The 7 Best Budget Metal Guitars Under $1,000

If you want one answer, buy the Ibanez RGA42FM. It’s a light, fast, fixed bridge guitar for under $500, and it’s the one Guitar World picks as the best budget metal guitar this year.

This page used to list 25 guitars in five price groups. When I went back through it in October 2026, seven of them were Harley Bentons you can’t buy in US stores and several more were discontinued, so I cut it down to the seven I’d actually buy, from about $210 to just under $1,000. Each one is here for a different reason, and each one has a demo so you can hear it first.

The Quick Picks

Guitar	Best for	Bridge	Price
Ibanez RGA42FM	Most players	Fixed	About $480
Jackson JS11	A first guitar	Tremolo	About $210
Jackson JS22-7 DKA HT	7 strings, low tunings	Fixed	About $270
Jackson JS32 DKA	Dive bombs	Floyd Rose	About $450
ESP LTD EC-256	The Les Paul shape	Fixed	About $500 to $600
Schecter Damien Platinum-6	The active EMG sound	Fixed	About $850
Ibanez RGIB21	Baritone, very low tunings	Fixed	About $930

Prices are typical US music store prices in late 2026 and they move around, so click through for today’s price.

How I Picked These

I didn’t test these seven side by side in a studio. I went through current reviews and buying guides from Guitar World, MusicRadar and guitar.com, the makers’ spec sheets and a lot of owner reviews. Then I threw out anything that’s discontinued, anything you can’t buy new in the US, and anything over $1,000.

Three of the seven are Jacksons. That’s not loyalty. Jackson’s JS series covers most of the useful ground under $500 on its own: a cheap first guitar, a 7 string and a real Floyd Rose.

1. Ibanez RGA42FM: Best Overall

A light, fast, fixed bridge guitar for under $500, and the one I’d tell most new metal players to buy.

Guitar World names the RGA42FM the best budget pick in its 2026 metal guitar guide, and the neck is the main reason. Ibanez’s Wizard III is thin and flat, only 19 mm deep at the first fret, so fast riffs and wide stretches feel easy. The fixed bridge keeps it in tune, and the five way switch adds a few split and parallel sounds for cleaner parts. One used one I found listed weighed just over 6 pounds, which is light for a 24 fret guitar.

The weak spots are the pickups and the fretboard. Guitar World says the Quantums do metal well but don’t have the depth of more expensive pickups, and they’d rather have rosewood than jatoba. Neither is a deal breaker at this price, and pickups are the easiest thing to upgrade later. Ibanez now lists a meranti body where older ones were mahogany, so don’t worry if a store says one or the other.

2. Jackson JS11: Best Under $250

The cheapest guitar I’d buy for metal: a hot bridge pickup and a fast neck for about $210.

Guitar World reviewed the JS11 in 2025 and liked it, then put it in its 2026 beginner guide as the guitar for new metal players. The bridge pickup has enough output for most metal sounds, from classic to modern, and the neck is slim and quick. The Dinky body is a little smaller than a Strat, so it suits younger and smaller players too.

The tremolo is the problem. Guitar World found it close to unusable out of the box, since every dip on the bar knocked the guitar out of tune, and thought Jackson should have made it a hardtail. My advice is to leave the bar in the bag, or have a tech block the bridge when they do the setup. They also found the neck pickup woolly and the fretboard on theirs a bit dry. If you can save up to about $480, the Ibanez above is a big step up.

3. Jackson JS22-7 DKA HT: Best 7 String

A cheap 7 string with a longer 26.5 inch neck, so the low B stays tight instead of flapping around.

Most cheap 7 strings use a normal 25.5 inch scale, and the low B can feel loose. The JS22-7 has a 26.5 inch scale, which keeps the low strings tighter, and guitar.com points out that this is what makes it work for tunings below drop A. Guitar World named it the best budget 7 string in its 2026 guide. Its reviewer loved the very fast neck and the compound radius board, which is flatter higher up for leads, and found it at home with everything from djent chugs to thrash riffing.

It needs a little work out of the box. Guitar World’s review guitar had a reverse wired output jack that hummed at high gain, some glue at the nut and a muddy neck pickup, and the stock strings were too loose for low tunings. Their guide says to skip it if you won’t set up your own guitar. Budget for heavier strings and a setup, and it’s a lot of guitar for about $270.

4. Jackson JS32 DKA: Best With A Floyd Rose

The cheapest double locking Floyd Rose I’d trust, on a 24 fret Dinky for about $450.

Back in 2014 Guitar World called the JS32 the best solid body bargain for anyone who likes a modern superstrat, and said it was gig ready straight out of the box. It’s still the guitar people point to when they want a locking tremolo without spending much. MusicRadar tested the quilt top version, which has the same bridge and pickups, and found Jackson’s licensed Floyd one of the most reliable they’d played.

The reviews are old, so read them as a guide to the design rather than this year’s guitars, which have a poplar body and an amaranth board. MusicRadar found the tremolo set up with heavy spring tension, so full dives took real effort, and said the pickups are fine to start with while you save for better ones. Guitar World’s beginner guide calls it basic, but hard to complain about for the money. The demo shows an older natural finish with a rosewood board.

5. ESP LTD EC-256: Best Les Paul Style

A set neck single cut with hot humbuckers and a coil split, for metal players who want the Les Paul shape.

The EC-256 is ESP’s budget Eclipse, a single cut with a glued in set neck rather than a bolt on one, which is unusual at this price. guitar.com found it went from blues and punk to rock and metal as the gain went up, and said it punches well above its price. Guitar World’s beginner metal guide liked how well the bridge and tailpiece hold tuning, and MusicRadar calls it the best cheap electric guitar for rock and metal players.

MusicRadar’s complaints are that the slim neck is too small for some hands and the gloss finish picks up every fingerprint. The coil split is handy for cleaner parts, though guitar.com noticed the volume drops a little when you use it. Black usually costs about $500 and the other finishes about $600. ESP now lists rosewood for the fretboard, while some recent ones have jatoba, so check the listing if that matters to you.

6. Schecter Damien Platinum-6: Best With Active Pickups

EMG 81 and 85 active pickups, a set neck and 24 frets: the classic modern metal recipe for about $850.

EMG 81s are the active pickups behind a lot of the metal you’ve heard, and the Damien Platinum puts an 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck of a set neck guitar for well under $1,000. MusicRadar makes it its top pick for metal in its guide to the best guitars under $1,000. It says the EMGs are perfect for heavy riffs and shred leads and still give a pretty good clean sound, and the extra jumbo frets suit heavier strings if you tune down.

MusicRadar had two complaints. The satin black finish wears into shiny patches where your arm rests, and with a fixed bridge and no tremolo it’s a fairly basic guitar. Active pickups also run on a 9 volt battery, so keep a spare in your case. The demo above shows the Floyd Rose version, which has the same body, neck and EMGs; the fixed bridge model I’m recommending costs about $100 less.

7. Ibanez RGIB21: Best Baritone

A 28 inch baritone with active EMGs, built for B standard and lower without floppy strings.

A baritone is a 6 string with a longer neck, so you can tune very low and keep the strings tight. The RGIB21 has a 28 inch scale and leaves the factory in B standard with heavy strings already on. guitar.com points out the hole for the low string is oversized, so you can even fit a bass string for lower tunings. The locking tuners make string changes quicker, and the active EMGs keep low riffs tight.

It’s a one job guitar, and guitar.com says as much: it isn’t great for cleaner baritone sounds. Some owners find the EMGs too muddy that low, and there’s no tone knob to help. Recent ones have an okoume body where older ones were nyatoh, and the price has crept up to about $930. If it’s sold out, the Cort KX500 Baritone costs about the same, has Seymour Duncan pickups, and is Guitar World’s best baritone in its 2026 metal guide.

Fixed Bridge Or Floyd Rose?

Five of these seven have a fixed bridge, and that’s on purpose. A double locking Floyd Rose floats on springs, so changing string gauge or tuning means balancing the bridge again, and restringing takes a lot longer. Guitar World’s metal buying guide says locking tremolos need a lot of initial setup and that hardtails are the lowest maintenance. If you don’t plan to do dive bombs, buy a fixed bridge. If you do, get the JS32.

Tuning Down? Get Heavier Strings

Most of these guitars ship with 9s or 10s for E standard. Tune those down to drop C and the low strings go floppy and buzz. D’Addario suggests a low string between .052 and .062 for drop C, which means sets around .011 to .056 or .012 to .060, plus a setup after you change. For B standard and lower, a longer scale helps more than thick strings alone, which is why the 7 string Jackson and the Ibanez baritone are on this list.

What Happened To The Rest Of The List?

The old version of this page had 25 guitars. Here’s what happened to them:

• Seven Harley Bentons (SC-200, BS-20, Victory, Extreme-76, SC-500, Extreme-84 and SC-550 II): still made, but only sold by Thomann in Europe, not in US stores.
• Squier Affinity Stratocaster HH, Epiphone Les Paul Special VE and ESP LTD EC-10: discontinued.
• Fender Player Stratocaster HSS: replaced by the Player II, which costs over $700 now.
• Donner DLP-124B and ESP LTD GH-200: I couldn’t find either one new in the US.
• Ibanez GRX20Z, Yamaha Pacifica PAC012, Jackson JS1X Minion, Jackson JS22 DKA, Schecter Omen Extreme-6, Schecter C-6 Deluxe, Jackson JS32 Kelly, Jackson Adrian Smith SDX, Ibanez RG450DXB, Ibanez JEMJR and Kramer SM-1 H: still around under the same or a newer name. They didn’t make my seven, but none of them is a bad buy.
• Schecter Damien Platinum: now the Damien Platinum-6, pick 6 above.

How To Choose A Budget Metal Guitar

• Fixed bridge or tremolo. Get a fixed bridge unless you know you want dive bombs. It stays in tune and makes changing tunings easy.
• Passive or active pickups. Most of these have passive high output humbuckers. Active EMGs (the Schecter and the baritone) sound tighter and more compressed and need a battery. Pickups are also the easiest upgrade later, so don’t overthink them on a first guitar.
• Scale length. 25.5 inches is normal. The ESP’s 24.75 inches makes bends easier but gets floppy tuned low, and 26.5 or 28 inches is for very low tunings.
• Budget for a setup. Any guitar plays better after a proper setup, and on a guitar under $500 it makes the biggest difference.
• Don’t forget the amp. A guitar is only half of a metal sound. If you still need one, my page on budget guitar amps covers the ones I’d buy. And if you like the Tele shape, the Charvel in my list of Telecaster copies is built for metal too.

Good luck and keep on rockin’!