Best Acoustic Electric Guitars for the Money

While most guitar players prefer a pure acoustic guitar for its sound quality, there are others who prefer acoustic electric guitars due to certain advantages that only such guitars possess. Read on to see what is the difference of acoustic electric guitar vs a pure acoustic and what are some of the best acoustic electric guitars under 500.

Acoustic electric guitar or acoustic

If you do not know what is an acoustic electric guitar, it is simply an acoustic guitar that has electronics built into it.  Unlike acoustic guitars, both electric and acoustic electric uses what are known as pickups that convert string vibrations into pulses. The difference between the two lies in the kind of pickups that are used. Electric guitars use magnetic pickups since they have mostly metal strings. For acoustic electric guitars, magnetic pickups are not good options since they don’t use metal strings. Instead, piezoelectric pickups and microphones are what are commonly used.

Now, with that understanding, you can better appreciate the difference between acoustic and acoustic electric guitars:

• Better guitar quality: for acoustic guitars, what you are paying goes directly into the guitar while for the acoustic electric guitars, you are also paying for the additional electronics. Hence, dollar for dollar, you can get a higher quality acoustic guitar relative to the acoustic electric version.

• Ease of recording: if you want to record or amplify the guitar, then the acoustic electric version is easier to set up since you simply need to plug into an amp.

• Grade and customize: for those who like to tinker and play around with their guitars, an acoustic guitar is like a blank state for you to mess around as you wish. For the acoustic guitar, you need to uninstall before being able to do any customization or upgrade

What about sound quality? The misconception is that a acoustic guitar will definitely sound better. That is not true at all. If the acoustic guitar is built in the right way, the sound quality is pretty much insignificant. The only differences are the ones listed above and that has to do with what you are looking for or your needs.

Epiphone PR5-E : Best acoustic electric guitars under $500 – $600

The Epiphone PR5-E Thin-Bod is a sweet beauty with an amazing voice will enchant you with what she can do.

Features of the Epiphone PR5-E:

– Select solid spruce top for a bright tone and powerful projection even when unplugged
– Mahogany back and sides
– SlimTaper neck profile makes this guitar easy and comfortable to play for people with short hands or fat fingers
– eSonic preamp and NanoFlex pickup system for amazing volume, tone and projection when plugged into a guitar amp
– Built-in, easy to use tuner to help keep your guitar in tune any time, right before performance or rehearsals.
– Tone shaping options, including bass and treble controls, allowing you to shape your sounds on the spot.

Best small acoustic guitar – Taylor bt2 baby taylor

The Taylor BT2 Baby Taylor Acoustic Electric Guitar is a 3/4 scale guitar is perfect for people with small hands or short fingers. Some guitarists will think of the Baby Taylor as a traveling guitar, but the truth is this little beauty is great as a primary guitar too. Its small stature and shorter frets are truly ideal for people who have small hands or short fingers, as it helps them minimize the effort and physical strain involved in playing complex chords on the guitar.

Features of the BT2 Baby Taylor Acoustic Guitar:

– Solid wood top for a warm, powerful and rich tone that matures with time
– Mahogany back and sides for added warmth and bass
– Smaller neck and frets, perfect for people with small hands or short and fat fingers, or even children learning the guitar
– Low action, making this guitar extremely easy to play
– Expression System pickup and preamp, allowing you to plug this guitar into an amp and play at small gigs or open mics
– Durable and solid design that lasts through the years and all types of weather!

Best Narrow Neck Acoustic Guitar for Small Hands

The Ibanez AEG240 Thinline Acoustic-Electric Guitar is great for intermediate guitar players who prefer a full-sized guitar but with a slimmer neck for their short or fat fingers. Featuring a thinner body, this guitar is also a great choice for people with slightly smaller stature.

Features of the Ibanez AEG240 Acoustic Electric Guitar:

– Flamed Maple top and mahogany back and sides for a bright tone and powerful projection
– Thin- profile neck for comfortable playing and easy chord formation
– Fishman Sonicore pickup and preamp, allowing you to plug in this guitar and rock the stage for rehearsals or performances
– Thinner body for comfortable playing

Conclusion

For beginners, there might be some confusion over acoustic electric guitars in terms of how they compare with acoustic and electric guitars. This article has clarified the differences and also recommended what are some of best acoustic electric guitars for the money. For folks with not so big hands, check our our review of the best guitars for small hands.