Wood Shop: A Beginner's Guide to Buying a Low-Cost Steel-String Flattop Acoustic Guitar

In the not-too-distant past, going shopping for a low-cost acoustic steel-string flattop guitar was a journey into the musical instrument industry’s heart of darkness. Shoppers who ventured into retail shops discovered a jungle littered with inferior-quality guitars that could alternately be used as torture devices, made out of woods of questionable provenance and bound together with enough glue to build 200 scale models of the Titanic. Good sounding, playable instruments were out there, but finding one required patience, perseverance and more than a little luck, as they were the rare exceptions.

The market for quality entry-level acoustic guitars started to improve significantly about a decade ago, and today one is more likely to find a good instrument than a bad one. However, that doesn’t mean you should just blindly stumble into a music store with a wad of bills yelling, “Shut up and take my money!” 

In fact, because there are literally hundreds more choices in the sub-$1,000 range than there were even just a few years ago, it’s more important than ever to know what you’re looking for so you can focus on finding the guitar that is perfect for your wants and needs. With a little extra effort and know-how, it’s possible to find a guitar that you can enjoy for a lifetime or at the very least until you’ve saved up enough money for a more expensive replacement.

SHAPES OF THINGS

One of the most helpful ways to narrow down your choices is by deciding which body style you prefer. Two decades ago about 90 percent of the entry level steel-string acoustic flattops were dreadnought models, but today you can find anything from