclusive Newporter body shape
- Painted solid spruce top; painted mahogany back and sides
- Fishman pickup/preamp system
- Mahogany neck with slim-taper "C"-shaped profile; walnut fingerboard and bridge
- Matching painted 6-in-line Villager “hockey stick” headstock
FAQS
Is $400 a good guitar?
Most electric guitars under $400 sound decent, but as your ear improves via guitar playing, you’ll notice changes in tone. Most of these guitars’ pickups are adequate for normal players, but you may wish to replace your guitar since the existing pickups lack some of the tones you seek.
What is a good price for an acoustic guitar?
Acoustic guitars range in price from $100 to $200 for an entry-level model. Intermediate-level acoustic guitars range in price from $300 to $800, while Professional-level acoustic guitars may cost several thousand dollars. The price is influenced mostly by the place of origin, brand, body, and wood type.
CONCLUSION
There are several excellent electric guitars available for less than $400. Guitars in this price category sound far better than cheaper models, and more alternatives are available. These instruments may still need some setup, but there isn’t much to do for the most part. You will get a high-quality instrument that will endure for many years. To get the most out of your new guitar, have a guitar tech inspect it and make any necessary changes. In certain circumstances, a few little changes to your guitar may significantly impact how it performs and how satisfied you are with it.
