Best Guitars 2023: Our Top 5 Guitars of the Year
The Gear News Top 5 New Guitars of the Year
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Our Best Guitars 2023 is our roundup of the top five new guitar models that have been released over the last twelve months. These guitars are all ones we believe you should check out if you are in the market for a new instrument. They fit into various price points and all offer some great tones for guitar players.
Best Guitars 2023
First up on our list is the PRS SE Silver Sky Maple which was introduced to the SE line in June and has already proved popular with many guitarists around the world. It followed on from the original John Mayer SE signature model, and as the name suggests, it added a maple fretboard to the line.
Fitted with three single-coil 635JM “S” pickups and a two-point steel tremolo, it is a modern take on a classic S-style guitar.
PRS SE Silver Sky Maple · Source: PRS
New Colours
The three new colours for this maple version are also a lot nicer than the original run; Summit Purple, Nylon Blue, and Overland Gray. Overall, these are great mid-priced models and there are plenty of reasons to check them out. Especially if you like single coil, Strat-like tones, but want something slightly different from the normal Fender or Squier options.
Basic build specifications include a poplar body, plus a bolt-on maple neck and the new maple fretboard. Then it has 22 frets on a 25.5” scale length neck, that has the original 635JM carve and an 8.5” fretboard radius, the latter giving it a slightly vintage feel.
A great modern guitar and at a nice price point, these guitars deserve your attention if you have yet to check them out.
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Gibson Les Paul Supreme
Next up, is the Gibson Les Paul Supreme which is at the other end of the price scale compared to the PRS SE above. These are great guitars for players who want something American-made, modern, yet still vintage style. The construction of these includes an AAA-figured maple top on a mahogany body with Ultra-Modern Weight Relief.
Plus an an ebony fretboard with a compound radius and the neck has a Modern Contoured Heel for better upper fret access which makes them comfortable to play.
Gibson Les Paul Supreme · Source: Gibson
Bling
They bring the bling with those fancy maple tops and are then enhanced further via the Super Split Block mother-of-pearl fretboard inlays and the new headstock inlay design, which is based on an old Gibson design from their archives.
Each guitar is fitted with Burstbucker Pro and Burstbucker Pro + humbucking pickups controlled with push/pull Volume and Tone controls. These offer a coil tap, phase, and Pure Bypass switching. Making these guitars tonally versatile.
Available in Fireburst, Dark Wine Red, and a Translucent Ebony Burst finish, each with gold hardware throughout.
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Harley Benton CST-24 Purple Burst
These new Harley Benton CST-24 Purple Burst models were introduced back in July and they offer a lot of bang for your buck! Thomann’s in-house brand has been making waves in the guitar market for some time. They offer great value for money, and this model is a prime example of that.
It features an arched flamed maple top over a Meranti (mahogany) body in a Purple Burst finish. This is paired with a C-profile, 25″ scale length glued-in neck that has a 42 mm nut width. The roasted jatoba fretboard is fitted with 24 Blacksmith stainless steel frets, and a set of Pearloid dot fret inlays.
Hardware includes a Deluxe GTB adjustable wrap-over bridge, a set of Deluxe tuners, and a graphite nut.
Harley Benton CST-24 Purple Burst · Source: Harley Benton
Twin Humbuckers
This model is fitted with a pair of Roswell HAF AlNiCo-5 humbucking pickups. These are controlled by a single volume control, plus a tone control with a push/pull function for coil split and a three-way pickup selector switch. Which gives this guitar a lot of useable tones from a simple control layout.
It is an affordable guitar and this new purple finish is a real looker. If you aren’t a fan of purple, then Harley Benton makes the CST24 in a variety of great finishes *, so there are plenty of options.
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PRS SE DGT
Another PRS, and this time it is the new long-awaited SE DGT signature model. This David Grissom model is feature-packed and based on the popular PRS Core model. This new SE version was released back in January of this year and is a great guitar all around.
Available in two finishes, the Goldtop with Moon inlays and the McCarty Tobacco Sunburst with a set of PRS Bird inlays.
PRS SE DGT · Source: PRS
Tones
PRS worked hard with Grissom to achieve this new signature guitar and build it at an affordable price point. It is fitted with a pair of DGT “S” humbuckers that can be split to offer single-coil tones, just like his US Core model.
It has traditional PRS specifications, including a mahogany body, paired with a matching Grissom profile mahogany neck and a maple cap. Then it has the PRS trem system, which is great for adding some shimmer when required.
Overall, these models offer players a lot of great guitar tones all for a very reasonable amount of money.
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Fender Vintera II 70s Jaguar
Finally, these Fender Vintera II 70s Jaguar models were announced this year and off guitarists a great-looking shorter scale offset model. It was part of the newly revamped Fender Vintera II range that launched with a whole slew of new models.
Vintera II Jaguar
Block Inlays
The black ’70s block inlays and binding on the maple neck make this guitar stand out visually. The vintage-style ’70s Jaguar single coils pickups are controlled via the Lead circuit controls (slide switch down): Master Volume, Master Tone, along with the Rhythm Circuit that controls (slide switch up): two thumbwheel controls for volume and tone of the neck pickup.
I also like the Vintage-Style floating tremolo with the push-in trem arm, as they are great for gliding and subtle chord shimmers.
It makes this guitar tonally super versatile and well worth checking out.
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One response to “Best Guitars 2023: Our Top 5 Guitars of the Year”
I would like to see guitar padels