Do you want to buy an electric guitar, but don’t know which instrument is right for you? In this article we will talk about the main brands and manufacturers of electric guitars, as well as help with the selection of your first instrument.
Electric Guitar Market Today
At the moment, there are a huge variety of electric guitars of various shapes and styles. However, any professional guitarist will tell you that the best electric guitar simply does not exist. Each instrument has its own unique sound character. The guitar companies presented below are world leaders in the production of the most famous guitars. If you have ever been to a rock concert, then most likely the guitarists used the instruments of these manufacturers on stage.
Gibson and Epiphone
And of course, you should start with the famous brand of electric guitars - Gibson. Impeccable quality, huge service life and breathtaking sound! The best electric guitars of the period of 50-70 years were created by Gibson, they remain the benchmark in guitar production today. At auctions, they literally "fight" for each unique instrument by Gibson, because this company maintains a policy of assembling each guitar manually, which, according to the founders of Gibson, makes these guitars unique.
However, if you want to buy Gibson, then get ready to say goodbye to a few thousand dollars - you have to pay for excellent quality. But you can be sure that the guitar will fully justify itself.
For beginners, Gibson came up with a more economical line of Epiphone guitars, which later grew into a subsidiary brand. Epiphone guitars are distinguished by cheaper materials and accessories, which is why they become available on the market for beginner guitarists. The quality of such guitars also suffers, because they are not manufactured in the USA, like Gibson instruments, but Epiphone keeps the brand, perfect for starting a creative journey.
Fender and Squier
The second forefather of electric guitars is the no less famous manufacturer Fender. Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix and other virtuoso guitarists used Fender guitars as the main ones for their warm glass sound. Unlike Gibson guitars, Fender instruments are more often used for light rock styles (grunge, blues, alternative rock, for example). Fender is a company with a very rich history, which has been producing extra-class tools for almost a century. The best electric guitar and Fender are synonyms in the understanding of many professionals.
For accessibility, Fender has also created several Squier-branded low-cost electric guitar lines. Squier instruments are great for beginners as well as confident musicians.
It is worth noting that at the moment, Fender is the leader in sales of its guitars, ahead of Gibson due to the demand for instruments with diverse sounds.
Ibanez
The Japanese manufacturer Ibanez appeared later than its predecessors and dominates the market of seven-string and eight-string electric guitars. In the early 2000s, the popularity was heavier and lower. With the advent of such rock bands as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, the mod for heavier nu-metal sound began to grow exponentially. Skillful Japanese, who previously produced guitars only for the domestic market, began to distribute their electric guitars as "new generation instruments" around the world. Today there is no difficulty in acquiring a sufficiently high-quality Ibanez electric guitar. Production moved to Indonesia and put on stream. At any music store, the seller will tell you that Ibanez is the best cheap electric guitar at the moment. The thing is that this company has a whole series of guitars of a very low price range, while in quality they are not much inferior to top-tier guitars.
Ibanez pay special attention to the quality of materials for electric guitars: the best strings, tunings, frets. A beginner will not have to rebuild the instrument when buying, this is a serious plus for those who have never held a guitar in their hands.
Jackson
Another world-famous Japanese company is called Jackson.
Jackson has a very mixed story, and to say that today it is a separate manufacturer of guitars is impossible. Jackson's factories are now under the influence of Fender - all shares are overbought by the American brand. Be that as it may, the guitars of this brand are still produced under its true name, Fender owns and controls production, but they do not change technology. And not in vain.
Indeed, in the 90s, every metalhead dreamed of purchasing a Jackson brand of guitar. Why is that? The thing is that Jackson is known for aggressive forms (the guitar in the photo above is made in the form of Randy Rhoads, all rights to use this form belong to Jackson), as well as an attacking heavy sound. Almost all metal bands have ever used Jackson guitars. That is why Jackson is on the list of the best electric guitar companies in the world.
For a long time after the transfer of part of the production from America and Japan to India, there were rumors that Jackson would soon cease to produce musical instruments, but after improving the market situation in 2012, Jackson continued to delight its customers with new guitars.
This is the best option for metalworkers asking the question which electric guitar is best for beginners. Love Cannibal Corpse or Napalm Death? Jackson is your choice!
PRS
PRS instruments have always been distinguished by excellent quality and trouble-free fittings, this is an old American brand, known mainly due to blues and jazz musicians. The best electric guitar solos ever recorded are mostly played on PRS guitars. Unfortunately, the guitars of this company cannot be advised to beginners - the price even for used PRS varies from 600 to 1000 dollars, not to mention the new one.
At the same time, PRS are assembled by hand, like Gibson, but they are cheaper. There are many comparative videos where PRS guitars are compared with Gibson, and you have to give credit, the PRS is kept up to date in sound and build quality. PRS also constantly collaborates with Ernie Ball, which produces the best strings for electric guitars, this allows PRS customers to enjoy playing beautiful strings immediately after buying a new instrument.
Another important feature is that when ordering PRS from the official site, you are free to choose the pickups you need and implement them before you buy, thereby choosing the potential of the future instrument. The color of the PRS case is most often stylized as a normal lacquered wood without frills, which makes the guitar more representative and solid. According to many professional musicians, PRS are considered the most comfortable guitars. PRS is perfect for both blues musicians of modern times and progressive guitarists.
ESP and LTD
ESP is a Japanese musical instrument company. Founded in 1975 as a network of music stores, it later began to produce instruments of its own production. Initially, only electric guitars were produced under the auspices of the Custom Shop - that is, there were no serial guitars on the stream, soon ESP guitars began to be popular in Japan, and then around the world. The company began to produce several expensive, but serial tools, using more and more success. Today, ESP is also positioned as a company that mainly produces unique instruments by famous bands and guitarists. Most subscribed electric guitars of existing rock musicians are produced by this particular company.
For any other guitarists, a subsidiary Korean brand LTD was invented. And we must pay tribute, LTD is developing so quickly that it has already filled almost the entire world market of different price categories with fairly high-quality and military tools. What is the best electric guitar without a long and long history of company development ?! LTD, for example!
Dean
Dean's electric guitars are widely known around the world thanks to the now-deceased metal guitarist Dimbag Darrell - it was he who first began to use the instruments of this brand in his performances. Dean guitars make an enormous impression with their appearance: sharp rough forms of the body, large heading of the neck with engraving of angel wings. A dense, sharp sound caught the hearts of many beginner experimental guitarists. The best electric guitar of the Razorback series will not leave indifferent any lover of real metal, rest assured.
Despite the sophisticated forms, these guitars, contrary to the initial opinion, are very convenient to play - Dean technologists are constantly working to improve comfortable playing both in a standing position and while sitting.
BC Rich
The fairly rare BC Rich instruments are also widely known to the public due to unusual body shapes. At the end of the 1980s, the genre of glam rock was widely popular in the United States and Europe, and each musician had to have a couple of such non-standard guitars in their arsenal. However, BC Rich allows you to get a really high-quality instrument at a very reasonable price, thereby adding your creations to the list of the best cheap electric guitars at the moment. Nevertheless, finding a new BC Rich in Russia is difficult today - electric guitars are not produced in very large circulation, because BC Rich is not as popular as Gibson or Fender, for example.
Schecter
Schecter is the youngest of all presented, but therefore the brightest and progressing at the moment. The appearance in Russia dates from the beginning of 2012, but this company is striking in the number of tools issued. Every year, new lines of six-string, seven-string and eight-string electric guitars of the highest class at affordable prices are released. Designers are pleased with the wide variety of colors and shapes of new guitars, and the catalog contains several tools for each of the styles of the game - from blues to extreme metal.
Schecter gives hope for the future of guitar building by introducing a variety of innovations into its models, whether new pickups or fresh bridges. For beginners, Shecter annually presents a very inexpensive series of guitars of various shapes and spectra of sound. For example, you can buy a completely new seven-string or eight-string Schecter for 12,000 rubles, which is good news for musicians who are not averse to experimenting with the number of strings on their electric guitar. It is very possible that in the near future such companies will be able to claim the title of monopolies producing the best electric guitars in the world.
Yamaha
It would be wrong not to mention Yamaha electric guitars. If you ever had to choose an electric guitar to start your career, then you were most likely offered to start with the Yamaha Pacifica 112. According to many, this instrument is the best electric guitar for beginners because of its price / quality ratio. However, the rest of modern guitars enjoy extremely low popularity among musicians. But Yamaha electric guitars of the 80-90s are very quickly bought at a variety of auctions. The thing is that at that time, Yamaha released its guitars in Japan, using the highest quality materials in the assembly. And today, the policy of delirium has changed and Yamaha, unfortunately, is inferior to other guitar workshops. But the Yamaha Pacifica 112 is still produced, and used in almost all music schools, because this electric guitar is essentially universal, perfect for learning.
Conclusion
Choosing an electric guitar is a complex process that requires attention and painstaking care. Fortunately, there are a huge number of companies on the market that allow you to choose a tool to your liking. Do not forget - whatever instrument you buy and no matter how much money you spend, the sound is largely determined by the skills of your game. A virtuoso guitarist could well beat Gibson Les Paul Studio for a few thousand dollars in sound with any low-cost electric guitar bought for a couple of hundred dollars. You must understand that the diversity of sound has long ceased to determine the wallet - a huge number of lines of a wide variety of guitars confirms this. Decide on the genre in which you want to start playing, and choose the right instrument in the music store. Create and enjoy playing this musical instrument! Good luck