The Collection
The Ministry of Guitar, located just minutes off Singapore's famous Orchard Road, hosts one of Asia's largest Private collections of rare and high end Electric guitars.
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From legendary limited runs like the PRS Private Stock Graveyard II or the PRS Modern Eagle 1, evergreen classics like the Fender Custom Rosewood Telecaster or the Gibson Firebird VII, artist favourites like the Silverburst Les Paul Custom or the original PRS Tremonti, and even a sprinkling of the dark side with the 'Babymetal' ESP Raiden 8 or 'Meshuggah' FTM 33, there is something in this 70+ guitar collection to tickle the fancy of guitarists of all ages.
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Carefully curated and meticulously put together over the years, sourcing guitars from all over the world, though particularly from Tokyo's Ochanomizu 'Guitar' street, the Ministry of Guitar collection is a must visit for all guitarists and is now open to all via the 'Dream Guitar Experience'
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#3 'Nico'
2009 Fender Custom Rosewood Telecaster Closet Classic (George Harrison)
Few can look at the all Rosewood Telecaster without conjuring up images of the Beatles Rooftop concert , George Harrison quietly getting the job done and the Let it be sessions. This pristine example was named after the boutique guitar shop off Shibuya where I accidentally found it and has a tone that screams Tele yet with the incredible high-low push I associate with rosewood necked guitars
#4 ' Blue Winter'
2015 Gibson Custom Bonabyrd 'Les Paul-Firebird hybrid' (Joe Bonamassa)
The Bonabyrd was a limited 100 piece run designed by Joe Bonamassa, combining aspects of his favourite guitars the 50s Les Paul and the 60s Firebird. Yet beyond the story, this is an incredible instrument. I had gone to Ochanomizu's Worlds Finest guitars, the world's largest Gibson custom dealer' looking for a Les Paul Custom, ideally a Silverburst. I played 10 different Les Paul customs including a modern and a vintage Silverburst but this guitar blew them all away. Easily the best Gibson Les Paul I have ever played.
#5 ' Raspberry Fields'
1998 PRS Archtop '99 NAMM Special Run (Incubus)
Nothing prepares you for the almost acoustic guitar like thickness and massive resonance of the unicorn that is the PRS Archtop. Only produced from 1998-2001, this was the ancestor of modern PRS Hollowbodies and was made famous by Mike Einziger of Incubus fame. More comfortable than it looks and taking gain better than any jazz box has any right to, this 99'NAMM show guitar in a show special Raspberry colour is one of the highlights of the collection
#6 ''
2006 Gibson Firebird VII (Lynyrd Skynyrd/Foo Fighters/Rival Sons)
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well, it is the Gibson Firebird VII, possibly the best looking guitar ever. Designed by legendary 1950s car designer Ray Dietrich. Dripping of the spirit of the space age from every angle and with a sound like no other, the top of the line Firebird injects coolness into the daring few who dare wrangle with it
#7 'Ironman'
2009 Fender Vintage Hotrod 50's Stratocaster (Pink Floyd (Pulse))
They perfected the electric guitar in the 1950s. Maybe, maybe not. The appropriately named Vintage Hot Rod Strat is the guitaring equivalent of a Singer air cooled Porsche. If you fancy a classic looking Strat that can hang with fire breathing modern machines, this is the one
#8 ''
2013 Gibson Custom 'Alex Lifeson' Les Paul Axcess (Rush)
What if the 1959 Burst had an evil twin? Lighter, meaner, faster, able to keep up with complex time signatures and sound experimentation beyond the realms of classic rock. It would take a pretty special beast to fit the needs of the OG godfather of Prog, RUSH and with a Floyd rose, piezo and even a coil split, the LIfeson makes mincemeat of those who call a Les Paul a one trick pony
#"10 ''
2023 Gibson Custom 1974 Les Paul Custom Silverburst Japan Limited Run (Tool, Randy Rhoads)
I can't think of two more iconic Les Paul Custom players than Randy Rhoads and Adam Jones. Luckily their Les Pauls seem to have had a love child with the Silverburst 1974 Les Paul Custom. A Japan limited run, I was luckily enough to pick up this knarly beast during a Splash and Dash to Ochanomizu
#11 ' Robocop'
1981 Gibson Les Paul Standard Heritage Elite (modified)
It's a little ironic that the Gibson with the best build quality in the collection is a Japanese resto-mod but is it really surprising? Starting life as a 1981 Heritage Elite, Gibson's first ever 1959 Burst reissue. 'Robocop' much like its name-sake was transformed piece by piece into a killing machine. Gold Floyd Rose and hardware, exquisitely installed maple fretboard (with binding) and a lavish purple nitro finish to round it off. Only in Japan
#"12 ''
2021 ESP Custom 'Raiden' Snapper 8 (Babymetal)
Imagine an 80s shred machine and a modern djent chug machine had a demon love child. That would get close to describing the axe of choice of Babymetal’s ISAO. More is more with the Raider 8. 8 Strings, Floyd Rose, Seymour Duncan Nazguls yet housed in a form that may fool the casual viewer to think it is just a another red Strat, the Raider 8 may just be the blues rockers gateway drug to the dark world of extended range
#13 ''
2003 PRS Tremonti (Creed)
The year was 2001. PRS’s and Mesas ruled the world. Some said the lead singer of Creed tried to sound like Eddie Vedder but few could miss the classic anthems like ‘My Sacrifice’ and ‘One Last Breath’ or miss the black Singlecut PRS with the prominent 12th fret ‘Underwear tag’ logo. Take a trip to the turn of the millennium with the original first generation PRS Tremonti and feel the thrill of Y2K all over again
#14 'Horntail'
2008 Gibson 'Shred X' Explorer (James Hetfield (Metallica)
A Black Gibson Explorer. Few metal images are as iconic as these, or as effective. Papa Het’s axe of choice has influenced countless who came after, and the 2008 Shred X explorer is the perfect tribute to the heady era of trash and speed. With an era accurate Kahler tremolo and gnarly bare knuckles, you might just accidentally find yourself shouting ‘ Master Master’
#15 'Pandora'
2018 ESP LTD Snakebyte Baritone (James Hetfield (Metallica)
The Purple Monster that Metallica fans didn’t ask for but deserved. The Snakebyte is already an er..eviler Explorer, but making it a Baritone takes things to er..whole new depths. And let’s make it purple with a crazy Quilt top while they were at it. Even more stunning in the flesh
#16 'Hen's Tooth'
2011 Gibson Silverburst Baritone Explorer (Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), James Hetfield (Metallica))
The real world has Bigfoot and Abdominal snowmen and the guitar world has the Silverburst Baritone Explorer. Rare enough to almost seem fictional, the specs almost seemed to suggest that the Gibson management had a time machine back in 2010 to look forward to the extended range mania of the 2020s. 28 inch scale, 24 frets, ‘Adam Jones’ burst, this is the perfect Baritone for the headbanger.
#17 'Daenerys'
2020 PRS Private Stock 594 Tremolo Piezo
Specced as a colaboration between Ministry of Guitar and Indonesia's Hiend guitar, this is the worlds first and only 594 Tremolo Piezo. Of special note in this guitar is the split top reminscent of Dragon skin and Dragon eggs giving the guitar its name, and the neck made from Kingwood, a highly rare wood typically reserved for making royal furniture in the past century. But you have to switch off the lights for the guitar to reveal its ultimate secret
#18 'Arya'
2007 PRS Private Stock 513 Swamp Ash/Maple
Paying homage to the Many Faced God from the Game of Thrones, the 513 is the many faced guitar able to emulate any guitar sound thanks to its 5 pickups and 13 combinations. 'Arya' has possibly the best Quilt maple top we have ever seen, amplified by the'Purple Mist' finish which only reveals its true colours in person and White gold etched Private stock eagle and birds which are a work of art. The 513 tonewood combination of a swamp ash body combined with a maple neck and ebony fretboard make for an extremely articulate sound making this the most metal of the 5 513s in the collection.
#19 'Night King
2016 PRS Private Stock Guitar of the Month Holcomb 8 String (1 of 8)
The rarest of the rare, PRS Private Stock only ever made 8 of these for the world as the Guitar of the month in August 2016. Designed together with Mark Holcomb of Periphery, the 'Night King' lives up to its name with the stunning Frostbite glow nitro finish and is certainly one of the evil guitars in the Ministry of Guitar collection. Sourced from a private collection in Hongkong.
#20 '
2015 PRS Holcomb Limited Edition (Periphery)
The PRS Custom 24 is a versatile platform and it only took a few select tweaks applied by Mark Holcomb from djents OG band ‘ Periphery’ to make it the modern metal guitarist’s wet dream. Extended 25.5 inch scale, hard tail, 20 inch radius and Seymour Duncan Alfa Omega pickups, it retains the core PRS DNA with a heavier twist. Part of a limited 60 piece run now highly sought after, our Holcomb (imo) has the best top in the run after Mark’s original
#21 'Behemoth'
2019 PRS Private Stock Cu24 7 String
I love Japanese guitar dealers and sometimes they go a little mad. Sometimes they go down to the PRS factory, find a crazy burl top, invent a new colour with a crazy name (Boo Berry Burst) and even specify a purple hard case. The fact that this being 7 string and using the hardest wood known to man for its fretboard (Snakewood) comes in the second sentence, tells you all you need to know about this guitar. A must try in the collection
#22 'Dark Lord'
2001 Gibson Tony Iommi SG (Black Sabbath)
A figure in black stood in the darkness to the sound of a Tritone and music was never the same again. Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi needs no introduction and nor does the Gibson SG that defined their sound. This sought after limited run from the early 2000s is the ultimate evil avatar of the Gibson SG with upside down cross inlays, black as night finish and fretboard and Iommi designed pickups. All hard rock and metal heads shall worship at this altar and then move on
#23 'Red Eye'
1990 Ibanez Universe UV7 (First Year)
Guitar heros are foremost musicians but sometimes they are mad scientists whose inventions define the face of sound for years to come. Les Paul is of course the most iconic example but Steve Vai comes a close second. In the late 80s, he had the radical thought of adding an additional lower tuned string to his Ibanez guitar. The Universe UV7 was born and little did we know how downturning would shape heavy music ever since. This first year example in white is about as pristine as one can be gotten these days and with its magic neck shows its newer descendants a thing or two
#24 'Darwin'
1986 PRS Custom 24 (Pre-Factory)
In 1985, a 29 year old luthier called Paul Reed Smith went to multiple guitar shows with two handmade prototypes and after securing orders, took a loan to start a small guitar manufacturing outfit in Maryland, knowing little about the global behemoth he would create. The guitars created in the early years are highly regarded by collectors, setting the template not only for future PRS's but most modern guitar. 'Darwin' is a pristine example sourced by the Ministry of Guitar from France and what makes this piece more special is the now ‘faded’ Whale Blue finish, which is the template for PRS's most popular colour today
#25 'Emperor'
2008 PRS Private Stock Custom 24
Fate unites us with some guitars and such was the case for Emperor. Owned by a Japanese musician who made select modifications, this guitar arrived in Ishibashi Shinjuku, Tokyo a few minutes before I did, making every other guitar in a store full of PRS's and custom shop Gibsons and Fenders look ordinary. The faded Indigo finish is impossible to describe, midnight blue in some lights, green in others or sometimes even a touch of purple. 'Emperor' is also by far the easiest playing guitar in my collection.
#26 ''Senna"
2017 PRS Reclaimed CE24 Limited Edition
Old is gold they say. Certainly in the case of wood used for musical instruments. In this game of long toothed top trumps, the Reclaimed Limited beats them all with 150 year old reclaimed Brazilian rainforest wood, imbibed character (and nail marks) from its previous application at housing timber. The Semi hollow build with bolt on construction are the last ingredients in this magic stew of cacophony.
#27 'Mozart'
2005 PRS 513 Brazilian Rosewood (Paul Jackson (American Idol))
The first of the three ‘Violin’ Brazilian rosewood necked 513s in my collection, ‘Mozart’ is perhaps the blingiest of the lot with its gold hardware. Much has been said about the magic and controversy of Brazilian rosewood and not enough about the polymath like range of the 513. The Ministry of Guitar prefers the 513 Rosewood to its more tauter sibling the Modern 1, and when you experience one, its not difficult to see why
#28 'Beethoven'
2006 PRS 513 Brazilian Rosewood
Beethoven’ is the second 513 Brazilian rosewood acquired in the collection and the one with the most mojo (and dings). Of special note is the remarkable grain of the neck and how well it handles D Standard and drop C
#29 'Wagner'
2007 PRS 513 Brazilian Rosewood
Wagner’ is a 513 Rosewood in form and a Slash Tobacco sunburst in colour and spirit. Set up in Eb, this 513 Rosewood piggybacks a Hendrix ghoul on top of the Slash spirit and has a remarkable combination of spank and body one struggles to find in most guitars.
#30 'Zeus'
2017 PRS Wood Library McCarty 594 Singlecut
PRS made the ultimate 1959 Les Paul, but only in 2017. Part of the first Singlecut run of the now iconic 594 model, ‘Jupiter’ looks like its namesake planet and sounds like every rock guitarists dream. This is the guitar that ruined all Gibson Les Paul R9s for me, which in case you haven’t noticed, is a stunning omission from the collection
#31 'DGT of Doom'
2018 PRS DGT
I used to be sceptical of ‘magical’ guitars considering it a whole load of psycho somatic, self confirming nonsense till I encountered a few guitars, the DGT of Doom being prime amongst them. There are guitars that spring out a song the moment you pick them up and the DGT does that without fail. Monickered ‘DGT of Doom’ since I was the one person in the world who didn’t like the DGTs original pickups and committed heresy by swapping them for Bare Knuckles, this is in the top 5 favourite guitars in the collection
#32 'Sleeper Burst'
2016 PRS Artist Pack Tremonti Baritone Hybrid Limited Edition
When you gotta go ‘low low low’ without any of the compromise, the interestingly named Tremonti ‘Baritone’ hybrid fools you into thinking you are playing a regular guitar (because you kind of are). Turn up with a sunburst Les Paul looking thing conjuring up images of Peter Green and blues masters and rip eardrums apart with some drop A Slipknot. Sounds like a day in the life of the ‘Sleeper Burst’
#33 '' Baskerville"
2022 PRS Tremonti Wood Library in Purple Mist
Not purple rain, but purple mist. I have often described the Tremonti as the Les Paul’s equivalent of a Super Strat, and this 2021 is one of the finest examples I have found after years of searching. Don’t let the Singlecut shape fool you. Like its namesake lurking in the mists of Arthur Conan Doyle’s imagination, Baskerville snarls with intensity and shreds with impunity.
#34 'Stairway'
2015 Epiphone G-1275 Double Neck
Double neck. Cherry. Led Zeppelin. Enough said
#35 'Genoa'
2011 PRS NF3 (Jimmy Herring)
If you asked a non guitarist to describe an electric guitar, they would describe a black Strat with a white pickguard. The NF3 is in my opinion the best interpolation of that template. With three Narrow field hum buckets, it is not a Strat but the equivalent of bringing a 1950s B&W into 2020s HD. You can play anything with this thing, only better and that neck is worth the price of admission alone
#36 'Macuaber'
2020 PRS Artist Pack Custom 24 (Maple Board)
The magic of the almost unfinished, raw maple neck. Typically reserved for fifty year old Fenders but you will be shocked at what PRS have going on a very in-Fendery Custom 24. When you stop playing and actually look at the guitar, you may notice quilt so tight, it looks like it was knit by warrior nuns in a Himalayan monastery
#37 ''Infinity"
2020 PRS Artist Pack Custom 24 Piezo (Opeth)
Having owned hundreds of guitars, I am often asked what if I had to distill it to one. The answer to that question is the Custom 24 piezo, a electric acoustic chameleon that can make any sound an audience demands. This particular example in a gorgeous charcoal is made even more special by the now discontinued artist package providing a dark as night ebony fretboard and a custom stained binding
#38 ''Astronomy Domine"
2020 PRS 10 Top Custom 24 Piezo (Opeth)
The vibrant counterpart to its dark sibling 'Infinity', 'Astronomy Domine' features possibly the most striking purple of any of the purple guitars in the collection. Going from 60s psychedelic to hip hop refrains with the twist of a few knobs, this is all the guitar you will ever need
#39 'Old Black'
2019 Mayones Regius 7 V24
Mayones have steadily carved out a reputation as the modern metal machines of choice with quality and looks rivalled by few. The Regius 7, in Mayones’s now famous but sadly discontinued Antique Ash finish has the rarer carved top and tremolo, coupled with stunning etched Bare Knuckle Juggernauts, designed to take you from ambient soundscapes to soul crushing riffs.
#40 ''Black Hole'
2012 Mayones Regius 8
I spent years looking for the perfect 8 string Mayones, the ‘Djentleman’ as a variation of it was called, chancing upon this used charcoal black example listed in a small shop in Belgium. This guitar is not for the faint hearted but is surprisingly playable despite looking like a beast
#41 'Ragnarok'
2019 PRS Private Stock 8 String One off
Continuing the insatiable appetite of the Japanese dealers, this Private Stock 8 string is a one off monster with highlights like the double stained grey top complemented perfectly by the carbon fibre pickup covers, or the confusing feel like a massive unfinished Zircote 8 string neck, ‘Ragnarok’ is one of my favourite guitars in the collection and I feel lucky to own this guitar which is probably even rarer than the Korean Gibsons (less than 14 PRS 8 Strings were ever built and they are now discontinued)
#42 'Bird of Djent'
2019 Ibanez FTM33 (Meshuggah)
In the 90s, an obscure Swedish band appeared to confuse guitar tunings with those of bass and decide time signatures based on throws of dice. Little did they know that they would become the second OG of heavy music, sprouting a movement of music and extended range movement that is twenty years in and accelerating. Meshuggah’s Frederick Thornstall weapon of choice, is what a Firebird would look like in this alternate universe. Approach with respect and make sure you are worthy
#43 '
2019 PRS Private Stock Custom 24 7 String Floyd Rose (1 off)
Beauty appears in many forms and sometimes from destruction. This beautiful Private Stock was finished in bright factory Peacock blue when I first saw it during a business trip and was a knarly faded black with toxic green highlights by the time I bought it, faded by three years of Covid and possible poor shop floor placement. For Floyd lovers and explorers, this is the most playable extended range guitar in my collection, making a mockery of its 26.5 inch scale length
#44 ''
2012 ESP Original Eclipse 7 String Baritone Limited Edition
Many heavy players like me love the Gibson Les Paul custom. But sometimes we wish there was a seven string version. When we are even more wistful, we hope for a baritone scale length so we can truly descend to the depths of mount doom. Well, ESP decided to tickle our fancy but only with a tiny run for 10 instruments for an Australian retailer in 2012. It took me years and years to locate one and now its going exactly nowhere
#45 ''
2019 ESP EII Eclipse 7 String
The EII series, formally called the ESP standard series is the no nonsense quality one would expect. I picked up this now discontinued model when I was tempted by the Matt Heafy Les Paul Custom but the Epiphone was destroyed by a guitar of a different league. If you like Les Paul customs and want to put one foot into the extended range world, this is immediately familiar territory and a good place to start.
#46 ''
2005 ESP Original Eclipse Floyd Rose
Ask the smart money and they will tell you that the ESP Eclipse is the best Les Paul. They will regale you with tale of pre- EII ESPs, knowing the magic that comes from those three letters on the headstock. This particular model is the shredders favourite with EMGs and a Floyd Rose, and gives the PRS Tremonti a run for its money for being the ultimate Super 'Paul'
#47
2012 PRS Private Stock Signature Limited Run (Myles Kennedy)
This is the best Les Paul in the Ministry of Guitar collection. This is not a typo. Nothing nails that creamy neck tone or the raw power bridge position of a Les Paul than this seminal limited run from the wizards at PRS Private Stock. Beyond being endorsed by artists like Myles Kennedy, the Signature contained incredibly dense ‘sinker’ mahogany necks and originated the narrow humbuckers soon made famous by the Pauls guitar and Modern Eagle V. “” is a little bit more special than other Signature Limited, featuring the very highest grade of quilt top on the planet and Wooly Mammoth ivory inlays
#48 ''
2013 PRS Artist Pack Paul's Guitar (First year )
The Pauls guitar is in the unusual position of being the signature guitar of the founder of a seminal Guitar company. It was thus imperative for me to get one. I spent years sourcing an original first year run with a quilt top that strikes well above its weight and of course a gorgeous paisley case.
#49 ''
2014 PRS Brushstroke 24 Limited Edition
First came the Paul’s guitar. Then came its marriage with the original Paul’s guitar, the Custom 24. The result was the unique 200 piece limited run, the Brushstroke 24, named after its beautiful inlays. With stunning looks, one may not notice that with 24 frets, narrow Paul’s pickups and tremolo, it could be the perfect modern guitar
#50 ''
1998 Ibanez Universe UV777P (first year)
The Universe UV777P was the flagship Ibanez and Universe when it was launched, drawing loving stares in guitar stores from acne ridden teenage riffers and older headbangers alike. Twenty years on, the guitar has lost none of its magic but is a Time Machine into the magic of the best made Japanese guitars from the eras of Shred and Grunge
#51 ''
2004 PRS McCarty Rosewood Neck Limited Edition
The McCarty is, if we are being honest, a cross between a Custom 24 and a Les Paul. The lightly oiled rosewood neck makes it even more special than the combination suggests. If you are a traditionalist at heart but modern in outlook (or the other way around), this could well be in the goldilocks zone for you
#52 'Ghost'
2001 PRS Singlecut (Pre-Lawsuit)
Ghost’ suffers from dreaded clouding, PRS’s version of Game of Thrones Grayscale, hiding its one vibrant orange tiger top. It more than makes up with a sound fuller than your stomach after a Chinese New Year feast, and a just bang on me attitude that most PRS guitars don’t have. If hard rock is where your heart is at, ‘ghost’ will capture your soul
#53 ''
2019 Musicman 'Purple Nebula' Ball Family Reserve Majesty 7
John Petrucci set about to make the guitar worlds’ equivalent of a supercar with the Majesty. If a regular majesty is effective like a Porsche 911, the Nebula has the striking beauty of the Jaguar E type or Lamborghini Miura. Get lost in its looks and then erupt into Glasgow Kiss or Erotomania
#54 ''
2018 PRS SE 'Stealth' Europe Limited Edition SE277 Baritone
In 2017, PRS made possibly the most desirable ‘affordable’ limited run, the Stealth Series. Satin grey finishes, quilt tops and ebony fretboards, the specs would do a USA limited run proud let alone SE. The SE277 is a baritone for the guitarist who doesn’t want to be constrained by the instruments links to heavy music, with a semi hollow construction and p90s giving it incredible range and an even more incredible clean sound.
#55
2018 PRS SE 'Stealth' Europe Limited Edition SVN
The most metal of the already metal Stealth series, the SVN is all the seven string guitar you would ever need or desire. Coupled with Bare Knuckle Warpigs, be careful your eardrums and teeth fillings survive this encounter
#56 ''
2010 PRS SE Mikael Akerfeldt Signature (Opeth)
The Modern Eagle 1 is legendary but one particular one was even more so. That was the one off 24 fret Singlecut that was specially made for Mikael Akerfeldt of Swedish prog metal band Opeth, known for going from haunting acoustic scapes to melancholy heavy riffs. The SE Akerfedlt was based on this special Modern Eagle 1 and though subtly modified to hit the price, this is still a guitar that hits well above its now rising values.
#57 ''
2011 PRS SE Fredrik Akesson Signature (Opeth)
The counterpart to the Akerfeldt, the Akesson, signature of Opeth’s other guitarist, is a heavy Les Paul in PRS SE disguise. Full thickness (the thickest PRS ever made), 24.5 inch scale, ebony fretboard and an unpronounceable Swedish colour, its odd to think that this is a lead guitarists signature guitar but it somehow works.
#58 ''
2008 PRS SE Paul Allender Signature (Cradle of Filth)
There is an entire generation of guitarists enamoured with a dark purple PRS guitar thundering along to symphonies, choir ahs and demonic screams. Cradle of Filth has had amazing longevity as a band and its one time guitarist Paul Allender had the perfect eye for the guitar that perfectly captured the Goth Classic aesthetic. This is the first edition from 2008, with the quilted veneer and gold hardware.
#59
1998 Gretsch 6121 Chet Atkins (Pre-Fender)
While some may rock their heads to Enter Sandman, it’s well worth going back to the post war era when Les Paul was a guitarist and the Firebird was a car, and remembering a different kind of lullaby. Mr Sandman by Chet Atkins is a seminal piece of guitar work, making mockery of the separation of rhythm and lead guitar and Gretsch’s were his weapon of choice. This 1999 pre-Fender reissue of his signature model will have the finger picker in you emerging out in no time
#60 ''
2019 Knaggs Tuckahoe
The Tuckahoe is the answer to the question no one asked except me. What if one wanted a Gibson Firebird with PRS quality. From the imagination and hands of Joe Knaggs, ex director of PRS Private Stock, the Tuckahoe delivers exactly on the brief but with a little extra magic. The kind typically only found on PRS Private Stocks. Beyond how it sounds and plays, checking out that incredibly tight flame top in person is almost worth the price of entry alone
#61 ''
2015 Chapman Ghost Fret
Many love the explorer but not all love the size. Some may also like it in other colours instead of pitch black, perhaps with some beautiful flamed maple. All those prayers are answered with this first run Chapman Ghost Fret, the perfect player's explorer
#62 ''
2019 Chapman Pro Series ML1 Baritone
As far as no nonsense baritones go, nothing provides more bang for the buck than the Chapman Pro ML1 baritone. The ultimate workhorse for those living in the extended range universe
#63 "
2020 Gretsch 5260 Electromatic Jet Baritone
30 inch scale lengths typically go with basses and almost never with a Bigsby. Thank however the band Loathe for kicking off a craze for tuning guitars to bass tunings and creating textures of warbled sound. A must try if only for the mind to be confused at the audacity
#64 ''
2011 Fender Blacktop Telecaster Baritone
Fender is either very early or very late to the Baritone freight train. On one hand, as of today (2023), it sells exactly zero Fender baritones despite these extended range obsessed times. On the other hand, twelve years ago, it had this incredible SS H instrument, a 27 inch scale Baritone Tele, that effortlessly carried twang and triplets in one outfit. This is definitely the baritone for the traditionalist to try.
#65 ''
2018 Chapman BEA Baritone (Rabea Massad)
Rabea Massad has one of the most distinctive sounds of the modern Prog era, equally at home on a Strat or dishing out riffs which some say hide under his Afro. I have a soft spot for his original Chapman Baritone guitar, which used in Toska’s first (and only) album expanded my musical horizons significantly. A special one in the collection
#66 ''
2014 PRS SE Torrero Floyd Rose
PRS aren’t known for making Metal guitars but the made in Korea Torrero was their first foray. Decked with specs designed to make metalhead drool like a ebony fretboard, 25.5inch scale, Floyd Rose tremolo and even a subtly different shape, I think this guitar looks the business in White and probably the best for buck metal machine out there. This particular example was outfitted with Fishmans replacing the stock EMGs for even more modern metal panache
#67
2018 PRS SE SVN
Seven string guitars have unfortunately been siloed for heavy music but the smart birdies would tell you nothing does calm ambience better than the extended range the low B enables. The first generation SVN is a great high quality starting point for the six stringer dipping their toe into this world
#68 'Excalibur'
2022 PRS SE Santana Abraxas Limited Edition
If you are rather 'Smooth', would like to have a 'Black Magic Woman' to sing 'Maria Maria' too, I think your search ends here
#69 ''
2018 Gibson Firebird Studio P90
Firebirds are known for being beautiful but they can be feisty too. Punchy P90s are the perfect match for this stripped back Mahogany bird which still oozes class while dolling out punk vibes and attitude
#70 'Poseidon'
2008 PRS 513
There aren’t many guitars that change your guitaring life. However the first 513 I ever played blew my mind at so many levels that some are still settling. It was a revelation that one guitar could have the body of a Les Paul, the spank of a Strat and the playability of a super shredder. I was hooked and five more 513s later I rest my case
#71 ''
2018 PRS 'Stealth' Holcomb
Rounding off the three Stealth guitars in the collection, the Holcomb is probably where the aesthetic looks most at home. This is another punch above your weight guitar, giving everything except its core counterpart a run for its money. Try it out to see if equipment can indeed improve talent
#72 ''
2012 PRS Dave Navarro
Is there anything more classy than an all white guitar with gold hardware? Not your typical fancy flamed top PRS, the Dave Navarro Custom 24 is for the understated PRS fan who wants all the performance from that perfect neck and stonking Hot Fat Screaming pickup, with a touch of anonymity