Glad to see you mentioned Reverend; and there's nothing wrong with Gretsch being here, they're as historic as the other "G" brand and make quality affordable guitars.
Reverend guitars are absolutely brilliant but sell for peanuts on the used market. Not to mention they’re super comfy, with nice offset shapes and comfort curves. Plus the Wilkinson trems are so good. My favorites brand currently for so many reasons.
If you're going into the 1500-2k range, the Larrivee is a great choice for a t style. Handmade in CA, thoughtful modern updates with classic vibes, and very well built.
I recommend the PRS CE24, is a bolt on maple neck so is really stable, with the best split/humbucker sound, it is really a guitar to do anything, and now there is a SE version, that is really affordable. I have mine for two years, and it never let me down in studio or live.
Sire should be on this list, but it's nice to see Sterling on it. It's rarely seen on any of these lists. I have an Axis and it's my top guitar right now.
The ones I've tried were botched together and used super cheap hardware for guitars that were quite expensive for what they were. It's been some time since I've seen one but all of the ones I've seen had major flaws and where just cheap chinese guitars with a quirky vintage aesthetic and sparkly finishes.
Great list, Joe. I can vouch for the Revstar (RSS20), absolutely amazing guitar. I recently put Grover 502C Rotomatic locking tuners on it (drop-in replacements btw). It has become one of my favorite guitars of all time, and best-feeling neck I've ever played. Also own a G&L S500 Tribute which might be one of the best, versatile S-types for the money I've ever played. My Ibanez AS153 made me an Ibanez believer as well (on the more blues/jazz end, haven't tried any of their shred machines).
Not a stinker on the list. Love that Danelectro made it, I love mine. Same with the Revstar arguably the best/coolest modern classic. Gretsch the most overlooked, consistently brilliant American Heritage brand. Do think the PRS DGT SE could have been mentioned, though maybe price/availability kept them off.
Thanks, enjoyed this very much. Gives me ammunition for answering questions about affordability and quality from students and their parents. I'm going to send them here so they can see what else is out there besides the "big" brands hanging on most store walls.
Always heard Eastwoods were made with cheap parts, and sounded bad. But, as I'll never be able to afford a Fender Rory Gallagher, I got an Eastwood RG Special and it sounds great and is easy to play.
I would think that Tokai should have been on the list above Danelectro. I thought the NOS pickups are from the Korean area guitars and not the 50’s and 60’s guitars. If you have a new Dano and think the bridge pickup is unusable then perhaps the overwound Guitar Fetish pickup (8K) might work. I have been tempted to try it on my Korean Dano, but I have a set of Curtis Novak pickups with the bridge pickup overwound to 6K. Don’t think the Korean guitars are better, the neck cavity of my guitar looks like it was hacked out with a pen knife.
"Peavey Superman guitar" -Brutus 👍 If you're gonna include pricey Gretsch, I'd definitely throw in American made Heritage guitars. (the original Gibson)
Schecters I wouldn't call roadworthy. Frets are super soft and wear freakishly quick, pickups are me, electronics are cheap and the hardware isn't very good. Had a Nick Johnson come in for work cause it was breaking a lot of strings and the strings had worn deep grooves into the bridge plate and saddles, which were really soft. Frets had worn quite a bit in less than 2 years. For the money, literally get a used mid to high range squier, get a pro to level the frets and set it up and put a set of grovers or schallers on it. You'll be much better off for two thirds of the money.
Gretsch players edition guitars are very very expensive guitars !!! i can understand putting in this list electromatics and streamliners but not the high end gretsches
Are you trolling? I just looked up 4 of these and not only are the exact listings there in most cases, but there are also, in many cases, even cheaper listings.