The history of modern music has been significantly shaped by one instrument - the electric guitar. So much of the music we love today simply wouldn't be possible without it and a large part of that is down to the all time classics featured in this list.
There's no question there are other wonderful guitars around, but if you want to invoke the sounds (and looks) of guitar heroes through ages then there's nothing more straightforward than playing one of these classic models. To this end we've whittled down our list of the best electric guitars to only the most era-shaping instruments and provided you with the two foremost contemporary versions of those classics that are available today - the premium model and a more affordable version.
Note: The guitars models featured in this article are not ranked via our usual algorithm, because we can't really rank a particular model over the history of electric guitars. Also these classic models don't aspire to quality, in some sense they define it. The affordable and premium example guitars we've selected have been included on the basis of being the foremost standard representative around today of the 'real thing' rather than on our usual ranking process.
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Artists Who Use It: Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Ritchie Blackmore, Dick Dale, John Frusciante, Eric Johnson, George Harrison, Buddy Holly, Mark Knopfler, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Mayer, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Stevie Ray Vaughan.
First introduced to the public in 1954, the Fender Stratocaster is one of the most iconic guitars ever. It was Leo Fender’s successor to the Fender Telecaster, and it went on to be the axe of choice for musicians in almost every genre.
The Stratocaster is a versatile guitar, so it doesn’t really have any one defining tone. However, it’s generally considered to be a very bright and cutting instrument (though not to the extent that the Telecaster is). It also has a mid-range “quack”. It’s a great choice for musicians looking to play lead (with the exception of jazz), though it can be a bit too bright for rhythm work. Though to be fair, this really varies based on your playing style, your amp, and how you EQ your rig.
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The Stratocaster is one of the most copied instruments in the world, and because of this dozens of different interpretations of it exist. However, the most affordable version of this guitar that still looks and feels like those played by famous musicians is the Fender Standard Stratocaster. The Strat remains as one of the most popular guitar types today.
Artists Who Use It: Les Paul, Slash, Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Zakk Wylde, Ace Frehley, Bob Marley, Steve Clark, Joe Perry, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Buckethead, Peter Green.
A fun fact a lot of musicians don’t know about the Gibson Les Paul is that it is arguably one of the world’s first signature guitars. The guitar was co-designed by inventor and jazz guitarist Les Paul (who also invented the harmonica holder used by Bob Dylan).
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The guitar is generally associated with rock and roll, but it’s actually been used in quite a few genres. It’s a great jazz guitar, the secret weapon of Bob Marley, and the guitar of choice for a ton of blues musicians.
The defining feature of Les Paul style guitars is their full tone and sustain, which makes them a great fit for the genres listed above. The guitars traditionally use humbuckers (though they were first launched with P90s), and because these pickups have a higher output they’re easier to distort.
Artists Who Use It: Jimmy Page, Joe Strummer, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, John 5, Jeff Buckley, Prince, James Burton, George Harrison, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Syd Barrett, Jack White, Danny Gatton, Vince Gill, Johnny Greenwood.
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Long thought to be “just” a country guitar, the Fender Standard Telecaster is arguably one of the most versatile guitars ever. It’s been used by everyone from Jack White to Vince Gill, and has been used in the studio for just about every notable band ever at one time or another.
The Telecaster owes its success to its bright and twangy tone which, when played clean, oozes a strong country vibe. However, when used with distortion the Telecaster is easily one of the most cutting guitars ever. It’s the perfect instrument for a lead guitarist.
However, the downfall of the Telecaster is that it isn’t really a great rhythm instrument. Even the neck pickup still sounds a bit thin. There’s an old quote about the Telecaster that goes, “The Telecaster has two sounds; good and bad”, and that’s pretty reflective of the instrument. In the right hands it can do a lot, but it still can’t do everything.
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Artists Who Use It: Angus Young, Tonny Iommi, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Robby Krieger, Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, Thom Yorke, Frank Zappa, Dickey Betts, Elliot Easton.
Just like the Les Paul, the Gibson SG is synonymous with rock and roll. It’s hard to picture Black Sabbath or AC/DC without an SG. Though while the guitar is generally considered to be a rock and roll machine, it’s also a very capable blues guitar (see Eric Clapton and Derek Trucks).
The Gibson SG was launched in 1961, inspired by a decline in the sale of Gibson Les Pauls. The SG was cheaper to produce, lighter, and through the use of an upper and lower bout cutaway had significantly more upper fret access.
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When it comes to tone, the SG is actually really similar to the Les Paul. You could make the case that a Les Paul will have more sustain than an SG, though this is going to vary from model to model. It’s main appeal over the Les Paul is that it’s lighter.
Artists Who Use It: Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Jason Becker, Guthrie Govan, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Adrian Smith, KK Downing, Jim Root.
This category is probably going to be controversial because there’s no one brand that defines “Super Strat”. Pretty much every guitar company has made one, and the originals were modified Fender Stratocasters (with Eddie Van Halen’s guitar being a good example).
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They also don’t really have any one defined tone, though they do generally have higher output (higher output equals = more volume = more distortion). This section features Ibanez, but if you feel like there’s a better choice for this section tell us about it in the comments.
Super Strats generally have two features that differentiate them from an average Stratocaster: high-output pickups (usually humbuckers) and a Floyd Rose tremolo (the last one is optional). They’re good at playing distorted genres, but they sound a bit sterile when used to play genres that are either clean (no distortion) or played at low levels of distortion.
Artists Who Use It: Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, Otis Rush, Dave Grohl, Eric Johnson, Warren Haynes, Alvin Lee, T-Bone Walker, Freddie King, Roy Orbison.
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First introduced in 1958, the Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow guitar generally used to play the blues. It has an airy and full tone, and like other semi-hollow guitars is considered to have a portion of the frequency response you’d get from an acoustic guitar. This response gives it a slightly more overtones than a solid body instrument.
However, there is a flaw with semi-hollow guitars. Semi-hollow instruments have a tendency to feedback when played with a lot of distortion or at high volumes. They’re a great fit for blues, but they’re not really ideal if you’re wanting to play harder genres of rock.
The Gibson ES-175 is inarguably the most iconic jazz guitar ever. The vast majority of notable jazz musicians either use an ES-175 or one of its derivatives, and to this day it’s still the go-to guitar for guitarists looking to get a classic jazz tone.
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The ES-175 debuted in 1949, and in its first incarnation came equipped with a single P90 (in the neck position). It wasn’t until 1957 that the ES-175 came to exist as we know it today, at which time it was adopted by jazz luminaries like Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery.
The Fender Jaguar, originally intended to be a successor to the Fender Stratocaster, was kind of the red headed stepchild of the Fender line-up. Early Jaguars just didn’t sell well enough to keep them in production, so the line was discontinued in 1975. However, during the punk and alternative movement of the 1980s and 90s they became popular with musicians because for their price (they weren’t highly regarded, so they usually sold cheaply in pawn shops) they were a steal.
After the instrument’s resurgence Fender relaunched the Jaguar in 1999, and since then it has continued to be produced in a variety of different configurations.
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In addition to the above presentation of the best electric guitars of all time, the team has also produced a list which we published on GuitarSite.com, of what we believe are currently the Best Electric Guitar Brands where we tell you which top 10 brands we like the most along with recommended budget and high-end guitars from each brand. And if you're curious about acoustic guitars you'll probably want to look
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