Do you need to spend lots of money to grab a good ? Not at all! There are plenty of options out there under the $500 mark, whether you want a classic rock machine, a razor-sharp shred , or even a baritone. Let’s dive in to the best electric s you can buy in 2023 for under $500.
They say life begins at 40. That’s up for debate – but what certainly does begin at 40 is a line of excellent and affordable s, all with aged hardware and anodised pickguards. If you’re Squier, that is. In the Tele department, we have a blond finish, alnico pickups, black binding and a black anodised pickguard. For under $400. That’s how you celebrate a birthday.

It’s a little-known fact that Ibanez employs a cat to walk across a keyboard when it needs to name a . But that aside, this eminently affordable is a great entry point into the world of speedy shredders. With a thin neck profile, modern vibrato and two high-output humbuckers, this ’s ready for everything from At The Gates to Polyphia.
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Hey, that cat from the Ibanez office named this one too! But Yamaha Pacifica’s are some of the most well-regarded affordable s for a reason. This geartures a modern, flat-radiused fingerboard for comfortable lead playing, and a carved body shape for comfortable everything else.
Fancy a single-P90 instrument, but don’t want to go down the Fender route? Or even the Les Paul Junior route? Enter the Epiphone Coronet, a revival of one of Epiphone’s first-ever solidbody electric designs. It’s an odd looking thing, with its two dramatic cutaway horns and symmetrical pickguard – great if you want to stand out.
Construction consists of a mahogany body and set neck, paired with a 12” radius Indian Laurel fretboard. The single pickup is paired with some high-quality CTS potentiometers, and the bridge is a compensated wraparound ‘Lightning Bar’ unit.
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J Mascis’ signature Jazzmaster is a modern classic of Squier’s line, and for good reason. The tune-o-matic bridge paired with the offset vibrato also provides a little bit more stability, especially if you pick like the owes you money. Doing this on a Jazzmaster with a rocking bridge can occasionally jiggle it out of alignment and ruin your intonation.
And the pickups, rather than the understated traditionally-spec’d ones you might find in a Classic Vibe, are closer to P90s, with screw pole pieces providing a thicker and more confident sound.
Squier’s Affinity range are some of the brand’s most accessible s, but that by no means leads to bad instruments. The Affinity Stratocaster is a great entry point into the world of Strats, plus a brilliant affordable mod platform if you’re handy with a soldering iron.
Best Electric Guitars Under £500/$650
Harley Benton’s DC Junior is the German brand’s take on the the set-neck, double-cut, wraparound bridge and P90-loaded solidbody. Harley Benton s are famously good s for the money – plus, An ebony fretboard? At this price? You’d be mad not to.
This affordable offset is not only a great for the budget, it’s also got tonnes of character all its own. While it looks like a very surfy , it’s hardtail bridge and high-output pickups make this instrument a sleeper rock beast.
In the last couple of years, Squier has seemingly realised that the healthy appetite for baritone s means it should stop making them limited edition. Luckily, that means that the Cabronita Baritone Telecaster has stuck around: this dual-P90 tele offers a 27” scale length, making it perfect for tuning to B-standard or lower while retaining clarity and snap.
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This stripped-back instrument was originally introduced as a student model in the 1950s – and now has returned as this updated Epiphone version. With a flat mahogany body and two soapbar P90 pickups, the Les Paul special offers a great platform for those who want a no-nonsense instrument loaded with a famously versatile set of pickups.
We talk to artists and enthusiasts from across the global pop culture landscape about their most cherished and beloved instruments, uncovering the unique stories behind each and how they’ve helped shape their lives.
We take some of the world's most exciting ists to our favourite stores, and explore the racks and pedal cabinets to learn about their gear highs and lows, the instruments that have defined their journeys and the s that they just can't live without.
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Sick of too much talking and waffle in your gear demos? In just 60 seconds we'll give you all the relevant information and useful sonic examples you'll need to make an informed decision about a product - no cuts, no edits, just the important stuff.

More Originals coming soon, featuring your favourite artists and gear - sign up for our newsletter to always be in the know!If you're not familiar with the nomenclature of Ibanez guitars, it usually refers to the body shape first (In this case the AZ), followed by a sub-class for the body shape (ES for essential). The Essentials line was designed in tandem with Berklee College of Music Associate Professor Tomo Fujita.
The goal was to make cheap electric guitars that students could learn on without compromising function, playability, and tone. This line of instruments is meant to grow with the student.
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The scale length is a PRS-like 25 scale, which departs from the typical 25.5 scale lengths of the typical S type guitar. I deduce that this was meant to give younger players an easier time adapting to the guitar strings' tension.
The poplar body itself is slightly smaller and thinner than your average Strat. The shorter scale also encourages easier chording for fast changes. It also allows for thicker strings to get a beefier tone without sacrificing playability.
It has a C-profile neck which is uncommon for Ibanez. The 10 radius Jatoba fretboard is home to 22 medium frets. The fretwork on my unit was finished well with no sharp edges. I could set it up to my standard 1.2mm action with no fret buzz.
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As is the nature of guitars at this price, it is best to have your guitar professionally set up for you if you don't have the time to learn how.
A closer look at the bridge shows that the grub screws don't jut out of the saddles, unlike vintage-style saddles. While Strat purists would argue against this, the AZES31 wasn't designed to appeal to them, and this is a welcome change to the 6 saddle style.

Another piece of evidence that this is no ordinary Strat clone is its hardtail with no protruding grub screws. This gives you a comfy bridge to rest your hand on.
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The AZES31 is an incredible guitar for rhythmic guitar playing. The ceramic magnet pickups sound and feel more vintage. This makes it perfect for muted chucking and tight clean interludes. With a little bit of gain, the pickups take on a lot of attitude thanks to their output.
The single coil tones remind me of a more muscular mid-60s Strat. It has a midrange push as opposed to the glassier sound of early specimens. The pickups don't have the harmonic complexity or clarity of vintage and aftermarket examples, but that's not what it aims to be.
The noise floor is a bit lower which helps people who are still figuring out what they want to play to be able to crank the gain up a bit from time to time. I've recorded some samples you can listen to in my Extended Ibanez AZES31 Review.
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Other features include a pickup selector switch that puts the bridge/middle or neck/middle pickups in a series. This simulates a humbucker. It also has a proprietary one-piece output jack design to avoid lost nuts and loose cables.
The AZES31 is an example of a quality Japanese guitar designed around a purpose and target. It's not meant to be the greatest tone machine, and it doesn't pretend to be.
It's more of an instrument that gets out of the way of growth for new players and provides experienced players like me with a fun little guitar to be inspired by.

Best Electric Guitars Under $500/£500 2022
The Fender Broadcaster, later renamed to Telecaster, is considered the first commercially successful solidbody electric guitar - and now, decades later, the Telecaster is as in-demand as ever.
The Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s continues this legacy with its combination of vintage features and modern reliability at a more accessible price point.
The design of this guitar follows vintage designs closely, from its single-cutaway body to the neck and headstock shape, down to hardware configuration.
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The body is crafted from pine wood, which may not appeal to purists but is good enough to get the look right, and more importantly, it gets the job done.
To meet the demands of today's guitarists, this one has a modern C neck profile and a flatter 9.5 fingerboard radius over the 7.2 that's seen on vintage specimens. This results in easier playability compared to other Teles with thicker necks.
Giving this guitar its voice are vintage-sounding Alnico III magnet pickups, and they do the vintage twang tone justice without the usual hefty price tag expected from premium Telecasters. It stands
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