For the most part, the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players are usually high-value options that bring to the table quality features and are reasonably priced. We define these guitars by targeting different variants designed for committed guitarists and those looking to learn how to play.
These acoustic guitars have an onboard preamp, solid top and are designed by a renowned brand with a reputation of being ideal for both professional and semi-professional use. In today’s article, we’ll be exploring the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players that fit the above description.
Let’s dive right in!
Best Acoustic Guitar for Intermediate Players
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Seagull S6 Acoustic Guitar
Seagull S6 has been one of the best acoustic guitars for intermediate players for the longest time. It features a unique combination of laminate cherry tonewood and solid cedar that produces an incredible tone which is not only fun to play but also warm. The QI version inclusive of the preamp allows you to choose whether or not you want to pay for the preamp.
The best thing about this acoustic guitar is that it’s fairly priced as it goes for about $400 or thereabout. According to our research, Seagull S6 is an excellent choice for intermediate players based on personal experience and value. It’ll serve you for years to come without the need for an upgrade. It’s ideal for beginner’s upgrade, chord progressions, budgets and rhythmic styles.
Pros
- It’s relatively cheap
- It has a solid top cedar
- The laminate cherry gives you an incredible tonewood combination
- Maple fretboard
- It comes in preamp and pickup version
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Martin LXK2 Little Martin ¾ Acoustic
Little Martin ¾ Acoustic Guitar is best suited for guitarists and intermediate players with small hands and those that prefer acoustic guitars with a smaller body. It has no electronics and neither does it have a solid top. However, the LXK1 variant is equipped with a preamp for players who want to plug in. The two acoustic guitars are almost similar and produce great sound resonance considering the smaller body size.
Little Martin Acoustic Guitar is relatively easy to maneuver which makes it an excellent performing acoustic.
Pros
- It’s quite affordable
- It’s best suited for travel and performance
- It comes with a well-padded gig bag for ease of storage and carrying around
- The bracing uses high-quality spruce
- It’s available in preamp version
Cons
- It’s doesn’t have a solid tonewood
- The default version lacks preamp
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Takamine GN93CE Acoustic
Takamine GN93CE is hands down the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players since it features exquisite onboard preamps. Most acoustic guitars usually have an electric version or a built-in preamp. This acoustic includes EQ bypass, tuner, notch filter along with a three-band EQ option.
You should try out Takamine GN93CE if you’re looking for a flexible preamp version. It’s ideal for recording, performing and going without the acoustic amp.
Pros
- It has a solid top tonewood spruce
- The incredible tone profile handles rhythm and lead perfectly well
- The preamp version is extremely flexible
Cons
- Natural resonance is often dampened
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Epiphone EJ200SCE Acoustic Guitar
You’ll love this acoustic guitar right from the aesthetics. It’s almost close to the jumbo body size with sunburst color pattern that you can describe as a bridge ar and floral pickguard. This acoustic guitar is feature rich with two different interior pickups – Nano Flex and NanoMag along with an excellent low-end tone.
The two interior pickups usually feed into the ESonic preamp system. Epiphone EJ200SCE is almost comparable to Takamine when it comes to the pickup/preamp department. The EC model is best suited for pickup flexibility, recording and performances more than its counterparts. The best part about it is that it also comes with Grover tuning heads.
Pros
- It comes with high-end Grover tuning heads
- It has a solid top
- The low-end tune is warm and full, ideal for strumming
- The two pickups usually go into the preamp system
Cons
- Its aesthetics are below average
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Seagull Performer Series CW – Flame Maple QIT
Seagull Performer Series CW is one of the best acoustic guitars for intermediate players available on the market. It has a solid top and laminate Maple on the sides and back. Save for the specs, this acoustic guitar plays remarkably well. It has open chords that sound amazing that is rich and equally full. The cutaway design, on the other hand, gives extra brightness to higher notes and finger pickers.
However, Seagull Performer Series falls on the higher side of the pricing spectrum. This can be a major drawback for guitarists working on a budget. It’s best suited for recording, live performances, rhythm and tuning stability.
Pros
- It has a solid top
- It looks amazing
- The maple sides blend perfectly well with the solid top spruce
- The tone is incredible on different open chord progressions
Cons
- It’s quite expensive
- The laminate sides and back are not that great
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Taylor Academy Series 12e Acoustic Guitar
By now, you already know that the Taylor guitar range are the best ones available on the market and Taylor 12e Acoustic Guitar is no exception. It features an ES-B preamp that is better than that of Taylor 114ce.
The concert body and small size design makes it ideal for fingerstyle playing. Plus, it works relatively well in strumming and rhythm context. The ES-B preamp, on the other hand, works remarkably well when it comes to replicating the natural sound of the guitar especially in electrically amplified nature. What’s more, it picks up many different righthand dynamics, movement and highlight pick scrapes.
Taylor Academy Series 12e is best suited for recording, fingerstyle and performance.
Pros
- The ES-B preamp system is a great fit
- Finger and pick movement sound full and rich
- Ships with high-quality guitar strings
- It’s compact which makes it easy to hold and carry around especially when travelling
- The solid top helps keep Taylor’s tradition alive
Cons
- It has more laminate
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Taylor GS Mini-e Solid Koa Top Acoustic
This acoustic guitar is made entirely of high-quality Koa tonewood with a flexible profile when it comes to the tone. It’s equally bright and crisp without compromising on its warmth and heaviness simultaneously.
The Koa tonewood is aesthetically pleasing and is quite rare unlike Spruce, Maple and Sapele offerings that you can find within this price point. Plus, it looks nicer than the tonewoods. This acoustic Koa guitar gives you versatile and unique tone profile which works in different musical context for the price.
Koa tends to brighten up quite fast and sound a little too thin for guitarists who are used to playing heavier. It comes highly recommended for players looking to bring out some subtle nuances of soft playing and fingerpicking styles.
Pros
- The high-quality Koa looks amazing
- It features an all-Koa solid top
- It comes with an ES-B preamp system
- The tone is warm and bright
- It’s ideal for softer playing and fingerpicking
Cons
- N/A
The Reviewing Process
The reviewing process involves playing the acoustic guitar in question. We did a combination of a guitar center, a music and a pawn shop to try out the recommended acoustic guitars on our list. We also listed some of those that we own collectively and have at least played. This means that these recommendations of the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players are legit.
When shopping for the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players, you’ll need to play it so that you can get a feel of it and listen to how it sounds. Second hand information will only come in handy when are you’re looking to narrow down your options. The entire process lets you provide thorough and genuine assessment and rating of the acoustic guitars on our list.
An Explanation of the Rating System
We normally use the rating system to review the best acoustic guitars available on the market with at least seven points all weighed in to a sum that brings the final score.
In the list above of the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players, the GN93CE, LXKZ and Seagull S6 all have personal reviews. We used a simple four-point system to rate the acoustic guitars without a detailed review.
The rating system summarizes build quality, tone, value/cost, features and tone. However, it’s not as extensive as the seven-point rating system. Plus, it’s not even weighted. But it gives you a rough idea of what to expect in terms of quality in comparison with the acoustic guitars provided on our list.
Measuring the Value of an Acoustic Guitar
Once you’re done with the overall ratings, you can use the approximate cost of the guitars in a graph. This will help you identify each value of the acoustic guitar by simply looking at their price points and compare them to the ratings.
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Tone Ratings
We’ll provide explanation and context of how we about certain rate categories in this section.
- For the tone, we looked at the quality of the tone in general
- The acoustic guitar’s EQ profile
- How it sounds naturally especially without being amplified
- How it handles low-end rhythm
- How it takes the fingerpicking melodic role
These are some of the factors we put into consideration when it came to the tone ratings. Here’s how the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players picks performed in the tone category.
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Electronics, Pickups and Preamps
We also recommend electronics and preamp system or another viable alternative with the same features included. The acoustic guitars on our list are graded based on tone quality and functionality.
For instance,
- Does the guitar capture natural resonance effectively?
- Does the acoustic guitar provide enough flexibility whilst allowing the guitarist to shape the tone?
In our recommendations of the best acoustic guitar for immediate players, there are variants with the option of buying with a pickup and preamp system.
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Build Quality and Wood
For the most part, build quality is usually similar for the price point. There’s the sloid top with Mahogany, Spruce, Maple and other times Cherry but it all depends on the brand. Maple necks and scalloped X-bracing are typical as well.
- The acoustic guitar’s bracing situation
- The quality of the wood used in construction
- How much is not laminate but solid wood
- The type of tonewood
The laminate and solid tonewood arrangement impacts greatly on the rating of the guitar. Keep in mind, more is better when it comes to the amount of solid wood.
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Final Thoughts – Best Acoustic Guitar for Intermediate Players
Seagull S6 acoustic guitar comes highly recommended since its best suited for intermediate players. Plus, it falls on the lower side of the pricing spectrum and is equally packed with rich features. For this reason, its hands down the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players on our list.
Martin GPCX and Taylor acoustics, on the other hand, are a lot better and worthy investment for any guitarist out there if money is not an object. This means digging deeper into your pockets.
Naturally, the best acoustic guitar for intermediate players are usually high-value as they strike a perfect balance between price and quality. You can get an acoustic guitar based on their ratings if you don’t mind surpassing the $800 mark. Otherwise, always look for options with a price point ranging from $400 to $600. In this case, Seagull S6 and Takamine acoustic guitars would be viable alternatives.
