Picking your first acoustic guitar is mostly a problem of noise. Every retailer claims their pick is "the best beginner guitar." Every YouTube reviewer has a favorite. Every guitar forum thread devolves into the same five brand wars within six replies. Underneath that noise, the actual question is narrower than it looks: which sub-$700 acoustic guitars are well-built enough that a beginner won't fight the instrument while learning to play it.
This list is the result of cross-checking the recommendations on r/guitarlessons, the major guitar magazines, Justin Guitar's beginner shortlist, and the spec sheets of every entry-level guitar under $700. The six below are the only ones that get recommended consistently and hold up under playability scrutiny for absolute beginners. We'll tell you which fits which hand size, budget, and ambition.
Quick comparison
| Guitar | Best for | Body shape | Price range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yamaha FG800 | Best overall | Dreadnought | $220–$260 |
| Fender CD-60S | Smaller hands | Dreadnought | $200–$230 |
| Epiphone DR-100 | Tightest budget | Dreadnought | $150–$180 |
| Yamaha JR2 | Smaller frames, travel | 3/4 dreadnought | $170–$200 |
| Seagull S6 Original | Wider neck, fingerstyle | Dreadnought | $500–$560 |
| Taylor Academy 10 | Step-up, plays itself | Dreadnought | $680–$760 |
1. Yamaha FG800 — best overall for absolute beginners
Solid spruce top, nato/okume back and sides, dreadnought body, 25.6" scale, 1.69" nut width
If you asked a hundred guitar teachers which sub-$300 acoustic to put in a beginner's hands, more than half would say the Yamaha FG800. It is the modern entry point in a model line Yamaha has been refining for over fifty years, and the build quality at this price is the reason it sits at the top of nearly every shortlist on the open web.
The thing that makes the FG800 work for beginners is the solid spruce top. Cheaper guitars in the same price bracket use laminated tops, which produce a flatter, more compressed tone. Solid spruce opens up as you play it in, which means the instrument rewards rather than punishes the early weeks of practice. The scalloped bracing pattern Yamaha redesigned around 2016 also gives the body a louder, more present low end than older FG models.
The dreadnought body is full-sized, which is the one caveat. If you're under about 5'4" or have a smaller frame, the body depth can feel like a wrestling match for the first few weeks. In that case, jump to the Yamaha JR2 (entry #4) or the Fender CD-60S (entry #2), which has a slightly slimmer neck profile.
Best for: first-time buyers who want a full-size acoustic that will hold its tone for a decade, not a year.
2. Fender CD-60S — best for smaller hands and budget players
Solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides (or all-mahogany variant), dreadnought body, 25.3" scale, 1.69" nut width, rolled fingerboard edges
The Fender CD-60S is the closest competitor to the FG800 at the same price, and it edges ahead on one specific point: the rolled fingerboard edges. Fender redesigned this model in 2016 so the corners of the fretboard are gently rounded instead of square. That small detail makes barre chords and slide-up positions noticeably more comfortable for beginners who haven't yet built up finger calluses.
The neck profile is also slightly slimmer than the Yamaha's, which helps if your hands are on the smaller side. The all-mahogany version (CD-60S All-Mahogany) trades the brighter spruce top for a warmer, woodier tone that some beginners prefer for fingerpicking and folk styles.
The trade-off compared to the FG800 is a slightly less pronounced low-end response. If you plan to strum aggressive open chords for rock and folk songs, the Yamaha will sound bigger. If you plan to fingerpick or play softer styles, the Fender often sounds more balanced.
Best for: beginners with smaller hands, or anyone who prioritizes a comfortable neck over raw volume.
3. Epiphone DR-100 — best on the tightest budget
Select spruce top (laminated), mahogany back and sides, dreadnought body, 25.5" scale, 1.68" nut width
The Epiphone DR-100 is the cheapest guitar on this list, and you should know up front that it uses a laminated rather than solid spruce top. That means the tone is more compressed and won't open up the way the FG800 or CD-60S will over years of playing. What you get in exchange is a $150 guitar that is properly set up at the factory, holds tune reliably, and has a long enough track record that you can buy used examples for under $100.
For someone who isn't sure they'll stick with guitar long enough to justify spending $220 on the Yamaha, this is the lowest-risk entry point. If you fall in love with it, you upgrade to one of the other guitars on this list six months in. If you don't, you've spent the cost of two months of streaming subscriptions to find out.
The honest caveat: at this price, individual units vary in quality more than the FG800 or CD-60S do. Buy from a retailer with a clear return policy and try the specific guitar before committing if you can.
Best for: first-time buyers who want to test their commitment before spending more, or budgets capped under $200.
4. Yamaha JR2 — best for smaller frames and travel
Spruce top (laminated), meranti back and sides, 3/4-size dreadnought body, 21.25" scale, 1.69" nut width
The Yamaha JR2 is a 3/4-size version of the FG line, designed originally as a travel guitar. It has become the default recommendation for two beginner profiles: younger players (roughly age 8 to 13) and adults under about 5'2" who find a full-size dreadnought uncomfortable to wrap an arm around.
The shorter 21.25" scale length also means less finger stretch between frets, which makes the early weeks of chord-shape practice noticeably easier. The trade-off is that the smaller body produces a thinner, less projecting tone than a full-size guitar. You won't be filling a room with it, but you also won't be sitting on the couch fighting the instrument every time you pick it up.
Worth knowing: the JR2 ships with a gig bag, which is uncommon at this price. Most full-size guitars on this list require a separate $30–50 case purchase.
Best for: kids, smaller-framed adults, and anyone who needs a guitar that travels easily.
5. Seagull S6 Original — best for a wider neck and fingerstyle
Solid cedar top, wild cherry back and sides, dreadnought body, 25.5" scale, 1.72" nut width, made in Canada
The Seagull S6 sits in a different price bracket than the first four entries and is included here because beginners with specific goals — fingerstyle, folk, classical-influenced playing — often outgrow a $220 guitar within a year and end up replacing it. The S6 is a buy-once guitar in that range.
Two things distinguish it. First, the solid cedar top gives the instrument a softer, warmer voice than spruce-topped guitars, which suits fingerpicking and quieter playing styles. Second, the 1.72" nut width is wider than the standard 1.68" on most entry-level dreadnoughts, which gives your fretting fingers more room to navigate string-to-string. That extra space is unhelpful if you mostly strum chords, but it's a meaningful improvement for fingerstyle.
The instrument is built in Quebec by Godin's Seagull workshop and has been a consistent staff pick at independent guitar shops for over thirty years. If you already know fingerstyle or folk is where you're headed, this is the guitar that gets you there without an upgrade.
Best for: beginners who already know they want to fingerpick, play folk, or who have wider fingers and want more string spacing.
6. Taylor Academy 10 — best step-up that plays itself
Solid Sitka spruce top, layered sapele back and sides, dreadnought body, 25.5" scale, 1.6875" nut width, armrest bevel
The Taylor Academy 10 is the most expensive guitar on this list and it is included because Taylor designed it as an explicit answer to one question: "what is the cheapest guitar that still feels like a Taylor." The answer turned out to be roughly $700, and the result is the closest thing on the market to an instrument that plays itself for a beginner.
The two design choices that justify the price are the armrest bevel — a sculpted curve where your strumming forearm rests on the body, which sounds like a marketing gimmick but eliminates the wrist fatigue that absolute beginners often quit over — and Taylor's standard neck profile, which is markedly slimmer and more uniform than the necks on guitars at half the price. The factory setup is also among the most consistent in the industry; you can buy one online and trust that the action will be playable out of the box.
The catch is the price. If you're not sure you'll stick with guitar, this is the wrong starting point. If you already know you will and you want to skip the upgrade cycle entirely, this is the guitar most reviewers will tell you to buy.
Best for: committed beginners who would rather buy once at $700 than buy twice at $250 and then $700.
How to choose between them
If your budget is under $200, buy the Epiphone DR-100 and don't overthink it. It's not the tone of the others, but it's a properly playable instrument that won't punish you for being new.
If your budget is $200–$300 and you have average-or-larger hands, the call is between the Yamaha FG800 and the Fender CD-60S. The Yamaha sounds bigger and louder. The Fender has the rolled fretboard edges and a slimmer neck. If you can hold both at a store for ten minutes, you'll know which one your hands prefer.
If you have a smaller frame or are buying for a child, the Yamaha JR2 is the consensus pick. Don't try to "size up" into a full dreadnought too early — fighting body depth is one of the more common reasons beginners quit in the first three months.
If you already know your style is fingerstyle or folk, the Seagull S6 is the buy-once guitar in this list. If your budget reaches the $700 range and you want the closest thing to an instrument that plays itself, the Taylor Academy 10 is the call.
Two things to avoid regardless of which guitar you pick. Don't buy an acoustic guitar bundled with twenty accessories from a brand you've never heard of — those packages almost always pair a poorly-built instrument with $20 worth of picks and a tuner you didn't need. And don't buy used from a private seller unless someone who plays guitar is checking the action and neck relief for you. A guitar with a warped neck is unplayable, and the repair costs more than the guitar.
What to do once you have the guitar
The guitar is the easy decision. The harder one — and the one most beginners never resolve cleanly — is which method to learn from. YouTube has roughly four million guitar lessons, which sounds helpful until you've spent three months bouncing between channels and still can't name the notes on the fretboard.
We wrote Guitar Theory Simplified as the book we wished existed when we were starting out: 183 pages of full-color diagrams that take you from "I just bought a guitar" to understanding chord construction, scale relationships, and the fretboard, in a way that pairs with any of the six guitars on this list.
View Guitar Theory Simplified →
Frequently asked
Should a beginner buy a new or used acoustic guitar?
New, unless you have a guitarist friend who can inspect a used one for neck relief, fret wear, and action. The guitars on this list are inexpensive enough that the value-per-dollar difference between new and used is small, and a new instrument comes with a return window and a factory setup that a private-seller used guitar won't.
Do I need a solid-top guitar to start?
No, but it matters more than most beginners realize. Solid-top guitars (FG800, CD-60S, Seagull S6, Taylor Academy 10) open up tonally over years of playing. Laminate-top guitars (DR-100, JR2) sound roughly the same on year ten as they do on day one. For under $200, laminate is the only option. From $220 up, solid-top is worth the small premium.
What about classical (nylon-string) guitars for beginners?
Classical guitars have wider necks and softer-feeling nylon strings, which some beginners find more comfortable for the first few weeks. The trade-off is that the technique and repertoire diverge from steel-string acoustic and electric guitar quickly. If you want to play songs you hear on the radio, start with a steel-string acoustic. If you want to play classical, flamenco, or bossa nova, start with a classical.
How much should I spend on accessories?
For your first three months, you need a tuner ($15 clip-on), a few picks ($5 for a sampler), and a strap if you plan to stand and play ($15). Skip the multi-effects pedal, the second guitar, and the wall hanger until you've practiced consistently for ninety days. The single most reliable predictor of beginner success isn't the gear — it's whether you played thirty minutes a day for the first three months.
Do I need an electric tuner, or can I tune by ear?
Buy a clip-on chromatic tuner. Tuning by ear is a useful skill to develop over the long term, but for the first six months you'll spend less mental bandwidth on tuning anxiety if you can clip a tuner to the headstock and trust the readout. The cheapest reliable models are around $15.