Guitar Reviews and Demos

How to Choose Your Next Guitar

Is One Guitar Enough?
Determining (and Justifying) Your Need for Multiple Guitars

New cars come with an owner’s manual, so why not musical instruments?
A Guide to Identifying Common Acoustic Guitar Shapes and Sizes
How to Shop for a Used Guitar

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Acoustic Guitar editor Teja Gerken holding guitar for 11 affordable small bodied flattop guitars

Bedell HGM-28G Review

Fueled by reader requests for an overview of currently available small-body guitars, Acoustic Guitar invited manufacturers to send us samples of their small-body instruments with list prices between $500 and $1,000. We ended up with 11 guitars that are surprisingly diverse in sound and feel, some inspired by vintage instruments…

Acoustic Guitar editor Teja Gerken holding guitar for 11 affordable small bodied flattop guitars

Seagull Maritime SWS Folk HG Review

Fueled by reader requests for an overview of currently available small-body guitars, Acoustic Guitar invited manufacturers to send us samples of their small-body instruments with list prices between $500 and $1,000. We ended up with 11 guitars that are surprisingly diverse in sound and feel, some inspired by vintage instruments and…

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Yamaha A3R Review

Yamaha A3R Review

One of the noteworthy aspects of the A3R is its playability. Our review guitar arrived strung with light-gauge strings that feel as close to the ebony fingerboard as the strings do on a typical electric guitar. I found the mahogany neck to be very playable in all positions and it was easy to bend strings.
Alvarez AP70 Acoustic Guitar

Alvarez AP70 Review

The AP70 is part of Alvarez's Artist Series of instruments, a comprehensive line of guitars that includes dreadnoughts, jumbos, folk guitars (slightly smaller than dreadnought, designated by other makers as 000), classical, 12-string, acoustic bass, and parlor models, many available with built-in electronics, some with cutaways, and all priced for the experienced, budget-minded player or beginning enthusiast.

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Guitar & Gear Review FAQs

How do you choose which guitars to review?
Our writers are guitar fanatics, just like you. They’re always on the lookout for new or updated offerings to recommend. We’re sometimes asked why we don’t publish negative or one-star reviews – there are so many great guitars being produced today that we’d rather share our balanced opinions on the instruments we do think you should consider.

Do companies pay for you to review their instruments?
No. We are proud of the firm separation between advertising sales and editorial coverage that we’ve held strong since our founding in 1990. We only accept endemic advertising – meaning, you won’t see ads for products or services unrelated to making music with an acoustic guitar; inevitably that means we’ll review products made by companies who advertise with us, but you’ll see just as many reviews by companies who do not. We have never (and will never) take money or gifts in exchange for a favorable review.

What’s up with affiliate links?
There is no billionaire owner or mega-corporation behind Acoustic Guitar – your support keeps us independent and in business. When you shop for gear using one of our affiliate links, a small percentage of your purchase gets shared with us (at no cost to you) for being the one that referred you. This is one way you can support our work (learn about more ways here.) We do not select products to review based on the availability of affiliate links.