Chicago blues giant Muddy Waters’ first 'guitar' was a length of wire nailed to the side of his shack in Mississippi. The second approach is to explore a bunch of guitars to find out what you like. Your classic Gibson Les Paul has a deeper tone, offers easier string bending for blues - even with heavier strings - but can suffer from tuning issues. There are two ways to approach buying a guitar for blues. When it comes to the best blues guitars, some swear … Essential Gear Buying Guides, Artist Interviews & More, Six Top Humbucker Pickups to Supercharge Your Guitar Sound, About Launch price: £859/€879/$899 | Body: Laminated maple | Neck: maple | Scale: 24.6" | Fingerboard: Laurel | Frets: 22 | Pickups: 2x Gretsch Black Top Broad'Tron humbuckers | Controls: Master Volume, master tone, 2x pickup volumes, three-way pickup selector toggle switch | Hardware: Gold Adjusto-Matic bridge with Licensed Bigsby B70 True Vibrato, die-cast tuners | Left-handed: N/A | Finish: Orange Stain, Cadillac Green, Azure Metallic. While Gibson-style humbucking pickups can sound a tad muddier when exposed to a lot of distortion, the upside is a fatter tone. A two-piece ash body sees to that. Great for metal and other aggressive genres, the SH-13 Dimebucker is an essential ingredient in countless hardcore rigs. Tonally, the 59XT pumps out crystal clear blues, rock and surf tones, not a million miles away from a plump-sounding Telecaster. Guides, Artist This model comes in an incredible range of finishes, and features high spec nickel-plated hardware. Vintage icons, modern classics, wild cards, not to mention a Fender Telecaster that changed the world. For many metal players, the EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup has become the default weapon of choice. If you’re a fan of Mark Holcomb and Periphery, then this guitar is a no brainer. They also suffer from less background noise than single coils. Free Standard Ground shipping (48 contiguous states, some overweight and Used/Vintage items excluded). It can produce smooth, clean tones ideal for ballads too. The Hyper Vintage Humbucker from Railhammer rethinks electromagnetic technology to carve out a sonic space of its own. It even comes with shiny stick on discs like Jimmy had when he played the Tele with The Yardbirds. Shop, Hollow & Semi-Hollow Tick! Fear not. PRS Pickups are made in the USA, wound in our factory in Stevensville, MD and designed by the mindful ears of Paul Reed Smith himself. Since then, the company has been known for its high-end electric guitars. Our best blues guitar guide should help. The Railhammer Hyper Vintage Humbucker Pickup uses Gibson’s PAF as point of departure. Every guitar or bass you My pick for the best PRS guitar for metal is the PRS SE Mark Holcomb signature guitar. It’s capable of churning out huge overdriven sounds when goosed with your master volume knob to cut through extremely dense band mixes. Gibson models come in at 24.75". Orders placed before 5 p.m. What is a humbucker pickup? The SH-PG1 Pearly Gates pours out sweet and burnin’ tones that cover everything from classic rock to meaty jazz and blues licks. Excellent clarity in the top end is moderated by chest-punching impact on the lower notes. Often, the sound of a budget guitar can be given a huge upgrade by simply switching to better pickups. These are the best electric guitars to buy right now, For those about to rock... try the best rock guitars for every budget, These are the best budget signature guitars right now, Explore the best Fender Telecasters you can buy, Want a Strat? Launch price: £739/€803/$899 | Body: Ash | Neck: Maple | Scale: 25.5" | Fingerboard: Maple | Frets: 21 | Pickups: 3x Vintage-Style 70s Single-Coil Strat | Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1 (neck pickup), Tone 2 (middle pickup), five-way pickup selector blade switch | Hardware: Nickel/Chrome ‘Synchronized’ vibrato, vintage style tuners | Left-handed: N/A | Finish: Aged Natural, Mocha, Sienna Sunburst. The mahogany body and set mahogany neck construction promotes a humongous level of sustain. Often installed alongside the fatter-sounding EMG-60, the pair deliver a full range of high output tones. No one-trick pony however, the Dimebucker will also get those early Van Halen sounds and delivers fantastic response when employed with techniques such as pinch harmonics. It feels more like a modern rock guitar. There's never been more choice when it comes to electric guitars for blues guitarists, but we've narrowed down the field to eight stone killers. Initially intended to mimic the Patent Applied For pups that went into the '59 Les Paul Standard, the Seymour Duncan SH-PG1 Pearly Gates Pickup is a top-rated humbucker among hard rock and blues-rock players. usually ship the same business day. ToneBum Member. Fender's entry-level Strat delivers serious value for money. Sort Featured Price, low to high Price, high to low Alphabetically, A-Z Alphabetically, Z-A Date, old to new Date, new to old Best Selling Thanks to its coil-splitting capability and versatile 4-conductor wiring, this pickup has been a favorite among guitarists as diverse as Al Dimeola and Ace Frehley. to guide you through your entire shopping experience. Watch our Fender Vintera Series video demo. Want to learn more about the differences between single-coil pickups and humbucker pickups? We recommend that you paw at the various ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s era Strats and Teles on offer. PRS which stands for Paul Reed Smith is a popular American amplifier and guitar manufacturer based in Stevensville, Maryland. Playability is exceptional thanks to a medium C profile neck. Thank you for signing up to Musicradar. This Les Paul can handle everything from 60s British blues – Eric Clapton, Peter Green – to the high-octane tones of Mr Bonamassa, Gary Moore and Slash, making it one of the best blues guitars for smaller budgets. All things considered, there are a number of things which any 'good' guitar, at any price point, will nail. You will receive a verification email shortly. Our Gear Advisers are available Introduced in 1972 and designed to produce the hottest output possible, it packs a punch, especially in the all-important guitar midrange. PRS use their own hand-wound pickups and tremolo systems designed by Smith. Fender's New Mexican-built Vintera Series offers a lineup of vintage spec classics at affordable prices. A top choice for metal and hard rock lead guitarists, the EMG-81, when paired with a high-gain amp, generates awe-inspiring breakup and head-rattling clean tones. These days he contributes to Guitar World, Total Guitar, Guitarist Magazine, MusicRadar and Classic Rock as a freelance writer and reviewer.