Best signature guitars

Playing a guitar that was designed for another guitarist doesn’t sit well with every guitar player, but the best signature guitars are much more than just a tweak to an existing design.

Where the signature guitar was once an excuse to slap an artist’s name on the headstock for a bit of extra promo, contemporary signature guitars offer refreshing new angles that take their based models far beyond their original remit.

Ahead, we’ve rounded up a selection of electric guitars that embody the signature guitar ethos, whatever their price point: they’ve got the look, the spec and the playability to not only nail their namesakes’ sounds, but, in your hands, take it somewhere new too.

Choosing the best signature guitar for you

As you’d expect, signature guitars come in a huge variety of shapes ’n’ specs. After all, guitar players from every genre of music, from jazz guitar players to blues guitar players to rock, metal and beyond have created their own models. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re confined to creating music like these guitars’ namesakes. We’d encourage you to look at what each electric guitar is kitted out with, and figure out how that would suit your style.

This is especially true of pickups; where off-the-shelf stock models may opt for the standard dual-humbucker or triple-single coil arrangement, signature guitars allow artists to really run wild.

Then there are the neck shapes and the feel of the models. Increasingly, artists play the exact same signature models that you can buy in stores, and that means they want to get every detail right before the guitars hit the production line.

So, you might find necks that are beefier or skinnier than what you might expect from similar guitars. Fender’s EOB Sustainer Stratocaster is a case in point, boasting a far chunkier feel than the majority of Strats.

When it comes to the best signature guitars, you’re likely to find some sweet upgrades in the hardware department, too. Most of our picks feature locking tuners for quick string changes, while the likes of Johnny Marr’s Jaguar give the hardware and switching a complete overhaul in comparison to its inspiration.

And, of course, for those seeking meticulous vintage replicas, there’s the Jimmy Page Telecaster, which eschews contemporary upgrades to stay true to the iconic original. So whether you’re a fan or a guitarist seeking something different to the norm, we have the signature guitar for you right here…

Hard-rockers the world over rejoiced when EVH Gear finally made Eddie’s iconic Frankenstein available to mere mortals, and the Striped Series more than delivers on its promise.

Besides that striped finish – available in yellow/black, red/black/white and black/white – the Striped Series offers a slick playing experience, owing to a graphite-reinforced quartersawn maple neck with a hand-rubbed oil finish and compound-radius maple fingerboard.

As per Eddie’s original, there’s just a single humbucker onboard – controlled via a solitary volume, marked ‘tone’ – but a neat modern touch is the D-Tuna fitted to the Floyd Rose locking tremolo, enabling you to go from Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love to Unchained at the flick of a saddle.

Much was made of Annie Clark’s off-the-wall design, primarily as a guitar with ergonomics designed for women, but its ‘bow-tie’ outline is comfortable for guitarists of all genders, and Ernie Ball’s peerless build quality ensures it delivers feel and tones to match.

A figured roasted maple fretboard is matched by a rosewood or ebony fingerboard, while an idiosyncratic set of sounds comes courtesy of three DiMarzio custom mini-humbuckers, which boast a switching system that ekes out every drop of tone. A dual-humbucker version is also available, but either way, this is a daring electric guitar for those seeking to stand out.

As a Metallica-fronting metal icon and the man with the most precise picking hand in the biz, James Hetfield has had numerous LTD signature models over the years, but none are quite so distinctive as this modified Explorer-style.

Based on Papa Het’s original design and featuring his signature EMG active pickups, the Snakebyte is tailor-built for thick metal tones, courtesy of a mahogany body and three-piece, set mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, plus 22 extra-jumbo frets and that arresting snake 12th-fret snake inlay. A TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece keep the tuning in check. And signature models for all!

The Smiths’ indie-rock icon gave Fender’s eccentric offset a comprehensive overhaul that transformed it into an altogether more usable beast. A pair of Bare Knuckle single coils are tweaked using a four-position blade pickup switch mounted to the lower-horn plate, while a pair of upper-horn slide switches provide a choice of ‘bright’ options.

Besides the increased tonal versatility, there’s also the addition of a more reliable Mustang-saddle Jaguar bridge with nylon post inserts, plus the tremolo arm is taller and comes with a nylon sleeve insert to prevent the arm from swinging around too much. Marr’s updates are so well-thought-out, it makes his signature model just about the best Jaguar you can buy today.

The Silver Sky proved rather controversial upon its launch, owing to its similarity to a fairly famous Fender electric guitar. A number of smart design and tone choices set this model apart from its inspiration, however.

Mayer has combined aspects of his favorite instruments here, with a ’63/’64-derived neck shape, 7.25” radius and a trio of vintage-voiced single coil pickups. The whole thing is brought bang up to date by PRS’s trademark lower horn ‘scoop’, vintage-style locking tuners and a PRS tremolo system with Gen III knife-edge screws.

The guitar’s striking finishes are even derived from Tesla car colours, which is a nod to Fender’s use of DuPont automotive colours back in the day.