What is the difference between an electro acoustic and an acoustic guitar?

An electro acoustic guitar has built-in electronics or a pickup, allowing it to be plugged into an amplifier or PA system. It delivers the same natural tone as an acoustic guitar but with the flexibility for live performance and recording.

Are budget electro acoustic guitars under £500 any good?

Absolutely. Many electro acoustic guitars under £500 deliver impressive sound and build quality when properly set up. At Richards Guitars, every instrument includes a free £225 professional setup, ensuring top-level performance regardless of price.

What are the best brands for electro acoustic guitars under £500?

Brands such as Eastman, LAG, and Cort offer exceptional budget electro acoustic guitars with solid craftsmanship and reliable electronics, perfect for beginners and experienced players alike.

Why buy your electro acoustic guitar from Richards Guitars?

Every guitar comes with our Custom Pro Setup & Backup Service, worth £225, plus free UK delivery. You’ll receive an instrument that’s perfectly adjusted to your playing style and guaranteed to outperform anything in its price range.

Best Electro Acoustic Guitars Under £500

Electro Acoustic Guitars Under £500

Expertly Set Up in the UK

Find the best electro acoustic guitars under £500 - each one expertly set up in our UK workshop for unbeatable tone and playability. Whether you’re after your first acoustic-electric guitar or a reliable gigging instrument, every model here includes our £225 Custom Pro Setup & Backup Service completely free of charge.

Unlike mass-supplied instruments, your guitar is individually inspected, adjusted, and optimized for perfect tuning stability, comfort, and sound quality before it leaves our store.

Request guidance before placing your order for our 100% guarantee - that you won’t find a better-playing, better-value, or better-suited electro acoustic guitar anywhere else in the UK.

Shop the Best Electro Acoustic Guitars Under £500

High End Guitars Or Affordable Guitars - We Have You Covered

We specialise in acoustic & electric guitars - every brand personally endorsed by Richard and recommended based on 30 years selling most major guitar brands ( covering price points from budget guitars through to high end / boutique acoustic and electric guitars).

The result is the most wonderful selection of World Class acoustic and electric guitars - benchmarks in every price point, backed up by highly personal guitar advice and guidance along the way.

We are a genuine guitar specialist with Richards life being dedicated to his customers with lifelong support.

Find us at Unit 1 Western Road, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 0AH - Opposite Stratford Upon Avon Train Station.

A Day Out To Remember!

We promise a day to remember if you book a " Showroom Experience " today - memories we hope you will keep forever.

So much more than just "another guitar shop" - We have heart and soul and thrive on the pleasure of introducing our wonderful guitars to our customers.

We really do want you to consider your visit to our guitar showroom the greatest pleasure - no sales - no pressure - just you enjoying wonderful guitars.

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Never paid this much - blow me down, worth every penny!

Faith Mars Classic Burst [43mm nut version] (Used)

Another vey happy customer! Service? Brilliant! Website and videos? Ooze trust. Guitar preparation? Feel like a rock star (never had that before)! Changes to delivery dates - my choice? Handled with aplomb. Dispatch? The day after I got back from holiday. Delivery? The following day. Packaging? Could have gone through a tornado and come out unscathed! And the guitar itself? WOWEE I am a rock star (with an unexpected beautiful hard case. But the feel of the neck and frets and strings and ... everything? Never ever had a guitar as "user friendly" as this one. Not just impressed - totally blown away from start to finish! Thank you so much!

Dowina Tribute to Walnut GAC

I ordered this guitar from Richard's with the options to select my own wood and have custom inlays. They put me directly in touch with the wonderful folks at Dowina who were absolutely amazing and made the whole process very straightforward, sending me high resolution photos to help me make my selection. My custom inlay design was bought to life perfectly, and when the whole guitar was complete, it was sent back to Richards, who installed a pickup for me and set up the action just how I like it.
This is the first time I have ever ordered a bespoke guitar, but it wont be the last, and Richard's is where I will be coming next time around!

Thankyou to everyone at bot Richard's Guitars and Dowina for bringing to life what can only be described as a dream instrument.
I just cant stop playing it!!

Great service

If your looking for your "special guitar", this is a great place to go. Good advice and you are given time to find what you are looking for.

Eastman E1D classic finish.

I never write reviews but this guitar is so good I feel like I should. The guitar sounds amazing and looks good to . The set up was perfect easy to play but more importantly no buzzes on any note. I hate pic guards on guitars so I peeled mine off and was delighted to see no marks on the finish

Furch Yellow OM-SR+LR Baggs Anthem

I have been thinking of buying a smaller bodied acoustic guitar for a while now. Having a Gibson J45 I started looking at Martins , Taylor, etc. They were all great but they were expensive, well the best ones were!!
Then I stumbled upon Furch guitars at Richard’s Guitars and started to do some research and they kept coming up trumps against the big American Brands. Pound for pound you were getting a quality guitar for a lot less outlay. I then made enquiries about some models and ended up with Furch’s Yellow Series OM-SR and elected to have an LR Baggs Anthem fitted. Anyway, it turned up a week ago and I’m only just leaving a review as any spare time I have I’m playing it.
It’s amazing 🤩. Great tone, easy to play due to the setup from the guys at Richard’s. The workmanship is flawless and it just feels like a quality instrument. There wasn’t a single mark, finger prints or any other blemishes so it was really packed carefully with the end user in mind when opening up the case to see it for the first time. It was sent Via DX by which once on its way on the day of delivery you could follow the van all the way to your door online.
It did take 2 weeks to come even though in stock but to be fair I was aware of that so had to be patient. I’ve bought guitars online before which turned up next day but they weren’t setup so they had to go away for that to be done.
Plenty of emails to keep you posted on where the guitar was in the queue and a phone call on the day of shipping to confirm my address.
I hope one day to make a visit from Suffolk to Richard’s Guitar Shop to purchase another!! Thanks to everyone there.
Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very nice I'm in love !

Very good store ! I've received my guitar yesterday, and everything is working well, very nice quality, I love it !

Furch Violet Deluxe Gc ER, a Duo of Bevels and Rosewood Back & Sides

I wanted to get my son, Griff a special acoustic guitar for his 18th birthday. We had tried some nice Martin’s, Faith’s and Taylor’s locally in Cardiff however I had read some great reviews about Furch and thought we should try them.
With no local dealers stocking them, I found Richard’s Guitars online and through their website also became curious about Dowina, Auden and Eastman acoustic guitars.
We decided to have a daytrip to Stratford Upon Avon and had a 2 hour session exploring their wonderful range of superb guitars.
A special thank you to Jake who was very well informed and unobtrusively on hand for advice to help us make a decision.
Griff liked the tone of the Furch Violet Gc ER with its solid rosewood back and sides but he also liked the shape of its mahogany back and sided stablemate, the Furch Deluxe Gc EM with its duo of bevels.
Jake told us that Richard’s Guitars had ordered 4 custom built Furch Deluxe Gc models with spruce tops, rosewood back and sides and the bevel duo (not on Furch’s website but in effect Deluxe Gc ER). They contacted Furch to ask if one could be expedited from the factory in the Czech Republic in time for Griff’s birthday. It arrived at Stratford well ahead of the big day. Richard’s luthier Chris fitted an LR Baggs Anthem pick up and had it delivered to us in a beautiful Vintage Deluxe Tweed hard case as part of the deal.
The guitar looks and sounds absolutely stunning! The grain on the rosewood is gorgeous and to have solid rosewood back and sides with double bevels from the well known american companies would be over twice the price!
What an amazing relationship Richard’s have with Furch and what a fantastic experience we have had with Richard’s Guitars.
Thank you once again
Dan, Cardiff

Fantastic archtop, great communication and service

A wonderful archtop acoustic from Eastman, 16 inch bout and basically a more affordable Gibson L5. Fantastic service from Richard and the team, great communication throughout, and the guitar arrived in absolutely perfect condition and plays wonderfully. Its getting a daily workout of Eddie Lang!

Eastman T386 (After 1 year, and having bought more from Richards Guitars)

I was anew customer when I purchased my Eastman T386 just over a year ago, and was very pleased with thre service and expertise of the staff, as well as the wonderful experience I had choosing the guitar oin their showroom. I went on to buy another guitar (this time a Fretless Bass, by Cort) which was a "Pre-Loved" instrument. Again the experience was very good, and the setup was excellent. Having recently had mny free 1 year setup up, I can again say that thee service offered at Richards Guitars is second to none. They are accommodating when it comes to organising things to suit you, and the setup itself ranks as the best I have ever had.

Incredible guitar

Handmade with precision and attention to detail by Eastman. Set up to perfection by the Richards Guitar team.

A modern boutique re-imagining of the classic single-cut mahogany bodied guitar of the '50s.

Beautiful clear, articulate, and dynamic tones. My Eastman SB59 is my main guitar, used for writing, recording, out on the road, and peaceful moments of home playing.