Best Acoustic Guitars Under $1,000

Three Taylor GS Mini features keep countless guitarists turning to this acclaimed design: portability, price, and build quality. The GS Mini-e Mahogany acoustic-electric model’s solid mahogany top gives it a sultry sound backed by laminate sapele back and sides.

The GS Mini-e Mahogany sounds gentle when delicately fingerpicked, yet digging into the strings with a pick reveals loud projection and an enticing midrange growl from the mahogany top.

If the value here wasn’t already impressive, then the GS Mini-e also comes with built-in ES-B electronics for rich, authentic piezo amplification with dedicated volume and tone controls.

You’ll be set to gig, record, or simply enjoy a guitar that goes anywhere and sounds bigger than its size.

Put simply, the Eastman PCH2-GACE is no stranger to the stage. A proprietary Eastman pickup system, complete with volume and tone controls to dial in the perfect tone on the spot, makes this acoustic-electric perfect for running through your stage amp or recording solo in the studio.

Of course, it all starts with a traditional spruce and rosewood construction — a pairing that supplies rich, bold low end with plenty of clarity and articulation in the high end to cover multiple genres and playing styles.

In true Eastman fashion, it’s all topped off with sturdy hardware and a true-bone nut and saddle combo.

Comfortable, charismatic, and full of coveted Martin tone, we’re talking about the 000C Jr-E acoustic-electric guitar. As for size, the 000C Jr-E sits somewhere between the company’s smaller and full-size guitars, making it an excellent solution for traveling musicians.

Tonal foundations remain very much the same, thanks to an all-solid spruce top and sapele back and sides construction. As a result, the 000C Jr-E emits deeply rich sonics with exceptional dynamics and clarity, all of which are easily evoked via the accessible mini auditorium body style and easy-playing High Performance Taper neck profile.

Stage environments? Studio spaces? No problem! The 000C Jr-E has a preinstalled Fishman Sonitone preamp to ensure an authentic output wherever your musical ventures take you.

The Washburn Bella Tono Vite S9V is proof that a guitar can be a visual showstopper without sacrificing professional playability. Featuring Washburn’s innovative "Studio" body shape, this instrument offers a more compact, narrow-waisted feel that many Sweetwater guitarists find more comfortable than a traditional dreadnought, yet it still packs a surprising amount of projection.

The standout charcoal burst finish on the figured walnut back and sides gives it a high-end boutique aesthetic, while the solid spruce top ensures a clear, articulate voice.

Equipped with a Barcus Berry LX4 preamp and a built-in tuner, it’s a stylish and reliable companion for the coffeehouse circuit or the home studio.

For many guitarists, the Taylor 114ce is the definitive introduction to the "Taylor sound", a signature blend of crystalline highs, a focused midrange, and impeccable playability.

The Grand Auditorium body shape is Taylor's most popular for a reason: it’s the ultimate "Goldilocks" size, offering enough volume for heavy strumming while remaining sensitive enough for delicate fingerstyle. This model features a torrefied solid Sitka spruce top, which undergoes a special roasting process to provide a pre-aged, vintage-like resonance right off the shelf.

Whether you’re plugging in for a gig or practicing on the couch, the 114ce offers a professional experience that's hard to beat in this price bracket.

If you’re looking for a workhorse that’s as comfortable on a Sunday morning stage as it is in a late-night songwriting session, the Yamaha FGX800C is a perennial favorite.

Building on the legendary FG series, this model adds a convenient cutaway for easy access to those higher frets and integrates Yamaha’s System-66 electronics for a plug-and-play experience that sounds remarkably natural. The solid Sitka spruce top is the star of the show here, providing an articulate, punchy projection that only gets better with age. When you combine that with the warm, mahogany-like character of its nato back and sides, you get a balanced dreadnought that punches way above its price point.

The Seagull S6 Cedar Original has long been a go-to recommendation for Sweetwater Sales Engineers, and for good reason—it offers a boutique feel without the boutique price tag.

While many dreadnoughts in this range lean on spruce for brightness, the S6 opts for a pressure-tested solid cedar top. This gives the guitar a "played-in" warmth and responsiveness right out of the box, making it a dream for fingerstylists and light-to-medium strummers. Paired with wild cherry back and sides, the S6 delivers a unique tonal profile that sits right between the dark richness of mahogany and the crisp snap of maple.

It’s a North American–made workhorse that proves you don’t have to spend four figures to get an instrument with a soul.

Every Eastman instrument starts at the company’s design roots — and the PCH1-OM acoustic guitar is no different. This model represents Eastman’s classic orchestra body style and is lined with thermo-cured Sitka spruce on top and a laminate construction on the back and sides to hit all the tonal corners and provide beginners and pros alike with vastly articulate sound.

As if that weren’t enough, the guitar’s satin-finished okoume neck and supple rosewood fingerboard amount to unparalleled navigation across 20 frets while maintaining utmost transitional control.

To complete the package, a true bone nut and saddle on the PCH1-OM is proof that this Eastman classic means business.

Similar to their PCH1-OM model, Eastman’s PCH2-OM acoustic guitar rides the lines of the company’s prized Orchestra Model architecture, supplying superb, projective tone from a balanced spruce top and rosewood laminate back and sides.

The same satin-finished okoume neck and rosewood fingerboard reside, albeit with a meticulous selection of Eastman upholstery including a bone nut and saddle, sturdy nickel hardware, and high-performance closed-back tuning machines to ensure the utmost intonation support and long-term performance.

All things considered, the PCH2-OM is a perfect acoustic choice for players who covet the nuance of rosewood and spruce, high-profile appointments, and Eastman’s quintessential Orchestra design.

Now a timeless pick: Yamaha’s FG800J acoustic guitar. Part of the company’s best-selling FG series, the FG800J has been a top choice among acoustic guitarists for years. Why? To start, it’s fit with an industry-standard spruce top and nato/mahogany back and sides — a classic tonewood combo that shines across a spectrum of acoustic genres.

Plus, the FG800J’s folk body shape and satin-finished neck make it seamless to navigate every fret.

If you’re looking for a guitar that’s affordable and takes the values of traditional acoustic construction to heart, then you’ll find everything you need in a Yamaha FG800J.

The Yamaha LL16M is a prime example of how Yamaha produces feature-rich, quality-consistent guitars under $1,000. The LL16M utilizes solid mahogany back and sides for reliably rich overtones and lush sustain.

The top is not only selected by hand from a boutique spruce species but is also treated to Yamaha’s A.R.E. torrefaction process — essentially sped-up aging that seasons the wood for enhanced performance.

The resulting sound is something you’d usually have to wait a decade or two for or pay triple the price. But, with Yamaha, it’s yours for less than a grand.

Our Sweetwater Sales Engineers often recommend Fender acoustic guitars such as the CC-60S to customers on a budget. Like most Fender acoustics, the CC-60S is ultra-affordable and punches above its price with its all-mahogany looks and easygoing comfort.

The CC-60S’s concert body’s slim size is perfect for beginners, both children and adults. Unlike many guitars in this range, the CC-60S features a solid mahogany top as opposed to laminate — solid wood at this price point is an incredibly rare find, and you’re unlikely to see such value from any builder smaller than such a behemoth mainstay as Fender!

Fingerpickers and players drawn to sweeter, softer acoustic-guitar tones are bound to find the CC-60S’s all-mahogany presence captivating, warm, and easy on the ears compared to the brightness of other tonewoods such as spruce.

Of all the deserving Martin guitars to grace this list, the Martin Sweetwater Select OMCX1E is a serious standout. For starters, this guitar doesn’t look like your typical Martin.

Its black-on-black appearance is the result of a high-pressure laminate (HPL) top, back, and sides, which provide both a boisterous tone and a supremely fast-playing feel. To boot, the OMCX1E comes preloaded with Martin’s E1 electronics, ensuring your tone gets properly amplified to rock any performance situation.

It’s all rounded out with an ultra-stable birch laminate neck, an eco-conscious Richlite fingerboard, and a hardy collection of black hardware and closed-back tuning machines.

Did we mention this OMCX1E is only available at Sweetwater?

Contrary to its namesake, there’s nothing tarnished about Recording King’s Dirty 30s Series 7 Single 0 acoustic guitar. By way of a balanced spruce top and whitewood back and sides, reaping Delta blues-style tones and dutiful projection is all but guaranteed — not to mention a superior vintage appearance that is easy to maneuver and looks stunning in any stage or studio environment.

Sweetwater guitarists are passionate fans of the guitar’s Cross Lap X-bracing, which amplifies the tonal qualities of spruce and whitewood while maintaining a comfortable, compact form factor for gigging guitarists, practicing beginners, and porch-pickin’ purists alike.

The Jim Dandy by Gretsch revives the compact features of the company’s vintage Rex acoustics. Rex guitars were mail-order items that gained a reputation for portability, playability, and reliability, particularly during the Great Depression.

The Jim Dandy Parlor offers a similar experience with a hearty laminate construction that won’t warp or go quickly out of tune when exposed to the outdoors. Camping trips, cross-country treks, strumming on the college quad: the Jim Dandy does it all with antique appeal that’s a joy to experience.

Plus, according to one Sweetwater review written by customer TomStunes who references a Gretsch mail-order catalog printed in 1936, the cost of a Jim Dandy today is practically equivalent to the cost of a Rex guitar in the 1930s adjusted for inflation.

Sculpted sound supported by X-bracing and a tight, nimble feel lend themselves to expressive, heartfelt playing on the Gretsch Jim Dandy, whether that means delicate fingerpicking or intense, sweeping strums.

What better way to celebrate Paco de Lucia’s renowned flamenco prowess than with the Cordoba F7 Paco flamenco nylon-string acoustic guitar! Sounding exquisite due to a meticulous collection of Canadian cedar and Indian rosewood tonewoods, the F7 Paco is a wonderful choice not only for fans of Paco’s playing but also for beginning players and pros looking for a suitable nylon-string solution at a friendly price.

No shortcuts are taken on construction, with a flat neck angle and Spanish-style fan bracing offering up traditional tone and comfort.

Take it from Sweetwater’s flamenco aficionados: If you’re in the market for a nylon-string acoustic guitar, then the Cordoba F7 Paco is a cost-effective solution that will keep on giving.

There’s a primordial magic to the sound of baritone acoustic guitars, especially the Guild BT-240E. Lower-tuned strings supply incredibly thick midrange and rumbling lows that pair well with baritone and alto singing voices.

The BT-240E also plays well with other acoustic instruments and can be a valuable studio implement to add low-frequency support to brighter acoustic sounds, especially when used to play low alternate chord voicings.

With a capo, the BT-240E unlocks fresh, inspiring acoustic sounds with a unique timbre, thanks to the thicker baritone string gauges.

The BT-240E’s mahogany body and spruce top are crafted in the spirit of classic Guild jumbo guitars for a look reminiscent of the 1960s and big, assertive tone.

While we’re talking about Eastman, how about something a little more roadworthy? The ACTG1 travel acoustic guitar is your ticket. The guitar’s shortened scale length makes it a perfect pick for cramped tour buses, vacations, and beyond, yet it commandeers the very same Eastman tonal quality through a mixture of spruce and sapele tonewoods.

The ACTG1’s mahogany neck and dovetail neck joint are equally impressive, allowing silky-smooth positioning across the entire fretboard that’s comfortable and tenable for pro players and beginners alike.

To top it all off, a bone nut, sturdy nickel hardware, and hand-scalloped X-bracing maintain that, while small, the ACTG1 packs every inch with true Eastman power.

Back to Taylor’s GS Mini series — this time, however, with a torrefied twist. The GS Mini Sapele acoustic guitar sports portability, power, and playability in a small package constructed with a solid Sitka spruce top and layered sapele back and sides that result in remarkably full tone and projection.

As a result of its shorter scale, the GS Mini Sapele is an excellent pick for beginning guitarists or for gigging professionals who want a tour-bus strummer between sets.

Just don’t let its size fool you: While small and light enough to take from trip to trip, you’ll find the GS Mini Sapele supplies more than enough power in Taylor’s dutiful Grand Symphony body shape.

The Guild Traveler acoustic guitar does what its name suggests and serves as a formidable travel option for vacations or on the road between gigs. That said, it’s also a perfect option for players with smaller hands or beginning players looking to get familiar with navigating the guitar before getting a full-scale instrument.

Either way, the Traveler sports magnificent tone for its size with its spruce-topped, mahogany tonewood construction. It’s easy to maneuver and control, thanks to a smooth satin-finished mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, black hardware, and Guild Vintage 16 open-gear tuning machines.

If you’re looking for acoustic tradition at a smaller, more manageable travel size, then the Traveler should be at the top of your list.