Best electric guitars 2024: our top picks for every playing style, ability and budget (2024)

Finding the best electric guitar is difficult but at the same time, thoroughly exciting. The term 'best' means different things to different people, and it's the subjective nature of this that makes the task so much harder – as well as the task of putting together this guide. For some players, the best electric guitar is something simple and utilitarian, and for others, it's a guitar that is dressed to the nines in a fancy paint job and has every conceivable gadget onboard.

In this round-up, we'll be showing you what we think are the best electric guitars you can currently get your hands on. This product list covers a vast price range, not just premium models - if you are looking for that, you may want to check our guide to the best high-end electric guitars.

You'll find options here from most of the main guitar manufacturers, so you can be sure they also come with a sterling brand reputation and a proven seal of quality. We've compiled some helpful advice for this guide, too. Just click the 'buying advice' button in the Quick Menu above to head straight there, or keep scrolling to get straight to our top choices.

Best electric guitars: Quick list

Want to dive into our top picks for the best electric guitars on the market right now? Below you’ll find a round-up of our six top choices. You can jump to a more detailed review of every pick and better yet, our price comparison tool will help you find the best deal on your new electric guitar.

Best overall

Vibe is a somewhat nebulous concept. Essentially, it's a guitar which evokes a certain mood or level of cool. While any number of axes could fit the bill, we've gone for the excellent Fender Vintera '60s Telecaster Modified, as frankly, we love it.

The Vintera combines a simple Tele layout with some clever tweaks under the hood and oodles of aforementioned vibe.

Underneath the standard alder body, you get access to some pretty unique pickup options. A special four-way switch offers both single coil pickups in series, while the S-1 switch on the volume knob inverts the phase giving you plenty of usable tones to choose from.

Best for beginners

When choosing an electric guitar for a child, there are a number of things to consider. The guitar itself has to be reasonably light to ensure smaller shoulders can cope. It needs to be easy enough to play for small hands, with an appropriately sized neck. And it needs to look cool. Because, let's face it, at that age the look of the guitar arguably trumps its ability to traverse multiple tonal areas.

There are a few dedicated mini versions of regular guitars, but we've gone for one that is full-sized, fully equipped and affordable. The Squier Bullet Mustang features a slightly smaller scale length which, combined with the basswood body, makes it easy to get to grips with. But, importantly, its double humbuckers ensure it can keep up with most grown-up guitars. It is one of the most badass Squier guitars we've played in a long while and easily one of the best beginner electric guitars on the market.

Read the full Squier Bullet Mustang review

Best under $1,000

To many, the Custom 24 presents the pinnacle of PRS design, and the thing about great guitar design is that it translates well at different price points. The SE Custom 24 is stunning in anyone’s book - and is our pick for the best electric guitar under $1,000.

The Wide Thin neck profile strikes a neat balance between comfort and speed. The flame maple veneer strikes a neat balance between opulence and ostentatious. Everything about this guitar’s design seems to exist in perfect equilibrium.

Other options in the SE Custom 24 line include the eye-popping Burled Ash and big-ticket 35th Anniversary models. Whichever you choose, you’ll be rewarded with a super-stable vibrato, bridge pickup that can handle everything from southern rock snarl to metal chunk, with neck humbucker tones that are inherently suited to blues, rock and showing off your comping skills. The coil-taps open up a whole range of possibilities – country, funk, you name it.

Better yet, you can grab this do-it-all axe for a lot less, with these PRS SE Custom 24 deals.

Read the full

Best under $500

Here at Guitar World, we absolutely adore the sound of a P-90 pickup. There's something about the gritty growl and shimmering highs that sets our hearts racing. So, it's only natural that we'd include a P-90-loaded guitar in our guide to the best electric guitars.

We've chosen to include the stunning Epiphone Les Paul Special, which features the best electric guitar under $500, in the Les Paul category.

Dressed up in the classic Gibson TV Yellow finish and featuring the fat '50s neck profile, this guitar perfectly harkens back to the instruments of yesteryear, delivering exceptional playability, style, and tone, all at a very reasonable price.

Best for metal

When it comes to the best guitars for metal, our top pick is the ESP LTD EC-1000. This stunning metal axe offers players incredible value for money with sought-after features and unbeatable playability.

Loaded with a set of Fishman’s Modern Fluence humbuckers, there isn't a style of metal this LTD can't perform. From thrash to doom, death metal to '80s power metal, this affordable offering from ESP can do it all.

We found the thin-U neck to be exceptionally playable, while the extra-jumbo frets and 13.8” radius provided the perfect playing surface for large bends and fast legato licks.

Read the full ESP LTD EC-1000 review

Best for blues

And now for something completely different. When you think about jazz guitars, you think large bodies, semi-hollow construction and warm humbuckers. Combine these things together and you get an instrument capable of producing those silky smooth, rounded tones which form the cornerstone of jazz guitar.

The Gibson ES-335 is a heavyweight in this field. It marries up a range of exceptional tones, with the highest levels of build quality and silky-smooth playability. Gibson has been producing variants of the ES-335 for over 70 years, and that heritage is evident in every note, trill and legato.

It's not cheap, but that tells its own story. Jazz guitars don't get much better than this.

Best for shred

Not only does the Jackson American Series Soloist SL3 take our top slot for the great shred guitar available today, but it's also one of the best Jackson guitars in the current lineup.

In our glowing 5-star review, we praised this shred-tastic guitar's superb build quality and outstanding playability, saying, "when playing the American Series Soloist, 40 years of guitar-making experience and refinement is evident compared to the original model".

So, if you're in the market for a premium guitar that is specifically designed to shred, then we implore you to seek out this remarkable Jackson model.

Read the full Jackson American Series Soloist SL3 review

Best for small hands

The entry-level guitar market is in a much healthier place than it was even 10 years ago. Now, manufacturers and brands are employing far higher levels of quality control than they did. This means even 'cheaper' guitars deliver tones, construction and playability previously reserved for mid and higher level models.

The Squier Classic Vibe '60s Stratocaster is the perfect example of this. Previously, an entry-level guitar would tend to last a couple of years, have string action like playing razor wire, and tones like a horde of bees in a tin can. Not so any more.

This Classic Vibe looks, feels and sounds incredible, and even gives some of the cheaper Fender models a run for their money. Style and playability at a price that won't make your eyes water. Progress is a wonderful thing.

Read our full Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster review

Best 7-string

There are now more 7-string guitars on the market than ever before, and it can get a little confusing to find the right now for you. Our pick for the best 7-string guitar has to be the striking PRS SE Mark Holcomb model.

From its drop-dead gorgeous looks to its impressive Seymour Duncan Alpha and Omega humbuckers and fiercely playable neck, this guitar is simply a joy to play - even if you're not normally a 7-string fan.

So, if you're looking for a relatively affordable way to bring the doom, then we'd look no further than this collaboration between the Periphery axe-man and Paul Reed Smith.

Also tested

As you can imagine, we review a lot of electric guitars at Guitar World, so it's not possible to include them all in this guide. Below you'll find a few notable models that we recently reviewed, and while we loved them, they didn't quite make the cut.

Best electric guitars: Buying advice

Buying a guitar is a personal and subjective thing - what might be the best electric guitar for you might not be right for someone else. However, there are quite a few things to take into consideration when buying one that can make choosing a little easier.

Since their inception in 1931 with the Rickenbacker ‘Frying Pan’ lapsteel, electric guitars have come a long way, though early models are still popular today. The Fender Esquire was introduced in 1950 and evolved into the Telecaster which is still played by beginners and pros alike. After that, the Gibson Les Paul was released in 1952, and the Fender Strat in 1954. Whilst there are many different brands and models out there, these classics are still incredibly popular.

Think about what you want out of your new electric guitar; do you want something to learn on? Are you upgrading after having played for a few years? Are you adding to a collection of guitars? Are you playing mainly one style of music, or a few? Answering these before you part with your cash can really help find the best electric guitar for you.

Electric guitar body shape

The body shape of your guitar plays quite a large part in how comfortable it will be to play. If you’re sat down, the contours of the body determine how it sits on you, likewise if you’re stood up - most of the weight is in the body, so you need to take that into consideration.

Pickup types

Pickups play the biggest role in shaping your electric guitar’s sound (alongside you of course!). Pickups are basically magnets housed in a bobbin, wound with wire, that convert the vibrations caused by your moving strings into an electrical signal which is then sent to your amp.

There are many different pickup types out there, but the most popular types are single coils and humbuckers. Single coil pickups are found in a lot of Fender guitars, like the Strat and the Tele and deliver a bright, clear sound, often with a slight scoop in the mids. Strat pickups often sound ‘glassy’ and ‘chimey’, and ‘twang’ is synonymous with the Tele.

Humbuckers tend to sound bigger, beefier and warmer. They fill out slightly more space in a mix and usually give out more output than single coils, making them break up sooner. If you already play a guitar with single-coils, then maybe look for something with humbuckers, or vice versa, so you can cover more ground.

There are guitars out there that feature a mixture of single coils and humbucker pickups, like the HSS Strat, giving you the best of both worlds. There are also coil-tapped or coil-split humbuckers that, when engaged, effectively act as single coils.

Electric guitar hardware

An electric guitar’s hardware can help improve tuning stability, tone and longevity. As you start to spend more, you’ll get things like better quality tuners (sometimes locking tuners), sturdier hardware that fits together better and improves sustain, as well as better and more reliable electronics that keep your signal clearer.

Neck profile

Neck profiles can vary too, and should be considered when looking for the best electric guitar for you. It’s all very much down to personal preference, but neck profiles can range from super thin, like on the Ibanez RG550, to thicker, more vintage-style profiles like on the ES-335. Generally speaking, faster, shreddier players prefer thin necks, and old-school blues and rock players go for either a thick neck or something in the middle.

There is definitely space for a bit of 'gut feeling' when you're shopping. We've all had situations where we've played a guitar we'd never normally have looked twice at and had it pleasantly surprise us. Keeping an open mind is no bad thing. Sometimes when you pick up a guitar you just know. There's no rationale.

But, instinct aside, you can at least put yourself in the right ballpark by using guides like this one to hone in on what works for you. With so many variables, it can be hard to know where to start. Maybe you'll find your dream guitar with a quick scroll, or maybe it will take some further research, but we hope to help you start that journey right here.

How we test electric guitars

Guitars are very subjective things. What some players may think of as the most incredible guitar ever made, others may completely despise it. That said, no matter our personal preference, there are a few key criteria that a guitar must meet for us to consider recommending it to our readers.

The first is build quality. When testing out a new six-string, we thoroughly check over every aspect of the instrument, making sure everything feels sturdy and solid. If it's a bolt-on construction – like a Strat or Tele – we'll have a close look at the neck join to ensure it's tight, with no gaps. We'll make sure the machine heads are responsive, the volume and tone pots are smooth, and there are no issues with the pickups. We will then look over the general finishing of the guitar. Are there any finishing anomalies to speak of, and is the guitar finished to a reasonable standard for its price point?

Next up is playability. For this, we are looking at how well the guitar plays straight out of the box. We are obviously looking to see how comfortable the neck is to hold, but we are also looking to see if there are any sharp frets, tall frets, or intonation issues, as well as looking to see if the guitar needs an extensive set-up.

Lastly, we need to think about the sound of the instrument. Again, this is very subjective, but we are looking to see if the guitar lives up to the manufacturer's claims and is fit for purpose. For example, if a guitar is designed with heavy metal in mind, does it deliver the bone-crushing tone we'd expect, or does it fall flat? That said, we will test guitars in a variety of different genres just to see what they can do - as you never know, that EMG-loaded Flying V may have a killer blues tone hidden inside.

Read more about how we find the best guitars for our buyer’s guides and exactly how we test each instrument.

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