Deciding on the best blues guitar with a soulful tone is harder than it should be. Great blues guitars come in hollowbody, archtop, and solid body guitar styles and they all have different sounds.
More traditional hollowbody blues guitars like BB King’s Lucille have an honest soul to them in both their look and sound. More recent blues electric guitars like Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Strats have that bright twang that defines their sound.
We review all of these top-rated blues guitars, so you can figure out which one is best for your playability and sound. Let’s check out some guitars for blues guitarists!
Review the Top Blues Guitar Comparison in 2021 Below
Contents
- 1 Review the Top Blues Guitar Comparison in 2021 Below
- 1.1 Epiphone B. B. King Lucille
- 1.2 Epiphone ES-335
- 1.3 Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster
- 1.4 Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster
- 1.5 Guild Starfire V
- 1.6 Fender American Special Stratocaster
- 1.7 PRS Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 22
- 1.8 Fender Squier Classic Vibe Thinline Telecaster
- 1.9 Godin 5th Avenue CW Kingpin II
- 1.10 The Loar LH-204-BR Brownstone
- 1.11 Gretsch G9200 Boxcar
- 2 What We Recommend and Why
Here is a list of the best electric guitars for blues music that will give your solos that signature blues feeling and sound with an amazing look.
- Epiphone BB King Lucille – Best Blues Hollowbody Guitar
- Epiphone ES-335
- Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster – Best Blues Electric Guitar
- Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster
- Guild Starfire V
- Fender American Special Stratocaster
- PRS Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 22
- Fender Squier Classic Vibe Thinline Telecaster
- Godin 5th Avenue CW Kingpin II – Best Blues Archtop Guitar
- The Loar LH-204-BR Brownstone – Best Blues Acoustic Guitar
- Gretsch G9200 Boxcar
Epiphone B. B. King Lucille
Specs, features, and benefits
Designed by the king of the blues himself – B.B. King, this guitar makes it hard for the other companies to beat this beauty in a top blues guitars list. The Epiphone Lucille is a semi-hollow body guitar with no “f” holes, which results in eliminated unwanted tones. The body is built out of laminated-maple, while the set-in, C-shaped neck is made out of maple with rosewood fingerboard. It has twenty-two frets.
The bridge on the guitar is a fixed Tune-o-Matic one with tunable tailpiece, and on the headstock, you can find the top-notch Grover tuning machines. The guitar has two Alnico humbucker pick-ups, and the standard Volume and Tone control knobs and the three-way switch, plus it has a rotary switch for choosing one of five notch filters (this is where the versatility in tone kicks in).
The guitar has two outputs, one mono, and one stereo 1/4 jacks, with which you can plug this guitar in two separate amplifiers, just like B.B. King did in the past.
Pros and Highlights
- Great sound – The pick-ups and the wood on the guitar produce sweet tone together
- Versatile – With this guitar, you have multiple sounds with switching the notch-filter rotary switch;
- Stereo – Just like B.B King did back in the day, you can plug this guitar in two amplifiers and have an amazing tone, one amp with a clear setting, and the other one distorted… Sweet, right?
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Pricey – Well, it won’t break the bank, but there are a lot of cheaper options if you want a guitar that will suit your blues amp style. However, if you are a true B.b King fan, you should definitely try out this one!
Bottom line
The Lucille by Epiphone is a great piece of a guitar. It has unique sound controls, and it is built with care and precision. It is a semi-hollow body guitar that will not produce unwanted noises, and the five notch-filters and the stereo feature are great adds. It is a bit pricier than some other Epiphones, but yeah, you get what you pay for!
Epiphone ES-335
Specs, features, and benefits
You already know that Epiphone makes affordable versions of the legendary Gibson models. The Epiphone Limited Edition ES-335 PRO has a body made out of laminated-maple and a glued-in mahogany neck with SlimTaper D profile and a rosewood fingerboard with twenty-two medium jumbo frets. It has a Tune-o-Matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece, and high-quality Wilkinson Vintage Classic tulip style tuners on the headstock.
The pick-ups on the guitar are Epiphone-designed Alnico Classic Pro, which are selected with a three-way switch, and they have separate Tone and Volume control knobs, with the Volume control knobs having a push-pull feature that results in splitting the coils for even more versatility in Tone. The Epiphone Limited Edition ES-335 Pro is available in Vintage Sunburst, Deep cherry, and Classic Ebony color finish.
Pros and Highlights
- ES-335 for an affordable price!
- Great playability – The guitar plays so nice… It is a must-try for every guitar player in the world that thinks about buying a new guitar.
- Versatile – The humbuckers on this one are a blessing. They really sound awesome, and on top of that, you can split them with the Push/Pull feature on the Volume control knobs, resulting in great versatility in tone!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It is not a Gibson – Of course, you can’t compare the Epiphone model with the original Gibson ES-335. The original is a lot better sounding guitar. If you can save up for a real Gibson, just go for it.
Bottom line
The Epiphone ES-335 is a great copy of the original Gibson ES-335. The ES-335 by Epiphone is a great sounding guitar, with decent build-quality and playability. However, it cannot be compared to the original. Well, it is probably the best copy ever. And the biggest difference between these two is the price. The Epiphone ES-335 comes for a very reasonable price.
Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster
Specs, features, and benefits
The Eric Clapton Stratocaster was the first signature model ever released by Fender.
It has a body made out of alder, and a “soft V” bolt-on one-piece maple neck and fingerboard with twenty-two vintage-style frets. The hardware on the guitar features Vintage-style sealed Fender tuners, fixed Tremolo Bridge, and a synthetic bone nut. The pick-ups on the guitar are Fender Vintage Noiseless single-coils with Volume and Tone control knobs.
The Tone control knobs are little advanced on this guitar, the upper Tone control knob other than its standard function, also controls the TBX circuitry (Treble Bass Expander), while the other is acting as an active mid-boost control. The guitar is available in several different colors with a Urethane finish.
Pros and Highlights
- Remember, Eric Clapton worked on this design! – The guitar just screams quality and playability!
- Lightweight – Due to the Alder body, this guitar is great for the all-night-long gigs and for those players with back problems.
- Great sound – You would be surprised if an Eric Clapton signature model sounded bad, right? Me too, I would be surprised.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons! – This guitar is a beauty! Oh yes, it is a bit pricier, but you can’t expect a cheap signature model, right?
Bottom line
If you are a big fan of Eric Clapton, or you just appreciate his work, you must at least try this guitar. It is one of the best Stratocasters if you ask me. Great instrument, both for playing live and recording in the studio. This is what I call “professional” guitar!
Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster
Specs, features, and benefits
Just before his tragic death, Stevie Ray Vaughan collaborated with Fender, and they together designed the Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster.
The body of the guitar is made out of Alder wood and the bolt-on oval neck is made out of maple. It has twenty-one Dunlop jumbo frets over the Pao Ferro fingerboard. The Synchronized Tremolo bridge on the guitar is just like the one Stevie himself used – a reversed one, with the tremolo being on the top of the bridge. It has a synthetic bone nut and vintage-style Fender tuning machines.
The pick-ups on the guitar are three Texas Special single-coils, with the standard five-way selector switch, and Volume and Tone control knobs. The Stevie Ray Vaughan comes in a three-tone sunburst finish, and a pickguard with big initials, so everyone can recognize whose signature model this Texas beauty is.
Pros and Highlights
- Great Tone! – One of the greatest ever. Just listen to Stevie’s playing… Oh my god!
- Awesome neck – The neck on this guitar is specially designed for blues playing. Bending is easy on this one!
- Made in the USA – You know that a Fender guitar is a top-notch one when it is built in the USA!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Pricey – Well folks, you get what you pay for.
Bottom line
This beauty is designed by Stevie and Fender to meet his criteria and playing style, and it will suit many blues guitarists. The neck of the guitar is designed to make string-bending easy, and the sound you will get out of these Texas Specials is outstanding. The only drawback is the fact that this guitar is a little bit pricier than some other Fender Strat models, but we believe that it is worth the money. So if you can afford it, don’t hesitate – try it out yourself.
Guild Starfire V
Specs, features, and benefits
The design of the Guild Starfire V is based on the design of the original Guild Starfire from the sixties. It is a thinline, semi-hollow body archtop guitar with a warm and beautiful tone.
The body of the guitar is fully made out of laminated mahogany, while the “Soft U”-shaped neck is a three-piece design (mahogany/maple/mahogany). The fingerboard of the guitar is made out of Indian Rosewood and it has twenty-two frets. The hardware on the guitar features Guild Tune-o-Matic bridge with Guild Vibrato Tailpiece, a nut made out of real bone, and Grover Sta-Ti tuning machines. Guild Starfire V has two LB-1 – “Little Bucker” humbucking pick-ups placed at the bridge and neck positions. They produce a warm, yet jangly and clear sound. Of course, it has Tone and Volume control knobs for each pick-up and a three-way selector switch, plus it has a Master Volume control knob, which really comes handy on the fly.
Pros and Highlights
- High-quality – This guitar is made in South Korea. South Korea is a country well-known for its high-quality guitar manufacturing. The attention to detail and the build quality is outstanding on this one.
- Great playability – The guitar plays very nicely. The neck of the Guild Starfire is truly amazing, it feels great, and it plays very nice. This guitar could easily compete with guitars that have three times higher price.
- Awesome sound – Those “Little Bucker” pick-ups sound great! They sound unique, both clean and distorted, and they will take you on a magic carpet ride in seconds.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons! – The Guild Starfire sounds and plays awesome. It suits not only blues – rock, indie, and alternative… Great guitar for many different situations!
Bottom line
If you are looking for a semi-hollow archtop beauty, try this one out. It is pretty affordable, having its quality in mind. The sound you will get out of this guitar is outstanding. Sounds great to play and learn different guitar styles and music genres. Great guitar!
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Specs, features, and benefits
The Fender American Special Stratocaster is a solid-body guitar with the iconic design that rocks the world for decades. It has a body made out of Alder wood, and a “Modern C” profile all-maple neck. It has twenty-two Jumbo frets and large “seventies” headstock.
The bridge on the guitar is a Vintage-style sync tremolo, and it has a really nice whammy bar. The tuners on the guitar do their job flawlessly too. Speaking of hardware, the electronics on the guitar are featuring three Texas Special pick-ups, a five-way selector switch, a Master Volume control knob, and Tone control knobs. The Tone circuit in this guitar is the famous Greasebucket tone control, which cuts high frequencies without adding a bass, and without volume loss. It comes for a very reasonable price, and it is one of the cheapest Fender guitars made in the USA.
Pros and Highlights
- Affordable – This is one of the cheapest Fender models made in the USA. Should we say more?
- Great playability – The hardware on the guitar works flawlessly. The neck feels great!
- Great Tone – The pick-ups on the guitar are sounding great! And the Greasebucket Tone control is just what many of us need. Versatile, great sounding guitar. Sounds great with many different genres.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Not so great with heavier string gauges – If you are prone to playing heavy string gauges, heavier than 10’s, you might find the string-bending to be tough.
Bottom line
If you want to have a real Fender, but you want to get it at a reasonable price, the American Special Stratocaster is just what you are looking for. The guitar feels and plays very nice. It could stand a beating. It sounds great, and it plays nicely. However, if you like playing with heavy gauge strings, this guitar is not for you. It works best with light string gauges.
PRS Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 22
Specs, features, and benefits
The PRS SE Custom 22 is a top-notch guitar with great playability and tone. The solid body of the PRS SE Custom 22 is made out of mahogany and topped with eye-pleasing maple veneer, and the Wide Thin neck is made out of maple with rosewood fingerboard. As the name of the model suggests, it has twenty-two frets.
The hardware on the guitar is made out of nickel – both the Tremolo bridge and the tuning machines are designed and produced by PRS. The pick-ups on the guitar are PRS humbuckers too. It has two PRS 85/15 “S” pick-ups at the bridge and the neck position, a three-way selector switch, Master Volume control knob, and Master Tone control knob with Push/Pull feature. Great value guitar for the money.
Pros and Highlights
- Great tone – The pick-ups on this PRS are working wonders for guitarist’s ears. They are amazing!
- Great playability – The neck on this guitar is truly a great one. It has a vintage feel to it, and it plays very nice.
- Affordable – For the price, you will pay for this guitar, you will get a truly great instrument. Great in any band situation – live or in the studio!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons!
Bottom line
This guitar is a versatile one. Not only you can play blues, but it also sounds great with any rock genre, jazz, and even alternative. The guitar is made in South Korea, which means it is affordable, yet a high-quality product. Great value for the money!
Fender Squier Classic Vibe Thinline Telecaster
Specs, features, and benefits
Squier not only makes great guitars for beginners, in fact, they make one of the best quality, yet affordable guitars on the market. The Classic Vibe Thinline Telecaster by Squier has a semi-hollow body with a single “f” hole made out of mahogany, and a bolt-on C-shaped neck made out of maple with a maple fingerboard with twenty-one medium jumbo frets.
It has a vintage-looking string-through-body bridge, and vintage style tuning machines, and nut made out of synthetic bone. The pick-ups on the guitar are two Alnico single-coils placed at the bridge and the neck positions. It has a three-way selector switch, and Master Tone and Master Volume control knobs. With its playability, tone, and price – the Classic Vibe Thinline Tele is not only a great blues guitar, but it is also one of the best Telecasters on the Market.
Pros and Highlights
- Low cost! – If you are into buying a Telecaster, you simply must try out this one. It is very affordable, yet it is one of the best. It could easily compete with the Fenders.
- Sounds great – The sound you will get with this guitar is something that would make happy every blues, rock, jazz and country player in the world. Great Tone.
- Amazing neck – The bolt-on C-shaped maple neck, and the maple fingerboard are working wonders for the players of many genres.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It might need a few adjustments – Although there are plenty of positive reviews on the internet on this guitar, and we certainly believe their experiences, the guitar is still manufactured in China. This means you might get a guitar that will need a few small adjustments.
Not something big that will back you off from this beauty though…
Bottom line
This Telecaster is one of the best on the market. It sounds and plays awesome! It will suit many different guitarists, and most importantly – it is very affordable. It might need a setup, or some little adjustments right out of the box, but nothing that will drawback you from it. Great guitar, for a really low price. If you want to be sure that you won’t have to mess around with it – just go to your local guitar store and try it before you buy it!
Godin 5th Avenue CW Kingpin II
Specs, features, and benefits
The Godin 5th Avenue CW Kingpin II is an archtop, hollow-body guitar, with a single cutaway, that will suit many, many players. The body of the guitar is made out of Canadian Wild Cherry, while the neck is made of a silver-leaf maple with rosewood fingerboard featuring twenty-one frets.
The bridge on the guitar is an adjustable Graphtech TUSQ with a chrome tailpiece, and the tuners on the guitar are sealed chrome ones. The magnets on the guitar are where this guitar becomes a modern one. It has two Kingpin P-90 single-coil pick-ups, that sound great clean, but also can handle distortion very well. It has a three-way selector switch, and Volume and Tone control knobs. Versatile, great sounding, mid-range jazz guitar.
Pros and Highlights
- Affordable – It is an affordable guitar compared with other jazz guitars of this quality!
- Beautiful sound! – The guitar sounds beautiful!
- Versatile – You can get great jazz tones out of it, but also you can get a great country, rock, surf, and blues tones due to the P-90 magnets. It also sounds great both plugged and unplugged.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons! – The Godin 5th Avenue CW Kingpin II is a great guitar. No flaws or cons on this one, folks.
Bottom line
If you are looking for a mid-range jazz/blues guitar, that plays and sounds great, you should try the Godin 5th Avenue CW. It is a reliable and versatile archtop guitar that sounds great with many genres and styles of playing. The Tusq bridge, the tuners, the neck, and the wild cherry body are producing very pleasing sounds. Great guitar for a great price.
The Loar LH-204-BR Brownstone
Specs, features, and benefits
The Loar is a Chinese company that makes high-quality guitars with mid-range prices. The Loar LH-204 Brownstone is an acoustic guitar which design derives from the 1920’s guitars.
It has a Sitka spruce top, and mahogany back, sides and neck, and a Padauk fingerboard with nineteen medium frets. The bridge on the guitar is also made out of Padauk, while the nut is made out of bone. The soundhole on the guitar is a vintage style and paired with the great wood choice, it results with a warm, articulated and loud sound. The finish on the guitar is a brown satin finish.
Pros and Highlights
- Great build-quality – Don’t get fooled by the fact that this is a Chinese guitar – it is made with a great amount of care and precision!
- Sounds amazing! – The design of this guitar and the wood choices are making this guitar to sound amazing. If you are into acoustic blues – this guitar has just what you need!
- Cheap – At this price, you will hardly find a better acoustic blues guitar!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It might need a setup right out of the box – Well, this is pretty common for new guitars.
You must do a setup right after you bought it…
Bottom line
The balanced sound this guitar has, the looks and the playability of the guitar are outstanding! It feels like a lot pricier guitar! It could easily compete with pricier guitars – that’s for sure! If you are into Robert Johnson’s music and delta blues, you will fall in love with this guitar. It sounds great, it plays nice, and it looks awesome!
Gretsch G9200 Boxcar
Specs, features, and benefits
If you are a true blues guitarists you already have a thing for a resonator guitar, and this is why we can’t finish this list without including the Gretsch G9200 Boxcar.
The body and the neck of the guitar are made out of mahogany, and the Ampli-Sonic cone is made out of Aluminum. The fingerboard on the guitar is made out of rosewood and it sports nineteen frets. It has a “spider” bridge, a bone nut, and the six tuning pegs are of high-quality. If you are into delta-blues, you must try one of these – it will deliver just what you need, and on top of that, the Gretsch G9200 comes for a very reasonable price.
Pros and Highlights
- Affordable – You won’t find a better resonator guitar for the money!
- Great sound – The guitar sounds great. It has that “authentic resonator guitar” sound!
- The looks – This instrument looks so beautiful… I bet a lot of guitarists will ask you about it!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It is hard to do a setup – The guitar is not made with great care, I think. It needs a setup and adjustments right out of the box, and some experienced fellas found it hard to set up this thing. If you are really into buying this guitar – make sure you first try it out.
Bottom line
The Gretsch G9200 Boxcar is a guitar that you either love it or hate it. It can become your best buddy or your worst nightmare. If you are planning to buy one of these – try it before you buy it. It is hard to set up. The build-quality is far from amazing.
What We Recommend and Why
Blues is one of the most played genres by guitarists. The guitar is the instrument that popularized this genre, and as a guitarist, you simply must have the feel for the blues. Depending on what kind of blues you want to play, and what your style of playing is, there is a ton of guitars you can pick from. We tried to put the best in this list. Our favorite is the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster. It is versatile, sounds great and feels awesome. Great guitar. One of the best Fender Stratocasters, and one of the best Blues guitars ever!
Hvad med “epiphone old glory”