Under £1,000
GIBSON LES PAUL SPECIAL TRIBUTE £849
US-made and available in a choice of four satin nitrocellulose lacquer finishes – including Vintage Cherry, Ebony, Worn White and Natural Walnut – this ageless single-cutaway design features the simple yet stylish Les Paul Special appointments of mahogany body and neck, rosewood fretboard with dot inlays, wraparound bridge and a pair of black soapbar P-90s. www.gibson.com
EVH 5150 SERIES STANDARD £859
Proudly sporting a pair of hot direct-mount Alnico II EVH Wolfgang humbuckers, the 5150 Series Standard’s EVHbranded Floyd Rose is built to withstand even the most devastating of divebombs and features fine-tuners along with the EVH D-Tuna mechanism to quickly and accurately switch between standard and drop D tuning. www.evhgear.com
PRS SE PAUL’S GUITAR £899
As one of the first SEs to be crafted in a new Indonesian factory, the price here is considerably lower than that of the USA Core model yet it still offers the same Private Stock bridge and concept TCI tuned pickups with true single-coil switching. The SE Paul’s Guitar has a 635mm (25-inch) scale, 22-fret rosewood fretboard, mahogany neck and body, and figured maple top. www.prsguitar.com
CORT G290 LE £859
As the manufacturer for numerous brands we’ve featured such as PRS, Manson and Relish to name but three, Cort is becoming a major player in global guitar manufacturing. This limitededition version of the G290 packs a great spec, with AAAA maple top, a compound radius ebony fingerboard, excellent vibrato, locking tuners and dual coil-splittable humbuckers. www.cortguitars.com
CHARVEL PRO-MOD DK22 SSS 2PT CM £899
This Mexican-made Dinky-body bolt-on has all the key points of the ‘progressive’ guitar, from its graphite-reinforced caramelised maple neck, Gotoh Custom 510 vibrato, Seymour Duncan pickups and Luminlay side dots. Its relatively flat compound radius fingerboard suggests it’s just built for speed, but it’s surprisingly good in a cleaner world, too. www.charvel.com
CHARVEL PRO-MOD DK24 HSH 2PT CM MAHOGANY £919
With a comfort-enhancing heel cut and classic body contours, this progressive but pared-back double-cut features a natural finished mahogany body, a super-stable graphite-reinforced caramelised maple neck, Seymour Duncan pickups and an allsteel Gotoh 510 vibrato. An effortless player – power on tap if you need it but with a vintage-y, rootsy heart. www.charvel.com