Image by zapdelight via Flickr
Still don’t believe you can buy an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar and an amplifier for a beginning guitarist for approximately $300? Here are some specific suggestions which meet those criteria this 2010 holiday season.
Acoustic Guitars
All of the acoustic guitars listed here have solid tops. Most do not include a case or gig bag except for the Ami Parlor. The Ami Parlor and Epiphone EL-00 have small bodies which may be more comfortable for a smaller person. They all have full scale lengths which vary between 24.75 and 25.5 inches.
| Make | Model | Top (all solid wood) | Size/Style | $ 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arts & Lutherie | Ami Parlor | Cedar or Spruce | Parlor | $299.00 |
| Breedlove | Passport C200/SMP | Cedar (or Spruce S200) | Medium | $299.00 |
| Epiphone | EL-00 | Spruce | Small | $299.00 |
| Epiphone | Humingbird Artist | Spruce | Dreadnought | $249.99 |
| Ibanez | AW30NT ARTWOOD | Spruce | Dreadnought | $249.99 |
| Takamine | GS430S G NEX | Cedar | Medium | $299.00 |
| Yamaha | FS720S Folk | Spruce | Medium | $279.00 |
Electric Guitars
These electric guitars do not include a case or gig bag.
| Make | Model | Pickups | Style | Other | Notes | $ 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squier by Fender | Bullet | SSS | Stratocaster | Tremolo | Slim Body | $120 |
| Squier by Fender | Affinity Series Telecaster Special | SS | Telecaster | $180 | ||
| Squier by Fender | Bullet Stratocaster HSS | HSS | Stratocaster | Tremolo | Slim Body | $120 |
| Squier by Fender | Affinity Series Stratocaster | SSS | Stratocaster | Tremolo | $180 | |
| Epiphone | Les Paul Special II | HH | Les Paul | $180 | ||
| Epiphone | SG-Special | HH | SG | $170 | ||
| Yamaha | PAC112J | SSS | Stratocaster | Tremolo | $200 | |
| Ibanez | GART50QA | HH | Les Paul like | $200 |
Electric guitar pickup configurations are frequently abbreviated as S or single coil and H for humbucker. Thus HSS indicates a triple pickup guitar where the bridge pickup is a humbucker and middle and neck pickups are single coil.
Electric Guitar Amplifiers
All of these combo amplifiers include digital effects (e.g., reverb) and digital modeling of famous amplifiers. They also all include a headphone jack for private listening.
| Make | Model | Watts | Speaker | Batteries / AC | Built in Tuner? | aux in | $ 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line 6 | Spider IV | 15W | 1×8 | AC only | Yes | Yes | $100 |
| Vox | VT15 | 15W | 1×8 | AC only | No | ? | $130 |
| Peavey | Vypyr 15 | 15W | 1×8 | AC only | Yes | Yes | $100 |
| Behringer | V-Tone GM108 | 15W | 1×8 | AC only | No | Yes | $88 |
| Roland | Micro Cube | 2W | 1×5 | Batt or AC | Digital Tuning Fork | Yes | $130 |
| Vox | DA5 | 5W | 1×6.5 | Batt or AC | No | Yes | $140 |
| Fender | Mustang | 20W | 1×8 | AC only | No | Yes | $100 |
Speakers: All combo amplifiers in this price range include one speaker. The abbreviation 1×8 means one speaker which is 8 inches in diameter. Larger and more costly amplifiers can have up to four 12 inch speakers (4×12). Aux in: implies there is a jack where you can plug in an MP3 player or other music device so you can play along with your music.
