5 Best Metal Guitars for Beginners in 2023 – These Axes Will Kickstart Your Shred Journey

Last Updated on March 14, 2023 by Teemu Suomala

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The Next Best:

Runner-Up – Ibanez GRG121DX

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Our Overall Rating

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Summary

Pros

• Dirty metal tones
• Really nice clean tones
• Smooth playability
• Slim neck
• Nice quality
• Stays in tune well

Cons

• Crunch tones are dry and dull
• No combound radius
• Distortion is a bit dry
• Sometimes sharp fret edges out of the box

To me, this is the 2nd best metal guitar for beginners. It’s easy and fun to play, sounds dirty, and the quality is solid. Less mean distortion and lack of compound radius are the reason why it loses to Jackson JS22 Dinky.

Best Hardware/Single-Cut for Metal – ESP LTD EC-10

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Our Overall Rating

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Summary

Pros

• Performs really well with metal tones
• High quality hardware and tuners
• No annoying finish issues in my copy
• Chunky sounding humbuckers
• OK upper fret acces

Cons

• Budget pickups aren’t versatile
• Clean and crunch tones fall short
• Engineered wood fretboard feels somewhat like plastic
• A few uneven frets

Really mean sounding single-cut that offers nice tuning stability and hardware, but isn’t really versatile.

Best Flying V/For Shredding – Jackson JS32T Rhoads

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Our Overall Rating

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Summary

Pros

• Really fast playing
• Best access to upper frets for this price
• Jacksons High Output Humbuckers sound mean
• Not just a metal guitar(pretty versatile)
• Feels like an more expensive guitar(upgradeable)

Cons

• Flyin V body shape is not ideal for everyone(test before buying)
• Some cleaner tones sound dull
• Minor finish issues can be present

The fastest playing beginner metal guitar, that sounds like a Flying V should. Mean with both riffs and leads. Easiest to handle Flying V for beginner shredders.

Note that it’s wise to test a Flying V before buying.

Best Premium – Schecter Omen Extreme-6

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Our Overall Rating

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Summary

Pros

• Pickups are excellent for the price
• The body offers warm tones with enough brightness in it
• Thin C-shape and narrow neck makes this easy to play (made for fast playing)
• Out of the box action is great
• Handles every kind of metal well
• Coil-split adds versatility

Cons

• The sound could be more detailed with cleans
• Some high notes with thicker strings are hard to reach(not too bad)
• Body can feel bulky

For under $500 this Schecter is the best pick for metal. It has minor flaws, but overall it’s an all-around mean metal machine. It’s a great choice for serious beginners with a looser budget.

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Picking the right metal guitar for you from dozens of solid options can be really overwhelming. But you know what?

I have been diving deep with beginner guitars this year and really tested dozens of them. And this post reveals my favorite metal guitars for beginners. 5 great guitars for different situations and budgets that can handle some serious distortion.

Let’s first look closer at these axes, and at the end of the post, you can find the buyer’s guide section that helps you to make the best choice possible.

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5 Best Metal Guitars for Beginners

Keep These 3 Key Things In Mind When Choosing:

Best Overall – Jackson JS22 Dinky

This guitar caught me totally up-guard when I bought it for my best electric guitars under $200 test. I expected it to probably rank the last for me…but I was completely wrong.

Sound

Jacksons 2 High-Output Humbuckers churn really mean distorted tones. With just around $100 Boss Katana Mini amp, I was able to get some really nasty tones out of this. Check those tones out yourself:

I also have video where I test this bad boy with Orange Crush 20RT.

With crunch tones (suitable for classic rock and blues for example) the tones are OK. It doesn’t shine with those like metal tones, but there is no way that I would call this axe not suitable for lighter distortion.

Then the cleans. This is not your jazz and country guitar, but for metal and rock ballads, this can offer cleans that are gentle and clear enough and don’t sound too muddy or dull.

Playability

This Dinky ranked 1st place with Ibanez GRX70QA from all under $200 guitars I tested when it comes to playability.

This Jackson has:

• smooth & comfortable neck(satin finish & speed-neck shape)
• low action (strings are easy to press down)
• slightly smaller body-size (it felt really comfortable on my lap)

I saved the best thing last. This Jackson has a compound radius on its fretboard. It means that:

• Near the nut, there is more curve. This makes chords and riffs easier.
• Closer to the body, the fretboard is flatter. This makes fast playing (shredding and sweep picking for example) easier.

All these combined, you got a really fast-playing beginner guitar in your hands.

Quality

The feel of the guitar, pickups, and all hardware are great for the money. Actually, this guitar feels like a more expensive axe (could easily be $300-400 guitar when it comes to feel). Also, at least my copy stayed in tune really well. Even when using the tremolo.

But with quality, this guitar also had some issues. My Jackson had minor blemishes on the fretboard, this annoyed me a bit. And because I usually sell my test gear at some point, I ended up returning my Jackson for a refund because it would have been harder to sell for good money with these blemishes.

When doing research, it seems that most owners don’t get Dinky paired with blemishes, but some finish issues can happen with these budget guitars(and with more expensive ones too). Gladly we can usually get a refund for products with issues.

Summary

Pros

• More versatile than most other budget metal guitars
• Stellar hardcore looks
• Solid hardware (stayed in tune well for me)
• Great metal tones
• Comfortable and fast playing
• Great value for money
• Solid quality and feel make this guitar really upgradeable

Cons

• Flaws in finish and build can be present
• Neck width and shape add some extra difficulty into barre chords
• For other genres, there are better options available

The best metal guitar under $200 and for beginners in general. Easy to handle and sounds good. As long as you check for finish issues after receiving(you should do this with any guitar), this guitar can be your mean metal axe for years to come. The best metal guitar for beginners.

Read and watch my full review of this guitar: Jackson JS22 Dinky Review 2022

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Runner-Up – Ibanez GRG121DX

This Ibanez is the closest competitor to Jackson. This axe is built metal in mind too, and it does a really good job with handling distorted stuff. Let’s dive in!

Sound

This Ibanez is equipped with 2 IBZ-6 Humbuckers. And as high-output pups, these handle distortion really well. Tones are dirty and thick, but in my opinion, distortion is a bit dryer and less mean than with Jackson JS22 Dinky.

Check sound demo:

With a crunch, the tone is sometimes too dull and dry, Jackson handles this kind of stuff a bit better. But the crunch tones are not bad by any means.

The cleans are really solid in my opinion, and I actually like cleans of this guitar more than Jacksons. The sound is more gentle and detailed.

But overall, Jackson tops this guitar when it comes to metal tones.

Playability

24 Jumbo frets with a good setup make playing this guitar really effortless. A bit of sharp fret edges are sometimes an issue with this guitar, but usually, this is not the case.

The fretboard is flat, and again, this makes playing fast easy. But where this Ibanez loses to Jackson is the compound radius. This Ibanez doesn’t have it. This is one point more for Jackson.

But on the other hand, barre-chords are a bit more comfortable to handle with this Ibanez than with the Jackson due to its slimmer neck.

Overall this Ibanez is all-around smooth playing beginner metal guitar.

Quality

This guitar has the same tuners as my Ibanez GRX70QA, and those are fine. Just a bit worse than with Jackson JS22 Dinky and ESP LTD EC-10.

I already mentioned those sharp fret edges that can bother this guitar sometimes. But otherwise, the quality seems to be really solid. Fret buzz can happen as with any guitar, but it’s easy to fix.

Summary

Pros

• Dirty metal tones
• Really nice clean tones
• Smooth playability
• Slim neck
• Nice quality
• Stays in tune well

Cons

• Crunch tones are dry and dull
• No combound radius
• Distortion is a bit dry
• Sometimes sharp fret edges out of the box

To me, this is the 2nd best metal guitar for beginners. It’s easy and fun to play, sounds dirty, and the quality is solid. Less mean distortion and lack of compound radius are the reason why this loses to Jackson JS22 Dinky.

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Best Single Cut – ESP LTD EC-10

While this ESP sounds really mean with distortion, it still didn’t secure the spot of the #1 beginner metal axe. But for some people, it can be the best option.

Sound

As I said, this ESP sounds dirty. It loses to Jackson and Ibanez above, but it’s the best around $200 metal single-cut that I have played. I have also tested plenty of Epiphone Les Pauls on this price range, and they just can’t offer distortion like this ESP.

I also tested this with my Roland Micro Cube GX. Give it a listen:

Pretty nice for the price. That’s for sure.

But with crunch and cleans, this didn’t do it for me. Don’t get me wrong, this not bad and absolutely worth the money. But every other guitar for this price has sounded better when it comes to other genres than metal. Jackson JS22 Dinky too.

This guitar just lacks clarity and sounds a bit dull with cleans for example.

Tommy Tompkins(he has worked with me at guitaristnextdoor.com) actually liked the cleans of this guitar. He described them as full, warm, and gentle.

Playability

• Extra Jumbo frets, paired with low action make frets really easy to hit with this single-cut guitar.
• Also, the shorter scale of 24.75”(instead of 25.5”) reduces the string tension and makes strings easier to press down.

These are the 2 key things that give this guitar and easy playability.

As usually with single-cut guitars, the upper-fret access(frets below 12th fret with thicker strings) is not the best. This limits your shredding a bit. But this guitar still beats every other single cut at this price range when it comes to upper fret access and shreddability.

Quality

From all the guitars from this price range, this has the best hardware quality overall. I didn’t find any issues at all. Plus this guitar stayed in tune the best. So I would expect a durable long-time companion if buying this.

Of course, the pickups could provide a bit better tones quality with cleans and crunch tones. But the otherwise nice quality of this guitar makes hitting this ESP with pickup upgrade really tempting.

Also, the engineered hardwood as a fretboard doesn’t feel very nice, but I can live with that because of the low price point.

Summary

Pros

• Performs really well with metal tones
• High quality hardware and tuners
• No annoying finish issues
• Chunky sounding humbuckers
• OK upper fret acces

Cons

• Budget pickups aren’t versatile
• Clean and crunch tones fall short
• Engineered wood fretboard feels somewhat like plastic
• A few uneven frets

Really mean sounding single-cut that offers nice tuning stability and hardware, but isn’t really versatile.

Read and watch my full review of this guitar: ESP LTD EC-10 Review 2022

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Best Flying V/For Shredding – Jackson JS32T Rhoads

This guitar is the easiest to handle Flying V for beginners because it’s not so bulky. It’s a true metal matching and pleasure to play, but it’s not for everyone.

Sound

This guitar possesses the same 2 Jackson High Output Humbuckers as the Jackson JS22 Dinky. This offers mean and full-sounding distortion. For this price, I haven’t found anything better when it comes to distortion. These pups are beasts.

Check sound demo:

And with cleans, the same thing applies. Clean metal intros sound good with this guitar, and this is not for metal only. But the cleans are not as crispy and detailed as with some other beginner guitars(Ibanez GRX70QA and Yamaha PAC012 for example).

Playability

The feel of the neck is almost identical to Jackson JS22 Dinky. This axe has the same

• 1.6875″ (42.86 mm) nut width,
• 12”-16” combound radius on fretboard,
• and Jumbo frets.

But this Rhoads model has something special going on… This bad boy has 24 frets and a lot better access to upper-frets(17th fret on A string for example), than any other guitar on this article. This makes shredding a lot easier.

One key reason for this spreadability is the Flying V body shape. You just don’t have that much body wood standing in the way of your fret hand.

The body shape is not the easiest to handle right out of the gate, that’s for sure. But I’m not going to make any ”don’t buy Flying V” rules here. But that being said, I recommend that you test this body shape before buying.

Quality

This guitar offers really similar quality to JS22 Dinky.

• It feels like a more expensive guitar.
• It stays tune in well(same tuners as JS22 Dinky)
• It plays smooth

But also, some finish issues can be present out of the box. Something like

• Blemishes on fretboard
• Uneven frets
• Fret buzz (usually really easy to fix)

I found nothing major, but the things mentioned above can be annoying for sure. But usually, it’s smooth sailing(or flying) with this Flying V.

Summary

Pros

• Really fast playing
• Best access to upper frets for this price
• Jacksons High Output Humbuckers sound mean
• Not just a metal guitar(pretty versatile)
• Feels like an more expensive guitar(upgradeable)

Cons

• Flyin V body shape is not ideal for everyone(test before buying)
• Some cleaner tones sound dull
• Minor finish issues can be present

The fastest playing beginner metal guitar that sounds like a Flying V should. Mean with both riffs and leads.

As I said, it’s wise to test a Flying V before buying. But this guitar can still work well for beginner shredders.

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Best Premium – Schecter Omen Extreme-6

This is the best metal guitar under $500. It might be out of budget for beginners, but I bet that there are some players who want to start with a premium feeling instrument. That’s why I included this Schecter.

If you want to check out more metal guitars for under $500, check this article that includes great options.

Sound

Check a sound demo:

The body is made out of mahogany, which is known to give the tone a warm and full spice.

And even tho the tonewoods don’t affect the tone of an electric as much as with acoustics, I think that mahogany adds warmth to the tone of this Omen.

The best thing are the pickups. This Schecter is equipped with 2 Passive Diamond Plus Humbuckers, with a coil-split.

• Pickups offer high-output tones that are mean to the core.
• Coil-split adds single-coil-like tones into your arsenal(increases versatility)

With a crunch, the tones are all-around solid. This is not your dream blues guitar, but I wouldn’t shy away from hitting some blues licks with this axe either. But with the right setup, limiting the use of gain, and turning the tone knob of the guitar down just a bit, the metal ballad intro’s sound good.

It’s awesome that this guitar doesn’t have plastic or ”synthetic-bone” nut. Schecter has hit this guitar with Graph Tech XL Black Tusq-nut. It improves the sustain(how long notes play) and overall tone off this guitar).

Playability

I last time played this Schecter in a music store in May of 2021.

Teemu, Reviewer

The 1.653” (42mm) wide nut, makes playing riffs and cleans really smooth, and especially clean intros felt really easy to play.

And for dirty riffs, fast or slow, this guitar is one of my favorite. The neck is smooth, and the ”Thin C” shape feels really comfortable to me.

Overall, this guitar is one of the faster and smoothest playing for the price. But, I don’t like everything about the playability…

There are 2 things I don’t like that much:

• Even though bein modern stratocaster-shaped, upper-fret acces is not that good(means that frets below 15th fret on thick stings are not that easy to access).
• Body felt a bit bulky. There are nice contours that make things easier, but still after jamming with my ESP and Jackson’s I noticed this Schecter fills my lap more (I’m average sized guy with small hands).

So keep those 2 things in mind. But overall playability is still really comfortable.

Quality

This guitar offers the best metal guitar quality for under $500. It has…

• Tusq nut,
• solid tuners,
• error-free finish(lemons can slip through with every manufacture tho),
• smooth neck,
• and great looking string-throug body looks

All these combined make this guitar feel and look like a more expensive one.

The only real complaint I found when doing research was fret buzz. This can happen with any guitar from cheap $100 starter guitars to $5k Gibson. This can be usually be easily fixed with a bridge or/and truss rod adjustments(Youtube has great tutorials on how to do this).

Summary

Pros

• Pickups are excellent for the price
• The body offers warm tones with enough brightness in it
• Thin C-shape and narrow neck makes this easy to play (made for fast playing)
• Out of the box action is great
• Handles every kind of metal well
• Coil-split adds versatility

Cons

• The sound could be more detailed with cleans
• Some high notes with thicker strings are hard to reach(not too bad)
• Body can feel bulky

For under $500 this Schecter is the best pick for metal. It has minor flaws, but overall it’s an all-around mean metal machine. It’s a great choice for serious beginners with a looser budget.

Read my full review of this guitar: Schecter Guitar Research Omen Extreme-6 Review 2022

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Runner-Ups That Just Missed The Top 5

• Best Under $400 – Ibanez RGA42FM
• Best Squier by Fender – Squier Affinity Telecaster Deluxe
• Best Tight Budget – Jackson JS11 Dinky
• Best Jackson Single Cut – Jackson JS22 Monarch
• Best Single-Cut Around $500 – ESP LTD EC-256

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Buyer’s Guide – FAQ

What Makes A Great Metal Guitar

There are a couple of key features you should look for. Let’s tackle each one by one.

Pickups

Several things on your guitar impact your tone, but pickups affect it the most. Pups pick up the vibration of the strings directly and convert it to an electric signal.

If you don’t believe me, you can look at your favorite band’s performances. You will see that humbuckers are used.

Humbuckers generate higher output than single-coils, and this means hotter, warmer, and meaner tones for you.

There are differences between humbuckers too, but in general, buckers handle distortion well.

So get a guitar with humbuckers. And before you buy, either test or watch videos and decide if it offers distorted tones that you like.

HSH-pickup configuration (2 humbuckers with 1 single-coil on the middle) can work too. This gives you a bit more versatility.

Playability

As I mentioned at the start of this article, look for these:

• Flat fretboard radius of over 10”. This means that the fretboard has less curve. This makes fast playing more comfortable.
• Not overly wide or narrow neck. I would aim for middle ground with around 1.65”-1.69” nut width.
• Smooth neck. I would prefer Satin-finish.
• Modern-Strat shaped body. These usually have the easiest fret acces for your hand. But single-cut(Les Paul) shaped bodies are not too bad either.

Plus, a compound radius is a nice bonus. Most beginner metal axes don’t have it, but some Jackson models do(both featured in this article do). I personally love compounding radius.

It’s a bit like a power steering of a car really. It makes using the instrument a lot smoother and easier in different situations.

With compounding radius:

• Riffing and chords are easier closer to the nut because of the slight curve
• Fast solos and sweeping are smooth down the fretboard because of the more flat fretboard!

But compound radius is not a must, you can shred without it too.

Tonewoods

Tonewoods won’t matter much to electric guitars plugged-in tone. But tonewoods do affect the acoustic sound and weight.

Usually, mahogany is the body wood of choice for metal guitar. But with beginner guitars, basswood or poplar is usually used to keep the cost low.

And I wouldn’t worry too much about this. Of course, if you manage to find a nice starter guitar with a mahogany body, that’s a plus. Or maybe you have a bigger budget so you have plenty of mahogany-bodied guitars to choose from.

• Basswood is a soft wood. It produces warm and sometimes even muddy tones.
• Density of Poplar varies more, but in general it produces a bit brighter tones than Basswood.

Remember that pickups are absolutely the main thing when talking about electric guitars. Those pick up the vibration of the strings directly and affect tone the most.

How to Choose The Right Metal Guitar For You

A couple of things should guide you when choosing the right metal axe for you. Let’s look at these.

Price

2 things.

1. Buy the best guitar you can afford(learned this from The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer)
2. Don’t invest too much when starting

You can find a balance between these 2. Buy the best you can afford but don’t go overboard.

I would keep the budget under $500, but in general, around $200 is a great starting point. That’s why I mostly included guitars from that price range.

My first electric guitar was priced around $200. Starter guitars were not on the same level as nowadays back then(in 2001), but that axe surely got me started.

I would stay away from really cheap $100 guitars. Those usually cause you headaches and slow down your progress. But I included a couple of tight budget options(around $150) in the ”just missed the list”-section, so check those out if your budget is really tight.

You can find more solid cheap electric guitars here.

Bodyshape

But Stratocaster and modern Stratocaster shapes are usually the best when starting out. Les Paul(single-cut) shapes are solid too, but upper-fret access is more limited with these.

More edgy shapes, including flying V, are not a complete no-no, but please test before buying, so that you can be sure that it’s comfortable to you. But usually, it’s good to stay away from these unoriginal shapes when starting out.

Tremolo

Do you want to pull off those dives and tremolo sound with your guitar? If so, Tremolo bar is great to have.

When starting out, Floyd Rose is probably not worth the hassle. Without one, you have 1 less thing to worry about and you can focus on playing. But again, I’m not making any rules here.

All beginner metal guitars with tremolo I have tested have been solid, and tremolo has worked well. And those trems can usually take a good beating, but don’t be too violent with it.

Are Cheap Metal Guitars Any Good?

Yes. I have tested dozens of them and it’s amazing how good guitars beginners can get nowadays.

Things like these are not uncommon nowadays:

• Good sounding stock pickups(you can always change those later too)
• Easy and comfortable playability
• Stunning looks
• Even combound radius

Sure, some finish issues can be present and lemons slip through sometimes. But you can usually get a refund or replace the damaged item with a new one.

We are truly living the golden age of affordable guitars.

Check some great budget metal amps here.

Beginner Metal Songs to Learn

Here are a couple of my favorites for you. You can find more easy metal songs to learn from this article: 27 Easy Metal Songs on Guitar for Beginners (with tabs)

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Our other metal guitar articles worth checking:

• 5 Best Metal Guitars Under $1000
• 5 Best Thrash Metal Guitars

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Conclusion on Best Metal Guitars for Beginners

You can nowadays get really good metal guitars that will kickstart your shredder career in no time. And these 5 featured in this article are my favorites.

I hope that this post helped you out. If you have questions, just ask in the comments.

I wish you all the best and keep rocking!