Top Best Beginner Electric Guitar of All Time

Fender has come to be known among musicians as a company that stands for quality, trustworthy workmanship, and an ear that listens to what musicians are saying. Their electric guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, have evolved over time. The Squire line offers a lower price tag and a perfect set of features for beginners. The Squire Stratocaster comes with the S-style body, trio of single coil pickups, and 21-scale rosewood fingerboard. It even has that dive-style whammy bar – divebomb away without fear! This review is for the Affinity option, though there are several Squire Stratocasters to choose from – all of them hovering around the $300 price range or lower. It’s a great value buy for the budding electric guitarist.

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The Fender Stratocaster has an iconic look and sound to match. You can look like countless guitar heroes from the past and present while making sure your start on the electric guitar doesn’t break the bank. The Squire Stratocaster is so popular it’s been the choice guitar for many starter packs – you can often find these guitars bundled with beginner amps, picks, tuners, and everything else you’ll need to get started.

Les Paul’s name has become etched in guitar history thanks in large part to guitar giant Gibson’s efforts. By modeling their signature guitar line after him, they’ve helped many people learn about him and appreciate his (and Gibson’s) approach to guitars. Epiphone carries the same quality and workmanship as Gibson guitars without the hefty price tag.

The Epiphone Les Paul 100 offers a mahogany body with maple top, bolt-on tapered neck for comfortable playability and a 700T (bridge) 650R (neck) pickup combo. It’s great for a variety of styles and has everything the beginning guitarist could want in terms of great sound, looks, and longevity.

It’s right on the Squire Strat’s heels, but we put the Les Paul in second place only because it can be a little pricier. It’s still well within the beginner price range, and like the Strat, it has numerous models and variations. You can also find this guitar in beginner packs with the accessories you need to start learning right away. With the Gibson workmanship and Epiphone pricing, it’s a great combination.

Paul Reed Smith is another iconic guitar manufacturer whose top models can fetch thousands of dollars. But with the SE line, beginning guitarists can enjoy workmanship from the same company for a fraction of the cost. The PRS SE Standard 24 is a great choice, offering a beautiful mahogany body that produces great visuals and an impressive amount of resonance for an electric solid body.

The guitar has a 24-fret scale and a PRS 85/15 S pickup combination. Add in a dive-style vibrato bridge and the subtle aesthetic touch of bird-shaped fret markers, and you have a guitar that excels in looks and sound. It’s just under the $500 range, showing PRS SE’s commitment to quality and affordability.

While a little pricier than the previous two entries, this one offers a distinctly appealing set of specs. If you like the unique body style and want a whammy bar, solid humbuckers, and sleek finish, this is the guitar to try.

If you want a barebones shred machine that lets you save big, the Jackson JS11 Dinky is a great model to consider. It has a basswood body and glosses polyurethane finish with that distinct Dinky shape. It doesn’t utilize a pickguard, but that contributes to its low price – which traditionally hovers around $150.

The one-piece maple bolt-on neck uses graphite reinforcement and a satin finish along the 25.5-inch scale, accounting for 22 jumbo-sized frets. Both the bridge and neck pickups are Jackson High Output models, allowing you to churn out chugging metal rhythm parts or screaming lead lines.

What the JS11 lacks in flash and flare, it makes up for in sound and affordability. For the money, it’s hard to beat this guitar. Even if you wanted to spend a little more, there’s no guarantee you could get that iconic Jackson sound without the hardware included here.

Another model that usually can be found for right around $150, the Ibanez GRX20 is the epitome of a beginner electric guitar. It has all the fundamentals for the right price – a fast neck, great sound, and even a standard vibrato bar for adding that extra bit of flare and divebombing to your playing.

The guitar has a standard S-style body and is equipped with a set of Powersound humbuckers and a GRX maple neck. It also has 22 medium-sized frets, giving you the ability to reach those higher notes that really ring out in a solo.

Another model that’s great because of the low price it comes with, this model shows that not every entry into Ibanez’s inventory has to carry a high price. You can still get a great-looking guitar with a powerful set of humbuckers – perfect for the beginner electric guitarist.

The SG has an iconic body type and the design stylings of Gibson behind it. But thanks to the good people at Gibson’s beginner brand, Epiphone, beginner guitarists on a budget can enjoy the same iconic look. The solid double cutaway body is made from mahogany and has a beautiful glossy finish.

It also has a slim mahogany neck and a 24.75-inch scale, offering a 22-fret setup with standard dot inlays. You’ll also get a 650R (neck) 700T (bridge) humbucker combination. That’s enough power for thick rhythms, clear lead lines, and everything in between.

It may not have the same type of sound as a Gibson SG, but the Epiphone alternative still offers a lot of playability. With a price that sits around $150 at the moment, this is another guitar that’s very reasonably priced for the craftsmanship behind it. Definitely a worthy contender for best beginner electric guitar, and a worthy member of the SG family.

Yamaha is another brand that offers great value and makes guitars for musicians of all skill levels. Beginners will like the PAC112J. It has a solid alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and 22-fret scale. It has an S-style design and die-cast chrome tuners, as well as a vintage dive-style vibrato bar.

The PAC112J also comes with a unique pickup set up that combines a humbucker in the bridge position with two single coil pickups – providing options for a wide variety of unique sounds. It’s also available in multiple colors to suit any stylistic preference.

At around $200, this guitar costs about as much as some of the others on our list. Yamaha has a good reputation among guitarists, particularly for their beginner models, and the PAC112J will have listeners doing a doubletake, swearing you were jamming on a Fender Strat.

Dean makes some solid guitars, and the Vendetta XM is one of the best options for beginners. With a Paulownia body and natural finish, it has a basic and old-school like that many people enjoy. The 25.5-inch scale gives you access to 24-frets on the maple neck and rosewood fingerboard for smooth playability.

Enjoy a Tune-O-Matic bridge and string-through-body setup, which offers better intonation and more precise tuning. Finally, this model comes with a set of Dean certified humbuckers to help you get a lot of grit out of this cost-efficient shred machine.

Another guitar that’s only around $200, this one has a basic design. But basic doesn’t always have to mean bad. In this case, the Dean Vendetta XM is a testament to how quality can come with a reasonable price tag and from a name that is sometimes overshadowed by bigger industry competitors.