7 Excellent Guitar Brands that You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

In a world dominated by the Fenders and the Gibsons, the little guys rarely get heard of. Yes, Fender’s Stratocaster is a legendary piece of axe, and the Les Paul is an icon in its own self. But there are many other guitar companies out there that make excellent instruments. Here are some of them:

1. Grosh Guitars

Grosh is a little-known American guitar manufacturer with an interesting history: Don Grosh, the man behind Grosh, started off with working as a carpenter on Hollywood sets with his father, where he also started working on and making guitars, among other things, and becoming a guitarist in the process. In the 80s, many famous musicians including the likes of Larry Carlton, Lee Sklar and Vince Gill started using guitars made by Don (Grosh Electric Classical was also used by Brian McKnight at a later stage). He ultimately opened his own custom guitar shop in the garage of his parents’ house – the Don Grosh Custom Guitars – with the vision to ‘build hand-crafted custom guitars with the best tone, looks and playability’. And for anyone who’s used one of these babies would know, that is not far from the truth!

2. ESP

ESP is definitely one of the more popular and prominent ‘lesser-known’ guitar companies out there. It is an American company, however it is Japanese-owned and was founded and is headquartered in Tokyo. ESP’s claim to fame has been the fact that the guitars have been used, and have been particularly popular in the thrash metal circles, particularly with the ‘big 4’ of thrash – Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth. James Hetfield, for instance, has many signature ESP guitars, most notably the ESP ‘Snakebyte’ James Hetfield Electric Guitar. So safe to say, if you’re into the metal genre, going for an ESP as your next guitar would be a good idea.

3. Suhr

Suhr is an American guitar and musical equipment manufacturer. Founded by John Suhr in 1997, Suhr makes some great, exquisitely-crafted and all-round excellent electric guitars. Initially, the company stuck to building custom-made high-end guitars on order, according to customer specifications. The company tradition has been to introduce one new model every year ever since its inception. Suhr’s instruments are not only very popular with certain guitarists, they have also received acclaim for using modern tech in the design and manufacturing process. Their electric guitars are available as 4 different product lines/series, each with its own distinct body shape. Suhr Classic T with the tobacco sunburst finish remains their most popular guitar to date.

4. Heritage Guitars

Based out of Michigan, US, Heritage is associated with Gibson Guitars. Well, not directly but in a way. Heritage Guitars was founded in ’85 by former Gibson guitar factory employees after Gibson closed one of its Parsons Street factory in Michigan. The factory workers used the shut-down Gibson facility to produce electric and acoustic guitars, among other instruments, in much smaller numbers than Gibson. Most of the guitars were based on Gibson designs, while some were also based on Fender designs, most notable the Strat and the Telecaster. Today, Heritage makes hand-made solidbody electric guitars that are based on the Les Paul Standard (such as the Heritage H-150), however these guitars are hand-made with a lot of attention to detail. Heritage guitars are endorsed by the likes of Johnny Smith, David Becker, Roy Clark (who has a signature Heritage guitar), and Kenny Burrell.

5. PRS

PRS (short for Paul Reed Smith, the guitarist) is based out of Maryland in the United States. It is one of the best solidbody electric guitar manufacturers in the world right now, used by the likes of Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge fame, Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction, Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt, and Carlos Santana – with Termonti, Navarro and Akerfledt all having their signature PRS guitars. PRS electric guitars have mahogany bodies with maple tops, mahogany necks (with some high-end models using Brazilian or Indian rosewood necks), and rosewood fingerboards with signature PRS bird and moon inlays. PRS use self-designed and manufactured pickups on all their guitars. The Santana/Akerfledt/Tremonti signature models are easily some of the best guitars I’ve ever had the pleasure of picking up and playing, and what surprised me the most was probably the fact that they’re quite reasonably-priced as well ($500-700 street).

6. Godin

Godin is a relatively-little known Canadian guitar manufacture, based out of Quebec. Godin makes guitars under several different brands/labels/product-lines, such as Seagull, Art and Luthrie, of course Godin. Godin also produce a ton of semi-hollow and hollow-body electrics, which, in fact, are their most popular guitars. All their guitars are known for their build quality, use of synth pickups (especially on high-end modesl) and piezo pickup bridges, their Telecaster-Les Paul hybrid body-type, among other technical innovations. What most people don’t know is that Godin guitars have win several awards, and popular Godin users include Leonard Cohen, Eric McFadden, and Steve Stevens (of Billy Idol and Michael Jackson fame), to name a few. Some of the best Godin instruments will usually set you back by more than a grand or two – guitars such as the xtSa Flame and the LGXT, however it is a price worth paying for those looking for the best instruments out there, and have some spare change too.

7. Schecter

David Schecter’s Schecter Guitar Research is a US-based manufacturer that started off as a replacement parts manufacturer for Gibson and Fender guitars, before branching out to mass-produced solidbody acoustics in 1976, based on Fender Telecaster designs. Schecter guitars have been used by none other than Yngwie Malmsteen, however their big break came when the Pete Townshend (and later his brother Simon Townshend) started using one as his main stage guitar. In the 80s, Strat-styled Schecters were also used by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and he went on to own many Schecter guitars. These custom models usually fetch a ton of money today. Schecter moved towards mass production in the 80s when demand outweighed the supply. Today Schecter remains one of the most underrated, yet brilliant guitar manufacturers in the world. The Schecter C1 Classic/Hellraiser, which uses EMG pickups, is a popular choice among metal guitar players.