Best Electric Guitar For Around $100
I get asked all the time to recommend guitars for beginners and intermediate players alike based on price.
Price is an important consideration because it can determine the kind of guitar you are likely to get for your money. It doesn’t always work out this way, but generally speaking, the more money you spend on a guitar, the better it is likely to be. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t get a decent electric guitar for a really low price.
Here we’re going to take a look at the best electric guitars for $100 which I think is a great entry level price point.
Please note, at the time of publishing this, all of the guitars featured here match this price.
Dean Vendetta XM Solid Body Electric Guitar, Mahogany Finish
This is a solid, great looking guitar that comes from the same manufacturer who make guitars used by the late, great, Dimebag Darell and other renowned metal guitarists such as Dave Mustaine.
The body of the guitar is made from the lesser known Paulownia wood, a mahogany substitute which is cheap to produce yet has good characteristics as a material, hence why it is also used in surfboard construction.
As with most if not all guitars at this price, the neck is bolted on to teh body which features a cools looking trans-black finished which is also found on guitars with a much higher price tag.
With 24 frets, the guitar is very suitable for shredding up into the higher registers. What makes the upper frets even more accessible is the scalloped upper cutaway and the extended lower cutaway, as can be seen in the pictures. This means that your fingers wont face to much obstruction when trying to hit those real high notes.
With die-cast tuners, a tune-o-matic bridge, string-through-body configuration and two Dean hum bucking pickups this is a god choice for the beginner electric guitarist who is looking for a strong rock or metal guitar.
Dean EVO XM Satin Natural Solid Body Electric Guitar – Includes: Planet Waves 12-Pick Shredder Pack & Ultra Stand
Another Dean guitar, the Evo XM features a slightly more classic design which is reminiscent of a Les Paul and a Telecaster.
This model is mae from basswood (which is tonally warm) with a mahogany finish to give that beautiful, natural wood appeal.
A guitar like this would be capable of some wonderful tones and the kind of sustain that you moght think would cost you a bit more than the $100 asking price so it is a good choice for even the more experienced player who is looking for a well crafted and versatile guitar which can be thrown around without the worry of damaging an expensive piece of equipment.
weighing in at around 6lbs it is a very light guitar which makes it suitable for younger users too.
The double hum buckers mean that the guitar is capable of some varied tones, however, unlike the Vendetta XM the Evo only has 22 frets which although isn’t a big deal might be a consideration depending on what you want to do with teh guitar and what music you want to play.
The most common complaint on this guitar is that the tuners aren’t so great but if they really bothered you, you could very easily replace them.
As with the Vendetta, if you look at the customer reviews on Amazon.com, you’ll find that most people are very happy with this guitar.
FENDER STARCASTER PACK
If you’re looking for a guitar that is a bit more traditional looking then you will probably be thinking of a guitar that is what is know as a “Strat type”, that is a guitar that is based on the legendary Fender Stratcoaster.
If so, you might want to check out the Fender Starctaster which is an entry level guitar made by Fender and purposefully aimed at the beginner electric guitarists.
The pack contains the guitar itself, a cable, a strap, a guitar stand, a chromatic tuner, strings, 3 picks and a 10W practice amp. To buy all these things individually would set you back a bit more than the $100 aksing price from a few Amazon marketplace sellers.
As for the guitar, it features a classically Stratcoaster maple neck with rosewood fretboard, a classically Stratocatser white pick guard and the classically Stratocaster electronics configuration of 3 single coil pickups which controlled by one volume and two tone knobs and of course the 5-way selector switch to enable you to select the various pickup combinations that make teh Stratocaster such a great guitar.
This Starcaster beginner pack is definitely one of the best guitars for under $100
