Electric Guitars · Models

Model

Gibson Les Paul

Electric guitar · United States

Introduced in 1952 as Gibson's first solid-body electric, the Les Paul pairs a mahogany body with a carved maple top and a glued-in neck. With its twin humbucking pickups, rich sustain, and thick tone, it stands alongside the Stratocaster as one of the two defining electric guitars of rock and blues.

Model

Fano Alt de Facto JM6

United States

The Fano Alt de Facto JM6 is a hand-built electric guitar with a contoured alder body and a curvy, vintage-inspired outline. It uses a 25.5-inch scale and is often loaded with hot Lollar P-90 pickups, though pickups, woods, hardware, and finishes are all chosen to order. Like the rest of Fano's Alt de Facto line, each JM6 is built one at a time in the USA.

Model

Charvel San Dimas

Electric guitar

One of the original hot-rodded superstrats, named for the California town where Charvel was based. With a Stratocaster-derived body, high-output pickups, and a locking tremolo, the San Dimas helped define the fast, aggressive guitars of 1980s rock and metal.

Model

Gretsch G6120

Electric guitar · Japan

One of Gretsch's most famous hollow-body electrics, originally developed with Chet Atkins and finished in its signature bright orange. With FilterTron humbucking pickups and a Bigsby vibrato, it became a cornerstone of rockabilly through players like Eddie Cochran and Brian Setzer.

Model

Epiphone Casino

Electric guitar

A fully hollow thinline electric with twin P-90 pickups, the Casino is best known for its use by all three guitarists in the Beatles. Its bright, raw, slightly raucous tone made it a favorite for both clean and overdriven playing.

Model

G&L ASAT Classic

Electric guitar

A Telecaster-style electric from G&L, the company Leo Fender founded after Fender. The ASAT Classic uses G&L's Magnetic Field Design single-coil pickups in a familiar single-cutaway body, delivering a bright twang with a fuller low end.

Model

PJD Carey

United Kingdom

The Carey is a core PJD Guitars model, a single-cutaway electric hand-built in York, England by luthier Leigh Dovey. It has a flat-top single-cut body and is often fitted with a humbucker/P-90 pairing, offered in Standard, Elite and Limited editions.

Model

LSL T Bone

The T Bone is LsL Instruments' flagship T-style electric, hand-built in Santa Clarita as a recreation of the best vintage 1950s and 1960s T-style guitars. Each body is hand-detailed with a weather-checked thin nitrocellulose finish and fitted with LsL hand-wound single-coil pickups.

Model

Gibson Lucille

United States

B.B. King's signature guitar, based on the ES-355 but built without f-holes to cut down on feedback at high volume. Named after King's own guitar, it features stereo wiring and a Varitone tone selector for a refined, smooth voice.

Model

D'Angelico Excel EXL-1

South Korea

The Excel EXL-1 is a 17-inch single-cutaway hollow-body archtop electric guitar inspired by John D'Angelico's original Excel introduced in 1947. It pairs a laminated spruce top with laminated flame maple back and sides, a set three-piece neck with a C-shaped profile, an ebony fingerboard, and a 25.5-inch scale. A single floating Seymour Duncan Johnny Smith mini-humbucker, a floating ebony bridge, and the brand's stairstep tailpiece give it a woody, articulate tone for jazz rhythm and lead.

Model

Strat Plus

Electric guitar · United States

A premium Stratocaster series Fender offered from 1987 to 1998, fitted with noise-canceling Lace Sensor pickups, locking tuners, and a roller nut to improve tuning stability. It was a flagship of Fender's late-eighties modernization.

Model

Duesenberg Starplayer TV

Electric guitar · Germany

A semi-hollow electric from the German maker Duesenberg, styled with retro Art Deco flair. It pairs a single-coil neck pickup with a humbucking bridge pickup and a smooth vibrato tailpiece for a versatile, vintage-flavored voice.

Model

Anderson Drop Top

Electric guitar · United States

The Drop Top is Tom Anderson Guitarworks' signature S-style electric guitar, introduced in 1990. It features a book-matched exotic tonewood top (flame or quilted maple, walnut, or koa) 'dropped' over a tonewood back of alder, mahogany, swamp ash, or basswood to create a contoured forearm bevel, paired with a bolt-on Anderson neck.

Model

Dunable R2

Electric guitar

The R2 is one of Dunable's longest-running models and an early flagship, a double-cutaway mahogany solid-body with an ebony fingerboard and two Dunable Cthulhu humbuckers with coil-split on a 25.5 in scale. It is offered as a USA custom build and as the import DE version.

Model

Diamond Hailfire

The Hailfire is the model that launched Diamond Guitars' rebrand from DBZ at the 2013 NAMM show, a set-neck solid-body whose shape riffs on the Firebird and Flying-V template. The Hailfire SM pairs a mahogany body with a spalted maple top, a 24.75-inch scale, 22 frets, and Seymour Duncan JB and '59 humbuckers with a string-through bridge.

Model

Aristides 010

The 010 is Aristides Instruments' flagship six-string solid-body, built from the company's proprietary Arium composite rather than wood. It features a 25.5-inch scale, a compound 10-to-14-inch radius ebony fretboard with 22 medium-jumbo frets, an HSS pickup configuration, and a non-locking tremolo.

Model

Gordon-Smith GS1

The GS1 is a foundational Gordon-Smith model, hand-built in England from a single-piece mahogany body and set neck featuring the brand's signature 'tone pocket.' It carries a rosewood fingerboard and Gordon-Smith's home-wound humbuckers, made to the same specification as the company's 1974 originals.

Model

Nik Huber Dolphin

Electric guitar · Germany

The Dolphin is Nik Huber Guitars' signature carved-top electric guitar, built on the distinctive Dolphin body shape. It features a carved flamed maple top over a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck, two humbuckers, and a tune-o-matic-style bridge, and is offered with a wide range of custom woods and appointments.

Model

Novo Serus T

Electric guitar · United States

The Serus T is a Novo Guitars retro-modern solid-body electric guitar handbuilt in Nashville. It features a tempered pine body, a tempered maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard, a 25.5-inch scale, two single-coil pickups (a Fralin high-output Tele in the bridge and a Fralin P-45 in the neck), and a Telecaster-style bridge plate with compensated brass saddles.

Model

James Tyler Studio Elite HD

Electric guitar

The Studio Elite HD is one of James Tyler Guitars' most popular models, an S-style solid-body electric guitar built in the USA. It features a solid alder body (with swamp ash or mahogany options), a quartersawn maple neck, a slanted SSH pickup configuration of Tyler single coils and humbucker with a midboost preamp, and a two-post tremolo bridge.

Model

Paoletti Stratospheric

Italy

The Stratospheric is Paoletti's S-style electric guitar, built in Tuscany, Italy, around a body of aged chestnut reclaimed from 130-170 year old Chianti wine barrels. Offered in SSS and HSS pickup configurations and finishes such as the Loft and Leather series, it pairs vintage Strat-style voicing with the distinctive resonance of old chestnut.

Model

Reverend Double Agent

Electric guitar · South Korea

A semi-hollow electric from Reverend Guitars pairing a P-90 in the neck position with a humbucker at the bridge. It includes the brand's bass-contour control for dialing back low end, giving a wide range of jangly to punchy tones.

Model

Dean Cadillac

Electric guitar

A single-cutaway electric from Dean Guitars built in the carved-top, set-neck tradition. It pairs a mahogany body with a maple top and humbucking pickups for a thick, sustaining rock voice.

Model

ESP Eclipse

Electric guitar

ESP's flagship single-cutaway electric, the Eclipse takes the classic set-neck, carved-top format and builds it for modern hard rock and metal. Typically loaded with active humbuckers and finished in bold solid colors, it pairs a familiar single-cut shape with a high-output, aggressive voice.

Model

Fano Alt de Facto GF6

United States

The Fano Alt de Facto GF6 is a hand-built, offset semi-hollow electric guitar with a carved top, a center block, and F-holes. It uses a 25.5-inch scale and an early-'60s 'C'-shaped neck, and can be ordered with a range of woods, pickups, and bridge or vibrato hardware. Each one is built individually in the USA and finished in aged nitrocellulose lacquer.

Model

Fano Alt de Facto RB6

United States

The Fano Alt de Facto RB6 is a hand-built solid-body electric guitar whose look blends 1960s British-invasion styling with a German-carve top. It has a 24.75-inch scale and a late-'50s round-back neck profile, and is offered with a choice of woods, pickups, and bridge or vibrato options. Fano builds each RB6 individually in the USA with an aged nitrocellulose finish.

Model

Fano Alt de Facto SP6

United States

The Fano Alt de Facto SP6 is a hand-built electric guitar that pairs the body shape and neck feel of a classic 'Junior'-style solid body with the electronics, bolt-on neck, and string-through layout of a vintage solid body. It has a 24.75-inch scale and a late-'50s round-back neck profile, and can be ordered with a choice of woods, pickups, and bridges. Each one is made one at a time in the USA and finished in aged nitrocellulose lacquer.

Model

Kauer Banshee

The Banshee is Kauer Guitars' flagship solid-body electric, built with a set neck, 24.75-inch scale, and a 12-inch radius wenge fretboard with 22 frets. It is offered with KauerWound or other humbucking pickups and has become the brand's signature model since the company was founded by Doug Kauer in California.

Model

Knaggs Severn

Electric guitar · United States

The Severn is the flagship of Knaggs Guitars' Chesapeake Series, a double-cutaway solid-body electric guitar with a flat body, a set rock-maple neck, a 25.5-inch scale, and 22 frets. It is offered in a wide range of pickup layouts (including SSS, T-style, HSH, HH, P90 and Firebird) with Knaggs Chesapeake hardtail or tremolo bridges.

Model

Suhr Classic S

Electric guitar · United States

The Suhr Classic S is an S-style solid-body electric guitar built by Suhr in Lake Elsinore, California. It combines an alder body and a bolt-on tinted maple neck with Suhr V60LP single-coil pickups and a two-post vintage-style tremolo, and is offered in both SSS and HSS pickup configurations, the latter adding an SSV bridge humbucker.

Model

Fender Jaguar

Electric guitar

Introduced in 1962 as Fender's top offset model, the Jaguar uses a short 24-inch scale, bright single-coil pickups, an elaborate rhythm/lead switching system, and a floating tremolo. First embraced by surf players, it later became a favorite of alternative and indie guitarists.

Model

Guild Starfire

Electric guitar

A line of semi-hollow electric guitars Guild introduced in the early 1960s, ranging from simple single-pickup models to fully appointed double-cutaway versions. The Starfire family is prized for its warm, woody tone and vintage character.

Model

Friedman Cali

United States

The Friedman Cali is a hot-rodded S-style electric guitar designed by Dave Friedman with luthier Grover Jackson and built in Southern California. It pairs an alder body and bolt-on maple neck with two Friedman humbuckers and an Original Floyd Rose tremolo, finished in thin aged nitrocellulose lacquer. A 10-to-14-inch compound-radius fingerboard and Plek-finished frets give it the fast, modern feel of the classic San Dimas performance guitars.

Model

Collings 290

Electric guitar · United States

The Collings 290 is a single-cutaway mahogany solid-body electric guitar inspired by the Les Paul Junior, with a solid mahogany body and neck, an East Indian rosewood fingerboard, a hand-set mortise-and-tenon neck joint, and P-90 pickups. It is hand-built in Austin, Texas.

Model

Epiphone Les Paul

Electric guitar

The Epiphone Les Paul series covers Epiphone's single-cutaway solid-body electric guitars built on the Gibson Les Paul design, from affordable entry models to the Inspired by Gibson Standard and Custom. Models typically pair a mahogany body with a maple cap, a set mahogany neck, a 24.75-inch scale, and dual humbucking pickups.

Model

D'Angelico Excel DC

South Korea

The Excel DC is a double-cutaway semi-hollow electric guitar built on a 16-inch laminated flame maple body with a solid center block for added sustain and feedback resistance. It uses a set three-piece neck with a C-shaped profile, an ebony fingerboard, and a pair of USA Seymour Duncan humbuckers with push/pull coil-splitting. A 24.75-inch scale and gold tune-o-matic bridge make it a flexible instrument for jazz, blues, and rock.

Model

Friedman Vintage-T

United States

The Friedman Vintage-T is a single-cutaway, T-style solidbody electric guitar built in the USA by Dave Friedman with luthier Grover Jackson. The reviewed model pairs a mahogany body and a bolt-on maple neck with a pau ferro fingerboard and a set of Friedman Classic 90 (P-90 style) pickups over a fixed hardtail bridge. Thin aged nitrocellulose lacquer, a 10-to-14-inch compound-radius board, and Plek-finished fretwork give it vintage looks with modern playability.

Model

D'Angelico Deluxe Atlantic

South Korea

The Deluxe Atlantic is a single-cutaway solid-body electric guitar with an alder body, a set three-piece neck with a satin C-shaped profile, an ebony fingerboard, and a 24.75-inch scale. Two Seymour Duncan Seth Lover humbuckers with coil-splitting feed a nickel tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece. Part of D'Angelico's premium Deluxe series, it offers a warm, vintage-voiced solid-body alternative to the brand's archtops.

Model

Gibson Les Paul Classic Custom

Electric guitar · United States

A Les Paul that blends the slim-neck Classic platform with the upscale cosmetic appointments of a Custom, including extra body binding and fancier hardware. It offers Custom-style flash on a Classic-style instrument.

Model

D'Angelico Deluxe Bedford

South Korea

The Deluxe Bedford is an offset-body solid-body electric guitar with an alder body, a three-piece maple-and-walnut neck with a satin C-shaped profile, an ebony fingerboard with split-block inlays, and a 24.75-inch scale. Two Seymour Duncan stacked P-90 pickups feed a gold Wilkinson six-point tremolo bridge. It is part of D'Angelico's premium Deluxe series.

Model

Gibson Les Paul Studio

Electric guitar · United States

Introduced in 1983, the Les Paul Studio strips away cosmetic binding and luxury appointments to lower the price while keeping the mahogany-and-maple body and humbucking pickups that give the Les Paul its core tone. It was conceived as a no-frills working musician's instrument.

Model

Eric Clapton Stratocaster

Electric guitar · United States

Fender's first artist signature model, introduced in 1988 and shaped around the feel of Eric Clapton's favorite Stratocasters. It pairs a soft V-shaped maple neck with noiseless single-coil pickups and an active mid-boost circuit, and the vibrato is typically blocked for a fixed-bridge response. Offered in finishes such as Torino Red, Olympic White, and Pewter, it remains one of Fender's longest-running signature guitars.

Model

Gibson Les Paul Faded DC

Electric guitar · United States

A double-cutaway Les Paul finished in a satin, worn-looking "faded" nitrocellulose finish. The stripped-back cosmetics keep the price down while the twin-cutaway body improves access to the upper frets.

Model

Gibson Les Paul Junior

Electric guitar · United States

A no-frills Les Paul introduced in 1954 as an affordable student model, built from a slab mahogany body with a single P-90 pickup. Its simple, raw, and powerful tone has made it a long-standing favorite of punk and rock players.

Model

D'Angelico Excel SS

South Korea

The Excel SS is a single-cutaway semi-hollow electric guitar with a 15-inch laminated spruce top, maple back and sides, and a solid center block for sustain and feedback control. It uses a set three-piece neck with a C-shaped profile, an ebony fingerboard with split-block inlays, and a 25-inch scale. Two USA Seymour Duncan humbuckers with coil-splitting feed a gold tune-o-matic bridge and the brand's stairstep tailpiece, suiting jazz and roots playing.

Model

Gibson Les Paul Classic

Electric guitar · United States

A Les Paul that combines a vintage-styled look with a slim 1960s-profile neck and higher-output pickups, originally marketed with a "1960" theme. It was designed to deliver classic Les Paul character with a faster-playing feel.

Model

Gibson Les Paul Custom

Electric guitar · United States

The deluxe Les Paul introduced in 1954 and nicknamed the "Black Beauty," with multi-ply binding, an ebony fingerboard, block inlays, and gold hardware. It is the tuxedo of the Les Paul line, prized for both its elegant looks and its full tone.

Model

Gibson SG Supreme

Electric guitar · United States

An upscale SG featuring a figured maple top and fancier appointments than the Standard. It pairs the lightweight, fast SG body with premium cosmetics.

Model

Guild Starfire IV

A double-cutaway semi-hollow with two humbucking pickups, the Starfire IV is among the most popular Starfire models. Its center-block body balances warmth with feedback resistance for a versatile electric tone.

Model

Fender Stratocaster American Standard

Electric guitar · United States

The U.S. production-standard Stratocaster offered from 1987 to 2016, updating the classic with a 22-fret neck, a two-point synchronized tremolo, and modernized hardware. For nearly three decades it was the benchmark American-made Strat.