The Best Acoustic Guitar 2022

The Best Acoustic Guitar

With its Dreadnought format, you can practice all styles of music with excellent sound projection. The solid spruce top gives a crystalline and rich sound. This right-handed folk guitar exhibits good durability and is coated with a varnish finish. The mahogany neck is thin, allowing good access to the highs while providing warmth and power, while the rosewood fingerboard provides clarity. The brand’s G50 series is known for its sleek, understated aesthetic, but also for its versatility.

This guitar is a Dreadnought model with a spruce top, mahogany body and neck. Its size is suitable for all hands, but is more suitable for adults. The body of the guitar sports a classic style. The bridge is made of rosewood, which improves the longevity of the guitar. The neck style with 20 frets is thin, making notes more easily accessible. The sound is correct and already allows you to play songs with a certain melodious quality.

The SLG200S stands out for its design. It thus sports the contours of a classical guitar, but is almost empty in its center. This outline can also be removed, making it an excellent model for travel or small apartments. This construction makes the guitar very light and comfortable to wear. However, if you’ve had guitars before, the lack of a body can be troubling. This detail makes it possible to play silently.

This guitar is a Dreadnought model with a small cut off top. The handle is thin, easy to play and seems sturdy. There are also some technological touches such as a double-action control bar that allows you to prevent accidental curvature of the neck or modify the sound of the guitar. It is equipped with a Fishman Presys Plus preamp with integrated tuner that allows you to control the treble, mids and bass. It is suitable for folk, blues and country.

Our Selection

Our Pick, Best Mid-Range	Best cheap	Best high end	Mid-range alternative
Takamine GD51 Natural	Epiphone DR-100	Yamaha SLG200S	Fender Classic CD-140SCE
Versatile, it delivers sounds full of richness, clarity and warmth with great volume, and its thin neck offers good access to all notes, making it ideal for folk.	This guitar has no preamp and has a traditional shape. It focuses on the essentials: producing a correct sound without the possibility of amplifying it. It targets those who are just starting out.	It does not have a sound box and is therefore very quiet, light and easy to store. However, it has a preamp on which it is possible to connect headphones.	This model is cut off from the top to reach the neck more easily, but also has a preamp for an affordable budget. It allows to have a margin of progress.
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Honorable mentions

Takamine GD11MNS (€ 219.00 at the time of publication): A very good reputation, ease and a pleasant sound. Mostly made with mahogany, this guitar delivers a warm, round, precise and pleasant sound to the listening with a touch of clarity provided by the rosewood fingerboard. Versatile and easy to learn, it enjoys good playability in the eyes of buyers. Its satin body also brings an aesthetic touch.

Yamaha FG800 (€ 319.93 at the time of publication): Excellent quality and comfort. This guitar is made of quality materials with fairly flexible strings. Its sound is particularly balanced and warm, and it can be heard from afar. You can enjoy it for hours as the handle is comfortable. We recommend it to all guitarists who practice and appreciate the acoustic rendering. On the other hand, some buyers find the action a bit high.

Seagull S6 (€ 585.00 upon publication): Good vibration and depth. This handcrafted guitar admits comfort, size and tones that can appeal to all types of artists. Whether you are a beginner, experienced, right-handed or left-handed, Seagull has got you covered. One of the great strengths of the S6 is the sound with unparalleled clarity, power and depth, which can also improve with age. Its low notes may not be the best, but they are very present and defined.

How to choose your acoustic guitar?

Acoustic guitars are numerous on the market and each of their characteristics are linked, so much so that only one element can cast doubt on the quality of the instrument.

In order to help you make your choice, we have established a list of criteria to take into account in your research:

• The format of the guitar : it influences sound and ergonomics. There are four formats: Auditorium, Concert, Jumbo and Dreadnought. The “Auditorium” provide a noisy and well-balanced sound. “Jumbo” are the largest and produce a more crystal-clear sound, while “Concert” are smaller. The “Dreadnoughts” are the most common and allow you to practice all styles of music with the best sound projection.
• The handle : this is one of the most important elements because it depends on your morphology and requires finding an optimal slip. A narrow neck goes up more easily in the treble. In addition, we can also look at the materials used: mahogany is the most popular and brings warmth to the sound and a great volume. Rosewood spreads a less harmonious but clearer tone. Maple and walnut necks are more powerful and complex.
• The size of the guitar : this is such an important criterion because it will affect the comfort of the guitarist. A guitar that is too large and not suitable can cause tendonitis or back problems. Size ¼ is generally intended for very young children. The ½ size is reserved for children between 6 and 8 years old. Size ¾ is ideal for a child around 10 years old. For adults, we usually choose size 4/4.
• The box : its purpose is to deliver vibrations. It can be made from Sitka spruce making the guitar strong and light with a nice tone. There is also the spruce which gives a more crystalline sound, or the cedar: more popular, it emits good bass and less treble to release a warm tone. The finishes are matt or glossy. The table represents the front part of the guitar. Choose solid wood because it excels over time. The more massive the table, the better the quality.
• Sound quality : the materials that make up the two previous points will determine the sound. Ideally, it should be balanced and bulky. Solid wood offers better tones than laminated wood. And with age, this surface will further improve the sound.
• Use : choose a guitar that suits your level (beginner or intermediate), the style (s) of music you want to practice (Jazz, Blues, Folk, Country, etc.), where you want to play songs and frequency of use.
• Aesthetics : it depends on everyone’s tastes. Most users consider this point from the type of wood used and the look of the rose window.
• The mecanic : mechanical oil baths are generally fitted with a removable cover. They are waterproof and keep better tuning than open tuners which are more exposed. Indeed, the latter require more regular maintenance and more care to assume a certain durability.

As you can see, materials are very important in this type of instrument. In any case, it is important to test the product before purchasing it, as this is the best way to know if the guitar is right for you or not.

Also note that in order to learn to practice electric guitar, it is better to start by handling an acoustic or folk guitar.

NB: are you looking to equip your guitar? Read our article on 7 best guitar accessories from the moment.

Sources

1. Alex Price, $140 vs. $3,000 Acoustic Guitar // Martin HD-28 & Epiphone DR-100, August 25, 2021
2. Dawsons Music & Sound, Fender CD-140SCE Mahogany Electro Acoustic Guitar Review, August 25, 2021
3. Interview with Adrien Fraboul, founder of Back 2 Guitar, August 23, 2021
4. GCH Guitar Academy, Yamaha SLG200S silent guitar. Unboxing, review and tests (SLG200), August 25, 2021
5. NyMag, The Best (Affordable) Acoustic Guitars for Beginners, According to Experts, August 25, 2021