Cheapest All-Solid Wood Acoustic Guitars (a few options)

Solid tonewood is one of the most sought after features in acoustic guitars, and they're typically only found in more expensive models. Think $1000 or higher.

Even then, a lot of those acoustics have a solid top with laminate back and sides.

Note some of the lexicon used for non-solid tonewood.

• Select
• Laminate
• High-pressure laminate (HPL)
• Layered
• Simply the tonewood name and nothing else specified

Since solid tonewood is such a sought after feature, builders will almost always specify which parts of the guitar are built from solid wood. For example, these are some of the tech specs for a Guild Jumbo Junior acoustic.

The Martin D JR-10

That brings us to the Martin D JR-10.

I want to reiterate my disclaimer, that I have not personally played this guitar. Even if I have, I probably wouldn't start breaking it apart to see if the wood is all truly solid.

As consumers, we're usually stuck with taking their word for it. But Martin does list this guitar with a product description that specifies all solid tonewood for the top, back, and sides.

Here's a quote of the product description where they mention the tonewood.

It uses solid tonewoods which typically aren't found on guitars in this price range. Its top is solid spruce, a choice wood for bright, robust tone. Its back and sides are made from solid sapele, which is similar to mahogany in terms of richness and depth.

The solid Spruce top is fairly common, but adding the solid sapele on the back and sides gets you what you're looking for - a very budget-friendly acoustic guitar with all-solid tonewood.

As far as we know, it's one of the most budget-friendly acoustics that fit this criteria.

Current pricing for the Martin D JR-10

Pricing is always subject to change, so we've built an updated price table here with numbers from some of the most popular vendors. But even if the D JR-10 price changes, it'll likely change with the rest of the market, and not so much on its own.

In other words, it will still be a cheap, all-solid tonewood acoustic, relative to the rest of the market.

Prices updated Mon, September 25th, 2023.

Pricing from Major Vendors

Amazon only

Alert

Does not include Amazon pricing.

History

Does not include Amazon pricing.

What price is it more common to see all-solid tonewood?

I routinely see acoustic guitars over $1000 that do not have a solid back and sides. However, even in lower price ranges it's very common to see acoustic guitars that have the solid top.

That said, $1500 is where I start expecting an all-solid acoustic.

You do need to keep in mind that there are different grades of wood, whether solid or laminate. 

You can read more about wood grading here.

However, the grade is often not listed in product specs, unless it's especially high. In most cases, it will be hard to tell what grade tonewood you're working with.

In other words, you always get what you pay for.

Honorable Mentions

The all-solid tonewood collection really ramps up around the $700 mark. Here are a few honorable mentions that are more expensive than the Martin D JR-10, but still on the cheaper side of the acoustic guitar market.

• Alvarez MD60BG Masterworks 60
• Guild D-140
• Epiphone Masterbilt Texan
• Recording King Tonewood Reserve RD-328

These guitars were between the $700 and $800 mark when I wrote this piece, but check links to see if prices have changed.

As you go up in price, the number of guitars that include all-solid tonewood will increase. Surprisingly, Taylor is a company we've noticed that is a little stingier about adding a solid back and sides, though I believe they use a higher grade of tonewood for all parts of their acoustics, whether solid or layered.

Guild, Martin, and Epiphone seem to add this at much lower price points.

Read more: Best Taylor acoustic guitars

Wrap up

There are almost certainly other acoustic guitars that are fairly cheap but also include solid tonewood for their top, back, and sides.

If you know of any, drop a line in the comments section below and we'll check it out.

You can leave questions and other thoughts there as well.

Thanks for hanging out and for supporting our work.

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