Every ten years or so over the last five decades a major publication has featured a big story about how rock is dead and the guitar is going the way of the accordion. Recently I read about how EDM is killing guitar-oriented music and that an entire generation is growing up without the power chord or jingle-jangle of guitar. My reaction was pretty much the same as it has always been—not so fast. How can the guitar be on the wane when so many different instruments are being offered—and sold at bargain prices? Or will that be the cause of its demise? Part of the guitar’s appeal has always been its status as a rebel’s badge, which is pretty hard to justify when there are more guitars than there are people.
If you read the guitar magazines or visit online guitar-centric sites, you’ll have noticed that there are more brand names than ever before. In fact, it seems that there are almost more guitar companies than there are bands. For a player, this is heaven—so many designs and configurations to choose from! The vast offering of styles makes it a good bet that if you crave something, there’s somebody out there who can supply it for you at a price you can afford. There are vintage styles, modern styles, hybrids and mutant mashups in every color imaginable and some not to imaginable. Certainly this is a buyer’s market.
But what about the builders? Can you imagine being in competition not only with offshore giants who can build a finished guitar for under $30, but with hundreds (or thousands) of local garage-based businesses? For some, it’s just a hobby where real profit isn’t important. This is the case for a lot of builders who are happy to make a few instruments a month down in the basement. It keeps them busy and maybe even pays for itself—if they don’t look at their time as costing anything.
I quickly compiled a list of some of the guitar brands being sold today. This list is by no means complete or comprehensive. In fact, my list contains just a fraction of what’s out there. Perhaps you’ve heard of some of them. I ran out of patience before I ran out of names to type. Did I mention your favorite?
Peerless Guitars
Farida Guitars
Paul Rhoney Guitars
Banning Guitars
Blu Guitars
Wood Hagan Guitars
Veritas Guitars
Volta Guitars
Yamaha Guitars
Doppler Guitars
Lollar Guitars
Ham-tone Guitars
Gibson Guitars
Rickenbacker Guitars
Electra Guitars
Warlatron Guitars
Peavey Guitars
RS Guitarworks
Agile Guitars
Dudley Customs
Harden Engineering
Landric Guitars
Grosh Guitars
Dreamer Guitarworks
Fujigen Guitars
D’Angelico Guitars
Dean Guitars
Wayne Guitars
DBZ Guitars
Warr Guitars
Stewart Guitars
Carl Barney Guitars
Washburn Guitars
Scott French Guitars
Vesper Guitars
Koll Guitars
Fano Guitars
Moonstone Guitars
b3 Guitars
Zolla Guitars
Framus Guitars
Trussart Gutars
LAG Guitars
Ronin Guitars
Fender Guitars
HiTone Guitars
Ruokangas Guitars
St. Blues Guitars
McElroy Guitars
Hamburguitar
MDX Guitars
Collings Guitars
Ritter Instruments
Crafter Guitars
Viktorian Guitars
Giles Guitars
Mike Lull Guitars
Taylor Guitars
Francis Guitars
Maton Guitars
Kramer Guitars
Takamine Guitars
Martin Guitars
Godin Guitars
Gretsch Guitars
Duesenberg Guitars
Hofner Guitars
SB MacDonald
Creston Guitars
LaRose Guitars
Hoyer Guitars
M-Tone Guitars
Ibanez Guitars
Recording King Guitars
Suhr Guitars
G&L Guitars
Blade Guitars
Musicman Guitars
ESP Guitars
Fretlight Guitars
Zager Guitars
Schroeder Guitars
Potvin Guitars
Virgil Guitars
Lieber Guitars
Fliski Guitars
Black Pearl Guitars
Abyss Guitars
Abel Axe
Ed Clark Guitars
Abyss Guitars
Driskill Guitars
Andrews Guitars
Dragonfly Guitars
Farnell Guitars
Melancon Guitars
Michael Kelly Guitars
Ted Crocker Guitars
Tom Anderson Guitars
Batson Guitars
Greenfield Guitars
Mauel Guitars
Sexauer Guitars
Gadow Guitars
Fodera Guitars
Warrior Guitars
Abita Guitars
Ace Guitars
Bourgeois Guitars
Fleishman Guitars
Knaggs Guitars
K-Line Guitars
Campbell American Guitars
Conklin Guitars
Delaney Guitars
Learn guitars
McInturf Guitars
Sadowsky Guitars
Pensa Guitars
Novax Guitars
Stevens Guitars
Artinger Guitars
Dragonfly Guitars
Marchione Guitars
DiPinto Guitars
McNaught Guitars
Minarik Guitars
Nash Guitars
Moser Guitars
TV Jones Guitars
DeTemple Guitars
John Carruthers Guitars
GJ3 Guitars
Brubaker Guitars
GMP Guitars
Henman Guitars
Ken Parker Guitars
Malden Guitars
Tonesmith Guitars
Triggs Guitars
Zion Guitar Technology
US Masters Guitars
Bear Creek Guitars
Bell Custom Guitars
Dingwall Guitars
Dolan Guitars
Chafin Guitars
Bolin Guitars
AXL Guitars
Heritage Guitars
James Tyler Guitars
Leach Guitars
Michael Tuttle Guitars
Myka Guitars
Boris Guitars
MJ Guitars
Norton Guitars
S3 Guitars
Jackson Guitars
Tradition Guitars
Veillette Guitars
Chappell Guitars
Electrical Guitar Company
Byrd Guitars
Knutson Luthierie
King Blossom Guitars
Bootleg Guitars
Austin Guitars
A E Guitars
Grove Guitars
J. Backlund Guitars
Gigliotti Guitars
Hanson Musical Instruments
Benavente Guitars
KXK Guitars
North American Instruments
Red Rocket Guitars
Black Mesa Guitars
Chris Larkin Guitars
Larry Alan Guitars
Motorave Guitars
DGN Guitars
Malinosky Guitars
LSL Guitars
Crook Custom Guitars
Branch Guitars
Cycfi Research
EER Customs
Decava Guitars
Bacorn Guitars
Maret Guitars
RWK Guitars
Russell Guitars
McSwain Guitars
Schaefer Guitars
DeLacugo Guitars
Switch Guitars
Tsunami Guitars
Becker Guitars
Benedict Guitar Company
Gene Liberty Guitars
Citron Guitars
Hallmark Guitars
McCurdy Guitars
