Best Budget Electric Guitars

Electric guitars can be pretty damn expensive, and good electrics usually cost good money. A shiny new American Deluxe Strat, for instance, could cost as much as a couple thousand dollars, and a Les Paul Standard Plus too could set you back by a few thousand of your greens, if not more. Custom shop models usually cost a lot more.

In essence, when it comes to guitars, the sky’s the limit! You can end up spending virtually an unlimited amount of money. Coupled with the fact that you’ll also need an amplifier that matches your guitar, buying an electric guitar can put a serious dent in your pocket.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. What most people don’t know is that there are tons of outstanding electric guitars out there, that not only match the more expensive ones, but often end up being better than them!

Here are some of the best budget electrics that I’ve come across:

1. Epiphone Les Paul Standard

Gibson sells Les Pauls under its own name, as well as a part of its Epiphone line of guitars; Epiphone is owned by Gibson, and all Epiphone guitars are produced by Gibson as well. However the key difference is that Epiphone guitars focus on being more cost-effective, and hence use cost-cutting/cost-saving measures, including the use of cheaper components (especially on-board electrics), and mass production.

But that does not make Epiphones in any way less superior. In fact, they’re pretty great guitars, preferred over Gibson by many star musicians and guitarists out there! (You can read a detailed comparison on this website)

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard usually cost around $300-400, and while Special/Custom Edition Epiphone guitars can go up to $1500+, the cheapest Les Paul can be had for as little as $150, give or take, which is the Les Paul Special II, a brilliant little guitar which plays extremely well and sounds even better, delivering just about everything that it’s more-expensive big brother does.

PS. The Les Paul 100 is also a great guitar for serious guitarists, at a price point which will surprise you ($269).

2. Epiphone Explorer GT

Another Epiphone offering, and another Epiphone-manufactured alternative of a kickass Gibson guitar – the Explorer.

The Epiphone Explorer GT sounds great, and comes at a fantastic price-point of $199. But its biggest plus point is the fact that it has looks to kill! It is a tru ‘rock’ guitar, and has the sound and the look to back this up!

The explorer GT has a 24-3/4’ mahogany body that is smaller and lighter than the Explorer. The GT also features an Alnico humbucking neck pickup (the 650R) which is Gibson-designed, and a 700T humbucking bridge pickup (once again, Gibson designed), along with a hard-maple bolt-on neck.

The Gibson Explorer retails for around $1500, and at only $199, the Epiphone Explorer GT provides guitar players and enthusiasts with a superb ‘bang-for-the-buck’ alternative!

3. Ibanez RG370 DX

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar-manufacturer that needs no introduction. They make some of the best hollow-body electrics out there. Their RG370 DX is a real piece of work!

Featuring a very light basswood body, a rosewood fingerboard with a double-locking tremolo and deluxe inlays, the Ibanez has the 3 Ibanez-made pickups on the neck (IBZ INF3 and INFS3), as well as on the Bridge (IBZ INF4). These pickups, along with their placement allows the guitar to produce a highly distorted, heavy ‘hard-rock’ sound, and this is why a lot of rock and metal guitarists have used the RG370DX as their weapon of choice since the late 1980s.

While it is not as cheap as the two Epiphones that we’ve looked at above (comes in at just over $400), the Ibanez RG370DX is still an excellent value for money. It sounds great, and is actually a pretty good guitar from a playability perspective; it is light and hence comfortable for extended sessions.

Coupled with a maple neck that has a great action, and the fact that this is a sturdy, durable guitar that stays in tune for extended periods of time despite heavy playing (classic Ibanez!), I would recommend beginner guitar players looking for their first electric (and touring guitarists looking for a spare perhaps) who have got $400 to spare for a new electric to get this.

4. Yamaha Pacifia 112V

The Pacifia 112V is Yamaha’s best-selling electric guitar, and when one picks one of these babies up, it’s immediately understandable why.

Oft considered to be a benchmark in terms of quality, the Pacifia 112V has a solid alder body, coupled with a maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard – pretty standard stuff with guitars that fall in this category. However what sets it apart from all other guitars in this range is its set of qualities: for instance the use of exceptional, high-quality hardware and on-board electronics, the brilliant tone that it produces, or how extremely easy it is to play!

It also has single-coil pickups in the neck and center and a bridge humbucker that allows for a vast array of tonal possibilities.

The guitar retails for around $300 or thereabouts.

5. Epiphone SG G-400

Yes, we’re only 5 guitars in, and this is the third Epiphone on the list. But trust me, I’m not an Epiphone/Gibson fanboy, it’s just that Epiphone guitars really are that good; easily some of the best budget and value guitars in the world.

The G-400’s official page says that it “is truly one of the best guitar values you will find today”, and honestly, it’s hard to argue with that. The SG G-400 makes for an excellent all-round instrument for professional guitarists and artists, as well as those guitar players looking to go from being amateur guitar players to break into becoming professionals. It is the less-expensive alternative to the world-famous and extremely famous Gibson SG.

It looks great, it sounds superb, and features Alnico Classic Humbuckers (on the neck and the bridge), nickel hardware, a mahogany body, mahogany neck, 24-3/4” scale, 2x controls for tone and volume (for both pickups), and comes with a variety of finishes.

Retail on one of these would be somewhere between $300-400.

6. Squier Affinity Series Telecaster

Squier can relate itself to Epiphone in many ways. Like Epiphone, Squier is a sister-company of the largest and arguably the most popular guitar company in the world – Fender. Squier is responsible for producing budget and less-expensive versions of many Fender guitars, such as the Stratocaster and the Telecaster, to name a few, without compromising on quality and sound and tone.

And that is precisely what the Squier Telecaster does with great effect – it provides guitar players with a great little guitar, which comes in a variety of finishes and ‘special edition’ versions as well (such as this one here), and it does a great job of providing the Fender experience to its users at a price that is friendly for all pockets!

As for the specs, the Squier Affinity has an alder body, a maple neck and a maple fretboard, a 25.5’ scale, 2 single-coils pickups, etc.

The guitar is extremely highly-rated in many different places online. Comes with a MSRP of a shade under $200.

So there you have it, 6 of the most brilliant bang-for-the-buck axes out there, with Epiphone dominating the list! What would be your list for the 6 Best Budget Electrics, leave your comment below!