There are hundreds of guitar brands, but just a handful are mainly associated with metal. So if you want to play metal, make sure to find the best-suited guitar for you.
We’ve researched and listed our top 10 metal guitar brands that might interest you. Feel free to scroll through our list and check out also the common frequently asked questions below.
Top Metal Guitar Brands
1. Jackson
For many years, Jackson has established numerous standards in the metal guitar industry. The Rhoads, Soloist, Dinky, Kelly, and King V are all mainstays of the extreme guitar world, and their forms are distinctive. Like Ibanez, Jackson has attempted to broaden and enhance its designs to appeal to more contemporary players.
Throughout the years, Jackson has survived the storms and remained one of the world’s most famous metal companies. As a result, there are hordes of musicians that swear by them and refuse to play anything else.
Jackson Guitars have a long history in the heavy metal genre. They have a frightening appearance, and guitarists all over the globe understand their importance when it comes to shredding.
Their best guitar is the revolutionary Jackson Pro Soloist SL2Q MAH, the pinnacle of high-tech guitar design, allows you to shred in comfort and elegance. Realize your musical ambitions by realizing your full potential as a player.
- Body Form: Double Cutaway
- Body type: Strong.
- Material of construction: solid wood
- Glossy body finish
- Neck
- Neck shape: Quickness
- 1-piece neck wood Graphite reinforcement in maple
- Neck-through joint
- 25.5 in. is the length of the scale.
- Standard truss rod
- Oiled neck finish
Additional Details:
- Fretboard
- Ebony is the material used.
- Compound Radius
- Jumbo fret size
- The number of frets is 24.
- Piranha tooth inlays
- 1.69 in. nut width (43 mm)
- Pickups
- HH is the configuration.
- SH-6N Neck Distortion
- Not applicable in the middle.
- TB-6 Distortion Bridge
- Seymour Duncan is a brand.
- Pickups, active or passive: Passive
- Kirk Hammett, ESP LTD KH-602
2.Ibanez Guitars
The Ibanez’ Universe’ model, for example, raised the standard for the seven-string electric guitar. In contrast, the Roadster, JEM, and Iceman models all featured ludicrously following generation designs that became popular in the world of shred. Their Iron Label line, for example, is enormous, but perhaps most significantly in recent years, the A-Z models are undeniably contemporary.
The series, which has a baked maple fretboard, is aimed squarely at the contemporary fusion shredder and is supported by musicians like Andy Timmons, Martin Miller, and Tom Quayle. When it comes to endorsees, high-quality guitars like these are always accompanied by great performers, and Ibanez is no exception.
Popular Ibanez Metal Guitars
1.Ibanez APEX30M Munky Signature Series 7-String
The APEX30 embodies the next level of development. Munky’s APEX, the first Ibanez signature model to incorporate the Evertune tuning technology, can take the pounding he gives every night while staying flawlessly in tune during the performance. Truly an impressive legacy continues with the Ibanez APEX30.
2.Ibanez JBM10FX Jake Bowen Signature
The Dimarzio Titan Pickups are one of this guitar’s finest characteristics. I looked for these pickups for weeks before finding them. For decent pickups of an Active to Passive conversion, this guitar is very impressive.
3.Ibanez JBBM20GR JB Brubaker Signature
August Burns Red is one of the top favorite metal bands in the world. One of the finest metal guitars, and perhaps the best IBANEZ instrument for metal. They’ve made some of the most distinctively violent songs in the metal genre. JB Brubaker, their guitarist, even had a trademark guitar.
EMG pickups create a unique tone with fast, intricate distortion and enough of depth to leave an impact. The Gibraltar Standard II is a basic fixed bridge intended to unify the body of the guitar and offer optimum vibration transmission for each string.
Furthermore, a smooth surface is intended to enhance playing comfort. Ibanez is well-known for producing high-quality metal guitars.
3.Charvel
If this were a ranking of the top ten shred guitar brands, Charvel would be far higher than seventh. They could even be number one. This guitar business was prominent in the 1980s, then went away for a time, and is now back with a vengeance.
One of the most loved guitars in the world are the Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas and So Cal-style models. They’re hot-rodded Strats with all the bells and whistles necessary to rip your brains out.
4.Schecter
Schecter has extended their wings throughout the business and seems to be growing every year. So I’m a significant actor in the future, and I can predict the future! A guitar that makes a subtle homage to Pete Townshend’s.
One aspect of Schecter that has always struck everyone is the staggering amount of sponsorships. Yngwie Malmsteen had a signature model with Schecter that was identical to his subsequently manufactured Fender Strat. This list of endorsements attests to Schecter’s superiority.
5.ESP-LTD Guitars
Back in the early 1990s, ESP guitars began to appear in the hands of renowned metal guitarists all around the globe. All of the best musicians in my favorite bands appeared to be abandoning their Gibsons, Jacksons, and Fenders in favor of ESP guitars that looked quite similar.
These were high-end bespoke guitars designed for celebrities. But, unfortunately, most gamers did not have easy access to ESP. This ESP brand spinoff made some of their iconic designs and innovative concepts more accessible to the ordinary player. Awesome!
While ESP was formerly known for its high excellence, more reasonable price points are available, particularly in the LTD ranges. Today, ESP-LTD is one of the top-heavy metal manufacturers, and most of their guitars, such as the EC Series, are affordable to the average working musician.
Popular ESP-LTD Metal Guitars
1.ESP-LTD KH-602
This offers everything a guitarist needs to shred to perfection. More sustain and tone with a through-body neck. This guitar is noted to be ideal for quick leads. This ESP guitar has an alder body, rock-solid maple neck-thru construction, a rosewood fingerboard, EMG-81/60 active humbuckers, and a Floyd Rose 1000 Series tremolo in addition to the KH body type and Kirk’s signature skull-and-crossbones inlays. Frets that are extra-large in size.
This model should be thoroughly studied in any decent ESP Guitars review. The hardware is dark in color. There are two volume controls, a tone control, and three-way switching. Metallica fans who like EMG pickups will love this. Unfortunately, people who like Bolt-On Necks, broad neck profiles, and passive pickups will be disappointed.
2.MH-1000 ESP LTD
The LTD 1000 Series guitars provide the tone, feel, aesthetics, and quality that professional musicians need in an instrument while remaining affordable to average players.
The MH-1001NT’s high-end features include:
- LTD locking tuners.
- A Tonepros locking TOM bridge with string-thru-body.
- EMG 81/85 Metalworks active pickups.
It’s a three-piece set. The rosewood fingerboard on the maple neck features 24XJ frets. Perfect for Guitarists who like short necks and compact instruments.
3.ESP LTD Iron Cross James Hetfield Signature
The ESP LTD James Hetfield Signature Iron Cross Electric Guitar is designed to live up to a higher standard. Any decent ESP guitars review must include a mention of the guitar’s amazing pickups.
The TonePros tune-o-Matic bridge and LTD locking tuners, both of which are hallmarks of excellent metal guitars, are utilized throughout. Furthermore, a JH trademark pair of EMG humbuckers deliver all of the killer tones that metal players want. Perfect for Metallica Fans and hybrid pickups players.
4.ESP LTD SH-7 Evertune Signature Series Brian “Head” Welch
This is a unique guitar! This axe was created by KORN’s Brian Head Welch. The ESP LTD SH-7 Evertune Signature Series Brian “Head” This axe has all the bells and whistles and receives high marks in virtually every ESP guitar review.
This axe, like the James Hetfield signature line, has a highly customized set of pickups. They blend the finest of passive and active pickups but you can choose between the two unique sounds. This is a genuine custom-made metal guitar!
The third item in our ESP guitars review is a set of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucking pickups, which provide two different voicings for huge humbucker tone with exceptional accuracy. Good metal guitars often feature active pickups that are incapable of producing the passive tone.
5.EC-1000FM ESP LTD Electric Guitar EverTune
The ESP LTD EC-1000FM is a radio. EverTune is a short axe that would complement any metal arsenal. However, this metal machine is serious about business, with a vintage see-through black finish on a single-cutaway wood body.
The EC-1000FM is driven by two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, one SH-4 in the bridge and an SH-2 in the neck. These pickups will provide a wide variety of tones, from vintage to modern metal.
The 24-3/4′′-scale mahogany neck has been carved into an ultra-quick narrow profile. It has 24 Extra Jumbo frets on an Ebony fingerboard for quick play and effortless string bending. Finally, the Black Hardware hardware features an ESP-designed EverTune bridge to steady tune and resist anything you may throw at it.
The EverTune has tiny springs that maintain consistent tension on your strings, enabling the guitar to stay in tune for extended periods. This is why ESP Guitars review ranks it among the best metal guitars.
6.Gibso
Is there anything better than putting in a Les Paul, turning up the volume on an amp, and just shredding on a big, mahogany guitar?
The ageless Gibson, the giants of the guitar business, the juggernauts of Metal, and the muse of guitar manufacturing history, is on the list. Gibson was a pioneer in the early strains of Metal, and you can’t deny that.
Its cross fret inlays and impenetrable black paint make it an embodiment of the genre. They are a brand that invented Metal before it was even called Metal. So the only term I can use reliably to describe them is legendary.
7.B.C. Rich
This is when the arguments really heat up, and occasionally people wind up posting things that aren’t very polite in the comments sections. Please promise to keep my mum out of it, okay? B.C. Rich is a guitar manufacturer that elicits such feelings.
This business does nothing but manufacture great metal guitars, and they do it very well. These instruments have withstood the test of time and continue to be among the best mayhem instruments available.
8.Dean
Dean is ranked #8 on our Top 10 List. Thumbing through their lineup, it is clear that they are a guitar manufacturer that makes a concerted attempt to please the metal audience. Whether you like extreme Metal, shred old Metal, or just about anything, here is the place to be. Dean most likely creates something you like.
The ML, made famous by a particular Texas shredder from a small band named Pantera, is their masterpiece. Dime resurrected the ML, and the instrument now inextricably linked to his legacy is regarded as a top option for Metal.
As if they didn’t already have enough metal cred, Dean signed thrash superstar Dave Mustaine as an endorsement a few years ago, and they now manufacture his trademark V guitars.
Dean is well-known for producing high-quality metal guitars. They are known for specializing in guitars with unusual body shapes. If he created this guitar, you might be sure that it is ideal for the metal genre.
This trademark 7-string guitar has a mahogany body, a flamed maple top, and treatment shows off the wood grain. Dual EMG 707 humbuckers are connected to a 3-way switch and single Volume control for ultra-fast sonic changes.
Dean RC7X FM TBL 7-String Guitar
9.Fender
To begin, there are two words. Yngwie Malmsteen’s stage name is Yngwie Malmsteen. Isn’t that sufficient? The extreme guitar playing was pioneered by players such as Yngwie Malmsteen. And, with the assistance of forefathers like Ritchie Blackmore, who also utilized Stratocaster-style guitars, created the foundation for Metal as it is known today.
However, I recognize that this still does not represent Fender as a brand capable of delivering in the realm of extreme Metal. If you’re dead bent on using a Fender, consider customizing one. Put a humbucker on it, scallop the fingerboard, and slap a Floyd rose on it.
At one point or another, Fender has been the inspiration for the majority of the companies on this list. However, these other companies would undoubtedly look quite different without their widespread original designs, and that is the truth.
10.Washburn
Washburn’s impact has waned over the years, but they are making a return with some excellent entries that metalheads will like. The Nuno Series has some of its most remarkable instruments. Nuno Bettencourt is the main guitarist for the hard rock band Extreme and a very talented musician.
His trademark range includes American-made classics like the N4 and more inexpensive instruments such as the N2. Washburn also offers some exciting designs, like their Parallaxe series, made for heavy Metal and shred. Washburn is a dark horse in this review, but if you like Metal, you should check them out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it possible to play heavy metal on a Strat?
If you utilize the proper pickups, a strat may be used to play metal. For example, some strats utilize humbuckers in the bridge position, which may provide a fantastic metal tone.
Alternatively, you may replace a single-coil pickup with a thin humbucker to create a more appropriate metal tone. Stratocasters aren’t the best guitars for metal, although they can be used to play metal.
What is the ultimate metal guitar?
There is no greatest metal guitar since each metal guitarist has distinct preferences. Some metal guitarists like fixed bridges, while others use Floyd Roses. Some people like 6 strings, while others prefer 7 or 8 strings.
The ideal guitar for you is determined by the kind of metal you want to play and what feels natural to you.
What exactly is the difference between Active and Passive Pickups?
The major distinction is that Active Pickups have a built-in PreAmp that needs a 9v battery to operate. While passive pickups do not, active pickups do.
Active pickups are only used in the Metal genre, and they have a dull, uneven tone. Passive pickups are more flexible and provide a richer, more dynamic tone.
What makes a guitar suitable for metal?
When combined with distortion, a decent metal guitar will utilize high output humbuckers to provide a tight and punchy tone. Additionally, metal is simpler to play on guitars that are easy to hold and enable you to glide your hands down the neck swiftly.
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Wrapping Up
If you can afford to spend more money on a guitar, you will have a plethora of high-quality choices to select from. You should have a good idea of what features to search for and which companies you like by now.
You may even consider signature models since most signature models cost well over $1000. It’s difficult to recommend anything in this price range, so utilize the tips above to limit your options.
These instruments may serve as great foundations for increasing your speed, agility, and stamina. Being able to play fast and correctly is half the fight in this genre. It’s challenging to find a guitar at this price point that isn’t of high quality.
As a result, you should be concerned with what characteristics are essential to you rather than the overall quality.
