How we test beginner acoustic guitars

At Guitar World, our passion lies in exploring the best six-string innovations. From high-quality acoustic guitars to classical nylon-string instruments, electric guitars, and amplifiers, our expert team meticulously assesses each product to ensure we only recommend the best in our buyer's guides. Our rigorous testing process allows us to endorse top-quality guitars confidently, providing you with the assurance that you're investing in a superior instrument.

Today, we're going to detail our testing method for beginner acoustic guitars. We fully understand that selecting your first acoustic guitar can be scary, but we're here to simplify it. We've outlined the criteria we use to evaluate beginner acoustic guitars. This guide will help you navigate the selection process and find the perfect instrument to meet your needs.

So, without further delay, let's explore how we assess beginner acoustic guitars.

How we source and select products

For those wondering how we gather the gear in our reviews, we typically go straight to the source. Generally, manufacturers and distributors send us guitars directly. But here's the kicker – our reviews are entirely independent. No money can sway our opinions! Companies can not pay us to review a product or buy a better rating. 

If, for some reason, we can't snag a product through official channels, we'll dig into our own pockets to make it happen. Now, when it comes to picking products to test, we combine our hands-on experience with user reviews and have some good old-fashioned debates with our broader team to ensure we're on the same page about what guitars are the best in their given category. 

While we can't test every single product out there – as much as we'd love to – we do our darnedest to cover as much ground as possible. This process lets us serve up some seriously thorough and insightful reviews.

How we test

When we receive a keyboard for review, we start by asking ourselves the following questions:  

• How easy is the guitar to play for a complete beginner?
• Does the guitar sound inspiring?
• Is this model well-made and robust?
• And does the guitar offer the player good value for money? 

Below you'll find a breakdown of the tests we carry out to answer each of these questions. 

Build quality

The first thing we look at is the overall build quality of the instrument. We closely inspect every aspect of the guitar, from the body and neck to the machine heads and bridge, to ensure they feel strong, and well made – regardless of price. 

We'll next check the consistency of the fretwork to confirm there aren't any sharp frets that may cause some nasty cuts or tall frets that may result in the guitar choking out or buzzing. 

Of course, this leads into the overall finishing of the guitar. No matter if this is a guitar designed for beginners or a high-end model for professional use, we expect to see a certain level of finish. We don't want to see any blemishes or scratches in the paintwork, and the finish shouldn't be too thick. 

Playability

Moving on to the instrument's playability, we are checking how comfortable the guitar feels to hold, paying close attention to the neck profile and radius and how the body feels to sit with. 

As these guitars are intended for beginners, it's critical that we view the playability through the lens of first-time players.  

Sounds

Next, we move our attention to the sound of the guitar. To test an acoustic guitar's tone, we will try a variety of different playing techniques and styles to see how the guitar handles them, from strumming cowboy chords with a flat pick to subtly tickling the strings with our fingers and everything in between. We are carefully listening to how the guitar projects and the overall tonal balance of the instrument. 

Value for money

Lastly, we'll carefully combine our thoughts on all the above sections – from design and performance to sound – and weigh them against the acoustic guitar's price to determine whether it's worth the investment. 

After all, finding the perfect balance between quality and affordability is key to choosing the right beginner acoustic guitar for your needs.  

Meet our experts

With over 44 years of experience, Guitar World is the leading authority on all things guitar-related, providing expertly written gear round-ups and high-quality, authoritative reviews by a wide team of highly experienced industry professionals.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

Paul Riario

Paul Riario has been the tech/gear editor and online video presence for Guitar World for over 25 years. Paul is one of the few gear editors who has actually played and owned nearly all the original gear that most guitarists wax poetically about, and has survived this long by knowing every useless musical tidbit of classic rock, new wave, hair metal, grunge, and alternative genres. When Paul is not riding his road bike at any given moment, he remains a working musician, playing in two bands called SuperTrans Am and Radio Nashville.

Daryl Robertson

As a Senior Deals Writer, Daryl helps create and maintain the 200+ buyer's guides on the Guitar World site. He also spends a lot of my time getting hands-on with the latest guitars, amps, and pedals - with his gear reviews being published in prominent publications, including Total Guitar and Future Music magazines, as well as on MusicRadar.com. During his career, Daryl has also interviewed many of his musical heroes, including Slash and members of Sum 41, Foo Fighters, Feeder, and more.

In a past life, Daryl worked in music retail. For a little under a decade, he advised everyone from absolute beginners and their parents to seasoned pros on the right gear for their needs, which has equipped me perfectly for my current role.

Matt McCracken

Matt is a Junior Deals Writer at Guitar World and has been playing guitar as his main instrument for well over 20 years. He also plays drums, bass, and keys producing out of his home studio in Manchester, UK. He has previously worked for Dawsons Music, Northwest Guitars, and freelanced for various magazines and blogs, writing reviews, how-to's, and features. When he's not downloading the latest VSTs or justifying yet another guitar pedal purchase, you'll find him making a racket with Northern noise hounds JACKALS. 

Chris Corfield

Chris Corfield is a journalist with over 12 years of experience writing for some of the music world's biggest brands, including Orange Amplification, MusicRadar, Guitar World, Total Guitar, and Dawsons Music. Chris loves getting nerdy about everything from guitar gear and synths to microphones and music production hardware.

Richard Blenkinsop

After spending a decade in music retail, Richard is now a freelance writer for Guitar World, MusicRadar, Guitar Player, and Reverb, specializing in electric and acoustic guitars, bass, and almost anything else you can make a tune with. When his head’s not buried in the best of modern and vintage gear, he runs a small company helping musicians with songwriting, production, and performance, and he even plays bass in an alt-rock band.

Hands-on demos

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