Once you’ve been playing guitar for a while, you’ve probably thought about upgrading to something a little more professional than a beginner guitar, either for a better sound, additional features or maybe just for better comfort of playing.
If you’ve looked at reviews or forums online, you’ll see a lot of big, conflicting opinions, which can make it pretty tough to know which brands to go for and what the tangible differences are.
Here’s a guide to buying that intermediate or advanced guitar you’re after, with some budget, brand and shopping tips to help you find the right guitar for you!
(If you’re new to guitar, check out this guide to buying your first guitar).
Note that all of this advice is based on shopping for guitars in Australia, where we typically pay a higher price for guitars and have a bit less choice in brands than other parts of the world. Also note that due to inflation, we’re seeing an increase in instrument prices at the moment, possibly above what we’ve written below.
Step 1: Choosing the Type of Guitar
For most people, their intermediate or advanced guitar is going to be a different type of guitar to their first guitar, as this will mean you’ll have more options for playing and practicing.
For example, if you started playing on a steel string acoustic, you might consider a nylon string or an electric as your next guitar, or if you’re a die-hard electric player who started on a strat, you might get something with humbuckers next (here’s a guide to guitar anatomy if you want to work out what you have).
However, if you’re looking for a guitar upgrade because you have a specific problem with your current guitar, or you are focused on a particular style and really just want more of the same, it’s still fine to upgrade - just make sure you are getting a decent upgrade if that’s the case, as you don’t want to keep going through this process multiple times in the future if you can avoid it!
The basic categories are:
Nylon string (classical guitar)
Steel string guitar
Electric guitar
but at this level, I’d start to break them down with some more nuanced distinctions like::
Strat-style electric guitar
Super-strat electric guitar
Les Paul-style electric guitar
Electric-Acoustic Steel String Guitar (a steel string guitar with a pickup)
body sizes and shapes
It’s ok at this point if you have a few ideas in mind, as we’ll start to narrow down the options as we go, but in general, while it was great to get a jack-of-all-trades guitar for your first one, I’d think more about specialisation for intermediate and advanced guitars. It’s impossible to find one guitar that can do it all, so better to choose something that does a few things really well than everything “ok”.
In particular, think about features you require like:
Acoustic guitar pickups (for playing live)
Floating bridges or pickup types for electric guitars (style dependent)
Step 2: Work out your budget
It’s really important to work out your rough budget before going any further, as intermediate to advanced guitars can range from anywhere between $300-$3000 (if not more). Knowing your limits will help you avoid some really common mistakes, like buying the cheap model of an expensive brand and, quite frankly, getting ripped off (we’ll talk more about brands below).
$300 - $800 - Advanced Beginner Guitars or Basic Intermediate Guitars
At this price point, you’ll start to see some improvements over beginner guitars, such as:
Acoustic Guitars
Truss rod in the neck (which allows for you or a tech to adjust the action (string-height) of the guitar by tightening or loosening the neck
Solid tops (a solid piece of wood on the top of the guitar, the part people see when you’re playing, which should sound nicer and also change tone over time)
Advanced features, like cutaways, pickups, tuners etc
Electric Guitars
Better pickups. Some guitars in this price range will sound immensely better than the beginner ones, provided you shop around.
Different scale lengths, fret types and bridges, which can all impact the feel of playing. There’s a lot more variety.
And of course, more generally, the quality control will generally start to improve, so you should in theory have fewer manufacturer defects (but it’s by no means guaranteed). Almost all guitars in this price range will be made in China.
$800-$1500 - Intermediate and Advanced Guitars
At this price point, you start to get into the sorts of guitars used by professional musicians worldwide. Whilst there are more expensive guitars available with arguably better features, this price point is the sweet spot for workhorse guitars that will be reliable, sound great and do what you need them to do.
Acoustic Guitars
Much better build quality
Better quality tonewoods. These guitars will often sound a lot nicer, as they use the more expensive woods.
Hard cases may be included (or at least available)
Electric Guitars
Lots more options in terms of pickups and bridges
More artistic finishes (as in, how it’s painted or stained) and designs
Options for advanced hardware, like active pickups, on-board effects and floating bridges.
Here you’ll see guitars from China, Mexico, Korea and maybe even Japan or the US depending on the brand. You’ll also start to see some Australian steel string guitars too.
$1500+ - Professional and Collector Guitars
Now at this price point you’ll start to see the higher-end brands and eventually some hand-made stuff too. It’s important to point out that there are two target buyers at this price:
Professional-level guitarists
People who like collecting expensive toys
If you’re shopping at this level, you may be a mix of the two (I know I’ve bought expensive guitars purely for the aesthetic before, and I know a few students who also have some beautiful collections that are as much for fun as they are for necessity), but i think it really helps if you work out what you’re after here, as it will seriously impact what you look for.
Let me give you an example from an Australian Luthier, Ruben Guitars. Ruben used to work for Maton, but is now renown for his custom, hand-made guitars.
Being hand-made and high quality, his basic acoustic guitars start at around $2700. By “basic” I mean that these are beautiful guitars, but they’re designed to be the whole package - look great, play well, and sound amazing - but are still practical.
By comparison, I was lucky enough to see one of Ruben’s “Legacy” guitars, which are guitars built as pieces of art, designed to be purchased and passed on to your children as a legacy. Its price was upwards of $50,000, and looked incredible, but not only would that price put off most people from every playing the thing, it even had design features that made it clearly more of an art piece than a playing piece (for example, gold frets, which is a soft metal that wouldn’t be ideal for regular playing but is very pretty).
That’s an extreme example, but my point is, those guitars are for two very different buyers, even ignoring the price difference, so if you’re shopping for a display piece, it’s ok to focus on the look rather than the feel, and if you’re shopping for a specific sound/feel/feature, it doesn’t necessarily need to be a particular brand or look a certain way.
Step 3: Work out the brands (if any) to look for, then find a store to try them out
Music stores in Australia rarely deal with manufacturers directly. Instead, they work through distributors, who will import the guitars and get them into the shops.
What this means practically is that most stores will work with a one or a couple of distributors, and as such will stock a range based on who they work with. In other words, one music shop may stock different brands to another based on the distributor they use, so visiting different stores can be worthwhile.
That being said, there are certain guitar brands you just won’t find in Australia, as it’s not always worthwhile for a distributor to import a brand - if it’s too niche, or maybe just because that manufacturer isn’t interested in the Australian market.
So, here’s a few tips on finding the right guitar brands:
Under $1000, most guitars are made in China, no matter the brand. As such, there’s often no advantage to buying a Fender Squire over another, less known brand, just because it’s a Fender, as they may be from the same or similar factories.
Therefore, under $1000, you will get much better bang-for-your-buck if you go into a store, say the brands and styles you like (if any), your budget, and let them show you what they have. Go in with an open mind and you’ll likely find a gem, even if you haven’t heard of the brand before.
Over $1000, you’ll start to see more variety in where the guitars are made. The conventional wisdom is that US and Japanese made guitars are the best for production-model guitars, followed by Korea, but I have definitely seen quality control issues from both Korean and Japanese guitars in the past. I personally would no longer buy a guitar using location of manufacture as a measure of quality. Plenty of Chinese luthiers (and their staff) know their stuff, just as they do in all other parts of the world - let the guitar itself tell you the quality!
Between $1000-$2000, you’ll start to see the lower end brands of the higher end guitars. For example, ESP “LTD” guitars, Ibanez base models, Fender (Mexico made).
Over $2000, it’s possible to get hand-made guitars too. This can be a good choice if you have really specific requirements, want to support master craftspeople or just want something special, but you’ll typically pay a lot more for the same features because of the labour costs.
A guitar that costs $4000 is not 4x as good as a $1000 guitar. Putting on my marketing hat for a minute, we generally perceive higher price things as higher value, and whilst you will often find improvements as the price goes up, sometimes they are small improvements at a big cost.
Let’s go into some more specifics for some guitar types:
Nylon String Guitars
Katoh, Alhambra, Altamira and Yamaha are brands that I would always think of for classical guitars.
In the nylon-string world, most of these brands cater for everything from beginners to professionals - it’s all very structured in what they build and sell.
That said, there are plenty of smaller brands worth checking out too, even if you can’t find reviews online.
At the higher end, hand-made guitars are considered the best for Nylon-String guitars, but I personally bought a higher-end production model Altamira rather than the equivalent hand-made nylon string guitar because a) I couldn’t feel or hear much difference and b) it was cheaper.
Steel String Guitars
If you’re looking to spend a bit more, Maton and Cole Clarke guitars are the go-to steel string guitars in Australia.
Higher end than that are Taylor and Martin guitars, but again, let the guitar, not the brand, tell you whether it’s good.
Below $1000, many of the lesser known brands are worth checking out. Look out for the woods used (a quick Google search of its properties will give you an idea of why a spruce top is used over a maple top, for example).
Pickups can be added in after purchase, but it’s a lot less hassle to get a steel string guitar with a pickup built in if you plan on using it for performing or loud rehearsals.
Electric Guitars
Electric guitar brands tend to be more genre-focused, so the style you’re after will help you decide.
I’m just going to come out and say it - Fender and Gibson guitars are over-priced. Unless you’re spending top dollar (and even then…), really compare it to other guitar brands at that price point. If you are a really big fan of the brand name, fair enough, but just be aware that you are usually paying a premium for the brand, not the quality (this is a generalisation, as I know lots of students who have great Gibson and Fender guitars, but no more than any other brand).
For strats, telecasters and all the Fender models, you’ll find lots of copy-cat brands (after all, the designs are pretty much 60+ years old now), but Suhr are renowned for high-end strats if you’re after a good comparison to Fender custom-shop. You can also find a few dedicated Fender Custom-Shops, or dealers who will sell second-hand models if you prefer to look for actual Fenders.
For Gibson SG and Les Paul body shapes, you’ll again find lots of variations between brands, but they are all quite different despite the looks. For example, ESP/LTD make a Les Paul style guitar, but it is much thinner bodied, has a different scale length and totally different pickups to an original Les Paul, so it’s harder to compare.
For Jazz (semi-hollow body guitars), the prices are high, but they have a very specific sound, so I’d check out Ibanez, D’Angelico or maybe even some of the Gibson or their cheaper brand, Epiphone guitars (just make sure to try them out a lot first!).
For metal, ESP (and their cheaper brand, LTD) are decent, as are Ibanez (premium and prestige models are usually made in Korea and Japan respectively), but it’ll probably come down to the features and pickups you want (in particular, floating bridges, or floyd roses are only offered by certain brands).
For all other styles, the sky’s the limit - try any brand you can as there’s so much variety!
It’s possible to swap out pickups too if you have a guitar that feels great but sounds weak. It’s pretty easy to DIY if you can use a soldering iron, but guitar shops will usually help you out too.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I hope it gives you a bit of an idea of the thought process to get started.
Now, most importantly - all of this research is just a starting point. The main thing is to play the actual guitar for yourself. No review can tell you how nice the neck will feel to you, or how the pickups sound through your amp, or how it sits on your lap.
Step 4: Buying Online or Second-hand
What if you’ve gone through all of the above only to find that either:
You can’t find the right guitar for you or
The guitar you want is outside of your budget?
The good news is that there’s a huge second-hand intermediate and advanced guitar market, and you can often trade gear too.
As always, be careful shopping online, but if you can meet in person and try out the guitar definitely do that, as you may find a guitar that looks great but has some problem like a busted pickup or feels like it needs a good setup.
Sometimes, you may just have to buy online instead, either second-hand through a site like Reverb.com (a second-hand gear marketplace, but lots of shops sell through it too - think of it like eBay) or new from an online store.
If that’s the case, try to find:
the return policy, including shipping costs, as returning guitars is difficult.
warranties (new guitars like everything in Australia MUST provide 2 year warranties, no matter what they say)
I’d also budget for a proper setup once you receive the guitar, as guitars in music shops are usually setup to the local climate ready to play, whereas second-hand or shipped guitars may need some love. Your local music shop should be able to help for around $100, so long as you don’t need any extra work done.
Environmental Impacts and Tips for Sustainable purchasing
With everything we buy, it’s worth thinking about how it affects the planet, our community, and ourselves.
Here are a few tips that will help:
Rare woods often means woods that we probably shouldn’t be using for guitars. If it’s a special wood from the heart of some forest, don’t see that as a positive because you’ll have something special, see it for what it is: a rare tree that will be cut down so a manufacturer can make their guitars seem more elite. Instead, look for sustainable woods, ideally local, as they can not only be cheaper, but they may sound more unique and be easier to repair in the future. Walden guitars are great with their wood choices, but many manufacturers are starting to shift their choices.
Some guitar parts are made from bone, which is considered superior to plastic (the nut, for example) but there are better alternatives now such as Tusq nuts. No one wants their guitar playing to come at the expensive of a life when it’s so easy to avoid.
Try to buy gear that you’ll keep forever. By that I mean don’t buy something you know will need replacing in a few years if at all possible. A good example is guitar types - if you aim for one of each type you want to play, rather than three of the same type, you won’t have guitars sitting on the shelf collecting dust.
Second-hand buying is a great skill to have as a guitarist. We all know professional musicians aren’t usually the most wealthy people, so if you can get onto a facebook group that shares and trades gear you can not only save a lot of money, but you can reduce your environmental impact and learn a lot about which guitars and features people value to help you understand the differences.
Finally, guitar-buying is no substitute for guitar-playing. If you find yourself online shopping when you should be practicing, stop reading and go play! No gear will substitute actual playing, which sounds obvious, but we all forget it from time to time.
My Collection
I think it’s often worth looking at guitarists like myself who have been playing for a while to see what we use, not so much so you can say “oh I should get that” but so you can see the reasons behind the range and better understand your needs. So, here’s what I’ve got on my guitar stand!
Nylon String Guitar:
Altamira N700 FR+ (actually a Flamenco guitar, I use it for classical - great sound, which was what I was missing from my previous nylon string, which was more of an advanced student guitar)
Steel String Guitars:
Maton EBG808 Artist Series (for recording and performing, a typical steel-string sound)
Art Lutherie Maple Top (my first steel string guitar, which I absolutely love but has a darker, warmer sound which isn’t as good for recording)
Electric Guitars:
Strandberg Prog 6 (the workhorse guitar - does everything well for metal and lead playing which is my main style, but is ergonomic and light so I don’t break my back touring),
Ibanez SZ (great rock guitar, one of the nicest ones to play ever),
ESP Horizon (more used for recording when I need a fixed bridge, I also keep for sentimental reasons as I used to be an ESP endorsed artist)
Ibanez RG Premium (got this in a trade and it’s a lovely guitar - mostly used for when I want to do old-school shred-lead stuff)
Almost all of these guitars were bought from a local music shop, not because I had a brand in mind ahead of time, but because that’s what they had. The exception is the Strandberg, which I did have to buy online direct due to a lack of stockists in Australia (I had tried them in a few stores in Japan while touring).
My collection is more heavily weighted to electric guitars, as that’s what I use live 99% of the time. You can see that while most of the electric are metal focused, they have unique differences, so even though I play one more than the rest, the others have their use, but you could easily argue that I have more than is necessary.
Finally, enjoy the process of hunting for your new guitar! Ultimately it’s part of your musical education and journey as a guitarist, so treat it like everything else you do with your instrument - enjoy the process and feed your curiosity.