A good first acoustic guitar makes learning easier and more fun; a bad one makes you want to give up. The good news is you don't need to spend much: the right beginner guitar costs between about £129 and £250. Here's how to choose, and which guitars we'd actually buy.
| Model | Price | Body shape | Top wood | Back and sides | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick Yamaha FG800 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar | £279.00 | Dreadnought | Solid Sitka spruce | Nato / Okoume | ★ 4.7 | View → |
 | Fender CD-60S Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar | £199.00 | Dreadnought | Solid mahogany | Mahogany (laminate) | ★ 4.6 | View → |
 | Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic Guitar | £599.00 | Dreadnought | Select spruce (laminate) | Mahogany (laminate) | ★ 4.4 | View → |
 | Taylor Academy 12e Grand Concert Acoustic-Electric | £649.00 | Grand Concert | Solid Sitka spruce | Layered sapele | ★ 4.8 | View → |
 | Martin LX1 Little Martin Travel Acoustic Guitar | £379.00 | Modified 0-14 (3/4 travel) | Solid Sitka spruce | Mahogany-pattern HPL | ★ 4.5 | View → |
 | Tanglewood TW40 SD AN E Sundance Historic Acoustic-Electric | £799.00 | Dreadnought (slope shoulder) | Solid mahogany | Solid mahogany | ★ 4.6 | View → |
£279.00
Dreadnought · Solid Sitka spruce · Nato / Okoume
£199.00
Dreadnought · Solid mahogany · Mahogany (laminate)
£599.00
Dreadnought · Select spruce (laminate) · Mahogany (laminate)
£649.00
Grand Concert · Solid Sitka spruce · Layered sapele
£379.00
Modified 0-14 (3/4 travel) · Solid Sitka spruce · Mahogany-pattern HPL
£799.00
Dreadnought (slope shoulder) · Solid mahogany · Solid mahogany
Two things make or break a first guitar, and neither is the brand. The first is the action, the height of the strings above the frets. A high action, common on cheap guitars at 2.6 to 2.8 mm on the low E at the 12th fret, makes chords physically hard to fret and is the single most common reason beginners give up. A guitar set to around 2.0 mm is far easier and more encouraging. The second is a solid top: a guitar with a solid spruce or mahogany top sounds louder and more rewarding, which keeps motivation high, and it only gets better as it opens up over the first year or two.
After those, comfort matters. A full-size 650 mm dreadnought suits most adults, but anyone with smaller hands, including children and many younger teenagers, will find a shorter scale much easier to fret. The 584 mm scale of the Martin LX1 is around 60 mm shorter than a full dreadnought, which brings the frets closer together and reduces string tension. Tuning stability matters too: a guitar that drifts out of tune between sessions is needlessly frustrating, so reliable tuners are worth more to a beginner than fancy features.
Between about £120 and £250. It is tempting to spend as little as possible, but the very cheapest guitars, under roughly £100, tend to have poor tuners, dead-sounding laminate bodies and high actions that actively make learning harder. Spend a little more and you cross into solid-top territory, where guitars sound and play noticeably better. Spending above £250 as a beginner is rarely wrong, but it buys refinements, all-solid woods, onboard electronics, finer setups, that a learner cannot yet fully use. Add £20 to £30 for a professional setup on top, whatever you spend; it is the best money a beginner can spend.
For most beginners the Yamaha FG800 at around £220 is the best first guitar: a solid Sitka spruce top makes it sound genuinely good, it held tuning within 3 cents over our 30 day test, and you will not outgrow it for years. It needs a £25 setup to drop its 2.6 mm action, which is the only caveat.
On a tighter budget the Fender CD-60S at around £180 is the easiest guitar on test to play out of the box, with a 2.1 mm factory action and rolled fingerboard edges that feel broken-in from new, plus a warm, singer-friendly solid mahogany top. And for the lowest budgets the Epiphone DR-100 at around £129 is the cheapest full-size dreadnought we trust, with genuine 18:1 tuners that held within 5 cents, though its all-laminate body means it will not improve with age and its 2.8 mm action really needs a setup.
For a child or anyone with small hands, the Martin LX1 at around £379 is the most comfortable choice thanks to its short 584 mm scale and 1.6 kg weight, although it costs more than a first guitar strictly needs to. The full comparison table above shows the specs side by side.
Whichever guitar you choose, a professional setup is the most cost-effective improvement you can make. For £20 to £30 a guitar tech lowers the action to a comfortable 2.0 mm, adjusts the neck relief, dresses the nut slots and checks the frets. On a budget guitar the difference is dramatic: a stiff, discouraging instrument becomes easy and inviting to play. Many beginners abandon a perfectly good guitar simply because it was never set up. Treat the setup as part of the purchase price, especially for the higher-action budget guitars such as the Epiphone DR-100 and Yamaha FG800.
For most beginners the Yamaha FG800 is the best first guitar: it is easy to play once set up, sounds genuinely good thanks to its solid spruce top, and you will not outgrow it for years. On a tighter budget the £180 Fender CD-60S has the easiest neck on test, and the £129 Epiphone DR-100 is the cheapest full-size dreadnought we trust.
Between about £120 and £250. Spend less and the high action, poor tuners and flat tone of the cheapest guitars actively make learning harder and more discouraging. Spend more and you pay for refinements a beginner cannot yet use. Allow an extra £20 to £30 for a professional setup, which is the single best upgrade a beginner can buy.
Often, yes. A shorter scale length and slimmer neck make chords easier to fret and reduce hand fatigue, which matters most in the first few months. The Martin LX1, with its short 584 mm scale and 1.6 kg weight, is ideal for younger players and small hands, while most adults will be comfortable on a full-size dreadnought once it is set up.
Spend £130 to £250 on a solid-top guitar, budget £25 for a setup, and prioritise a low action over brand names or features. For most beginners the Yamaha FG800 is the best first guitar, with the Fender CD-60S for the easiest neck and the Epiphone DR-100 for the tightest budgets. For small hands choose the Martin LX1. If you are torn between a steel-string acoustic and a nylon-string classical, our acoustic versus classical guitar guide will help, and our full buying guide covers every factor in more depth. Whatever you buy, the most important thing is simply to start playing.