I was wondering to myself the other day about what the average price of an acoustic guitar is.
So I set out to discover this.
The Range of Guitar Prices
Of course there is a wide range of different prices for acoustic guitars. In fact, it’s one of those things that has one of the largest ranges you can find of anything.
You can pick up a very cheap guitar for around $100 (or even less sometimes but those aren’t usually worth buying) and anywhere up to $15,000.
So a guitar that costs say $10,000 is 9900% more expensive than a $100 guitar!
The most Common Range
$100 guitars and $15,000 dollar guitars aren’t the most common range of prices.
People buying $100 guitars are usually doing so when they buy for someone else and they aren’t sure if that person is going to stick to playing guitar.
And the $15,000 guitar is only for someone who has a lot of extra income and is very serious about guitar.
At a guess I would say that most guitarists (based on people I know, conversations on forums etc) buy somewhere in the $300 to $3,000 range.
The Average Price of Acoustic Guitars
O.k. so let’s get to the average price of an acoustic guitar. Keep in mind that this isn’t necessary the average amount that someone spends on an acoustic guitar. This is the average cost of a range of acoustic guitars that I looked at.
Some things to note:
- I only looked at 6 string guitars (no 12 string guitars were included)
- I only looked steel string acoustics. No classical guitars were included
- I only looked at flat top acoustics. No arch top guitars were included
- The average here is based on the “list” prices or the “recommended retail prices”. Usually you can get guitars cheaper than their list price.
I took a sample of 312 guitars from a major online music store.
The highest priced guitar of those 312 was $8,000 (USD) and the lowest price was $135 (USD).
The average price of those 312 guitars was $1,809 (US Dollars).
This represents the average price of the 312 guitars that I looked at – not the average amount that someone spends on a guitar. Naturally there will be more lower priced instruments sold.
Now as I said most guitarists buy somewhere in the $300 to $3,000 range – my guess is that the average amount spent on an acoustic guitar is probably somewhere between $500 and $1,500.
Average Actual Price Based on List Price
So the average above is based on the list price. Now, it’s very unlikely that you’ll actually pay list price.
At a very rough estimate based on the actual price being around 75% to 80% of the list price, I would say that the average actual price of the guitars I looked at is closer to $1,400 or $1,500 (rather than the $1,809 above).
Acoustic-Electric
Of course the average price of an acoustic-electric is slightly higher. You are also paying for the electronics on an acoustic-electric.
- Of the 312 guitars that I analyzed there were 172 acoustic-electrics and 140 non-electric acoustics.
- The 172 acoustic-electrics averaged out at $2,112 (based on list prices). Roughly $1,500 actual price.
- The 140 non-electric acoustics averaged out at $1,435 (based on list prices). Roughly $1,100 actual price.
Over To You
This was just rough estimate as to the average price of an acoustic guitar but should give you some idea.
Most guitarists, in my experience, will buy somewhere in the $500 to $1,500 range.
Beginners usually spend between $100 and $500.
More serious guitarists who have a high budget can spend anywhere from $1,500 to $10,000.
There’s certainly a difference in quality as you spend more – but what you need for your purposes will differ depending on your budget and how serious a guitarist you are.
Check out the links below for reviews of different guitars in different price categories.
>>Acoustic Guitars Under $300 Reviews
>>Acoustic Guitars Under $500 Reviews
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