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Acoustic guitars come in various shapes and sizes. With newer variants coming, this space has become super competitive. There is no limit to how much you can spend on an acoustic guitar, but in this article, we will focus on the segment below $1000. This segment offers some great varieties for all levels of guitar players.

But before getting into the best acoustic guitar under $1000, you may want to understand what to look for in your acoustic guitar which provides the best bang for the buck under $1000.

All the guitars featuring in this article are top grade. You can close your eyes and choose any of them and will not be disappointed.

Lets dive in.

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How to choose the right acoustic guitar?

A guitar is made up of different components that are responsible for the sound, playability, tuning, etc. Having the best components in an acoustic guitar can be a method of selection but one should keep in mind, that the guitar is a sum of all the components. You cannot possibly look at components separately and judge a guitar.

Though the components can have some specific effect on the sound or tonality, the overall sound of the instrument will be dependent on three main factors:

• Quality of the materials used
• Design of the guitar and
• Craftsmanship.  

Guitar Shapes

Guitar Shapes are perhaps the best place to start. All guitar players will have an inherent liking to a specific shape and size of the guitar. Different shapes have a different feel and sounds associated with them. Musicians representing different genres will have a preference for different body types. 

The Dreadnought

The Dreadnought is known for the big boomy sound and perhaps the most common guitar shape around. It is considered to be an all-rounder and it emphasizes a balance of the base and high. This works very well for any rhythm guitar or playing chords to songs.

The 000 and 0M

The 0 and the 000 shaped guitars have an hourglass shape as compared to the pear-shaped outline of the Dreadnought. These guitars have a more prominent midrange. The 000 and 0 guitars work very well in the hands of a fingerstyle guitarist. These are smaller in size as compared to a Dreadnought and are thus comfortable for all shapes and sizes of guitar players.

The 0M and the 000 guitars have the same body size but they differ in their specifications. The 0M guitars have a longer scale, wider neck, and more space between the strings as compared to most 000 guitars. On the other hand, the 000 guitars generally provide a more balanced sound response and are great options for a recording studio set up.

Parlor

These guitars are the smallest body among the acoustic guitars. These guitars are light in weight and produce a good mid-range. Due to the smaller size of the bodies, it does not produce a very loud sound. These acoustic guitars are best used for intimate performances and make a great choice for a travel guitar. The smaller body of the guitar also makes it a good choice for children or individuals with smaller hands. Best for fingerstyle guitarists.

Jumbo

These acoustic guitars as the name suggests are jumbo in size. Jumbo’s have a louder sound and are best for players who prefer to sit down and perform. These guitars offer good balanced sound and are perfect in the hands of bigger players.

Choice of Woods: Solid or Laminated

The wood used in the guitar has an impact on the tone. There are some acoustic guitars which use laminated wood while some use solid wood. Solid wood is a single piece of wood while laminated are glued woods which are bound together.

The top wood of an acoustic guitar is most important and it is recommended to have a solid wood top. Woods have the characteristics to open up as they mature, giving the guitars their distinct sound. Solid woods on the side and the back of the guitar will give a more open and resonant sound.

Top Wood

It is also called the soundboard of the guitar. The vibrations generated by strumming resonates with the top wood. The sound vibrations are then amplified and released from the soundhole. The type of wood used for the top of the guitar shapes the tone and also the volume.

• Sitka Spruce: This is the most common among the acoustic steel-string guitars. Sitka Spruce provides a clear midrange and a solid balance of tone.
• Adirondack Spruce: This is a louder wood than Sitka. It produces nice high ends with crisp clarity. This wood was used in vintage guitars and are known for their clean tones.
• Mahogany: Mahogany is known for its warm tone with a strong midrange. These are favored by country and blues musicians. These are excellent woods for recording as they have excellent depth of sound and a balanced range.
• Koa: The tonality of Koa is similar to Mahogany. They have a deep mellow tone with a lot of color at lower volumes.

Back and Side woods

While the top wood shapes the tone, the woods at the back and side help to color it.

• Mahogany: This produces a balanced even sound across the strings with bright high end and warm low end.
• Sapele: This produces a very similar sound to that of mahogany and has a slightly different look.
• Rosewood: These provide a more boom and bell-like quality with good bass response.
• Koa: This is similar to mahogany in tone and is perhaps between Mahogany and Rosewood. It has the nice warmth of the low end of rosewood with the high accents of Mahogany.
• Walnut: Walnut has a good bass response and dark high and mids.
• Maple: Is bright and clear. It has loud trebles.

Neck Shape

The neck shape is the profile of the back of the neck. This is an important consideration for most guitarist. There are different necks shapes by manufacturers like standard, slim, V, C, D etc. Most guitar players have their own preference of the neck of the guitar. Many of the manufacturers have their own take on the neck profiles.

Nut Width

In the simplest of terms, nut width is the spacing between the strings. As a rule of thumb a wider width is easier for finger style guitarist while narrower one is better for playing chords. Narrower ones are also easier for smaller hands.

Scale length

This is the distance between the bridge and the nut. A longer scale length provides increased tension on the strings and can provide increased volume. Scale length also impacts the spacing of the frets. A shorter scale length will have the frets closer to each other and more comfortable for smaller hands. It offers better playability.

Bracing

This is an important consideration in choosing an acoustic guitar. In the simplest terms, these are patterns of wooden enforcements attached by glue to the inside of the guitar body. Bracings can be below the top wood, inside on the sides, and also inside the section of the back wood. These bracings help in voicing, optimizing the inherent volume and sustain of the acoustic guitar.   

Now with this understanding, let’s see some good options below $1000.

Seagull S6 Original

The Seagull S6 is a Solid Cedar top with Wild Cherry rims and back and is a Dreadnought guitar.  The guitar sports a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and rosewood bridge. The guitar comes with Quantum Pickups and electronics.

The bullet headstock allows a stable tuning to the guitar. The headstock ensures the strings have a straight path between the nut and the tuners. This ensures the guitar does not go off tune especially in live situations as when the strings warm up.

Seagull have changed the neck profile of the guitars a few years back and now it sports a slimmer neck which is super comfortable to play. The S6 silver leaf maple neck fills the palm nicely and the low action fretboard is very comfortable to play.

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S6 produces a wonderful warm sound. The Cedar gives the guitar a wonderful prominent midrange which is great for finger pickings. Cedar provides a warmer tone than Spruce and has been the choice of fingerstyle guitarists. It does well for strummers as well and is a very versatile instrument.

The guitar comes in a semi-gloss finish and looks great. The price at which this guitar comes is fantastic. You have a super high-quality guitar made in North America, which plays and sounds great and gives the premium guitars a run for their money.

Yamaha CSF3M

The Yamaha CSF3M is a Parlor guitar which is a super comfortable shape for anyone to play. The guitar has a reduced scale length with excellent playability. Even if you are an electric guitar player, this Palor model will not tire your fingers down as it can handle different string gauges quite well.

The guitar looks absolutely stunning with a solid Sitka Spruce top and Mahogany body. The guitar has a mahogany neck as well as a rosewood fingerboard. Being a Parlor guitar it offers excellent portability. The guitar has a passive pick up without any preamp. The idea of being an intimate play between you and the guitar. If you are playing on stage can always use a preamp.

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Since this is a parlor guitar, to improve the loudness it features scalloped bracing which produces richer and louder acoustic sounds. This guitar breaks away from the traditional Parlor guitars which normally produced sharp mid and muddy lows to very defined lows and clear mids and highs.

This guitar in a small package offers a big sound, with a decent bass response and a solid midrange. A Perfect instrument for intimate playing and great for music composers and songwriters or individuals who want to escape away from the city for a peaceful time with their instrument. It provides a great balanced sound in an ultra-portable package.  

Ovation Elite Celebrity

The Celebrity Elite sports a solid Sitka Spruce top wood with mahogany neck and Ovankol fretboard. Unlike other models the Elite has multisoundhole design than the centre sound hole. Muti sound hole design allows the use of less bracing on the top allowing the sound board to vibrate more freely.

Ovation guitars come in different depths – deep, mid, or shallow. This model comes with a shallow depth. The shallow depth makes playability on the stage a lot easier and provides a brighter sound. You almost feel as if you are playing an electric guitar. When you are plugged in, you are not prone to feedback.

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The necks of the Ovation guitars play like an electric. The neck is narrow and plays very evenly across the fretboard. It offers seamless playability both higher up or on the lower frets.

The pick-ups used here are the patented ovation and provides an amazing piezo experience. The guitar houses an OP-4CT preamp and CP-100 pick-up.

Overall a great guitar with brilliant sounds of clear highs with a focussed balanced bass. A wonderful instrument to own and to play with. Great for live settings.

Taylor Academy Series 12e

The Taylor 12e is a grand concert body guitar. This body of guitar is specific to Taylor guitars and designed by them. This would come in between a 00 and a 000. It has a narrow waist with a smaller top board and a shallower body than a Dreadnought.

This guitar provides a more immediate response to your touch. It provides a more pronounced sound response on plucking than a standard Dreadnought would provide. The guitar provides very comfortable playability and especially for fingerstyle guitarists.

The guitar has a solid wood Spruce top with scalloped spruce bracing. This ensures the top is free to move to resonate and provide a better tone and volume. It has a laminated Sepele body. There is an ergonomic armrest on the body of the guitar which is found mostly on the custom shop guitars.

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The E model of the guitar is with electronics. This guitar has Taylors proprietary ES 2 system along with a preamp and a built-in tuner. It is the same electronics in the more expensive Taylor Guitars.

The neck of the guitar is made up of Sepele with an ebony fingerboard. It features a short scale length which improves playability. The neck is a bolt-on neck and can be easily adjusted. The strings feel marvelous on this fretboard.

The sound of the guitar is brilliant, just like how a Taylor sounds. The guitar has wonderful mids and highs and is extremely responsive an instrument. The piezo ES – B outclasses many of its competition. A wonderful instrument that comes at a great price point and provides a lot more than a similar guitar in this segment.

PRS SE Tonare T40E

The PRS Tonare T40E is a superb value guitar with some excellent specs at a great value point. The 40 series feature Ovangkol on the back and the sides. This is a fantastic tone wood, looks very nice and the top wood is solid Sitka Spruce.

The Top Wood features PRS hybrid X bracing which includes a fan bracing that is found mostly in nylon string guitars and the X bracing which you find in traditional acoustic guitars. This gives more volume and sustain to the guitar.

The neck of the guitar is a Mahogany with PRS patented Wide Fat profile, which gives good string spacing for both chordal and fingerstyle playing. The neck at the same time is not very bulky which a smaller handed player will find difficult to play. In fact, it has excellent playability if set up properly.

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The fretboard is ebony with PRS bird inlays and sports great fretwork. The fretboard looks awesome. The headstock of the guitar is a traditional PRS headstock with PRS SE tuners which are excellent in quality.

The guitar has a Fishman GT Preamp which is very easy to use with volume and tone control and nicely tucked in. At the base of the guitar, you have the jack socket and the battery change compartment.

The guitar produces a very balanced low, mid, and high across the fingerboard. The T40E has a warm sound and at the same time can be Dreadnoughtishly loud. Thanks to the PRS hybrid X bracing which makes this possible. This guitar is a delight to play irrespective if you are a chordal player or a fingerstyle guitarist.

Epiphone Hummingbird Pro

If you are looking for an iconic guitar on a budget the Epiphone Hummingbird Pro is the one you should go for. Epiphone has brought the classic 1960 Hummingbird back. It is one of those Legendary rock blues guitars which you have seen your favorite bands and musicians playing over the decades.

The classic square Dreadnought body shape provides a balanced tone. The guitar comes with a Sitka spruce top with mahogany back and sides and a mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard. The guitar also has Epiphones E performer preamp system with 2 band EQ, bass and treble, volume control, and a mute switch. The mute switch comes in handy when you want to plug in and out while on a live setting.

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The neck is a slim tapered D profile with the Epiphone Hummingbird headstock and the iconic hummingbird shape pickguard with hummingbird graphics. The neck looks classic Gibson-ish with the Pearloid Parallelogram inlays. The guitar sounds and feels great to play as well. The action of the guitar felt nicer as compared to much other acoustics.

Hummingbird has been originally used by the likes of Rolling stones. The guitar is great to play chords, blues rock, slides, and solos. A very versatile guitar. You cannot go wrong with this guitar. If you are a fan of classic blues and rock, then look no further than this.

Martin 000-10E

The Martin 000-10E is part of the Martin Road Series. As the name suggests it is really for the road. If you are a touring musician and song writer or love to tour with a guitar in your RV, then this is the one you should go for. The E in the name denotes the electronics in the guitar.

The Martin 000 body style is a very comfortable shape for all styles of players be it fingerstyle, blues, single note player, or the strummer. This is a solid wood guitar with a Sepele top back and sides. The neck shape is Performing Artist neck shape (which is a slim C shape not too fat or thin). This comes with a High-Performance Taper which is essentially how the fingerboard width progresses from the nut to the body. This neck offers exceptional playability.

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The electronics in the guitar are Fishman MXT with a tuner built-in and has a volume and tone control. The electronics are nicely tucked in and not visible from the outside. The battery compartment is in the rear for each access.

The tonal qualities of the Sapele are very close to Mahogany and give the guitar wonderful warmth and an even tone overall. It does not have a lot of bass but encouraging mids and highs. A great choice of a guitar for the fingerstyle players. This guitar is more for intimate playing and is a great companion for Singer and Songwriter. It is also a brilliant sounding blues guitar.

Fender Paramount PM2

The PM2 is part of the Paramount series of Fender. This series is targeted towards bringing solid wood acoustic guitars with some premium features at a more affordable price point. These guitars are designed by their team in California and built in China. This is to ensure that you can get a true solid wood guitar and the premium features at a sub grand mark.

The PM2 is a Parlor body shape with a solid wood Mahogany top, sides and back. The guitar comes with a Satin open pore finish which results in a very open resonant sound as compared to the thick finish which has the potential to dampen the vibration of the wood. The bracing of the guitar is a scalloped one.

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The neck of the guitar is mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard. It has a very comfortable neck, not too thick or thin, like the modern C shape. The guitar comes with a hard case. It has a short scale length and incredible playability. The PM2 comes with vintage tuning keys and is extremely well at keeping the guitar in tune. These guitars do not have electronics in them and are purely high-quality acoustic-only guitars.

When you play the guitar, you will feel it reverberating against your body which is an indication of a lively guitar. All Mahogany gives a very warm and punchy mid-range with a natural compression built-in. This guitar is great for fingerpicking or some bluesy licks. Just like any solid wood guitar, the sound matures and opens up as the wood gets older.

Yamaha A-Series A3R

The Yamaha A3R is the topliner of the Yamaha A series. The A-series is supposed to be the workhorse guitars for musicians. The A3R is a Dreadnought with a solid Sitka Spruce top and rosewood sides and back. The neck of the guitar is Mahogany with ebony fingerboard.

The top of the guitar is treated with Yamaha’s Acoustic Resonance Enhancement which is supposed to provide more vintage warmth. The guitar produces very encouraging mids and high. It has a bright sound.

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What makes the A3R different from the rest are the electronics. The A3R comes with Yamahas Studio Response Technology (SRT) electronics system and makes these guitars a class apart from the others. The pick-up system below the saddle really amplifies the guitar’s beautiful tones. This is great for a live performance where the SRT can produce an uncolored transparent sound. Perhaps the closest to a true acoustic sound that you can get. A brilliant system indeed.  

Taylor 214ce-K Grand Auditorium

The Taylor 214 CE uses Koa for the back and sides as compared to the rosewood used in the previous models. The 214CE features a solid Sitka Spruce top with a mahogany neck and an ebony fretboard. The grand auditorium body is a hybrid with the depth of a Dreadnought with tapered waist and contours giving it a smaller look than a Dreadnought.

The guitar comes with upgraded bracing which improves the sonic quality of the guitar giving the solid top wood more room for vibration and dynamic range. Koa has a similarly focussed midrange typical to mahogany along with bright highs which you see in maple. This makes it a delight to play especially for fingerstyle players and a perfect choice for studio recordings.

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The Guitar comes with Taylor ES2 pick up which provides a true uncolored sound, making this a perfect instrument for live shows. The electronics provide a clean sound and at the same time provide flexibility to shape your tone to your needs. The excellent balanced sound, makes it equally loved by fingerstyle guitarists as well as chordal strummers.

This guitar is highly recommended and provides perhaps the best value for a guitar under $1000. The guitar combines exceptional playability, superior craftsmanship, and quality material to provide a very balanced and wide-ranging sound response. The guitar looks stunning as well with a satin finish and the beautiful grains of Koa contrasting the Sitka Spruce top. This guitar is extremely versatile and suits the needs of a wide range of players.

Conclusion

Guitars at the end of the day are very intimate and personal instruments. Knowing what to look to choose the right guitar would help you in determining which is the right one for you. If you are an electric guitar player, you can refer to this article on how to choose an electric guitar. Hope this article helped and happy playing.

Last update on 2024-05-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API