Best Acoustic Guitar For Blues
This is the review of the best acoustic guitar for blues.
If you are someone who love to play blues or just want to start, then you might ask yourself which guitar should you play.
As a guitarist I’ve done in-depth research about acoustic guitars for blues.
My conclusion is that the is the Gibson Acoustic G-00 best guitar overall.
Every delay guitar can have a different sound and build quality, this article is here to tell you which one is the best for every situation.
Keep on reading to find the most impressive and suitable guitar for you.
Table of Contents
10 Best Acoustic Guitar For Blues
Gretsch G9200 Roundneck Boxcar, Natural
The Gretsch G9200 is an excellent acoustic resonator guitar. A resonator guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to resonators, instead of to the guitar’s sounding board.
This guitar presents itself with a vintage look and sound. The G9200 produces a warm, sonorous tone that is perfect for blues. Owing to the round Mahogany Neck and Rosewood fretboard, it is easy to navigate and hold for a longer period.
The build quality of the G9200 is outstanding. Mahogany and Rosewood are used for the soundboard(top) and the back. As well as the sides are built from Mahogany. Being built with such high-quality materials, G9200 is durable and the Gretsch Ampli-Sonic resonator cones along with F holes are the key factors for its fantastic volume and sonic projection.
As with some other products, one of the potential drawbacks of this guitar is the absence of a Cutout. Frets higher than the 12th fret has limited access which might feel constrained while playing. Another thing to keep in mind is that you might get bored of the specific sound that a resonator guitar offers after some time.
If you don’t find the price excessive and are willing to experiment with this versatile guitar, I would highly recommend this to you.
Martin Guitar 000-15M with Gig Bag, Acoustic Guitar for the Working Musician, Mahogany Construction, Satin Finish, 000-14 Fret, and Low Oval Neck Shape
In the world of guitar making, Martin is revered as one of the upper echelons. 000-15M is a great guitar for working musicians.
Martin’s 15 Series guitars come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes that are designed for different types of tones, volumes, sounds and even playing styles and music types. The light mahogany body will enhance your performance and playability. And the auditorium body style will add volume and project sounds beautifully to your audiences.
The simple design and Satin finish are bound to catch anyone’s gaze. Thanks to the Oval neck and low string action, this guitar emanates a warm and mellow acoustic tone. Whatever your playing style is, you can pick this guitar up and be blown away by its sonic landscape.
000-15M utilizes Open-back tuners and these weigh less than the enclosed type, which makes a difference to the physical and, according to many, tonal balance of the guitar.
Although the price could be a bit high, a well-built guitar such as Martin Guitar 000-15M will be great for your collection if you are a professional guitarist, and it will be amazing as your first guitar as well.
Alvarez Delta00E/TSB Jazz & Blues Series Guitar
Alvarez Delta00E/TSB, from Jazz & Blues Series, is crafted meticulously, keeping specific genres in mind. With a glossy Tobacco Sunburst, this guitar looks stunning.
High quality Sitka Spruce wood is used for the body and soundboard. Mahogany made neck and fretboard ensure a rich tone and smooth playability. Techniques like the painting, sanding, and polishing on this guitar are notable and are being continually improved.
Despite being a small Blues body guitar, it sounds balanced and bright due to its bracing. Back Shifted and Scalloped Bracing gives greater clarity to the mid and high notes. Sound projection is incredible as well due to the back shifted bracings.
This electro-acoustic guitar has LR Baggs VTC with Element Pick Up which boosts harmonics for versatile, natural warmth and richness of tone. Delta00E sounds particularly good with strings with a bit lower tension, so you might want to experiment with the string gauge. Unfortunately, intonation issues are not uncommon with this acoustic guitar.
In my opinion, this guitar is more of a blues than some other guitars in this list. If you are into fingerstyle soulful blues, this might be the guitar you need.
Blueridge Guitars 4 String Acoustic Guitar, Right Handed, Mahogany (BR-40T)
Blueridge BR-40T is a classic tenor guitar from Blueridge. As a dreadnought guitar, it has a large and visually unconventional body that can create strong, projected, and loud sounds.
A solid top of Sitka Spruce, top and mahogany back and sides and forward shifted X bracing pattern, offers tone and volume that is pretty rare for an affordable guitar. This guitar fingerboard and bridge are made from Santos’s rosewood, known for its hardness and stability.
The dovetail neck/body joint is one of the strongest joints. Interior blocks and braces are just big enough to combine sufficient strength without weighing too much. Strong joint implies you can experiment with the guitar tuning extensively.
A not too heavy guitar with superior sound projection is provided by Blueridge. But you might need to have some work done on it. To be safe try to buy this guitar in person and if possible, with professional assistance. It has a basic design and lacks high-end features that an advanced guitarist might need.
This affordable guitar delivers what it’s supposed to deliver: big sound and smooth playability. I would recommend this guitar to both beginning and intermediate guitarists.
Epiphone Hummingbird Studio Acoustic/Electric Guitar
Epiphone never ceased to make quality products. Following that trend comes Epiphone Hummingbird PRO, an amazing guitar for an amazing price.
The Hummingbird comes ready to play with spot on playing height and intonation, right out of the box. The smaller diameter of the neck is easy on the hands, and anyone can play most chords fairly easily.
Hummingbird possesses a uniquely bright, vibrant sound. The projected sounds are unexpectedly loud and clear even without an amplifier. It is a semi-acoustic guitar with an onboard Fishman Sonitone pickup system with Piezoelectric Guitar Pickup Configuration.
A Solid Spruce top in faded cherry color and Mahogany back and sides are a recipe for a crisp, vibrant tone. Rosewood fretboard is another treat for your eyes and fingers alike.
The amount of lacquer on the body seems to muffle the subtle flavors of an acoustic guitar. This makes this guitar sound a bit cheap as per the remarks of some customers. The pickup system is all in all good but could have been better.
Taking all the criticisms into account I would argue that Epiphone Hummingbird PRO is a good enough guitar to demand your appreciation, especially considering the price range. Young guitarists will benefit immensely if they learn with Hummingbird as it is more of a beginner-friendly guitar with a small fretboard.
Fender CD-60S All-Mahogany Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar, Natural
Fender is another household name among guitarists. Like Gibson, Martin, and Yamaha, the name Fender ensures the instrument in question is of superior quality.
Concert body style guitar, Fender CD-60S, has a solid spruce top with a mahogany back and mahogany sides. The back and sides are laminated I.e., pieces of woods are joined together using glue. Laminated wood is often thinner and changes the overall characteristics of an instrument.
Graceful grain patterns and a glossy finish gives luster and sparkle to this guitar. You will even be offered three colors to choose from.
The neck is made of mahogany with a gloss finish as well. And with the new easy-to-play neck, it’s even more effortless to play for an extended period. Chrome die-cast tuning machines will hold an even tension on the strings. The incorporated dual-action truss rod permits accurate adjustments to the neck in both directions.
Fender CD-60S is an extraordinary guitar appropriate for any acoustic playing style within an affordable price range. I would recommend this guitar to both seasoned and beginning guitarists.
Gibson Acoustic G-00
This small-bodied and aesthetically pleasing guitar is from the Generation Series, made by highly skilled acoustic luthiers of Gibson. It stands out both in its classy looks and warm, bluesy tone.
The soundboard is made from Sitka Spruce and both the back and sides are made from Walnut. Walnut is characterized by its textured and earthy tone with amazing responses to both bass and treble sound. It has a gorgeous balance of dark warmth and brightened bell-like ring. And Spruce is widely known for its strength to weight ratio. Spruce creates rich and accentuated overtones with incomparable dynamic range.
You will be able to run across the ebony fretboard with ease and less effort. The neck wood, utile, has unparallel tonal characteristics along with an advanced-response profile. Both you and your listeners will be spellbound by the immersive tone and texture of the sound produced.
The Player Port is an intriguing addition to the design of G-00. This is a sound hole-like port on the upper side of the guitar which lets you hear exactly what your audience is listening to. The Player Port feature would boost your access to the sonic output of each note.
This handmade Parlor guitar is available for both left and right-handed guitarists. Another noteworthy feature is the Classic Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners that provide near-perfect intonation.
If you desire an expensive guitar for soulful fingerstyle blues, this guitar is what you want.
Gibson Acoustic 1942 Banner LG-2
Like the Alvarez Delta00E on this list, Gibson Acoustic 1942 projects sounds of individual notes with sheer perfection, still preserving its tonal qualities as a small-bodied instrument.
The uniqueness of this handcrafted guitar comes from the tonewood used for its top board. Gibson ages the red spruce wood thermally and uses it for the top board. This artificially aged wood is responsible for its impeccable vintage tone. Solid mahogany back and sides contribute to the warm and well-rounded sound.
This guitar has a superb midrange with a characteristic color to its tone. The bracing and compound dovetail hide-glued neck make it light and outstandingly resonant, which is essential for a blues guitar.
Banner LG-2 doesn’t come with an electric pickup, you will have to set it up yourself. But a Hardshell case will be provided, which is a good deal.
This is an expensive guitar, and you have to take that into consideration. If we put that aside, I would recommend this guitar to anyone as this guitar has the potential to be a perfect guitar.
Cordoba C9
Cordoba C9 is the only classical guitar on this list. Cordoba is one of the most popular and trustworthy guitar makers in the world of classical guitar. Although classical guitars are not typically associated with the blues genre, you will be surprised at how fresh and unique blues sounds on nylon strings.
The tonewood used here is cedar and mahogany, in combination they produce a soft, mellifluous, and clear tone. The standard bracing of classical guitar soundboard is Spanish fan bracing which is highly regarded for its ability to produce a warm and resonant tone.
A great feature of this guitar is the fusion neck that ensures a classical guitar soundscape with the playability of a steel string guitar. The mahogany Fusion neck gives you stability for a longer period.
This handmade guitar is from the Luthier series with a gloss finish looks stunning. Polyfoam Softshell Case, which comes with it, is convenient for traveling musicians.
A potential drawback might be its lack of versatility and tonal range, as it is primarily a classical guitar. As a classical guitar, it doesn’t come with a Cutout. You might find that a limiting factor.
If you want to experience classical guitar sound without playing an actual classical guitar, Cordoba C9 Crossover will be a great guitar for your collection. And with a midrange price and superb playability, C9 will prove to be a perfect guitar for beginning guitarists.
Yamaha FG850
Over the years Yamaha has delivered top tier guitars whether that comes to classical or acoustic guitars. This guitar undoubtedly has the highest quality-to-price ratio among the others on this list.
The FG850 is an all-mahogany guitar, unlike other guitars on this list. This guitar oozes with thick midrange and overtones. The dreadnought body shape offers a rich low register and pellucid high tones, further expounding its appeal to guitarists of all levels. Delicate and rich tonal quality make this guitar nonpareil for vocal accompaniment.
If you’re a beginner learning to play, the comfort of the neck, the lower action, and the rich full sound will amaze you. Even veteran players would love the intricate tone and effortless fretboard navigation along with the acoustic punch from dreadnought bodied guitar.
Finish, fit, feel- this guitar excels in all these. The headstock and rosette are dressed in gorgeous designs and patterns. But as a dreadnought, it is a pretty big guitar. Someone with smaller hands might struggle while playing. And if you admire modern acoustic guitars, this will look visually basic and simple to you.
Finally, Yamaha has jampacked myriads of features in FG850 that take this guitar to a whole new level in terms of tone and acoustic power at the same time keeping the price in the low-mid range. That’s impressive. FG850 has the potential to be your first and the most cherished guitar, I would wholeheartedly recommend this to a beginning guitarist.
Blues style
Blues is one of the most popular and influential styles in the history of western music. And as influential as it is, this style is bound to get experimented on by some of the most talented virtuosos. This would inadvertently reshape the concept of blues multiple times turning it into a multifaceted genre of its own.
On that note, some iconic Blues Styles are:
Delta Blues
Delta Blues originated in the Mississippi Delta in the early 1900s. It is known for its emotional sound. lyrics revolve around themes such as poverty, heartache, and oppression.
Famous Artists: Robert Johnson and Son House
Chicago Blues
Emerged in the 1940s Chicago Blues is based on electric sound often featuring distortion and other effects to create energetic sound. The lyrics focus on the urbane way of life and relationships.
Famous Artists: Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.
Texas Blues
This guitar-driven style of the early 1900s absorbed elements of jazz and swing extensively. It focused on grooves and lyrics based on love and life on the road.
Famous Artists: T-Bone Walker and Stevie Ray Vaughan
Body Style
For guitar a wide variety of body styles are available. Each of these has different physical and tonal characteristics. The most popular types are:
Dreadnought
· Developed by American guitar manufacturer C.F. Martin & Company.
· Characterized by a large body and wide waist.
· Possesses balanced sound, outstanding volume, and projection.
Artists: Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan
Grand Auditorium
· Slightly smaller than dreadnoughts, with a narrower waist.
· Possess a well-balanced sound accentuating midrange tone
· Appropriate for fingerpicking and strumming.
Artists: Taylor Swift and Jason Mraz.
Concert
· Smaller than both dreadnoughts and grand auditoriums with more focused sound.
· Comfortable to play for players with smaller hands.
· Has defined tones that support complex chords and polyphonic parts well.
Artists: Ed Sheeran and Damien Rice.
Jumbo
· Has a large and rounded body
· Offers a deep sound with plenty of bass
· Popular for strumming and fingerpicking.
Artists: Elvis Presley and Bob Weir
Parlor
· The smallest body style
· delicate and intimate sound due to thriving midrange tone
· Comfortable to play for guitarists with smaller hands
Artists: Robert Johnson and John Mayer
Price
An excellent acoustic guitar generally costs between $500 and $700. Acoustic guitars often range in price from $100 to $300 for entry-level models. While advanced-level models frequently cost over $800, intermediate-level ones typically cost between $300 and $800. Professional-grade acoustic guitars have the biggest price tags, starting at a staggering price of $1500 and going as high as you can afford.
Strings
Each type of acoustic guitar string has a special sound and feel. Steel, phosphor bronze, and bronze are the most popular materials for acoustic guitar strings.
· Phosphor bronze strings provide a soft and mellow tone
· Bronze strings produce a bright, well-balanced tone.
· Steel strings emanate robust, crisp, and clear sound.
Additionally, guitarists can choose between coated and uncoated strings because each has a somewhat different feel. Your playing style and personal preferences will inadvertently determine the ideal acoustic guitar strings for you. Keep your eyes open for that.
