10 Best Thin Body Acoustic Electric Guitars
for October 2023

Cordoba's new CE-5-CET is a classic-looking nylon-string classical guitar with a bright, rich sound, good balance, and a comfortable feel. It has a mahogany neck, a solid spruce top, and a Fishman electronics system, which delivers clear, balanced sound. The CE-5-CET's neck is accurate and convenient for fingerpicking, and the guitar's sound is clean and focused. The guitar's mahogany neck is mahogany, but the neck's finish is satin instead of gloss, and the instrument has a slightly darker, richer tone than guitars with gloss finishes. The CE-5-CET's spruce top is bright and resonant, and the nylon strings have a snappy response. The guitar's body has a good balance of sound, with a bright, focused treble and a warm, rich mid and bass. The CE-5-CET's Fishman electronics system is easy to set up and works well, delivering clear, balanced sound. Overall, the Cordoba CE-5-CET is a well-balanced nylon-string classical guitar with a bright, rich sound.

The APX600 is Yamaha's new thin-body offering, and it's everything you'd expect from a Yamaha guitar: great playability, excellent tone, and lots of features. The cutaway body design adds extra room for your fingers, and the soft-V-shaped neck feels really good under your fingertips. The APX600 features a piezoelectric pickup that does a good job of capturing natural acoustic sound, but engineered for stage use; the pickup provides plenty of volume, and it's especially good at handling loud volumes. The pickup is paired with an onboard preamp and EQ, and guitar players can choose to use only the pickup, or combine the pickup and the preamp. A handy side control knob lets you mix the pickup signal with an external instrument signal for a blended sound. The APX600 has a slick-looking vintage white finish that's easy to clean, and it features a solid cedar top and sitka spruce body. The guitar's electronics are covered by a durable, stylish, and protective aluminum cover. The APX600 is very versatile, and it's an excellent value.

This guitar is a great option for a player who wants a right-handed, full-size guitar with cutaways and onboard pickups, but doesn't want to spend a lot of money. The Ashthorpe's quality is on par with many more expensive guitars, and its performance is among the best we've heard for the price. The wood quality is top notch, and the guitar's overall tone is well-balanced with warm lows and sharp, clear highs. The onboard pickups sound great, and the guitar's built-in EQ allows you to tweak the tone to your preference. The guitar's thinline design, lightweight body, and onboard EQ make it a great travel guitar, and the guitar's compact size and full-size neck make it comfortable to hold and play. The mahogany neck feels smooth and easy to play, and the frets are clean and well polished. The guitar comes with a thick, soft nylon gig bag, and an extra set of strings, which give it a low cost of ownership. The guitar is a bit flimsy, and we prefer a bit more padding in the gig bag. The guitar also doesn't have a humidifier, so it's prone to cracking and warping in humid climates. Overall, the Ashthorpe is a great option for a player who wants a high-quality, full-size guitar with cutaways and onboard pickups, but doesn't want to spend a lot of money.

The Fender CD-60SCE Acoustic-Electric Guitar has everything that you would expect from a good-quality, made-in-America instrument, including a solid spruce top, a mahogany back, and a classic Fender design. At 22 pounds, it is on the heavy side, but it feels well-balanced and comfortable. The neck is narrow, with a 25.5-inch scale and .90- to 1.15-inch nut width, and the guitar's neck profile is rounded, so it's comfortable to play. The tone is bright, but not as bright as you might expect from a dreadnought. It has a lot of bass, and midrange and treble frequencies are well-defined. The Fishman Classic Design pickup/preamp has seven different pickup/preamp combinations, including passive, acoustic-electric, and piezo-electric, as well as a 3-band equalizer. The pickup/preamp has a tone control and a volume control, and both volume knobs have detents to prevent accidental turns. The pickup/preamp is wired to a 3-way toggle switch, so it's easy to switch between different pickup/preamp combinations. The CD-60SCE's volume, tone, and pickup/preamp controls are easily accessible, and the pickup/preamp's pickup selector lever is clearly marked. The pickup/preamp's output level is adequate, and it's easy to boost the volume by using the pickup/preamp's 3-band equalizer. The pickup/preamp's microphone has a 20-foot cord, so it's easy to set up the guitar anywhere. The Fender CD-60SCE offers a lot of features for its price, and it's comfortable to play. The guitar's mahogany back and sides give it a rich, full tone, and Fishman's Classic Design pickup/preamp is easy to set up and use.

The Cordoba Mini II is a compact acoustic-electric guitar that is as easy to sling over your shoulder or carry in your gigbag as it is to play. Its compact size makes it perfect for travel, and its onboard tuner and preamp make it easy to use on stage or in the studio. The Mini II's sound is crisp and bright, with almost no unwanted resonance, so it's a great choice for fingerstyle players. It has a solid spruce top, so it's bright, and it has good balance, better balance than guitars with laminate tops. The strings feel nice and tight, and the tuners are easy and reliable. The Mini II's controls are simple, and the guitar is easy to set up. The only drawback is its small size; the Mini II's body is only about 3 inches deep, making it smaller than some guitars with bigger bodies. The Mini II's nylon strings may be a bit stiffer than some players prefer, but the Mini II's overall quality makes it a good choice for players at all levels.

The IYV IJZ-300 TSB Jazz Solid-Body Electric Guitar is well made and beautiful to look at, but it's let down by a lot of poorly designed features that make it less fun to play than other guitars in its price range. For example, the range of neck angle adjustment is fairly small, so it's sometimes difficult to raise the neck high enough to play comfortably. The tuners can be noisy, and the guitar's small body makes it less comfortable to hold than larger guitars. The guitar's pickups are not very good, and if you're used to playing through an amp, you'll probably want to upgrade those. The guitar's pickups aren't necessarily bad, though. The guitar's tone is bright and loud, but it's a bit nasal and gritty, and if you're looking for a lush, warm sound, this isn't the guitar for you. The guitar's controls are very basic, and it's connected to an amp via a 1/4-inch cable that's barely long enough to plug it in. The guitar's hardware is solid, and it's built well, but it's let down by a lot of poorly designed features that make it less fun to play than other guitars in its price range.

The AEG62 sets the gold standard for acoustic guitars in its price range. It has the look, feel, and sound of a much more expensive guitar, and it's well worth a higher price. The AEG62 has an incredibly rich, warm sound that rivals many guitars that cost twice as much. The guitar's deep cut produces plenty of volume, and it plays very well. It's lightweight and low-slung, making it easy to play. The AEG62 looks as good as it sounds, with a satin finish in black, mahogany, and gloss, and it comes with a gig bag. Its lightweight construction makes it easy to carry around, and this guitar features a 12-fret neck that's ideal for fingerstyle playing. The AEG62's electronics are well-made and work as advertised. The integrated tuner is easy to read, and the guitar's preamp offers plenty of gain, clean tone, and distortion. The AEG62 sounds great plugged into an amplifier, and it's also well-suited to acoustic-electric playing. This guitar has it all: great looks, great sound, and a solid construction.

The Ibanez Talman TCY10 Acoustic-Electric Guitar is a relatively inexpensive guitar that boasts some impressive features. The solid spruce top and mahogany sides give this guitar a nice fullness and warmth, and the guitar's small body makes it easy to play. The mahogany neck is very comfortable, and the guitar's satin finish was a nice touch. The TCY10 has some nice features, including Ibanez' proprietary Ibanez Edge tremolo system, which employs four saddles to control the intonation, and Ibanez' Gotoh locking tuners, which ensure precise tuning. The Ibanez Edge tremolo system provided great stability, and the guitar's onboard Ibanez preamp made it easy to plug in and play. The guitar has decent sound as well. The guitar's sound is warm, with a good balance of highs and lows. The guitar's volume was adequate, but the guitar's tone varied depending on the pickup's location. The guitar's sound was also affected by the guitar's setup. Overall, this guitar is a good solid performer, and it's hard to beat its low price.

The Acoustic Electric Cutaway Guitar 3/4 Scale 36” Steel String Spruce Wood w/Gig Bag, 4-Band EQ, Clip On and Onboard Tuner, Picks, Shoulder Strap for Beginners and Students is a decent starter guitar for kids or adults just starting to learn how to play. The guitar has a sturdy build, good tone, and enough features to help players get a good sound without spending a fortune. The neck is very comfortable, and the guitar plays easily. The guitar's 3/4 scale helps young players avoid the troubles that come with learning to play on a 6-string guitar, and the electric EQ makes it easy for players to convert the guitar into an electric guitar. The guitar's onboard tuner and tuner footswitch are handy, and the guitar has a 4-band EQ that includes bass, middle, treble, and presence controls. The guitar also has a built-in clip-on tuner, which is useful for sight-reading. The included gig bag makes it easy to travel with the guitar.

The Ibanez AS53TRF is a semi-hollow-body guitar designed for rock music in both electric and acoustic formats. The semi-hollow design allows for more sustain and output than a solid-body guitar, and Ibanez's semi-hollow designs are known to be very playable. The AS53TRF offers high-end features at an affordable price, including a solid Sapele top, back, and sides, Artcore set-in neck, Sure Grip III knobs, and Ibanez's ACH pickups. The ACH pickups offer a warm tone, quick response, and moderate output. The semi-hollow design is comfortable, and the wood used on the neck is light in weight, making playing the guitar easier. The AS53TRF's semi-hollow design also yields more volume than a solid-body guitar, and the thin body allows for great resonance. The AS53TRF sounds great in both electric and acoustic formats, and it's a good choice for rock, pop, blues, and jazz musicians.