If you’re looking for the best beginner electric guitars of 2024 you’ve come to the right place! The following list is mainly organized by style of music they are best used for but there is a lot of overlap, for example the Fender Telecaster (best for country) is often used for blues, rock, funk, and even jazz. Prices of the guitars on this list range from $450 to $800 (at the time of this post) so they are recommended with the intent that the student is dedicated to learning guitar and will commit the time and energy to do so. If you are on a budget, check out The Best Budget Electric Guitars for 2024.
Best All Around Beginner Electric Guitar for 2024
Fender Player Stratocaster Electric Guitar
Maybe I’m biased because my first electric guitar was a Strat but I have to say that the Fender Stratocaster is not only the best electric guitar for a beginner, it’s one the best designed electric guitars period. You don’t have to take my advice on the matter, though, ask Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Mark Knopfler, and countless other legends. These guitars are versatile and perfect for rock, blues, country, funk, reggae, and everything else under the sun. The Mexican made Player Stratocaster is not far off from its American counterpart that costs more than twice the price, sporting the same bell like tone, versatility, and contoured comfort that guitarists have fallen in love with for decades. Modern C shape maple neck, solid alder body, 22-fret pau ferro fingerboard with a contemporary 9.5″ radius for easy bending, and signature sounding three single coil pickup configuration for that unmistakable Strat tone. If you’re looking for a little more hard rockin tone, you might consider the Fender Player HSS Limited Edition Stratocaster which substitutes a humbucker pickup in the bridge position.
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Best Classic Rock Beginner Electric Guitar for 2024
Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plain Top Electric Guitar
The Gibson Les Paul, along with the Fender Stratocaster, has long been the quintessential electric guitar for rock. While the Fender Strat is good for a little more nuance and versatility, the Les Paul is good for no nonsense, balls to the wall heavy crunch. From Jimmy Page to Peter Frampton, Slash to Ace Frehley, Randy Rhoads to Joe Bonamassa, the Gibson LP is the go-to of the greats. While an American made Gibson Les Paul starts at well over $1,000, Gibson’s entry line company, Epiphone, produces a decent starter LP for under half the cost. Featuring mahogany bodies and slim taper necks, the traditional rosewood fingerboard and dual alnico humbucker pickups provide the crunch. The Epiphone Les Paul Standard is a great choice for beginning guitarists.
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Best Metal Beginner Electric Guitar for 2024
Schecter Guitar Research C-1 Platinum Electric Guitar
The Schecter Guitar Research company started with Dave Schecter repairing guitars in Van Nuys, CA in the late 70’s. Soon after, Schecter started producing high end (and expensive) guitars in 1983 and after meeting its limit of production, was sold to a group of Texan investors who eventually had to shut down the company in 1987 due to patent lawsuits. Japanese entrepreneur Hisatake Shibuya purchased Schecter and put Michael Ciravolo in charge, who then set out to produce affordable yet high quality electric guitars made in South Korea. The guitars and basses were a hit, and to this day Schecter offers high quality designs at affordable prices. The C-1 Platinum sports a mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and bone crushing dual EMG Active 81/85 pickups.
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Best Jazz Beginner Electric Guitar for 2024
Ibanez Artcore AF75 Hollowbody Electric Guitar
The Ibanez Artcore AF75 Electric Guitar sports a fully bound, all-maple hollow body, with no soundblock, for that woody and warm muted jazz tone. The mahogany set neck with bound laurel fingerboard is a breeze to play, and the ACH humbucker combo puts out some decent tones. Although Ibanez is probably best known for its shredder style guitars (think Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, and Steve Vai), jazz legends George Benson and Pat Metheny are known to play Ibanez guitars. These guitars are a great buy at around $400, you’ll have a hard time finding a comparable hollow body at anywhere near that price.
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Best Country Beginner Electric Guitar for 2024
Fender Player Telecaster Electric Guitar
Not much needs to be said about Telecasters in country music… look up pics of every great country guitarist and guess what you’ll see in their hands? From Brad Paisley, Waylon Jennings, Brent Mason, Johnny Hiland, Vince Gill, Danny Gatton, and on and on. Its just a given. Beyond country, a lot of legends in rock, such as Andy Summers, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Buckley, and even shredder John 5, swear by the shimmer of the Fender Telecaster. With a gloss finish solid alder body (upgrade to a swamp ash body for more spanky twang), maple modern C shape neck, and dual single coil pickups, these Mexican made Teles are a great “set it and forget it” guitar for beginners.
About the Author
Mark Hamrock has been Orange County’s premier guitar and bass guru since 1995, teaching students how to excel in every genre including rock, blues, classical, metal, funk, and country. After studying rock guitar with Rusty Anderson (Paul McCartney, Elton John, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Willie Nelson, Santana), classical guitar with David Tanenbaum, Scott Tennant, Ricardo Cobo, John Schneiderman, and Jazz with Alan Rowe (Stan Kenton Orchestra, Keith Jarret); Mark has gone on to tour extensively and perform in concerts featuring Jazz Legend Larry Carlton, Tim Reynolds (Dave Matthews Band), and Dave Mason with Traffic. He currently produces, composes, engineers, and teaches, and is working on developing a series of instructional books and videos for guitar and bass. In what little free time he has, Mark enjoys traveling, culinary arts, scuba diving, and entrepreneurial pursuits.
