THE GREAT EIGHT
What will $800 or less buy you at retail? We went looking for the hottest bargains of the year.
WHETHER YOU’RE A beginner or a pro, or just have some spare cash burning a hole in your pocket, you can a buy a whole lotta guitar these days without breaking the bank. We gave ourselves a budget of $800 and went to see what it would buy at retail. All prices are street or direct, and all models are new for 2021.
1 IBANEZ
Artcore Expressionist AMH90 Semi-Hollowbody
We tend to associate Ibanez with sleek shred machines like the JEM and RG, but the company has been making impressive inroads into the hollow and semi-hollow markets with its Artcore Series, where it offers jazzier looks and affordable prices. You’d be hard-pressed to find a classier and more versatile example than the Artcore Expressionist AMH90. With a top, back and sides of linden (a fancy name for basswood, but, hey, this is a fancy-looking piece of gear), a three-piece nyatoh/maple set-in neck, and a 22-fret bound Macassar ebony fingerboard with a comfortable 12-inch radius, this semi-hollow guitar provides easy playability with tons of midrange-forward tone and, thanks to the body’s center block, no annoying feedback. The moderate-output Super 58 humbuckers deliver plenty of vintage-style goodness, while the three-way pickup selector and special Tri-sound switch, which pulls three different sounds from each ’bucker, offer endless tonal options. Another — shall we say? — gem from the good people at Ibanez. $699 street. ibanez.com
2 EPIPHONE
Jared James Nichols Gold Glory Les Paul Custom, Double Gold Aged Gloss
Jared James Nichols has the soul of an old blues-rocker and the spirit of a modern metal shredder, and you could say the same for his signature Epiphone “Gold Glory” Les Paul
Custom. Like its predecessor, the blackfinished Old Glory, the new goldtop model combines a ’50s-era Les Paul vibe (specifically, a 1955-style Les Paul Custom body) with a stripped-down, souped-up JJN-approved sensibility. The body features a Double Gold Aged finish and is loaded with a single Seymour Duncan P-90 Dog Ear pickup, which, in true P-90 fashion, serves up stinging highs and fat mids when hit hard through a high-gain amp. Roll back the volume and tone knobs and you’re rewarded with rounded, singing, sustained-drenched tones. Otherwise, this guitar is all streamlined, classic comfort: a mahogany body, a ’50s Rounded C mahogany set neck, an ebony fingerboard, Grover Rotomatic tuners and a no-nonsense wraparound Lightning Stopbar tailpiece. Strap it on and go for the gold. $699 street. epiphone.com
3 PRS
SE Standard 24
If you’ve always craved a top-of-the-line USA-made PRS Custom 24 but the price made it prohibitive, feast your eyes on the company’s SE Standard 24, which boasts many of the same features — a set neck, a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard with bird inlays, and a PRS-designed tremolo — as its Core collection counterpart, but at an entry-level (or “Student Edition”) price. The double-cut, slightly carved body features all-mahogany construction and is loaded with a pair of PRS 85/15 “S” humbuckers. Combined with the maple set-neck construction, the guitar radiates warm, singing, sustaining tones — essentially, the classic PRS sound. What’s more, you can activate the push-pull function on the tone knob to access a bit of single-coil sparkle and spank. Essentially, the SE Standard 24 offers the best of both worlds: the luxurious sounds and playability that PRS has built its name on, wrapped up in a budget-friendly workhorse guitar. $579 street. prsguitars.com
4 SCHECTER
PT Special
Schecter first made its name with modernized metal guitars, but in more recent years the company has branched out with vintage-flavored designs, including the T-style PT Special. But make no mistake: Beyond its classic and classy curves lies a serious six-string beast, with a solid swampash slab body that provides abundant resonance and a bright but balanced attack. A Schecter-designed Diamond VT-1 bridge single-coil allows you to access traditional T-style twang, but with some S-style (that’s Schecter-style, in this case) attack. Up at the neck, a Diamond V-90 provides P-90-style warm midrange tones, with just a little more hotness, while a push-pull on the tone knob lets you toggle between series and parallel wiring. The maple neck with 12-inch radius fretboard delivers speed and comfort, and if you’re looking for something that stands out onstage, check out that eye-searing Purple Burst Pearl finish. $599 street. schecterguitars.com
5 JACKSON
JS Series Rhoads MAH JS32
Let’s be honest: There’s no guitar that screams “built-for-speed” more than the offset V-shaped Jackson that started it all. And to be sure, the JS Series Rhoads MAH JS32 will have your fingers flying in no time.
In fact, everything about this Rhoads seems to have been engineered for maximum impact, from the lightweight mahogany body, maple “speed” neck and compound radius (12”–18”) amaranth fingerboard to the ultra-aggressive, high-output custom Jackson humbuckers that offer serious bite and snarl. Plus, the licensed Floyd Rose tremolo can handle any dive-bomb abuse you throw at it. And while the gold hardware and pickguard and natural finish class-up the joint just a touch, the trademark Jackson pointy headstock and shark-fin fretboard inlays will remind everyone that you’re wielding a lethal six-string weapon. Pair this baby up with your favorite high-gain amp and watch the sparks fly. $399 street. jacksonguitars.com
6 EPIPHONE
Emily Wolfe Sheraton Stealth Semi-Hollow
Austin-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Emily Wolfe has been heating up the guitar scene with her sizzling, modernized take on blues rock, and wouldn’t you know it, her Epiphone signature model embodies that same classic/cutting-edge dichotomy. The Emily Wolfe Sheraton Stealth is her spin on the company’s legendary Sheraton, with a super-resonant semi-hollow build that, if you plug it into the right pedals, will easily conjure the same ringing, reverb-y, fuzz-laden tones that Wolfe herself is so very fond of. And while the guitar features plenty of vintage style — a double-cut Sheraton shape and a ’60s Kalamazoo headstock — Wolfe and Epiphone add in modern comforts like a SlimTaper neck and hot Epiphone Alnico Classic PRO humbuckers. What’s more, the Stealth is a looker, with diamond-shaped f-holes, a Black Aged Gloss finish and mother-of-pearl fingerboard blocks topped with subtle lightning-bolt abalone inlays. $799 street. epiphone.com.
7 KRAMER
The 84
The ’80s are back, and what guitar could embody the era of excess better than one literally named The 84? Paying homage to home-built, hot-rodded axes like the legendary Frankenstrat, the stripped-down model is designed for one thing and one thing only: high-performance, high-gain shred. The lightweight alder body, SlimTaper C-shape hard maple neck and 22 medium-jumbo-fret maple fingerboard offer classic design with modern comfort. And the pickup offering is no-nonsense: a single Seymour Duncan JB (essentially the high-output humbucker of choice for four decades) mounted directly to the body. There’s also a single volume knob with a push-pull for series/parallel tap (offering a bit of respite from the guitar’s otherwise shreddy single-mindedness), and, in a nod to Kramer’s celebrated ’80s past, the return of the iconic banana headstock and old-school Kramer logo. And what selfrespecting hot-rod axe would be caught without a Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo. Not this one, clearly. Bomb’s away! $799 street. kramerguitars.com
8 GUITAR FETISH
Slick SL51
While not exactly new, Guitar Fetish’s Slick SL51 is certainly a “slick” build. The name actually references guitar legend Earl Slick, who helped design the model. And needless to say, a guy who has played alongside the likes of David Bowie and John Lennon knows a thing or two about what makes a greatsounding, reliable guitar. In the case of the SL51, that means a solid swamp-ash body, solid Canadian hard-rock-maple neck and Indian rosewood fingerboard for serious, straightforward tone and consistent playability. And because Slick is an admirer of the classics, Guitar Fetish loaded the SL51 with a pair of Slick Brand Fullerton Lead pickups, hand-aged cosmetically and magnetically for vintage, Leo-approved tone. Add in an unsealed, raw wood body with an Aged Vintage Sunburst finish, a T-style ashtray bridge, circa-1953 flat-top knobs and a hand-aged pickguard, and you get a guitar that looks, feels and roars like a classic right out of the box. $249 direct. guitarfetish.com