Be sure to check video of all seven dreadnoughts. We’ve included links to videos of each guitar throughout the following review. Or, you can view all guitars in one long-form video below.

 7 Dreadnoughts full-length video

 7 Dreadnoughts video introduction

The mighty dreadnought. For some players it's the apex of acoustic guitar design. Big and loud, they're great guitars for balladeers, blues wailers, and folkies, and a virtual prerequisite for any serious bluegrass or country picker. They've been cradled, bashed, strummed, and picked by Hank Williams, Lester Flatt, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Clarence White, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. And they've been cherished for their bass-rich, full-spectrum response and boisterous tones.

C.F. Martin and Co. built the first dreadnought in 1916 for the Ditson music store, which kept shops in Boston and New York City. But it wasn't until 1932, as the demand for louder guitars became a clamor, that Martin actually built a dreadnought under its own name. In the nearly eight decades since, it's become the most popular acoustic design in the world. Almost every guitar manufacturer offers one, and as this overview reveals, there's a dread to suit just about every budget.

Each of the seven dreadnoughts examined here embodies a convergence of quality and value in its price class. We've divided the overview into seven categories based on street price, and focused on guitars without electronics. These aren't the only great dreadnoughts available, but they are representative of the build quality, tones, and playability that you can expect among the better guitars in a given price range. We've also included a short list of other available dreadnoughts in each price group, so you can hit the shops with several choices that fall within your budget. Here, then, are seven dreadnoughts well worth your consideration, whether you're seeking an affordable player or a professional-quality heirloom.

1. $350–$499: MORGAN MONROE CREEKSIDE MVS-45

 Morgan Monroe Creekside MVS-45 video review

Morgan Monroe is just a little more than a decade old. But in that time the company has made significant inroads among roots musicians on a budget with their line of guitars, mandolins, banjos, resonators, and fiddles. The Creekside MVS-45 is a dread aimed at the old-time and bluegrass crowd, with a shape and handsome tobacco-sunburst that are a nod to the stalwart and legendary round-shoulder Gibson J-45.

Like many guitars in this price range, the MVS-45 is built in Asia and combines a solid spruce top with laminated back and sides, in this case mahogany. The build quality of our review guitar was very good to excellent, with clean miters and joints and thoughtful details like maple neck-and-body binding. The instrument lacked some finishing touches that distinguish higher price guitars—a few frets needed polishing and dressing and intonation was less than perfect. But given that each of these issues could be resolved with a professional setup, they detracted very little from the more complete playing experience.

The MVS-45's playability was excellent, and the neck has a very comfortable C-profile that's well suited to chording and rangy fingerstyle work. The Morgan Monroe also reveals a lot of tonal character that's well suited for light-to-heavy rootsy strumming. And while the MVS-45 lacks the ceiling of many more-expensive all-solid dreads, strumming first-position chords revealed a combination of growling low-to-midrange tones and just enough top end.

There are a lot of options for a player looking for a quality, playable dreadnought for less than $500. But with its combination of classy mid-century styling, comfort, and tonal character, the Morgan Monroe Creekside MVS-45 truly rises above the fray.

—Charles Saufley

• SPECS: Solid Sitka spruce top. Laminated mahogany back and sides. Scalloped X-bracing. 25.25-inch scale. 1 11/16-inch nut width. 2 3/16 -inch string spacing at saddle. Made in China.
• PRICE: $519 list/$415 street.
• CONTACT: Morgan Monroe, morganmonroe.com

2. $500–$749: EPIPHONE DR-500R

 Epiphone DR-500R video review

While Epiphone has a long and storied history, its reputation—both before and after its purchase by Gibson in 1957—has been built primarily on its acoustic archtops and, to a lesser degree, small-bodied flattops. And apart from the Texan, which Paul McCartney made famous, Epiphone has never gained much traction in the dreadnought market. With the company's latest Masterbilt dreads, however, Epiphone has re-entered the dreadnought market with excellent results. There are currently three dreadnoughts in Epiphone's Masterbilt line—built with backs and sides of mahogany, maple, or rosewood, which was featured on the DR-500R we received for review.

Dreads in the $500-$749 price range have improved in quality appreciably over the last several years. And manufacturing efficiencies have enabled a number of companies to spend more on better materials like solid woods, giving working musicians access to features that have long been the domain of higher-ticket guitars. Epiphone is renowned for building affordable and durable instruments, and this all-solid-wood dread is no exception.

It can still be hard to believe that a well-made, solid-wood rosewood-and-spruce instrument can be had for around $600. You might expect such a model to be stripped bare—basically a wooden box with strings. But while the DR-500R is not a flashy guitar, it is certainly well dressed. The asymmetric 1930s-style “offset notch” peghead, split-diamond fingerboard inlays, bound fretboard, and gold Grover open-back tuners provide a classy vintage look, and the satin finish and lightly stained top give it a familiar, lived-in feel.

There's nothing vintage about the way the DR-500R plays, however. The satin-finished, low-profile neck make the fretboard a joy to navigate, and while the 1 11/16-inch nut width isn't particularly wide, bigger fingers won't feel constrained either.

Tonally, the DR-500R has a bright, balanced sound devoid of the dreaded dreadnought boom that can plague some large-bodies. Its prodigious amount of volume and clear, chiming trebles will allow the DR-500R to sit comfortably in a band, but the bass and midrange tones also have plenty of personality and color, making this a great all-around guitar for fledgling country pickers and rock strummers alike.

—Scott Nygaard

• SPECS: Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid rosewood back and sides. Scalloped, wide X-bracing. 25.5-inch scale. 1 11/16-inch nut width. 2⅛-inch string spacing at saddle. Made in China.
• PRICE: $999 list/$599 street.
• CONTACT: Epiphone, (800) 444-2766, epiphone.com

3. $750–$999: LARRIVÉE D-03

 Larrivée D-03 video review

When it was introduced in 1997, Larrivée's satin-finished D-03 had the distinction of being the least expensive all-solid-wood dreadnought built in North America. And with a street price just under $1,000, the D-03 remains in constant contention for that title.

Like other dreads in its price class, the D-03 is distinguished by the high-quality construction and attention to detail that are typical of more upscale guitars-think ultraclean and precise kerfing and miters, and perfectly seated frets and nut-but with more affordable tonewoods (in this case sapele) and a satin finish. Some dreads in this price category that are built overseas also feature glitzier options like gloss finishes and details like mother-of-pearl inlay.

Larrivée's reputation for superior quality is rock solid. And the D-03 delivers on that promise. A peek inside the soundhole reveals flawlessly cut bracing arrayed in Larrivée's signature symmetrical parabolic pattern. The Sitka spruce top and sapele back and sides are offset by handsome and subdued strips of maple binding, which fit in nicely with the very traditional and understated appointments elsewhere on the instrument.

Our review Larrivée was easy to play. Its medium action was comfortable, the intonation was spot-on, and because the neck felt a little wider and flatter along the fretboard than some comparable dreads, chording and fingerpicking were easy. The sapele lends a rounded softness to the tone that's much more akin to mahogany than rosewood, which also means that players must dig in a little more to generate the spikier attack that a flatpicker or strummer geared toward midrange tones would prefer. Strumming a little closer to the bridge summoned more mids and high-end presence, and I found that I preferred to linger there for fast minor-key arpeggios and aggressive strumming.

While its tones may be a little soft for some modern-minded players, the D-03's build quality suggests the guitar will break in exceptionally well as the wood grows more responsive over time. And for those who favor the rounded sounds of mahogany guitars but seek a relatively affordable alternative, this Larrivée represents a great value.

—Charles Saufley

• SPECS: Solid Canadian Sitka spruce top. Solid sapele back and sides. Symmetrical parabolic X-bracing. 25.5-inch scale. 1 11/16-inch nut width. 2 3/16-inch string spacing at saddle. Made in Canada.
• PRICE: $1,318 list/$999 street
• MAKER: Jean Larrivée Guitars, (805) 487-9980, larriveeguitars.com

4. $1,000–$1,499: TAYLOR DN4

 Taylor DN4 video review

Taylor has been making American-made, carefully crafted, solid-wood dreadnoughts accessibly priced for decades. And at $1,349, the DN4 maintains that tradition, which began with the now legendary 410. For this kind of money, you should expect a pro-level guitar that is built with the same attention to quality as a manufacturer's higher-end offerings, except that it will most likely use somewhat lower-grade, or less-expensive woods, simpler appointments, and perhaps a satin or partially satin finish. From a tonal perspective, these instruments will often perform like pricier examples by the same maker.

The Taylor DN4 is built with precision. Details such as a beautifully grafted headstock joint (a design that recently replaced Taylor's earlier finger joint) and laser-cut braces are reminders of the company's advanced manufacturing techniques. Our review guitar was constructed with visually stunning flamed ovangkol (a wood similar to rosewood in its tonal qualities) back and sides and a Sitka spruce top. With medium-gauge strings and medium action height, the Taylor required a little digging in to get the best tone. But playability was very good over the whole neck, which is deeper in profile than older Taylor necks and crested in a very slight V shape.

Tonally, the Taylor impressed with a voice that was at once muscular and refined. Flatpicked single-note lines possessed a wonderful round quality, and strummed chords came across with authority and definition. The DN4 sounded best when played with a little force, allowing its dynamic range to take advantage of great headroom and volume. The guitar was also a fine fingerstyle performer, though I sometimes found it difficult to generate the attack required to get the best tone with my bare fingers.

All in all, the Taylor DN4 is a very well-executed guitar suited for a wide range of styles and players, with build quality and tone that suggest it will remain a treasured ax for many years.

—Teja Gerken

• SPECS: Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid ovangkol back and sides. Scalloped X-bracing. 25.5-inch scale. 1¾-inch nut width. 2 3/16-inch string spacing at saddle. Made in USA.
• PRICE: $1,798 list/$1,349 street.
• CONTACT: Taylor Guitars, (619) 258-1207, taylorguitars.com

5. $1,500–$1,999: BREEDLOVE REVIVAL D-M

 Breedlove Revival D-M video review

Breedlove Guitars is a company that has based much of its image and reputation on building innovative instruments with a distinctive appearance and tonality—so many Breedlove fans were surprised when the very traditional Revival series was introduced in 2004. The Revival D-M that we reviewed clearly shows the value that's achievable when a smaller manufacturer builds a guitar with more modest woods and fewer bells and whistles than on its more expensive models.

Although the Revival D-M resembles a Martin D-18 at first glance, it doesn't completely abandon the company's inclination to do things differently. For starters, the guitar has a bolt-on neck. But more important, Breedlove kept its typical geometry, which includes a fairly steep neck angle that results in a very tall saddle. This can lead to excellent torque at the bridge, which many players contend yields greater volume. In the case of our review guitar, however, the break angle of the strings over the saddle was extreme enough that it could increase the risk of string breakage.

Though Breedlove's more original designs include a special bridge-truss system that structurally connects the bridge with the end block and allows for very light top bracing, the Revival D-M is braced with a rather traditional, forward-shifted, and scalloped X. The guitar's craftsmanship was very clean with many of its components having a CNC-machined appearance that also resulted in great fit and finish.

Playing the Revival D-M, I was greeted with the bright and somewhat “airy” voice that's typical of a good mahogany dreadnought. The guitar's neck will appeal to those who like a full profile but prefer a rounded shape over a more vintage-style V. The Breedlove's excellent clarity on single-note lines throughout its range would make the D-M an excellent lead guitar. But I was able to produce ample volume in a variety of playing styles, and whether you're a singing strummer or a fast-picking bluegrasser, the Breedlove Revival D-M is versatile enough to get the job done.

—Teja Gerken