Cheap solid-top is our topic, right? To me, that would imply under $250.00. Why a solid top if you want cheap? There are a lot of nice guitars that are laminate...and they sound great. Some good thoughts here, and some darn good mid-priced suggestions (a couple of which I own). But if you are looking for an easy to play, (realatively) inexpensive first guitar, I'd certainly go with the best selling guitar of them all...Washburn D 10.