There are plenty of great, affordable guitars available these days. With all the precise automation in guitar manufacturing, it’s difficult to find poorly made guitars. Here are three of five cool choices for less than $500. Read about the other two guitars right here.

This is an Eric Johnson-inspired melodic climb in the key of E. It's based on a six-note sequence that I transpose to different tonal centers as I move up and across the neck. The first part of the lick, up until the legato ending, is all alternate picked with palm muting.

Welcome to episode 1 of the "Guitar World Plays Rocksmith" series, where different Guitar World staffers play Rocksmith, a new authentic guitar game. Maybe you've seen the ads for Rocksmith; they feature a monkey playing a flamed Epiphone Les Paul, with the slogan "Anyone Can Play Guitar."

Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos from our upcoming 2012 Holiday Review Guide, which is coming to newsstands and the Guitar World online store in November. We'll be rolling out several more behind-the-scenes photo galleries up until the newsstand date, November 22.