If you are a metal guitar player,who does not have too much money to spend on finding a great guitar, you should not worry about that because there are still some of the best cheap metal guitars for you to choose. They would not be the kind of metal guitars you use in your studio, but if you are a beginner or intermediate guitar player you will be satisfied with your options. If you are on a budget, some cheap metal guitars will support you, you don’t need to pay too much, and compromise on sound and quality.
There are some great electric guitars with the best price on the market, but all on this list as below are made for metal.
You should remember that when you need the best cheap metal guitar, it’s not matter about the shape of the guitar, but the tone should be more important. The best cheap metal guitars should be made from mahogany or basswood and get with a whammy bar or a tailpiece that will give you better sustain and resonance.
As below Carroll / Fletcher will help you with some of the best metal guitars which will not cost too much of your money.
Best Cheap Metal Guitars Comparison 2023
| Schecter Omen Extreme-6 FR | Ibanez GIO GRX20Z | ESP LTD EC-10 KIT |
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$$$ |
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Best For Value and Well Rounded Budget |
Best For Money |
Best For Modern Style |
** Below, you will find our detailed reviews of the best cheap metal guitar, but you can also click the links above to see current prices or read customer reviews on Amazon.
Detailed Reviews Of Top best cheap metal guitar
ESP LTD EC-256
The ESP LTD EC-256 is the top choice of BreatheCaronlina. The ESP LTD is a preeminent brand in the world of metal guitars. The EC-256 has a classical appearance with great materials. It is one of the best options now for metal guitar players on a budget. It looks incredible and is more comfortable compared to many other single-cutaway guitars.
Saying about metal guitars, some guitar players prefer pointy shapes that look like wonderful weaponry while others prefer a more sensitive. The ESP LTD EC-256 has a classical appearance, but it might be shiny and reeks of modern metal in looks.
The EC-256 has metal origin, which is known for its awesome tone and fancy design.
The ESP LTD EC-256 is in our top list not only the symbolic shape, but also its features a push and pull tone pot for coil pulling. It is more relaxative for you to get it on the hand and compatible with any music style you are playing.
Similar to other ESP models, this metal guitar has both modern classical body style. If you are a follower of other ESP’s models such as the M-Series, George Lynch, you will also surely be interested in this one.
Its hardware is perfect and the solid paint surely gets attention. The set-neck like neck-through-body construction is one of the best features on this metal guitar. It is a wide difference from the bolt-on-neck which you could look for on the most guitars on the market.
In addition, the usefulness of the set-neck compared to the bolt-on neck is that it provides guitar players better durability.
The floating bridge Tune-O-Matic is one of perfect benefits on this guitar.
The ESP sounds pretty interesting. It looks like oldies but it produces a thick modern metal sound when you need it.
That is the reason why The ESP LTD EC-256 is a legendary guitar model and if you are on a budget, the EC-256 is the guitar that should be a good choice to consider.
Schecter Omen Extreme-6 FR
We are really fond of Schecter guitars, and highly recommend them in this top list. It is without a doubt, this is a metal guitar that offers quality and performance.Schecter Guitar is considered famous among the best guitar manufacturers.The Schecter Omen Extreme 6 is a wonderful guitar, which is made from the famous C-shape body.
The high-output pickups create more bite to get resonance of the basswood body, and well combine with a bolt-on maple neck. If you don’t like going with a mahogany bodied guitar, this is also the best electric guitar. The keyboard also looks pretty wonderful. It is worth nothing that the Omen series provide some different models for various types of metalheads. The Omens also have a series with 7 and 8 strings if you like.
For an electric guitar in its price range, the features of Schecter Omen 6 are incredible. Although it is not on the same as high level Schecters, it is also the good option in terms of cheap metal guitar.
The Omen 6 is well designed in style of the typical Schecter brand and it is available in white, black and walnut stain samples. If you are metal and hard rock guitarists on a budget, this is highly recommended. The metal electric guitar has become special with some upgrades in the next time.
The basswood body of Schecter Omen 6 is amazing for both metal and hard rock music with a similar kind of resonance to mahogany in spite of different clarity in sounds.
It is not similar to other Schecters, this was made from a bolt-on neck, which is both cost saving and raises the basswood body. Although the set-necks offered more protection than bolt-ons,the string-through bridge also helped them maintain.
The sound is quite rock music, and it can be muddy at high-gain settings. It depends on your playing style, the sound could be great if you tune down a little bit.
The electric equipment is simple. There are two pickups, a volume knob, and a tone knob. Besides that, there is also a three-way switch. The bridge pickup is heavy and crunchy, which helps the guitar sound is very thick and the neck pickup sounds are good for both solo and clean playing.Generally, the Omen 6 is a pretty incredible versatile guitar and the sound is great for any styles of music such as blues or jazz. The tuning and setup of these electric guitars are firm.
It could be said that it is hard to go erroneously with a Schecter and the Omen 6 for an electric metal guitar. It is a great choice to buy.
Ibanez RG450
The Ibanez RG series is some of the most amazing metal guitars, which is called a legend . They have the best electric guitars for beginners to professionals. There are some models with the best price from The Ibanez RG series, and RG450 might be a budget electric guitar that players often choose. With an amazing rapid Wizard III neck, hot pickups and the Ibanez Edge II tremolo, the RG450 still can afford to go on the market with the best price.Ibanez RG450 is well known for important features such as thin, super-fast necks and outstanding hardware such as the Edge tremolo system…In many decades, the Ibanez RG450 has gotten the welldone job in every field from trash to power and progressive metal.We have also realized that they bring excellent features about quality and sound in the middle price ranges which you can expect to own.This is the reason why the Ibanez brand is the priority of many guitarists who play metal music.
Ibanez S521
For many years, the Ibanez S series has never disappointed and amazing electric guitar players and passionate people. The S series was firstly designed to introduce their latest update technology. Over the time it has been found to be a mystery of proven performance in every payment.
The Ibanez S521is a perfect production. I am sure that it is certainly a good bargain.The S521 brought the traditional slim S line body that I have ever seen. The Wizard III neck of The Ibanez S521 is made of maple and the mahogany tonewood.
The sporty rosewood fretboard is the trademarks of the S line configuration. The model is provided in some perfections including the wonderful Blackberry Sunburst. Besides being an extremely comfortable guitar to play, the Ibanez S521 is proud of excellent quality construction and noticed attention to details for an incredible performance.
The hardware of the Ibanez S521 is provided with a fixed bridge with adjustable saddles at a side end and die-cast tuners at the other. In general, the hardware option of the Ibanez S521 is quite solid despite not being luxury.In addition, you are also able to enjoy unbelievable tuning retention, comfortable setup, and durability.
On this guitar, the Ibanez S521 have appeared for a period of time and have proven their worth many times.
The pickups are connected to a set of knobs.One of them is for tone and the other for volume, and the pickup selector switch is for tone shaping. The sound of the Ibanez S521 is no complaints because it is clean, clear and solid. It is no wonder compared to many other guitars within its price range, the S521 is one of the most active and versatile guitars you could get.
Jackson JS32 King V
Jackson guitars are well known in the metal music world, and the King V is one of the famous guitars in the Jackson metal series. Jackson instruments are always played by most influential metal bands.
Now, Jackson guitar brand offers affordable instruments for a variety of players from beginners to professionals.The King V is a classical metal guitar with some modern patterns. Jackson brand brings to us a great, wallet-friendly version of the King V, it will meet the needs of every guitarist. Basswood is a splendid tonewood for heavy metal, especially when you can tune your guitar down a step or more. Some guitar players might hope to upgrade the pickups, unless the King V is a metal electric guitar.
It is such a reasonable price you could consider to own it.For young guitar players, the King V is an incredible look of Jackson design, on the other hand,the older players could take them back to the glory days of the American metal. It is possible to own it with good price.
You may like Jackson JS32 King V because it has an interesting sound, great looks, and completely metal vibe. Many metal guitarists said that the King V ranks at the top of the best metal guitars ever made.
However; If you are a beginner, the V shape is not an ideal for sitting and practicing. This guitar is hard to beat if you don’t have much time for it.
Squier Contemporary Active Stratocaster
There are active humbuckers in an instrument that keeps proper Strat vibe and style, the Squier Contemporary Active Stratocaster HH supplies an determined benefit to a Floyd Rose-equipped guitar. The active pickups excel at driving many pedals, which is suitable for guitarists that like to twist their sound. it looks as good as because of being featured with a matching painted reverse headstock and striking black chrome hardware. The slim C maple neck and 22 jumbo frets heok easy bends and fast riffing. It is an ideal guitar for guitarists who desire with a cheap price that combination of classic and strong appearances.
It is no reason you can’t play metal music on a Strat! That is an amazing thing the affordable Squier demonstrated with this Active Stratocaster. It is a new Contemporary series of the brand. Except for looks, it features active electronics and components suitable for the heavy rock and metal guitar players. With this affordable metal guitar, I believe you will be satisfied.
Jackson Adrian Smith SDX
Jackson Adrian Smith SDX is a good metal electric guitar with advanced guitar features such as a Floyd Rose Trem system and a compound radius neck with the best deal.
The body of Jackson Adrian Smith SDX is basswood. It is a cheap and metal wood. This guitar might be light in weight, which is nice and helps you easily hold up. However, this guitar doesn’t sound as good as a common clean tone. In my point of view, it is not a serious aspect. I am sure that you will play clean tones too much, because the more distorted your tone, the less the body wood matters.
The compound radius neck raises from 12 to 16, and it is flatter like most Stratocasters because the profile is not a C. On the other hand, the width of the neck is the same as a Stratocaster.There is a different point from the strat, this neck has a quite incomplete fretboard. This guitar neck looks beautiful, and it rolls the edges with great touch. The size of the jumbo frets is a favourite point, but there is a minor amount of fret wear.
It is not a huge problem. When I get this guitar, I am surprised that the four screws that hold the neck to the body are very thin.Overall, I believe that this is a good guitar for the money. Players appreciate it because of its price of the full Adrian Smith Artist model. Honestly, the great music has been recorded with these guitars. This instrument is good enough for casual players. If you plan to use it on recordings or live, you should add in some new pickups, get a great setup, upgrade the pickups, and you will have a good guitar with amazing sound.
ESP LTD Viper 256
There are some features you will be fond of the ESP LTD Viper 256 guitar.That is impressive with its class look, modern design, comfort and versatile sound. The mahogany set-neck construction of the guitar operates efficiently for maximum durability in a mahogany body.
The slim U-neck of the ESP LTD Viper 256 is excellently comfortable and fast up to the 24 XJ frets rosewood fingerboard. Besides that, the fingerboard features markers position and the pickups are faultless for almost every sound such as the warmth, twang or classic rock. Therefore, the sound becomes incredible with a good amount of distortion on the top.
In the ESP LTD Viper 256, The tune-O-Matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece help string changes and intonation adjustments fast and easily.. In general, the Viper 256 is one of the best cheap metal guitars which is built to withstand your solos and chords.
Epiphone Les Paul Special-II
The Les Paul Special-II of Epiphone brand is a brilliant option for the best cheap metal guitar because it has all the composition of a more expensive model. The Epiphone brand has ever vanquished their biggest competitors. The Epiphone Les Paul Special-II have all the essential elements guitarists know and fall in love but at an extremely low price.
The Epiphone Les Paul Special-II guitars feature the LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece in order to increase sustains and conveniently change strings.
They are constructed by mahogany bodies and a bolt on neck with a rosewood fingerboard.
The pickups has open coil humbucking brings unmistakably the Les Paul tone.
I believe that the Epiphone Les Paul Special-II has a good price from 200$ to 350$ , which is great intonation and action, chords ring, the guitar strings has defined clarity and it is pretty to look at. It is wonderful for you to own the Epiphone Les Paul Special-II for metal music.
Yamaha Pacifica PAC012
This is a fantastic low-priced product by Yamaha, the brand offers a lot of affordable models.
The Pacifica series are well known for their outstanding features.They have comfortable bodies and are useful for quality Japanese construction.The Yamaha PAC012 Pacifica electric guitar is extremely great for beginners with an incredible low price. The Yamaha PAC012 electric guitar prominently features a light agathis body with a smooth maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. A versatile pickup allows you to rotate a various tones from clean highs to punchy midrange even the lows.
The Yamaha PAC012 Pacifica accompanied with a ceramic humbucker in the bridge position. It is perfect for players when you want to play hard and heavy rock. There are 2 single coil pickups in the middle and neck position, which offer all kinds of clean and rock single coil tones. The range this tribe of versatile pickups offers you discover all kinds of stylistic approaches in any music genre.You will feel this guitar is very excellent with its flawless features and easy to play with the cheapest price.
ESP LTD EC-10 KIT
The LTD brand brings ESP guitars with a rock-bottom price range. The EC series features a single Eclipse-style body which is manufactured from basswood. The EC-10 offers dual humbuckers for hard rock sounds and thrilling tones. The LTD pickups are a wonderful quality. It is very important to pay attention that before the guitar manufacture, the ESP manufactured pick ups and other ingredients for many of their competitor guitar brands.
Some aspects of the Epiphone Les Paul include Tune-O-Matic bridge and tail-pieceThe EC-10 has a U maple neck shape as well as rosewood fingerboards, which is a bigger scale length with 24 frets and typical nut width.It is a simple classic black design which brings luxury for you to choose for performances.
I believe that you will like the ESP LTD EC-10 KIT electric guitar because It makes a great basic model with the fat warm sound of a double humbucker. It has a competitive price and ESP is one of the most fantastic guitars.
Ibanez GIO GRX20Z
The GIO series of Ibanez brand produces an outstanding range of top guitars that specifically serve budget players. The GIO musical instruments are seriously considered and rigorously set up in the same manner compared to more expensive models.
The GRX20Z is a firm body with a double cutaway basswood. It has a GRX bolt on a maple C shaped neck with rosewood fingerboard.It has 22-fret full size electric guitar and dual powersound humbucking pickups, FAT 6 bridge and a standard tremolo handle.We believe you will be interested in The GRX20Z provides powerful sound and gets an unbelievable price especially as it is attached as a bundle with a gig bag, stand and polishing cloth.
The Ibanez GRX20 electric guitar has a glossy neck and fast action. There are two incredible humbuckers, one is at the first powersound in the neck and the rest is in the second powersound at the bridge-crank out grinding, gritty tone. The standard rocking tremolo allows you to enjoy music better.An electric guitar doesn’t have to be cost- consuming for a bundle to sound good. The GIO series was developed for players who want Ibanez quality in a more budget. They are not only good looking, but also save money for players who still want an option of Ibanez more expensive models.
Oscar Schmidt OE20
Oscar Schmidt electric guitar has classic single cutaway styling, versatile tone options, and quality structures as well as components to a real great music instrument. The OE20 is a classical dual humbucker style as a rock-n-roll machine. For players who are looking for the habitual single cutaway body style with a good endurance, the OE20 is the best option to choose. It has an exotic luxury and touch elegance on the fingerboards.
This electric guitar model has a mahogany body and a set maple neck. The rosewood fingerboard is inlaid ebony and the good constructed quality. It is a nice straight neck to have fast action. The OE20 features a Tune-o-matic bridge with a stopped tail for convenient feeling. The classic dual humbucking configuration pickups have a 3 way switch.The thick vintage distortion of the OE20 is perfect for rocking and rolling. If you are looking for some electric metal guitar striking appearance and the best cheap to get payment, Oscar Schmidt OE20 cannot be missed.
The Best Cheap Electric Guitar Buying Guidelines
Our reviews might make you have trouble buying the cheapest metal guitar. Now we will help you solve this problem.
What are you looking for in a cheap electric guitar?
When you buy a good electric guitar with a low price, you would like to check the quality woods of the guitar. Almost the things to consider when you look for a best cheap guitar is actually in yourself preferences. Of course, when looking for the cheapest electric guitar which is suitable for your budget, you can not demand it is perfect for a long time as you expect.
Pick up preference is a main factor when you choose a cheap metal guitar. There are many different pickups frequencies leading in various tone qualities. Each of them is better suited to some playing other guitar styles. In the best price range, you will see most only 3 way switching options.The different tonewoods have an important influence on the naturally original tone that the pickups receive. The Alder is a popular wood which tends to be used for Fender and product lines modeled on Fender Strat or Telecasters. Sometimes, they use Ash to give a better resisted higher end. However, they could be dimmed in the middle sounds. The Alder is quite light and provides a warm middle and low sounds, but the high sounds are not so resonant as other wood materials. Mahogany is another popular option of the electric guitar.It is pretty neutral to give a good balance between high and low frequencies. A lot of mahogany neck and bodied guitars which have maple accompaniment compliment others tones.
In order to avoid getting a bad deal when buying the cheapest metal guitar, you will want to be closed with a reliable brand and surely that you are buying from an official source of them. Well known electric guitar brands all offer budgets for their products, as well as their high level ranges to make sure their brand is accessible to many other clients. Sometimes,the price decrease means construction quality should be reduced but that isn’t always true. However, they might subcontract the work to outside production facilities or subsidiary companies under their brand itself such as Squier of Fender.
Where are you buying the best cheap metal guitar?
You can buy a cheap electric guitar online or directly from the guitar brands or from independent sellers on many e-commerce websites. All of the best cheap guitars we have reviewed for you in this article are sold on out websites. We would have advice for you to check the sources of products before you decide to buy, because there are a few sellers who are not official agents for well-known guitar brands. They may offer a bargain but i am sure that it won’t be the real deal.
You Can Get A Good Cheap Electric Metal Guitar
Of course, with constant technological development and the famous guitar brands continue to design with lower budgets for players. It is a competitive activity to serve all kinds of players and is suitable for all their wallets. There are a lot of models on the market for lower prices than before and easy for players to choose.
A cheap metal guitar had been a worst nightmare for guitar players, because they had not gotten a real cheap guitar and promptly became a dud thing. Nowadays, most buyers are well-informed about technology, they can do research and find some pretty great options quickly.
Of course, these budget-friendly guitars cannot compare features and the best sound to high quality guitars for professionals who are ready for paying the best guitar without caring about the price.
However, there are no top guitar brands choosing to produce their lower quality models within their facilities.
It is advisable for you when shopping in the lower price range that you should look around and really take time to understand the specifications of products. You should choose reliable guitar with great feedback about decent tonewoods and the pickups you prefer.
As long as you keep an open mind, good preparison and don’t expect too much of a budget version you find something suitable for your budget.
Final Thoughts of best cheap metal guitar
From our review of the best cheap metal guitar. In my point of view, The Schecter are both very popular options for many beginner musicians, they also have packages with all things a starter needs for the price. The Ibanez GIO model might be pretty great for guitarists.
If you are looking for the cheapest guitars among them, the Ibanez GIO is around 25% lower than competitors which use the same quality woods and comes with a gig bag and stand. Therefore it is great value for money.
If you want a guitar which has modern style, the ESP LTD EC-10 KIT should be a choice.
| Schecter Omen Extreme-6 FR | ||
|---|---|---|
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Best For Value and Well Rounded Budget |
Best For Money |
Best For Modern Style |
Electric guitars with a lower price range are developing and competitive between the brands, this makes it difficult to distinguish the good from the bad products.
I think there might be a difference in their aesthetics because if they produce a cheaper electric guitar without compromising the sound they would be doing it already. Therefore, we believe they reach a balance that most guitars at each price level don’t really differ from construction and the metal electric guitar brands offer the best available parts and construction for the given cost.
Finally, Let’s keep intelligent to reputable sellers and look for the best cheap metal guitar for you.
See more best seller of cheap metal guitar on Amazon and find the best option for you here!
Thank you for reading this far! I hope that the information provided in this article will be helpful to you.
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