The Best Electric Guitars Under $500

Submitted by Jason on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 09:05.

These are the best electric guitars starting from just $120. Not only will you sound good playing these - you'll look good too!

The models below are listed in order of price - not the manufacturer's suggested price - but the lower prices you can actually buy your electric guitar for at online music gear stores.

We've broken these down into two categories:
1. Best Under $200
2. Best Under $500

Best Electric Guitars Under $200

For the best in the budget price range, suitable for beginners, there is a clear leading brand - Epiphone. They produce budget versions of some of the more famous Gibson guitars like the 'Les Paul'. The other big name brand here is Squire, and they make affordable versions of Fender guitars like the famous Stratocaster.

But they're not the only good guitars in this price range, so here's our recommended Top 5 electric guitars under $200:

	Squier Bullet Strat The Squier Bullet Strat is an affordable and practical electric guitar with the familiar Fender Stratocaster body shape and tremolo. It is a light weight solidbody electric guitar, designed to produce basic yet versatile single coil Fender tones. The Squier Bullet will introduce you to the feel and sound of Fender guitars. Look around and you'll find this selling for a little under $130. Go to the Squire Bullet page for more information.
	Epiphone Les Paul Special II Definitely one of the best guitars in this price range, it's Epiphone's top selling guitar, and it's not hard to see why. It is a popular Les Paul stunt double, allowing you to rest your expensive Gibson Les Paul and carry an affordable road worthy look-a-like workhorse. The Epiphone Les Paul Special II is designed to produce something close to the Gibson Les Paul tone and feel by using inexpensive materials. It usually sells online for $149. Go to Sweetwater for complete specs.
	Ibanez GRX20Z By using affordable tonewoods and parts, the Ibanez GRX20Z offers the same playability and set-up as expensive guitars at affordable prices. It offers the same fast and low action neck that Ibanez is known for, making it ideal for aspiring shredders. The look of this Gio series guitar might suggest an inclination towards hard rock or metal but it does work well with other genres. The street price is $149.99. Go to the Ibanez GRX20Z site for full specs.
	Squier Affinity Telecaster The Squier Affinity Telecaster is an affordable version of the Fender Telecaster. It features an alder body, a maple neck and a 21-fretrosewood fretboard. It has the same design and pickup configuration as the well loved classic, but at a fraction of the cost. . The vintage-style single coil pickups found on this affordable model is good for its price, and it has the same visual charm as original. You can find this selling online for just under $180.

Best Electric Guitars Under $500

There are some great guitars in this price range, including actual Fender model. Here is our pick of the Best 5 electric guitars under $500:

	Ibanez ART100 The Ibanez ART100 does not have the usual hot rod specs common to Ibanez guitars, instead it sports a simple and effective set up. What you see is what you get, it is a 24.75 inch scale guitar with a single cutaway solid body. The simple stop tail, Gibraltar III bridge and set neck setup gives it a singing sustain. The Ibanez ART100 is a good choice if you are looking for a basic, easy to maintain set up. You can buy it online for only $349.99. For more info visit Sweetwater.
	Epiphone SG G-400 Pro Another iconic rock guitar is made affordable by Epiphone. The Epiphone G-400 Pro SG is designed to capture the feel and sound of classic Gibson SGs. The shape and size follows the traditional SG path while its Alnico Classic PRO pickups and push/pull coil-tapping gives it a modern twist for tonal flexibility. It gives you the same classic rock sounds and then some more. You can buy it for only $349.00 online. For the complete specs, visit the Epiphone SG G-400 Pro page.
	Epiphone Les Paul Standard A great value guitar under $400! This is Epiphone's take on the original Les Paul design and it looks and plays very much like the more pricey original. Being affordable and mass produced, it doesn't have the same expensive woods and components as the Gibson version, but you will find the Epiphone Les Paul Standard can nearly match the expensive Gibson Les Pauls in terms of sound quality. Current Retail price is at $399. For more info, visit the Epiphone Les Paul Standard page.
	Schecter Damien Elite-6 Schecter have really made a name for themselves in the metal scene, and the Damien Elite-6 is certainly up there in terms of tone and features, despite being available for just under 500 bucks. It sports active EMG 81/85 humbucker pickups and 24 jumbo sized frets to let you shred with the best of them. The abalone fret inlays and the shiney finish on the quilted maple top are things you'd usually expect in a more expensive model. It's listed online at $499. For full specs, visit the Damien Elite-6 page.
	Fender Standard Stratocaster The Fender Standard Stratocaster embodies the classic Fender Strat features including 3 Standard Strat single-coil pickups. It has the classic vintage style tremolo, however they have added a high mass bridge block to give it even more sustain than the original strats. It is currently selling for just under $500. Visit the Standard Strat page for further info.

Thank you to Sweetwater for their sponsorship and providing the full specifications for the guitars above where possible. You can see more electric guitars at www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/electric-guitars/

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Electric Guitars

Posted by giufg on Fri, 12/23/2011 - 07:23.

Oh wow these guitars are just so good! I loved each and every one of them! In fact, I was planning to give a gift to my younger brother and your blog has solved my issues ;).. Thanks for sharing mate!

You people should all take a

Posted by Anonymous on Thu, 10/04/2012 - 13:11.

You people should all take a look at the Agile AL 2000 and 3000 series guitars. The list of standard tone woods alone should put them on the list! But combine build quality that matches or exceeds that of the Japanese and Korean built Epiphone Les Pauls from a few years back,(now a cult classic and for good reason quality, big name hardware, D' Adario, Grover18:1 tuners, Tusq nuts with string saver saddles on the bridge, full triple bindings, set neck or neck through, choice of regular, slim or wide necks, real tone woods wide choice of finishes and better tone, it is THE clear choice over the Chinese made Epiphones! Try one yourself and you will see from the first note you won't need much convincing! In my opinion it's embarrassing how superior these guitars truly are to the Epiphones. The Epiphone advantage? You walk into any music store and try one or ten out. The Agile advantage, more and more young new bands have them on STAGE with them! And as with the Elitist Epiphone L.P.'s, for good reason

This list is bogus. It's

Posted by Anonymous on Thu, 10/11/2012 - 20:59.

This list is bogus.
It's alwasy fender and gibson listed.
I have hagstrom guitars which blow away the playability of either of those brands...

Hagstrom definitely make

Posted by Jason on Sat, 10/13/2012 - 10:11.

Hagstrom definitely make some great guitars.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think they made any electrics that sell for less than $500 - which is why they weren't considered for this roundup.