Good things come to those who wait, or so they say. That certainly appears to be the case when it comes to Van Halen's mid-'90s classic "Amsterdam" — especially if this rare studio footage is anything to go by.

Filmed at the control desk of 5150 Studios, the short clip offers a fascinatingly down-to-earth glimpse into Eddie's creative process — relaxed and riffing on a Strat-head logo Charvel with a drink and a smoke next to him.

From the video's opening seconds, EVH's unmistakable guitar lines can be heard echoing through the studio doors. Clearly impressed with what he's come up with, he remarks, "It's great, I dig this," to the unseen camera operator after spotting he's on film. It's interesting to note that although it appears to be a relatively fresh idea, as we see him sketch it all out in real-time, the majority of the guitar parts that would eventually make the final track are essentially all there, as he takes another pass at what we assume are demo recordings.

Of course, Eddie Van Halen was no stranger to Charvel-made six-strings, with both the original Frankenstein and Bumblebee guitars famously being pieced together by Eddie from parts supplied by Wayne Charvel in the 1970s. However, it is noteworthy to see him play something other than his signature Kramer model during this period.

Regarding the timeframe here, it's tough to pinpoint the exact filming date of the clip (which is listed as having been shot in 1985). Still, some eagle-eyed sleuths online have pointed out Ed's hairstyle closely matches his cut from his 1987 appearance on Saturday Night Live in February of that year, when he performed "Stompin' 8H" with G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live band.

Assuming that's correct, this demo sits roughly in line with the pre-production sessions for OU812. However, it would be another two albums and eight more years before Amsterdam would make it to a record as part of 1995's Balance — the band's final full-length studio release with Sammy Hagar as frontman.

As a side note, the track's accompanying music video was thought to be too risqué for audiences, with MTV, at the time. The network refused to play it, arguing that they felt it showcased the band having way too much fun in the streets, bars and cafes of the song's namesake.

In a later appearance on The Jon Stewart Show Hagar explained, "The song is really about when we toured there. Playing Ed and Al's hometown... It really was quite a big deal." Surprised by the culture, he added, "You can do anything. The You walk into bars, buy dope and smoke it."

From the title alone, you'd expect this track to hold a particularly important meaning for Eddie, as he and his brother were born in the Dutch capital. However, the song's subject matter always appeared to rub him the wrong way, telling Guitar World a year after its release that he always hated the words to "Wham, Bam Amsterdam," as the subject matter was "all about smoking pot" and a little too on the nose with its delivery.

Lyrics aside, quite why Eddie Van Halen sat on this killer riff for as long as he did before finding a place for it may never be known. However, it makes you think about what else never made it past the demo stage and is still tucked away within the hallowed 5150 vaults.

In other Van Halen-related news, Alex Van Halen's long-awaited memoir, and tribute to the late Edward Van Halen, Brothers, released earlier this week, revealed, among other intriguing revelations, that the reason David Lee Roth left the band in 1985 was because "he couldn't handle the fact that Eddie was getting more attention than he was."

The audiobook version of the release contains an unreleased six-minute instrumental piece by the two siblings titled "Unfinished," which, as previously hinted at by former VH bassist Michael Anthony, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the vast Van Halen archive of unreleased recordings.

Though he never saw great commercial success in his lifetime, Allan Holdsworth's one-of-a-kind approach to the electric guitar earned him the admiration of some of the most decorated players of all time (Frank Zappa once said that Holdsworth “single-handedly reinvented the electric guitar,” while Eddie Van Halen called him “the best, in my book.”)

With a mind-boggling command of the fretboard – and larger hands that allowed for famously large finger stretches – Holdsworth traversed jazz, fusion, funk, and blues with ease, exploring new sounds and approaches to the guitar all the way.

It's unsurprising, then, that Holdsworth was similarly restless when it came to gear, moving first from SGs to Stratocasters. It wasn't long, though, until the guitarist began to chafe at what he saw as the latter's limitations.

During a meeting with Charvel's head honcho at the time, Grover Jackson, Holdsworth laid out his ideal Strat-style guitar, and found the luthier to be more receptive than other makers to his ideas.

“We [Holdsworth and Jackson] went out for a few beers and he was willing to listen to ideas I had about certain woods, whereas a lot of other people wouldn't,” the guitarist told GP in a 1982 interview. “They'd say ‘you can't make a guitar from this wood or that wood.’ But Grover listened to everything, and made three Strat-style guitars from various woods. Also I had the necks made wider at the fingerboard end. I hate the Fender string spacing.”

Asked why by GP, the virtuoso explained, “Fender's overall string spacing is wider than Gibson's, but at the same time Gibson's necks are wider than Fender's. It's absolute madness.

“I had Grover make the necks wide at the top [near the headstock] like Gibsons, and about 2 1/4" wide at the body end of the neck. So that means there's a good 1/8" on either side of the outer strings, which is really nice. The strings used to really fly off the edges of the Stratocasters. I'm really happy with the guitars Grover made. They're the best guitars I've ever owned.”

Just a few short years after this chat with GP, Holdsworth would take his guitar boundary-pushing to a whole new level with the SynthAxe, which he first used on his 1986 album, Atavachron. As he explained in an interview with Guitar World conducted shortly before his passing in 2017, Holdsworth's moves between genres (and gear) often confounded much of his audience.

“People used to write notes on my amp, asking me to stop playing the SynthAxe and play the guitar instead,” he said. “But now people often ask me, ‘We’d love to hear you play the SynthAxe – did you bring it?’”

John 5 owns many guitars. The Michigan-born guitarist is a self-confessed Telecaster addict – he owns over 100 – and through his stints with David Lee Roth, Rob Zombie, and now Mötley Crüe, he’s accumulated a war chest of six strings, but little hold as much significance as his EVH Strat. 

He features in the latest issue of Guitar Player, talking about some of the standouts from his dizzying collection. That includes his “Goldie” Tele, a guitar he played so much Fender said it posed a health risk.  

But away from his Tele obsession lies a guitar that holds immense personal value to him: A Charvel EVH Art Series in Black / White.  

“This is a guitar Eddie Van Halen gave to me when these guitars first came out, and I was just absolutely blown away that he did it,” he says. “My hero gave me one of his guitars, and he was so proud of it as well. That was a time I'll never forget. I cherish this guitar.” 

The series, released by Charvel in 2004 as part of its 25th-anniversary celebrations, saw each guitar hand-painted, played, and signed by the late guitar icon before hitting the market. 

It comprises a basswood, Strat-style body, bolt-on maple neck with a 22-fret maple fretboard, and a Floyd Rose tremolo complete with Eddie's innovative Drop-D Tuna system. 

Its specs are rounded out by a single humbucker, black pickguard, and a white top hat-style Tone knob, meaning there's a notable absence of a Volume control. 

Speaking to Guitar World last year, John 5 listed Van Halen as the most influential player in shaping his sound.  

“My number one is like a lot of other people's number one, and that's Eddie Van Halen,” he said. “He's a player who fits what [the category of] genius. 'Oh, that guy can play' isn’t genius to me. I think genius is something I can't see. 

“Eddie created something that changed the world forever – it's very hard to explain, but it's just so unbelievable. He did that with his songwriting, amazing guitar playing, inventions, and designs, too. I was just obsessed with his playing, like all the other guitar players in the world. Thank god we had Eddie Van Halen, that's for sure.” 

John 5 has previously given Guitar Player readers his top 5 tips for beginner, and veteran, guitarists, which included an anecdote on how he ended up playing for Van Halen frontman Roth. 

“When I was just getting going, I called David Lee Roth’s people out of the blue,” he recalled.

“I wanted to further my career, so I got a number and called because I thought, ‘Maybe they’re looking for some music.’ It worked out, and that turned into a 30-year friendship.”

In late 2020, two Art Series guitars played onstage by Van Halen sold for over $370,000 at auction, but when it comes to personal value, John 5's EVH Strat is surely priceless. 

To pick up the July issue of Guitar Player – which features John 5 discussing his most prized guitars, and the events that have shaped his life and music – head on over to Magazines Direct. 

It was late in 1982 when Jake E. Lee tendered his resignation from the band Ratt after snagging the plum guitar spot with Ozzy Osborne. Rather than leave his ex-bandmates high and dry, he brought in his pal Warren DeMartini as his replacement.

DeMartini, all of 19 at the time, drove from San Diego to Los Angeles with little more than an electric guitar, an amp and a cheap tape deck on which he had recorded a few rough song ideas he was messing around with.

“I had chord patterns and riffs, but I didn’t know how to connect any of the parts,” DeMartini says. “Writing songs was a process I was still trying to figure out. Once I joined the band, I got better at it.”

One of DeMartini’s chord patterns eventually became “Round and Round,” the ear-candy pop-metal smash that exploded on radio and MTV in 1984, propelling Ratt to instant stardom.

“One minute, nobody knew us. The next, we were everywhere,” DeMartini says, “and all of it from one song.”

Sealing the Deal

Funnily enough, it took DeMartini close to a year to show some of his ideas to his new bandmates. He shared an apartment in north Culver City with Ratt rhythm guitarist Robbin Crosby and singer Stephen Pearcy, and one day he set up his practice amp in the living room and began playing.

“It was what I thought were the verse and chorus parts of a song,” DeMartini recalls. “Robbin came in and said, ‘What is that?!’ He was pretty excited.” Crosby grabbed his guitar and started following along with DeMartini, and within moments Pearcy came into the room with his antenna already up.

The three sat around and began working together.

“Robbin had a bit of another song that we used for the pre-chorus out of the verse,” DeMartini says. “Then I came up with the solo chords and the B section of the chorus. We fleshed out everything else and recorded it.

“Stephen had his own tape deck, so he recorded what we had into his. He started scatting and singing lyrics, and pretty soon everything took shape.”

At gigs, Ratt had been playing selections off their self-titled indie EP, but they quickly added “Round and Round” into their live show.

Atlantic Records president Doug Morris came to see them at the Beverly Theater and was stunned to see the crowd singing along to the new song. “He said, ‘It’s not even on the radio and they know the words,’” DeMartini recalls. “That pretty much got us our deal.”

Seat-of-the-Pants Solos

While cutting the song with producer Beau Hill, DeMartini used his Charvel Bomber and Bloody Skull models, which he ran through Marshall Super Lead and Fender Super Champ tube amps.

The rhythm tracks were a breeze to record, but when it came time for the solo section, the guitarist remembers a last-minute change-up to the arrangement.

“Originally, I was playing a lead section, and then Robbin would take his own part,” DeMartini explains. “He didn’t like what he was playing, so he suggested that I do it all. I didn’t want to do that, so for the second section I came up with the double lead that we both played.

“I pretty much did it right on the spot. We ran through it a few times, and it sounded great. It was really exciting to do it kind of seat-of-our-pants.”

Uncle Milty + Metal = Success

“Round and Round” was picked as the lead single from the band’s Atlantic debut, Out of the Cellar, but while label execs were high on the song, DeMartini admits that he wasn’t sure how it would fare.

“Honestly, I didn’t know if it was a hit at that point,” he says. “I thought it was good, but I think I lost all objectivity. I’d heard it so many times, so I was too familiar with it.”

Radio jumped on the track, however, and once MTV started airing the uproariously entertaining video, featuring TV icon Milton Berle in drag (his nephew Marshall managed the band), “Round and Round” raced up the charts, and Out of the Cellar quickly went triple Platinum.

“It was an incredible feeling,” DeMartini says. “It was like an out-of-body experience, like, Wow, this is really happening!

“We had a huge lull between finishing the album and the time it came out. But the video changed everything fast.

“MTV was all over us, and we went from playing clubs to headlining large venues. We were off and running.”

He pauses, then adds, “And then it became, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’”

Order Ratt’s Out of the Cellar here.

So, you're looking to buy a new guitar and have around $1,000 to play with. Well, fear not, as I have scoured the market and selected the best electric guitars under $1,000 you can buy right now. Whether you're playing blues, rock, country, jazz, or anything else, these guitars will serve you well on the road, in the studio, or just at home.

Having played guitar for 25 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to spend plenty of time with instruments in this price bracket. My years working in a guitar store also gave me the opportunity to compare many of these models side by side, and that experience, combined with Guitar Player's decades of expertise, has helped us select the very best options. These days $1,000 can get you a lot of guitar, as this guide proves.

If you want my top pick at this price point, I've gone for the PRS SE Custom 24 – an excellent choice no matter what genre of music you love to play. It's versatile, comfortable to play, and works just as well on-stage as it does in the confines of your home. Whereas if you’re looking for the best value below the $1k mark, the Squier Classic Vibe ’60s Strat is handsome, delivers amazing Strat tones and offers excellent value for money.

With so many excellent guitars at this price point, undoubtedly many didn't make my list, but I've chosen a good cross-section of what's available right now, with labels to help you navigate to your ideal match. If you have a burning question needing answered, scroll to the FAQ section at the bottom. I’ve also included a glossary of key terms and a how to choose guide to help you upgrade your guitar knowledge.

Best overall

Overview

The classics are classic for a reason. The Custom 24 has established itself as a major player in the world of guitars, alongside the likes of the Fender Strat and the Gibson Les Paul. Whether you’re a gigging musician, bedroom guitarist or producer who needs a reliable ‘do-it-all’ guitar, this has you covered. Absolutely one of the best electric guitars you can buy for less than $1,000.

Build quality

I've become so used to PRS guitars' great craftsmanship, and the SE Custom 24 is no exception. The materials have been chosen with intention, with a familiar layout: a mahogany body, flamed maple veneer, and maple neck. The rosewood fretboard is a nice touch, adding an aesthetic depth that looks the part. Although this is technically in PRS’ more affordable price bracket, the build quality certainly doesn’t display that.

Playability

The SE Custom 24 offers the superb playability that PRS has become known for. It’s a joy to play, regardless of what style of player you are. Playing the ‘wide thin’ neck profile is like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes, instantly familiar and hassle-free. It’s also the smaller details, like the sculpted lower horn, that give your left hand enough room to breathe when soloing high up the neck.

Sounds

This latest PRS SE Custom 24 features a pair of 85/15 ‘S’ humbuckers, based on their US-made counterparts. These are ideal for rock, blues, jazz, and loads more. However, if you need more tones at your disposal, the tone knob also acts as a coil-split function so you can get more single-coil-like tones, making this a really versatile instrument.

Best value

Overview

The entire Classic Vibe range from Squier offers excellent value for money, but I’ve picked out the ’60s Strat as one of the best guitars under $1,000 for its playability, looks, and sound. Vintage pre-CBS Strats are serious money, and Custom Shops and American Originals sit well above our $1,000 limit. This model could fit into our best electric guitars under $500 guide, less than half our budget here, and it’s a whole lot of fun to play.

Build quality

The Classic Vibes are built to a good standard; these will act as reliable instruments on the road or just at home. There are a few cost-cutting materials in play, like a nyatoh body and Indian laurel fingerboard. However, this doesn’t affect the guitar’s durability; if anything, a laurel fingerboard instead of rosewood typically comes down to aesthetics. I have actually played a few gigs with a ’60s Classic Vibe Strat when my main option went down, and I had absolutely no issues with its durability.

Playability

Like any Strat worth its salt, the ’60s Classic Vibe plays very sweetly. The C-shaped profile is a ‘Goldilocks’ shape, and most players will find it incredibly easy to get along with. There is a vintage-tint gloss finish; it does give the right aesthetic; however, some players may prefer a satin smooth finish as it can get a little sticky in some situations. This is a take on a classic Strat, and all of the body contours are in the right place, meaning it is very comfortable playing on your lap.

​Sounds

When it comes down to tone, you don’t quite get the same note definition and frequency range as you would with some more expensive models, but this guitar delivers all the classic Strat tones for not a lot of money. The traditional SSS pickup configuration comprises three Fender-designed alnico single coils, and the bell chime, spank, and warmth in the neck position are all present and correct.

Best for modding

Overview

The Player II series is the latest evolution of Fender’s best-selling Mexican-made guitars, and a few thoughtful upgrades have made me smile. It also offers an incredible base for anyone looking to add their own modifications. After all, the Telecaster has been heavily modded by the likes of Keith Richards, Albert Lee, and Andy Summers, to name but a few.

Build quality

Compared to the initial Player series, the return of rosewood fingerboards, the addition of rolled fingerboard edges, and a set of jack-of-all-trades Alnico 5 single-coils make the Player II series even more appealing. There is also a plethora of new finishes to choose from, and unlike the original Player series, you are no longer limited to alder; chambered mahogany and ash options are now on the table, adding even more tonal variety and lighter weights that those with a bad back will appreciate.

Playability

When set up correctly, the Player II series is one of the most playable ranges on the market. It can quite easily compete with guitars much more expensive, and details like a satin-smooth neck, a familiar C-shaped neck profile, and rolled fingerboard edges add up to an instrument that really is more than you will ever need, perhaps not what you want, but what you need.

Sounds

Telecaster pickups remain one of the most versatile configurations out there; this thing will cover punk to pop and most genres in between. There’s a reason the Telecaster hasn’t changed much since the ’50s, and its ability to adapt to just about any style is one of its greatest strengths. Sure, it is still not built for extreme high-gain styles, and there are better chugging options out there, but for everything else, this one is hard to beat.

Best modern

Overview

The Jackson Pro Series Lee Malia LM-87 is a real curveball in the best possible way. Inspired by Lee Malia’s vision of a modern, genre-crossing signature guitar, it blends offset styling with serious performance. While it carries a distinct metal-leaning, it is far from a one-dimensional instrument with plenty of surprising versatility to step well beyond heavier genres.

Build quality

Together, Jackson and Lee decided to build this around an okoume body with a set-neck construction. The LM-87 feels solid and thoughtfully put together, while the satin finish and cream binding give it a slightly vintage-inspired look and the contoured heel improves upper-fret access. Hardware is equally well considered, with a Tune-o-matic-style bridge and tailpiece featuring fine tuners for precise adjustments, a feature you don’t typically see often.

Playability

A satin finished C-shaped neck and 22 jumbo frets make for a fast yet still comfortable playing experience, with the compound 12-inch to 16-inch radius helping smooth out both chord playing and lead runs up and down the neck. The upper-fret access is excellent thanks to the sculpted joint, and overall it feels built for modern playing.

​Sounds

The LM-87 is loaded with a high-output Jackson LM-87 humbucker in the bridge with an LM-87 P90 in the neck, giving you plenty of tone options. The bridge delivers tight and aggressive tones suited to rock and heavier styles, while the neck offers clarity and warmth for cleaner playing. Coil-splitting expands the range of tones even further, and when the ‘bucker is split, the output retains surprising oomph, making this a genuinely flexible modern guitar.

Best traditional

Overview

Gretsch makes some of the best-looking guitars in the business, but they also sound killer. This style of guitar has been around for decades now; the single-cut hollow-body construction was pioneered by Gibson all the way back in the 1930s, and many other brands followed suit. Gretsch was fast on Gibson’s heels and today is one of the best in the business at producing hollow bodies.

Build quality

There is no denying that this guitar is visually striking. It comes in some incredible finishes, the body is nice and big, and the Bigsby tailpiece and arm add a nice little touch of class. My personal favorite is the Walnut Stain finish; it is classy and pops with the white binding. The arched laminated maple top is a snapshot of yesteryear’s electric guitar design style, and the G5420T wears it well.

Playability

Once you get over the large body, the G5420T plays incredibly well. We have a ‘Classic C’ neck profile accompanied by a 12-inch fingerboard radius; both are a comfortable middle ground between more extreme radius options and profiles. Although the body is large, being a hollow body makes the guitar quite light, so if you’re sick and tired of solid-body monsters, this may be a good choice.

Sounds

The fully hollow body also makes the tone really resonant and helps deliver a warm, full-bodied sound, and the BlackTop Filter’Tron pickups add some chime and sparkle to the top end. Whether you’re playing blues, jazz, rockabilly, or rock, the Gretsch G5420T really is one of the best electrics under $1,000.

Best workhorse

Overview

The Strat that isn’t a Strat received the SE treatment from PRS back in 2022, making it more affordable for a wider audience. PRS managed to do this without greatly reducing the overall quality or performance of the instrument. While the sound and look of the SE Silver Sky is hardly groundbreaking, there is something different about it.

Build quality

While the guitar is made in Indonesia, unlike the more expensive US models, it still features the classic Paul Reed Smith workmanship that we’ve all come to know and love. The SE version features a solid poplar body, maple neck, and either a rosewood or maple fingerboard, depending on your preference. There are plenty of finish options to choose from, and the newly released Laurel Green is a personal favorite.

Playability

Right out of the box (well, gigbag), this thing plays great, and we know it will continue to do so, year on year. With a 25.5-inch scale length, it is very Fender-like; however, the smaller 8.5-inch radius does make the SE Silver Sky feel like a different beast. It feels much rounder than a 9.25-inch radius and follows the curvature of your hand more naturally.

Sounds

The SE model sports three 635JM “S” pickups, the SE variant of the standard 635JM found in Mayer’s American model. All five pickup positions are nicely balanced and very usable; there is nothing harsh about the bridge position, and the neck pickup is lovely, deep, and rich. It sounds, and indeed feels, like a more expensive guitar.

While the PRS Silver Sky is still a relatively recent model compared to the decades-old Stratocaster, it has quickly carved out its own identity. Is it one of the best electric guitars under $1,000? John Mayer and his band certainly think so!

Best for shred

Overview

There are some great choices when it comes to super Strats at the moment, but none outperform the Charvel Pro-Mod So-Cal at under $1,000. Shredders and rock guitarists will love this, but it’s by no means a one-trick pony; it’s actually super versatile.

Build quality

The Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 looks great, and it is made well, plus that slim neck profile is incredibly comfortable for rhythm and lead work. For a guitar built for speed, Charvel has thrown the kitchen sink. The 12-inch to 16-inch radius gets flatter the further you climb the neck, while the graphite-reinforced neck has been added for ultimate stability when shredding. On this model, Charvel has implemented a Series 1000 Floyd Rose so you can dive-bomb to your heart’s content.

Playability

Perhaps the most unique aspect of this So-Cal is Charvel’s proprietary Speed Neck. Although this guitar wears its Strat influences on its sleeve, the Speed Neck is actually more akin to something from Ibanez. It’s incredibly thin and wide, not dissimilar to a flat D profile. Pair that with the rolled fingerboard edges, and you have a neck designed for one thing only: speed.

Sounds

A pair of fairly high-output Seymour Duncan humbuckers offers a tight bass response, along with a sweet top end. Dial back on the volume knob, though, and they will clean up, though that’s probably not what you’re getting this guitar for. The volume knob also works as a push/pull switch, activating a coil split, giving you single-coil sounds; this really isn’t just a shredder’s guitar.

Also consider

How to choose

Choosing your next guitar under $1,000 may take you a bit of time. After all, there are quite a few considerations. Having helped people select guitars at this price point during my day job in a guitar store, as well as writing for Guitar Player, I believe I have a solid formula for finding the right option. Whether you’re after a workhorse to gig with or a reliable studio guitar that’ll deliver on important sessions, here are the key points to consider.

1. Body shape

Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, is settling on a body shape. Are you looking for the comfort and accessibility of a Strat-style guitar, or something a bit more edgy like an offset? If you’re into classic rock, a single-cut Les Paul-style guitar may suit your tastes better.

Either way, narrowing your choice down to a preferred body shape will immediately reduce the overwhelming number of options. If this is your first guitar, go for whatever feels most comfortable. If you’re adding to your collection, you might want to choose a body shape you don’t already own.

2. Neck profile

Next, what neck profile do you prefer? The neck profile refers to the cross-sectional shape of the back of a guitar neck. Since your fretting hand is in contact with the neck throughout most of your playing, finding a shape that feels natural is very important.

When you’re just starting out, this can feel a bit confusing, especially since it’s a preference you’ll develop over time. A standard C-shaped neck profile is always a safe bet. It’s neither too thick nor too thin and is an ideal starting point. On the other hand, if you’ve played guitar before or already own another instrument, consider what neck profile it has and whether you’ve gotten along with it. If so, it’s usually worth sticking with something similar, if not the exact same profile.

3. Pickups

Lastly, and my favorite decision to make, is choosing what pickups to go for. Do you want spanky single-coil pickups that are bright and articulate, or are you a metal player looking for tight, high-gain humbuckers that can really push an amp? Pickups make up a huge part of your overall electric guitar tone when plugged in.

Whether you’re looking for versatility in an HSS configuration or the midrange bite of a P-90, it’s worth taking your time with this decision. After all, we play guitar to make music, and the amplified tone is a big part of why we choose electric guitar in the first place.

FAQs

Key terms

• Action: Refers to the height of your guitar strings in relation to the fingerboard.
• Alnico: An acronym of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt, and a type of magnet used in guitar pickups.
• Bridge: The piece of hardware on an electric guitar that anchors the strings to the body. It can either be a floating tremolo system or fixed so it does not move.
• Ceramic: A type of magnet used in guitar pickups made from ceramic material, known for higher output and a brighter, more aggressive tone.
• Coil split (coil tap): An electronic function that shuts off one coil of a humbucker to produce lower-output, single-coil-style tones. (Note: “coil tap” is technically different, but is often used interchangeably in guitar marketing.)
• Compound radius: A fingerboard radius that changes along the neck, typically starting rounder near the nut and flattening out toward the higher frets.
• Fret sprout: Occurs when fret ends protrude past the edges of the fingerboard, usually due to wood shrinkage in dry conditions, creating a sharp feel along the neck edges.
• Hardtail: A fixed bridge system with no tremolo movement, anchoring strings directly to the body for tuning stability and simplicity.
• Import: A guitar manufactured in one country and sold in another, typically used to describe more affordable production-line instruments.
• Intonation: The adjustment that ensures a guitar plays in tune across the entire neck. Poor intonation means notes may be in tune open but sharp or flat when fretted.
• Locking tuners: Machine heads that clamp the string in place at the post, reducing slippage and making string changes faster and more stable.
• Mod platform: A guitar that is particularly well-suited to aftermarket modifications.
• Nut: A small strip at the top of the fingerboard that guides string spacing and height as they leave the headstock and enter the playing area.
• Potentiometer (pot): A variable resistor used in guitar electronics, typically controlling volume and tone.
• Radius: The curvature of the fingerboard. A smaller radius feels rounder, while a larger radius feels flatter.
• Roasted maple: Maple wood that has been heat-treated to remove moisture and resins, increasing stability and giving a darker, ‘baked’ appearance and smoother feel.
• Rolled edges: Fingerboard edges that have been gently smoothed to remove sharpness, making the neck feel more broken-in and comfortable.
• Scale length: The distance between the nut and the bridge saddle.
• Setup: The process of adjusting a guitar’s action, intonation, neck relief, and hardware to improve playability.
• Stainless steel frets: Frets made from stainless steel instead of traditional nickel silver, offering increased durability and smoother bending.

How we test

We are very aware that so much of an electric guitar comes down to personal preference, but that said, there are still a few key criteria that a guitar must meet for us to consider recommending it to our readers.

As you'd expect, the first and probably the most important is build quality. When putting a new six-string through its paces, we'll thoroughly check every element of the build, from head to tail-piece, to ensure it feels robust. We are checking to ensure the neck is fitted correctly, that the hardware feels solid, and of course, that there are no electronics issues. Once we are satisfied, we will move to the guitar's overall finishing, looking for any anomalies in the paintwork.

Next up is playability. A guitar must be playable straight out of the box. Yes, we will accept that slight adjustments may need to be made to the action to meet our personal tastes, but the guitar should be in a playable state when we first try it.

We will check how comfortable the neck is, as well as how well the frets have been fitted - no matter the price point, we will not accept shoddy fret ends.

Lastly, we'll look at tone. 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.

Read more on how we test gear and services at Guitar Player.

Meet the experts

Latest updates

Charvel and Slipknot guitarist Jim Root have hooked up for a pair of signature electric guitars that offer up a hot-rodded take on the Stratocaster for a metal-friendly performance.

A longtime Fender endorsee, with a string of signature Jazzmasters and Strats to his name, Root has made a hop, skip and jump along to the Fender-owned Charvel brand for his Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1. 

It’s not particularly surprising to learn that Root’s signature San Dimas Style 1 has all mod-cons to get him through his day job – the signature EMG Daemonum humbuckers, the Floyd Rose Series 1500 double-locking vibrato, compound radius fingerboard – but what might raise an eyebrow among the casual observer is how restrained the design is.

Offered in Satin Black and Satin White, the latter with an ebony fingerboard, the former with maple, the Jim Root San Dimas Style 1 has a minimalist aesthetic, much like his earlier Fender models, with a control setup that is stripped down to just one Strat-style skirted volume knob and a three-way blade-style pickup selector switch.

Indeed, casual observers, or players who typically would not count a Slipknot mosh pit as their natural environment, might find a lot to like in this austere design philosophy.

Root likes the classics. He doesn’t like to mess around with them too much. His signature Strat, which features the high-output one-two punch of an active EMG-80/61 paring, was probably more radical than this – at least here the dot markers return to the fingerboard. It’s more Strat than the Strat was.

The most radical item here is arguably the mahogany body. Root likes an alder-bodied Strat just fine but wanted a heavier, denser wood because it pairs better with Slipknot’s downtuned metal sound.

The signature EMG Daemonum’s are not our Granddaddy’s PAFs but they do offer a more dynamic and touch-sensitive alternative to the slightly compressed quality of most active sets. Now, these open-coil pickups are active, so you will need a 9V battery.

For players with aspirations of ascending Mount Shred, this is a very attractive looking proposition, with the Floyd Rose 1500 Series double-locking vibrato a super-stable platform for whammy bar manipulation, and Charvel-branded locking tuners to make sure things stay that way. 

High-gain is of course on the menu, and with a sculpted heel, contoured lower cutaway, and the 12” to 16” compound radius fingerboards, with rolled edges for a premium feel, Luminlay glow-in-the-dark side markers for navigation, you’ve got everything you need for a set’s worth of fretboard pyro.

Once more, these Mexican made Charvels retail at a relatively friendly price for a pro-quality shred machine, with both models (the only difference is the finish) available now for $1,499. For more details, head over to Charvel.

Very few electric guitar players had as intense an impact in as short a time as Eddie Van Halen. Even fewer changed the course of guitar culture so radically in the long-term.

The sparkplug of the band that bears his family name, he exploded into ears around the world in February 1978 with the release of Van Halen.

On this debut album, the guitarist wrestled devastating feedback, kamikaze vibrato moans, sustained harmonics, white-hot leads, and liquid screams out of a cranked-to-the-max homemade axe that combined a Fender Stratocaster-style body with the electronics of Gibson Les Paul.

Not only did he suddenly revolutionize guitar technique – he changed the way manufacturers went about designing instruments forever.

True: he sacrificed his fair share of valuable vintage guitars in the process. But it was a price well worth paying in return for an extraordinary musical legacy.

Back in the early ’80s, Guitar Player spoke to the man himself about his unique creations. And though we didn’t know it at the time, the experimental designs of which he speaks would instigate a leap forward in electric guitar evolution, as evidenced by many of today's popular models.

The following interview excerpt originally appeared in the April 1980 issue of Guitar Player. Aged just 23 at the time he was the youngest cover story artist in GP's history…

What made you decide to build your own guitars?

A Les Paul to me was just the clichéd guitar, the rock 'n' roll guitar. I liked the sound, but it didn't fit my body. I'd have to wear it too high to be able to stretch as I do, and it looks funky.

So I wanted to get that type of sound, but with tremolo. And Bigsbys have got to be the worst. So I bought a '58 Strat years ago when we played high school dances, and Dave [Lee Roth] and Al [Van Halen] just turned and started throwing sticks at me! They said, "Don't use that guitar – it sounds to thin!" You know, single-coil pickups.

They had a real buzzy, thin sound unless I used a fuzz box, and that's even worse. So I sold that and then two years later I bought a router and dumped a Gibson PAF pickup into a '61 Strat. It got very close.

All of a sudden the band said, "That's okay, It doesn't sound like a Strat anymore." Then I heard that a company called Charvel made exact duplicates of Fender guitars, but out of nicer wood.

Is this where you got the wood for your first homemade guitar?

Yeah, this very first one was the black-and-white striped one on the first album [see above]. I went to Charvel and had them rout a body out for just one pickup and one volume knob.

I had to cut my own pickguard to cover everything up because it was originally a three-pickup Strat body. I used the vibrato tailpiece from a '58 Strat for that guitar.

I also had Charvel make me a really wide neck. I hate skinny necks. I like it bare wood because I hate to slip and slide when I start stretching strings.

Now at the same time, I built what I call my “shark” guitar, which is actually one of the first Ibanez Destroyers [shaped like Gibson Explorer] made out of Korina wood. I made the mistake of taking a chainsaw to it and putting a bunch of weird stuff on it.

Did it lose some tone?

It lost the tonality I want. Now, kids can't tell – they can buy a DiMarzio pickup and stick it in anything and go, "Yeah, it's rock 'n' roll!" But it was that distinct little tone that I look for that was cut out of the guitar.

Then I went to Charvel and bought the parts for a Destroyer with a vibrato. I got tired of playing it, and so I had a friend of mine carve a dragon biting a snake out of the Destroyer's body.

How long did it take you to build the black-and-white Strat?

Not really too long, but it took me a while to build up to doing that. I used to have an old Gibson ES-335 that was my main experimental guitar. That was the one I refretted and painted and totally screwed up!

I mean, I did everything you can imagine to that guitar to ruin it. But I learned from it. It's too bad, because that guitar would have been worth some bucks today. But I learned what I know of building guitars, so I guess it's worth it.

Have your since modified the black-and-white Strat?

Yeah, a company started copying it, and I said, "man, I better change it." So I really went to town painting it all freaked out, and I put three pickups back in, but they don't all work – only the rear one works.

I just did it to be different, so every kid who bought one like that model would go, "Oh, man he's got something different again." I always like to turn the corner on people when they start latching on to what I'm doing.

Here I am just a punk kid trying to get a sound out of a guitar that I couldn't buy off the rack, so I build one myself and now everybody else wants one.

Did you make another guitar for your second album?

I made the yellow-and-black Strat. It has an ash body by Charvel. It was my idea to have it rear-loaded so I wouldn't have to have a pickguard, and Charvel routed it for me.

The pickup that's on the photo is not really what I use – I had just finished slapping it together and painting it when they shot the album cover, and just stuck some garbage pickup in it to look like a complete guitar.

Then I took the pickup out of my first guitar and stuck it in there, but it didn't sound too good. I don't really go for DiMarzio pickups, because they're real distorted. I like a clean sound with sustain. I hate the fuzz box – real raspy sound.

So I put a PAF magnet in a DiMarzio pickup and rewound it by hand, which took a long lime. I actually ruined about three pickups, and by the fourth time it worked. I didn't count the windings – I just did it by sight.

Was that the guitar you took on the second tour?

I used that one plus the original one from the first album for the first half of the tour, and then I ran into Floyd Rose, and he showed me his special bridge and nut for keeping a Strat in tune. I said, "What the hell – I'll give it a try." I'm up for anything.

So I had Boogie Bodies make me a mahogany body that's fit to my size, and I put the Rose device on it. The body is a Strat-style, but it's 2 1/2" thick, which is thicker than a Les Paul.

The Rose tailpiece gets a thin sound, and I thought a chunky piece of wood could make up for the thickness. It works a little bit. That guitar has a Gibson PAF and just one volume knob – it's real simple.

What is your overall opinion of Floyd's vibrato device?

I like it and I don't. 

For one, on my guitar it sounds real brittle-bright, and I have to do some heavy equalization to get my tone. That's why I don't like to use it in the studio. We just go in there and play live, and I depend on making my guitar sound good out of the amp instead of fixing it in the mix.

Number two, if you pop a string, you can't even one-note your way through because the whole guitar goes out of tune. Sometimes I'll hit a chord and tune really quickly. With this device you can't – you have to unclamp it.

On top of that, sometimes when I jump off the drum riser the neck shifts just a hair, and then I can't tune it. But it has advantages: When you're using the bar, it will not go out of tune.

What are the most difficult aspects of building your own guitar?

Making the neck fit the body. Another problem is that the strings on a Stratocaster are spaced differently that a Gibson's; if you use a humbucking pickup, the strings don't line up with the pickup holes.

So I've tried slanting the pickup so the high E string will be picked up by a front pole and the low E will be picked up by a rear pole.

For the sound I like, it is also important to get the space between the bridge and pickup right. I do it almost like Les Paul. If I put it too far towards the neck I get the Grand Funk and Johnny Winter tone, and if I put it too close to the bridge I get a real trebley Strat sound.

So I move it up towards the neck a little bit from the Strat sound to get a beefier tone.

Do you carry any special tools or extra parts with your when you're on the road?

I bring along a least five extra necks, three different bodies, ten different pickups, some machine heads, and a couple of different tremolo pieces in case one breaks – you know, just spare parts mainly.

See, like if we're six months through the tour and the frets are starting to go bad on one neck, I'll slap another neck on instead of refretting it, because I don't have time to refret while I'm traveling. In tools I carry screwdrivers, chisels, drills, chainsaws – very simple stuff [laughs].

Have you any special methods of refretting necks?

Yeah, I hate the way people refret necks. I do it real simple: I sand them down with some 400 wet-or-dry sandpaper and then use some steel wool.

I hate flat frets because the more space you have for the string to rest on, the more room you have for the intonation to be off. I like big frets height-wise, but I make them come to a peak.

From a side view, one of my frets would look like the tip of a pick. It doesn't come to a complete point, but it would be rounded as opposed to flat.

Another thing is that you have to put them in from the side rather than from above, and a lot of people take them straight out and rip the wood. I toured the factory and saw how they did it and said, "No wonder I ruined so many Fenders by pulling them straight out!"

Do you do anything special to your pickups?

I usually use old Gibson PAFs, and I always pot them. I submerge the whole thing in paraffin wax, and this cuts out the high obnoxious feedback. It's kind of a tricky thing because if you leave it in there too long. The pickup melts.

I take a coffee can and melt down some wax – the same kind that you use for surfboards –  and put the pickup in it. See, one of the reasons a pickup feeds back is that the coil windings vibrate, and when the wax soaks in there, it keeps them from vibrating as much. It will still feed back, but it's controllable.

After I dip the pickup in paraffin, I put copper tape around it. You have to be really careful if you do this to a pickup like a DiMarzio. You can throw an old PAF in there and let is soak it up; it doesn't melt. But with DiMarzio, if you blink, all of a sudden, your pickup's ruined.

We highly recommend checking out the awesome range of EVH gear here.

If you’re a gigging musician, or simply one who enjoys live shows, you know that some nights are just better than others. For Aristocrats guitarist Guthrie Govan, a range of variables are involved when it comes to performance.

“Obviously, it’s more inspiring when the venue has great acoustics and quality monitoring,” the British electric guitar virtuoso says. “Also, for me, the ‘cleanness’ of the electrical supply is a surprisingly significant factor. If the venue has a lot of in-house hum, that will be a major distraction whenever I’m using a high-gain tone.

“Then there’s the matter of how alive we musicians feel by the time we actually hit the stage, because a bumpy six-hour van ride on show day can take a toll on a band. On the other hand, great feedback from the crowd acts as a kind of fuel that can sustain us throughout a show, even when we’re heavily jet-lagged.

“But that’s just the obvious stuff,” Govan continues. “There are also some more bizarre, nebulous forces at work. It’s fascinating to listen back to recordings of shows and hear what really happened. It will occasionally transpire that a show that felt like a real struggle actually turned out really well.”

Luckily, in February 2020, just before the pandemic shut the world down, Govan and his bandmates in the Aristocrats – bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Marco Minnemann – thoroughly multitracked a string of shows throughout Spain. The result is Freeze: Live in Europe 2020 (Boing! Music), a collection of live Aristocrats songs that allows you to hear in the highest fidelity those “nebulous forces” at work. Govan took time out to reflect on how one of the world’s most exciting prog-rock bands created one of 2021’s most exciting live instrumental albums.

What were the venues like in Spain where Freeze! was tracked?

As I recall, they were rock clubs. I personally prefer the feel of playing in a rowdy club, rather than a more dignified theater, particularly with the Aristocrats, where the whole concept is about being a rock-fusion band, with the emphasis on “rock.”

It’s easier than ever for bands to digitally repair musical goofs – not that I hear you guys making mistakes – or even re-record parts. How much, if any, editing did you do in post?

We really wanted Freeze! to be a faithful audio account of what happened at those shows, so we kept the cheating to a bare minimum, and we certainly didn’t re-record anything. The tweaks we made were things like level adjustments, or adjusting for the gremlins that invariably appear at live shows – mic stands getting knocked out of place, kick drums wandering to the front of the stage, et cetera.

It certainly helped that we had many versions of each song in our archive after that tour. If we heard a performance that we didn’t like for some reason, it generally made more sense just to look for an alternative version rather than use technology to disguise our musical transgressions.

What was your rig on the Freeze! shows?

My Aristocratic rig is actually very simple. I fly with my Victory V30 MkII head as carry-on luggage, and I tuck a Fractal FX8 – which covers all of my effects needs – in my suitcase. That’s it! My two [signature model Guthrie Govan] Charvels live in an ENKI double case. And wherever we play, I request a 2x12 or 4x12 cabinet fitted with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.

I also took two of my Red Bear signature picks on that tour – one as “the tour pick” and one as a spare – and you can see that the main tour pick has gotten a little smaller than it used to be, but it’s still eminently usable. Red Bear picks last a very long time and become personalized as you wear them in over the months. Alas, explaining all of that stuff to someone who wants a pick isn’t always practical – especially while you’re onstage, with sign language serving as your only means of communication!

How do you achieve those sustained feedback notes, like at the 3:05 mark on “D Grade Fuck Movie Jam”?

That’s just the Victory head cranked up and doing its thing, with maybe a little clean boost from the FX8. I like to use a lot of gain onstage. It might not sound like much gain, but that’s because I’m using a relatively low-wattage amp, so the power stage gets to work quite hard, which somehow tends to smooth out the potential fizziness of high preamp gain. Proximity to the speaker cabinet is also very important to me. I’m always much happier when the guitar strings can physically “hear” what’s coming out of the amp.

“The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” features a dazzling, soaring solo, during which you seem utterly uninhibited by the constraints of mortal hands. What inspired that solo?

Thank you! You’re too kind. I remember hearing Bryan’s original demo for that song and immediately being able to imagine what kind of character I wanted to hear playing the guitar part. My mental picture was very much that of a ’70s rock god brandishing a Les Paul, so I suppose my nightly task was to act that character as best I could.

I can add that this is the only Aristocrats song that ever prompted me to buy a guitar. When we toured the U.S. in 2019, I was determined to find something that, strangely enough, I had never previously owned – a real Les Paul. So I kept my eyes open and eventually stumbled upon a Nik Huber Orca ’59, which felt and sounded exactly like the “Bonnie and Clyde” voice I had been hearing in my head. Needless to say, I had no choice but to buy it! I should add that what you’re hearing on this live version is in fact just my regular Charvel. It would have made no sense to fly an extra instrument all over Europe purely for the sake of one track.

Of course, a lot of stuff like this is largely psychological. I think having a Les Paul mindset probably added more to the song than actually using any specific instrument would.

You’re one of the most well-known guitarists, yet you strike me as a bit of a recluse. If that’s true, how do you balance your need to not be mobbed by fans with your need to create and perform music on the road?

I’ll certainly plead guilty to the charge of being a bit of a recluse. I’m decidedly at the introverted end of the spectrum, so I can sometimes get easily overwhelmed by large gatherings of excited people. That said, I do understand the apparent paradox in the notion of a relatively shy, retiring individual going out on the road when the whole world of touring is essentially the antithesis of my comfort zone.

However, pretentious though this may sound, playing live makes me feel like I’m acting as a conduit for something, so I suppose, subconsciously, I might be telling myself that the crowds have come to experience the something I’m channeling when I play, rather than coming to see normal, everyday me.

At any rate, playing music feels to me very much like speaking a different, more universal language. Perhaps I’m just more comfortable in that medium, as it allows a different side of my personality to come to the fore.

Buy the Aristocrats' Freeze: Live in Europe 2020 album here.

In his career as a guitar builder, Jon Sullivan has likely agonized over a myriad of decisions regarding the form and function of his eye-catching instruments, but what to call them was never up for debate. 

“I got my first electric guitar in 1983, when I was 12,” he recalls. “It was a Maxitone, from the Matsumoku factory in Japan, that was a very ’60s, Jetsons-like bastardization of a Strat. I was very excited about it, and I took a Sharpie and signed ‘Sully’ on the headstock. So it was always going to be a thing.” 

Like many guitar-obsessed teens who came of age in the ’80s, Sullivan, who grew up in Lombard, Illinois, spent his teenage years learning the licks of hard-rock icons such as Ace Frehley, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, and Ratt’s Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby. He was influenced by not only their playing but also their choice in instruments. 

“I was attracted to the newer, flashier, more modern guitars they played, like Robbin’s Jackson King V, and guitars built from various parts, like Ed’s Frankenstein,” Sullivan says. “I didn’t care about Fender Strats.” 

When he wasn’t practicing, Sullivan pored over the ads for guitar parts, necks and bodies in the back pages of guitar magazines, and studied the catalogs he received from luthiery supply house Stewart-McDonald. 

“And then I would also hang out like a stray cat at my local music store, Park Ave Guitarz. They were Jackson dealers, so they had all kinds of cool custom-shop stuff, and the owner, Steve Harnack, was just so nice to me. I would watch him do repairs and build parts guitars for all of the guys in town, and just ask questions.”

In 1990, Sullivan, like so many ambitious hard rockers of the time, moved to Los Angeles with his band to seek fame and fortune on the Sunset Strip. Things did not go exactly as planned.

“I came back to the Chicago area about two weeks before the L.A. riots in ’92 with my newborn son, and then a year later I became a single parent with custody,” he explains. “So there were a lot of day jobs working in record stores and the like, and then getting a corporate gig. But I always played.” Around 2001, Sullivan also began buying parts, building guitars and posting photos of his builds on the web.

“I found the Jackson and Charvel internet forum and through there started making connections,” he says. “People would see the guitars I had made and be like, ‘Dude, that looks rad! Can you build me one like that?’ That was huge for me. And from there I progressed to building guitars from scratch. I finally quit my day job in 2014.”

In the seven years since taking the plunge into full-time guitar building, Sullivan, who worked out of his garage until recently moving to a new shop facility in Aubrey, Texas, has built custom guitars for the likes of Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, Buckcherry’s Stevie D. and Stryper’s Michael Sweet, with whom he has also developed a signature model.

And while many of the guitars in the Sully lineup – like the asymmetric V-shaped Concorde and the Firebird-inspired Raven – nod to some of the “pointy guitars” that he grew up admiring, Sullivan is quick to point out that his goal is not to re-create the guitars of the ’80s but to reconnect people with the mindset that made the era so colorful and fun.

“Look, we’re all a product of our influences to varying degrees, but I’m not looking to relive the ’80s,” he says. “That said, it was an era in which rock stars were pretty much superheroes, and I hope to grant people permission to have a little fun and maybe tap into that. People will see a pink, sparkly guitar that I’ve made and say, ‘Oh man, I love that guitar, but I could never pull it off.’ And I’m like, ‘Of course you can! You just have to decide that you can.’”

For Sullivan, however, the more traditional, single-cutaway ’71 Trella is the guitar in the Sully line that most closely reflects his personal aesthetic. The model’s name combines his birth year with his mother-in-law’s nickname.

“If I could make just one model, it would be the ’71,” he says. “It’s really a guitar that came from dissatisfaction. I always wanted a good Les Paul, and I owned several of them that were all well-made guitars and were perfectly fine, but I never kept any of them. And I finally had the realization that I simply don’t like guitars with the shorter, 24.75-inch scale length.

So I decided to create a single-cutaway set-neck guitar with a 25.5-inch scale that would satisfy my desire and would also be very much my own. I spent four years on that design. I would just draw and draw and draw.”

It was time well spent. The ’71 Trella that we received for consideration shares a certain DNA with the Gibson Les Paul, but it is clearly a distinct species of its own. The bound mahogany body’s upper bout features an almost triangular hump, while the guitar’s butt curves steeply down to a pointy, mildly demonic tail.

All the controls – a three-way toggle switch, a volume knob and a push-pull tone knob that splits both proprietary Sully Al Pastor pickups to single-coil operation –reside on the guitar’s lower bout.

An aluminum wraparound Pigtail bridge leaves much of the guitar’s subtly flamed one-piece maple top visible, which is a good thing, as you wouldn’t want to obscure any more of the sparkling Glamazon Gold Over Honeyburst finish than necessary.

The two-piece, relatively slim mahogany neck features a hand-shaped volute, a rosewood fingerboard with a compound 12- to 16-inch radius, meticulously finished nickel frets and Sully’s signature “Hollow Block” inlays. The neck is sleek and comfortable, requiring little if no periodic adjustment, while the Trella’s tidy neck joint provides unfettered access to all 22 frets. 

Even unplugged, the ’71 Trella feels resonant and alive. Run through a vintage Marshall Super Lead and low-wattage Three Monkeys Sock Monkey, the guitar immediately proves the merits of marrying a single-cutaway, two-humbucker design with the longer 25.5-inch scale.

There’s a slight percussive knock, a solidity and a rapidity of response that you won’t find in many guitars of this ilk with shorter scales, and thanks to the straight string-travel path from the nut to the Hipshot locking tuners on the three-on-a-side Aero headstock, this is a guitar that stays in tune astoundingly well.

The Al Pastor pickups, which are wound to vintage-output specs, are also a revelation, providing the clarity and responsiveness you’d expect, with enough midrange girth to render them ideally suited for most rock and hard-rock applications.

And whereas many humbuckers produce an anemic “neither fish nor fowl” clank when split for single-coil operation, these sound open, articulate and full. All that said, be cautioned: While a hard-shell case is included in the purchase price, you’ll have to bring your own superhero cape to the party. 

• PRICES: $3,750 as shown with hard-shell case. Aged, $5,799. Price may vary depending on selected options. 
• CONTACT: Sully Guitars

Eddie Van Halen-played Charvel Art Series guitars have – in recent months – been auctioned off left and right.

Now, five more of the guitars – each hand-striped by Eddie Van Halen and played briefly onstage at Van Halen shows between 2004 and 2012 – have gone under the hammer, selling for over $210,000 combined.

Put up for sale by Julien's Auctions, each of the guitars features a maple neck and fretboard, Stratocaster-style body, Floyd Rose tremolo system, single volume control, single humbucker pickup, and a locking nut. Each of the models was also sold with an accompanying photograph showing Eddie Van Halen using it onstage.

The group includes a black-and-silver striped model – played onstage at Van Halen's May 22, 2012 show at Kansas City's Sprint Center – with an inscription from Eddie that reads “Last one!” indicating that the guitar was quite possibly the last Art Series model Eddie ever used live. It sold for $51,200.

Two Bumblebee-inspired black-and-yellow striped Charvels – used at shows in Las Vegas in 2004 and 2007 – sold for $38,400 and $41,600, respectively, while a red-and white-Frankenstein Mark II-style guitar sold for $40,625.

Finally, a unique reverse Bumblebee – used at Van Halen's February 6, 2008 show at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa – sold for $38,400.

Along with the aforementioned photos, each of the guitars was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

For more info on the guitars, stop by juliensauctions.com.

A yellow-with-black-stripes Charvel EVH Art Series guitar that was signed and played by Eddie Van Halen is headed to the auction block.

Put up for sale by Iconic Auctions, the custom model was based off of Eddie's legendary "Bumblebee" guitar, and was used by him during a Van Halen show at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington on May 5, 2012. Eddie inscribed the guitar with his name and “Tacoma WA 5-5-2012” and “Eddie Van Halen, VH 2012" after the performance.

The guitar features a single humbucker pickup, a master volume control with the label "Tone," and a strip of duct tape with a handful of picks from Van Halen's A Different Kind Of Truth tour.

Bidding for the guitar – which currently sits at $13,310 – ends this Saturday, May 15. It comes with an Eddie Van Halen-signed certificate of authenticity, and video footage from concert, which you can check out below.

This particular guitar is merely the latest of a series of Eddie Van Halen-played Charvels that have gone under the hammer in the months since his death last October, with some ultimately selling for over $100,000.

For more info on the guitar, stop by iconicauctions.com.

A number of autographed, Eddie Van Halen-played guitars are set to be auctioned by Gotta Have Rock and Roll.

The headliner of the group is a heavily-used, hand-made, -painted, and -striped 1986 Custom Kramer Striped guitar that Eddie used prominently during Van Halen's 5150 tour.

Gifted by Eddie to Van Halen guitar tech Kevin “King” Dugan at the conclusion of the 5150 tour, the guitar was stolen from a recording studio in Cleveland, then retrieved, after which Eddie re-painted and re-autographed the guitar, hence the "To my buddy Kevin!! V.H. ‘95” message on its body.

The guitar is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Dugan, which details its history. Given its provenance, Gotta Have Rock and Roll has valued it at a staggering $600,000 – $800,000, with an equally jaw-dropping minimum bid of $400,000.

Also going under the hammer is a Van Halen-played Kramer Frankenstrat copy. Custom-made and hand-striped by Dan Handerson from original Kramer parts, prior to his time as a Van Halen stage tech, Eddie played the guitar during a soundcheck prior to a show on Van Halen's 1995 Balance tour.

Unable to play the guitar onstage due to his then-deal with Ernie Ball Music Man, Eddie autographed the guitar with the words “Nice copy Dan! ‘95," and, ironically, "Not for Resale.”

Valued at $100,000 – $150,000, the guitar has a minimum bid of $50,000. It comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Up for sale as well is a 2004 "Tic Tac Toe" Charvel, one of the first models in the EVH-designed 2004 Charvel Art Series. Said to be the only Art Series model that Eddie hand-striped in its entirety, the guitar was played by the six-string legend during an August 5, 2004 Van Halen show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Sold with photographs of Eddie Van Halen striping this guitar, the guitar is valued by Gotta Have Rock and Roll at $200,000 – $250,000. The minimum bid for the instrument is $150,000.

Finally, there's an EVH-played and -signed, fan-made custom guitar bearing the "No Bozos" logo. The unnamed fan brought the guitar to 5150 Studios, where Eddie played and signed the guitar, and posed for a photo with its owner.

That photo comes included with the guitar, which is valued at $20,000 – $30,000, and has a minimum bid of $15,000.

The auction for all four of these Eddie Van Halen-played and -signed guitars opens tomorrow, Wednesday, April 14.

For more info on the guitars, stop by gottahaverockandroll.com.

A 2008 "hand-striped" EVH Charvel Art Series guitar – played by Eddie Van Halen at Van Halen's February 16, 2008 concert in Jacksonville, Florida – is headed to the auction block.

Not to be confused with a similar, hand-striped, EVH-played, 2004 EVH Charvel Art Series guitar that was sold at auction for more than $140,000 last week, this guitar comes in a custom EVH Charvel case, with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Eddie showing its serial number, 173. That serial number is also stamped on the guitar’s neck plate. 

Nate D. Sanders, the firm auctioning the guitar, says that it's in “near fine” condition.

The guitar is signed by Eddie in silver marker, with the show date and ''Van Halen '08" also inscribed by him on the guitar's body.

Though the guitar's exact provenance is unclear, it was not in the possession of Eddie's son, Wolfgang Van Halen, who last week criticized recent auctions of his late father's guitars, saying  “I don’t EVER plan on selling any of my father’s iconic guitars. The only place they’d possibly belong in is a museum.”

The minimum bid for the stage-played '08 model is $30,000.

For more info on the guitar, head on over to natedsanders.com.

Two guitars custom-designed and played by Eddie Van Halen have sold at auction for a combined $372,050.

The Van Halen-built (with the help of his guitar tech, Matt Bruck) and 2004 EVH Charvel Art Series guitars went under the hammer as part of Julien’s Icons & Idols Trilogy: Rock 'N' Roll auction in Beverly Hills, CA.

The custom, Van Halen/Bruck-built guitar – constructed at Van Halen's 5150 home studio – sold for $231,250. It features a red body with white and black stripes designed and applied by Van Halen, plus a maple neck and fingerboard with dot inlays, a pointed Kramer headstock with Kramer machine heads, a single humbucker pickup, and a Floyd Rose tremolo.

Featuring the serial number F 0024, the guitar was gifted to Bryan Cash – the owner of Cash's Centenary Oyster House in Shreveport, Louisiana, where the instrument was displayed – in 1991. It's inscribed “Yo - / Bryan / Let's get / shucked / up / Eddie Van Halen / 5150.” It also includes a white Van Halen guitar pick and two backstage passes.

The 2004 EVH Charvel Art Series model, handstriped with the same design as the 1978 Van Halen guitar, sold for $140,800. 

Featuring a maple neck and fingerboard, plus a Strat-style headstock numbered #54 on the back, it's signed by Van Halen, initialed "VH 04" and inscribed with “San Antonio Texas / 9-28-04.” 

The guitar's EVH humbucking pickup features a noticeable cigarette burn, and it comes with multiple photos of the guitarist hand-applying taped stripes to the guitar, and playing the guitar on stage at that September 28, 2004 Van Halen show in San Antonio. It also comes with an EVH hardshell case featuring a partly smoked cigarette in a plastic vial. Talk about an authentic touch!

Also of note at the auction was the sale – for $50,000 – of the scaled-down, non-playable version of Eddie Van Halen's red, black and white striped prop guitar used by Bryan Hitchcock in the legendary "Hot for Teacher" video.

The guitar was sold with Hitchcock's 'Young Eddie' three piece outfit from the video – a white T-shirt with a "No Bozos" graphic print, a pair of Sergio Valente torn jeans and an Oleg Cassini denim vest – plus production documents from the video, including a script, three call sheets from the video shoot, a large color photograph of Hitchcock and Eddie Van Halen posing with their guitars at the shoot, and more.

Notably, Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, took to Twitter following the auction to emphasize that the guitars were not in possession of him nor anyone else in the Van Halen family, and that he had nothing to do with the sale.

“The headline [of a Blabbermouth story on the auction] should read: Three guitars that are striped were sold at an auction for charity,” Wolfgang wrote. “They weren’t stage guitars. I had nothing to do with this. I don’t EVER plan on selling any of my father’s iconic guitars. The only place they’d possibly belong in is a museum.”

For more info on the auction, stop by juliensauctions.com.

The first generation of teenagers to idolize Eddie Van Halen’s roaring brown sound, fiery and fluid speed phrasing, and trademark striped Charvel superstrats are mostly in their 50s now, graying a bit and wearing suits more often than spandex. 

And while owning a built-for-speed heavy-metal guitar, with all the requisite flashy appointments, is fine for kicks, the bulk of what passes for metal-performance guitars these days is just not – how to say it? –  “age-appropriate” anymore. 

A generation later, though, Charvel – the San Dimas legends who arguably kicked off the entire superStrat phenomenon in the late 1970s – are bridging the divide with the excellent Pro-Mod series. 

The Pro-Mod guitars pair hot-rod performance features – including Gotoh trem/tailpieces, a wide neck radius and a hot humbucking bridge pickup – with classy, stripped-down aesthetics that make them as suitable for grown-up “dress gigs” as for high-flying fusion and metal jams.

Younger players, too, may well find them a refreshing break from the deluge of more literal-minded vintage-style guitars, touching on an ’80s vibe but feeling more newly minted, fresher and less cliché than either a reissue classic Fender or a maudlin metal machine. Grown-up they may be, but the Pro-Mods are anything but boring.

The DK-22 SSS 2PT CM reviewed here, for example, is flashy, but in an elegant way, with a lovely Pharaohs Gold satin finish, caramelized (i.e. roasted) maple neck and fretboard, and the kind of contoured, sleeker-than-a-Strat, alder Dinky body familiar to fans of Jackson’s pointy metal machines.

The DK-22, however, goes for minimalism. You’ll find no pickguard whatsoever, no lightning bolts or skull graphics, and no Floyd Rose bridge or locking nut. A Gotoh Custom 510 tremolo bridge suits this upscale axe just fine, and there’s even a pre-CBS-style licensed Strat headstock.

Heck, the front of the beautifully tapered DK-22 doesn’t even boast an input jack. Instead, it’s been cleverly tucked into a beveled edge on the backside of the lower bout, just under where a typical Strat jack would be located.

With the jack removed, that leaves a single five-way blade switch, a 500k-ohm EVH Bourns low-friction potentiometer for volume and a single no-load tone control to grace the guitar’s face, along with three terrific and distinct Seymour Duncan pickups: a Custom Hot Rails Strat SHR-1B single-space humbucker in the bridge, an overwound SD Flat Strat SSL-6 single-coil in the middle, and a Custom Flat Strat SSL-6 RWRP single-coil in the neck slot.

Plugged into a classic medium-to-high-gain amplifier – in this case, a Marshall JCM800 2203x – the DK-22’s bridge pickup delivered immediate Eddie-approved growl, delicious pick harmonics, a balanced blend of grind and girth for palm-muted riffs, and a razor’s-edge cut for runs from the 7th to 17th frets.

Once the bridge pickup is paired with the middle pickup, though, the wind starts crying Mary, producing a grainy, warm, rounded-mid rhythm scoop that’s perfect for Mayfield and Hendrix territory.

The reverse-wound/reverse-polarity neck pickup on its own delivers syrupy, beady, vacuum-lifted SRV tone in spades.

Pair it with the middle pickup, and switch to a clean amp (I used a 40-watt Fender Deluxe Reverb), and one enters classic indie-rock territory with aplomb, a sound perfect for those cleaner 16th-note African-inspired rhythms heard in Modest Mouse or Vampire Weekend. Yes, all that from a Charvel. You read correctly.

The 22-fret Charvel Speed Neck, custom Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut, sculpted bolt-on neck joint, jumbo frets and Gotoh tremolo bridge on the DK-22 comprise one of the friendliest fret spans imaginable.

The hand-rubbed satin urethane finish, rolled edges and 25.5-inch scale length feel entirely comfortable, too.

Not only is the compound 12-to-16-inch neck radius heaven sent for larger hands and sweeping arpeggios – as is the generous 1.6875-inch nut width – but the sculpted Shredder’s Cut heel, with its scalloped lower back bout, gives your hands an unimpeded sense of space and control.

While exploring arpeggios and Eric Johnson–approved runs in the 12th-to-22nd fret range, I had the distinct impression that I was finding a strong and stable new carriage for my left hand and wrist in that area of the neck that allowed my technique to really show its colors.

It’s almost like the sensation of jogging with ankle weights and suddenly taking them off for the last mile: There’s no resistance. (The smart, heel-mounted dual-action truss rod with adjustable spoke wheel makes the neck even more versatile and user friendly.)

The DK-22 usually ships with a set of .009–.042 nickel-plated steel strings, but I opted to put on a set of .010s, and I still felt like I was in the buttery-smooth realm of the super-shredder on the DK-22, with just a hint more work required for hammer-ons and big bends.

If you thought your speed days were behind you, the DK-22 may just help you rediscover the joys of sprinting, without the silly spandex running outfit. And even if your top velocity isn’t quite what it was in your 20s, the DK-22 is poised to speak with equal authority to the seasoned and understated player in you. Look at you, shredder, all grown up and still having fun.

Specifications

• PRICE: $1,049 street, gig-bag included
• NUT WIDTH: 1.6875”
• NECK: Two-piece graphite-reinforced caramelized maple
• FRETBOARD: Caramelized maple, 25.5” scale, compound 12”-16” radius
• FRETS: 22 jumbo nickel
• TUNERS: Charvel-branded die-cast
• BODY: Alder with satin finish
• BRIDGE/TAILPIECE: Gotoh Custom 510 tremolo
• PICKUPS: Custom Seymour Duncan Flat Strat SSL-6 RWRP single-coil (neck), Custom Seymour Duncan Flat Strat SSL-6 single-coil (middle), Seymour Duncan Hot Rails SHR-1B single-space humbucker (bridge)
• CONTROLS: 1 x master volume (500k Ω EVH Bournes low-friction pot), 1 x master No-Load tone, 5-way blade pickup switch
• FACTORY STRINGS: Nickel Plated Steel, .009—.042
• WEIGHT: 7 lbs, 7 oz.
• BUILT: Mexico
• CONTACT: Charvel

Two guitars custom-designed and played by Eddie Van Halen are headed to the auction block.

The 2004 EVH Charvel Art Series and Van Halen-built (with the help of his guitar tech, Matt Bruck) guitars will go under the hammer as part of Julien’s upcoming Icons & Idols Trilogy: Rock 'N' Roll auction on December 4 and 5.

The custom, Van Halen/Bruck-built guitar – constructed at Van Halen's 5150 home studio – features a red body with white and black stripes designed and applied by Van Halen, plus a maple neck and fingerboard with dot inlays, a pointed Kramer headstock with Kramer machine heads, a single humbucker pickup and a Floyd Rose tremolo.

Bearing the serial number F 0024, the guitar was gifted to Bryan Cash – the owner of Cash's Centenary Oyster House in Shreveport, Louisiana, where the instrument was displayed – in 1991. It's inscribed “Yo - / Bryan / Let's get / shucked / up / Eddie Van Halen / 5150.” It also includes a white Van Halen guitar pick and two backstage passes.

The other guitar on the block is a 2004 EVH Charvel Art Series model, handstriped with the same design as the 1978 Van Halen guitar. Featuring a maple neck and fingerboard, plus a Strat-style headstock numbered #54 on the back, it's signed by Van Halen, initialed "VH 04" and inscribed with “San Antonio Texas / 9-28-04.” 

Its EVH humbucking pickup features a noticeable cigarette burn, and it comes with multiple photos of the guitarist hand-applying taped stripes to the guitar, and playing the guitar on stage at that September 28, 2004 Van Halen show in San Antonio. Finally, the guitar comes with an EVH hardshell case featuring a partly smoked cigarette in a plastic vial (!).

The two guitars are valued at $40,000 – $80,000 each.

For more info on the Icons & Idols: Rock 'N' Roll auction, stop by juliensauctions.com.

Charvel has debuted its new Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH FR E Ash guitar.

This striking, built-for-speed model features a sandblasted ash body and a bolt-on maple neck featuring a pair of graphite-reinforcement rods and a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets and white dot inlays. A heel-mount truss rod adjusting thumbwheel is also included, allowing for quick neck relief tweaks.

Sonically, it packs DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 bridge and DiMarzio PAF Pro DP151 neck pickups, controlled by a three-way pickup blade switch, tone control and a volume control that conceals a push/pull coil split.

Elsewhere, the guitar features a Floyd Rose 1000 Series double-locking tremolo bridge system, pink pickup bobbins and black hardware.

The Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH FR E Ash guitar will be available in October - in a Neon Pink Ash finish - for $1,099.

For more info on the guitar, stop on by charvelguitars.com.