8 Best Cheap Acoustic Guitar Under $200 [2020 Reviews]

Getting a budget guitar can be a very wise decision since a good budget guitar can offer great sound and great playability. It’s pretty mind-blowing just how a budget guitar can outperform some off-brand intermediate guitar.

But it comes to us with no surprise. There are plenty of fish in the sea. So today, we are going to bring you the best acoustic guitars under $200. Our focus on the article will be to provide you with the product details and why we chose the guitars as our top picks. With no further ado, let’s get straight right into the list.

If you are in the market for the best for value $500 guitar, we got you covered too.

The line up at a glance

We’ve done in depth loads of researches through many various products and chosen ten different models to compare. Have a look through all our pros and cons for each one to find your best acoustic guitars under 200.

Our Picks For Top 8 Best Acoustic Guitar Under $200

Yamaha FG800 is a budget acoustic-electric guitar. The key selling point for this acoustic was the high-quality built and durability. The classic dreadnought body shape with a tapered waist gives the player max comfort while playing.

The solid Sitka spruce top provides the guitar with a lovely sound to it. The dreadnought shape also gives the guitar an excellent projection.

The body shape of Yamaha FG800 is a dreadnought with a solid Sitka Spruce top and Nato/Okume back and sides. The slim tapered neck is also made out of Nato, but the fingerboard is made out of rosewood. Rosewoods are just perfect for fingerboards because they are naturally oily. The guitar comes with 20frets but 14on the body.

Since the body does not have any cutaway, reaching the strings’ higher notes can be difficult. But it is a fair trade because you are getting a really nice, strong, clear, and full sound. The guitar may not be suitable for lead players, but it certainly is the best for any other use.

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Our number two pick is the Jasmine S34C. The Jasmine S34C Nex is a beautiful, excellent, affordable acoustic-electric guitar that focuses more on the sound than the durability. It is for the people who want high-quality auditory.

The guitar is not too bulked and very comfortable to handle. The bracing of a guitar is crucial as it gives the guitar stability and is directly linked with producing sounds. Because of the advanced X bracing, the sound of Jasmine S34C is more reverbed and full. 

The Jasmine S34C comes in the grand-orchestra shape. The top of the guitar is made out of Sitka spruce. The back and sides are made of Sapele wood, and the bridge is made out of Rosewood. Saddle and bridge pins are synthetic bones.

Last but not least, it comes with a glossy finish. The neck is made out of Nato wood. There are 20 frets on the fingerboard, and the scale length is 25.5”. The neck also has a glossy finish to it which gives the guitar a fantastic look.

The fingerboard is made out of Rosewood with a 12” radius. There are Pearloid dot inlays on the fingerboard. The chrome-covered system

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Fender produced many high-quality guitars over the years. But the FA-125 is on the affordable side. You also get a padded gig bag, electric tuner, picks, and an extra set of strings. The guitar produces a high-quality sound that is as good as a 500$ guitar.

The FA-125 acoustic guitar comes with a spruce top and X bracing. This gives the guitar a full and resonant sound. The fretboard and the strings are very close. For such a low action guitar, its playability increases a lot.

The classic dreadnought gives the guitar an excellent sound. The top is made out of solid Spruce, and the back and the side are of rosewood. It has a laminated hardwood fretboard and nato neck. The guitar comes with a gloss finish, which looks stunning.

It comes with a 20-fret fingerboard walnut fingerboard. The bridge is made out of hardwood and compensated saddle. The stock die-cast tuner ensures you don’t get out of tune every 5 minutes. This guitar is the perfect choice for an advanced player who is short on the budget.

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The Epiphone DR-100 is a low-budget quality guitar best suited for beginners. The action of Epiphone DR-100 was very well set up right out of the box. The sound quality, build quality, and playability is as good as a high-end acoustic guitar.

Because of its dreadnought body shape, the guitar provides an excellent booming sound to it. The smooth neck also allows beginners to learn the guitar without any challenge.

The body shape of DR-100 is a dreadnought, which is ideal for rock, country, and bluegrass. The guitar has a solid Sitka spruce for the top and the back, and the sides are made out of laminated Mahogany. The top gives the guitar a loud blooming tone.

The nuts and saddles are both made out of synthetic plastic. The neck is made from Okoume and comes with a slim-taper neck and an adjustable truss rod. The guitar has 20 frets with a scale length of 25.5”/ 647.7mm. The neck joint is a Dovetail, glued-in system.

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Ibanez IJV50 Acoustic Guitar is a great easy to play guitar as it sounds good and comes with a bunch of accessories. The guitar is cheap but very well built. The guitar is also very durable and tends to stay in tune for a long time.

The V50 natural-finish comes with a spruce top that gives the guitar a great tone. This makes the guitar one of the best choices under $200.

The guitar comes in a dreadnought body shape. The top is made out of laminated spruce, and the back and the side are made out of basswood, also known as agathist. A black pickguard is paired with the top. The neck is made out of Mahogany, which is paired with a rosewood fingerboard.

There are 20frets and white dot inlays on the fingerboard. Like we said before, rosewood is the perfect choice for fretboards. Like some Ibanez guitars, it has an Ivorez 2 saddle and nut.

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Rogue RA-090 is your best choice if you have a really low budget yet a reliable guitar, and is designed for absolute beginners. But do not get the wrong idea! This guitar is a beast. It is designed to adapt multiple styles like strumming and fingerpicking.

Despite being so cheap, it has an adjustable truss rod. The dreadnought body with a cutaway? It means the guitar sounds good, and you can also reach the high-notes. It is also a great choice for people playing jazz music. But the high action might require some setup from the professionals.

Rogue RA-090 is a dreadnought shaped guitar. The top is made out of laminated whitewood. The back and the side are also made out of the same material for consistency. It makes the guitar very lightweight, so it is easily a reliable choice for traveling. 

The c profile neck is made out of Nato Mahogany, and the colored fingerboard is made out of simulated rosewood. There are 20 frets on the fingerboard, and the single-cutaway gives the guitar easy access to higher notes.

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The Washburn WD100DL can deliver amazing quality for the value. The sound is very consistent and stays in tune. The WD100DL has a warm and full tone. It is cheap, so it is the perfect practice guitar. The white binding on the body goes nice with the mahogany color. Overall the guitar is very well put together.

The Washburn WD100DL is a dreadnought shaped guitar. The top is made out of mahogany. It gives the guitar a nice warm tone. The back and the side is also made out of mahogany for consistency. The neck was also made out of mahogany and paired with a c shaped rosewood fretboard.

There are 20 frets on the fretboard with a scale length of 25.5”. The bridge is also made out of rosewood, and the tuners are die-cast. So you can expect your tunes to last long without fear of getting your tuners rusted. The gloss finish makes the guitar look beautiful and perfect for something so amazing and cheap.

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When I think about cheap guitars, I think about guitars that sound not that good, easily breakable, not so pretty looking, or a guitar with a bad tuning machine. But Fender FA-115 is the total opposite. The top made out of solid spruce with the X bracing gives the guitar a nice, bright sound and a nice body. The hardwood bridge and compensated saddle confirm high playability. The specially designed neck also provides a lot when it comes to playability.

The Fender FA-115 is a dreadnought shaped guitar. The top is made out of laminated spruce. The back and sides are made out of basswood. The guitar has an X bracing to it, so you can expect to have a great sound. Nut and saddle are made out of the same material, synthetic bone. The glossy finish makes the guitar look like a high-end guitar.

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Criteria used for evaluation

Type of woods

A tone-wood is very important in constructing a guitar because different types of tone-woods can sound very different. A good tone-wood serves a few purposes like resonating better, getting better with age, and lastly, improving the visual.

But how do we define a good sound? Well, the term “good sound” is very vast because different tone-woods are suitable for different genres. The spruce is the best choice for the top of the guitar. It gives the guitar some tonal properties. Sitka spruce is slightly harder than average spruce.

So naturally, people prefer Sitka spruce over the spruce. The rosewood will be the perfect one for the back and side. It provides the guitar with a rich and warm tone. The Mahogany is the more commonly used tone-wood as it is famous for its durability and producing subtle overtone and earthy midrange tonality.

So before choosing which guitar is perfect for you, you have to be careful which genre of music you will play and select the tone-wood wisely.

Body shape

The shape of the guitar also holds a very important role when it comes to producing a sound. Guitar body shapes like the dreadnought, grand auditorium, orchestra, Parlor, and Jumbo all sound somewhat different from each other.

A parlor shaped guitar has a light, focused, and balanced sound. Grand auditorium and orchestra guitar shapes come in outstanding balance, projection, and volume. They are usually not dependent on any plug-ins or amps. They tend to sound good on their own.

The dreadnought guitars are larger and more focused on the low frequencies. It is highly famous among flat pickers. One more aspect the body shape can influence is the playing style. Body shapes also include cutaways.

A single-cutaway can give you access to higher notes. It is more famous among people who tend to play solo or leads. But guitar with no cutaways tends to have better volume and bass, making it more suitable for finger-style players or rhythm guitarists.

Neck

The neck of your guitar creates a huge difference when it comes to comfort. The acoustic neck tends to have 12 or 14 fret necks above the guitar body. On a 12th fret neck guitar, the 13th and 14th frets will be on the body. Thus it will be harder to reach the high notes.

Another factor is the neck joint. Most acoustic guitars come with a set neck, which is glued. Then there is a bolt-on neck. The advantages of bolt-on necks are they are replaceable, and the guitar with bolt-on necks are cheap. The dovetail neck joint is the best choice for acoustic guitars.

Dive tail necks are structurally strong. It also helps the vibration of your playing. It can somewhat give your instrument a warm and more fullness in the sound.The fingerboard is an essential part of a guitar, and your fingerboard must be made out of high-quality material.

Woods used for the fingerboards are Rosewood, Maple, and Granadillo. Rosewood is more preferred for most players as it is naturally oily and a medium density wood. You can expect your guitar to be lightweight and smooth. The rosewood also provides a warm and soft tone.

The maple is more famous for its stunning visual. Maple is very dense, and it’s a strong wood. Rosewood is better than maple because the maple fingerboard can be a bit sticky after the finish. So it should come to us with no surprise, you should choose an acoustic with rosewood fingerboard rather than a maple fingerboard.

Bottom line

A guitar that sounds well is a guitar that’s worth well. These are some examples of guitars worth owning despite their cheap cost. I hope our article helped you learn more about guitars and how they are ranked. Thank you for reading!

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Frequently Asked Questions