Picking the right instrument is essential if you’re a country music guitarist. To practice, rehearse, and perform with confidence over many years, you need a guitar with a wonderful tone. When considering the ideal country guitar, a few well-known brands immediately emerge. However, there are a few alternatives out there that may surprise you, particularly if you’re on a tight budget. We have covered the best electric guitar for country music at Jacob Golden so that you can choose the best one for yourself right now.
Table of Contents
TOP PICKS
Best Overall: Fender Player Telecaster Electric Guitar
- Alder Body with gloss finish
- Two player Series single-coil Telecaster pickups
- Modern C"-Shaped neck profile
- 9. 5"-Radius Fingerboard
- String-through-body Bridge with block saddles
The Telecaster is your best bet if you want to play country guitar. In the poll at the foot of this page, almost 70% of readers selected Tele as their preferred option, so I suppose I’m not alone! The standard features of the Fender American Professional Telecaster are ash and alder bodies, two Fender single-coil pickups, a choice of a rosewood or maple fingerboard, and a fixed bridge. Even though it has no frills, the Telecaster sound is famous.
Best Budget: Fender Stratocaster HT
- Modern C-neck for the ultimate play comfort
- Tune into a variety of modes effortlessly with the 2-point tremolo system
- Be it the combination of middle and neck, or a bridge pickup, the single coils make this a breeze
- Easy adjustment with the two point system
- Included Fender Frontman 10G amplifier delivers full sound from its 6" speaker, with a gain control and overdrive switch that rock guitar tones from tube-emulated overdrive to full-strength ultra-saturated distortion - perfect for blues, metal and famous Fender clean tone
The Stratocaster is a guitar that has left its impact in almost every musical genre thanks to its three single-coil pickups and five pickup combinations. The Strat is well-known as a fantastic instrument for rock and blues, but it also has a lot to offer the country guitarist. As with the Tele, you can get your hands on a Player Series Strat from Mexico that won’t break the bank. Bridge humbuckers are standard on American and MIM variants (HSS). If you want a country-rock tone, this setup is ideal, and a hotter pickup will force your amp to work harder.
Best Sound: Epiphone Les Paul Special VE (Ebony)
- This guitar has a Poplar body with a sleek look thanks to the Vintage Worn finish and no binding on the neck or body.
- the Les Paul VE has a comfortable and fast Mahogany bolt-on neck with a 1960s Slim Taper D profile. The Rosewood fingerboard has traditional Pearloid "Dot" inlays.
- It's also loaded with Epiphone's world famous open-coil humbuckers with a warm 650R in the neck position and a slightly hotter 700T in the bridge or lead position.
This particular Les Paul made bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers sound the way they did. Many modern country bands were influenced by this sound, and some of the greatest country guitar tones are achieved by pedaling a Les Paul through a little overdrive. The Gibson Les Paul’s bridge pickup is perfect for generating crunching rhythm sounds in your chords, while the neck pickup is bassy and well-suited for producing clean tones or playing lead. When used together, the pickups provide a fantastic jazz tone, with enough warmth and just enough bite to stand out.
Best Design: Ibanez AX 6 String Solid-Body Electric Guitar
- Beveled Body
- AX Maple neck
- 2 Volume / 2 Tone
If you’re just starting or are a seasoned pro, Ibanez has a guitar for you. Ibanez is committed to making instruments that are the finest in their price range in terms of sound quality, aesthetics, and playability. The ax120 has a traditional rock look thanks to its tortoiseshell pickguard and white block inlay. Because of its double-cutaway body and beveled edge, the ax120 is surprisingly light and powerful in live settings. Both the Full tune III bridge and the two volume/2 tone control provide a wide range of tonal possibilities.
Best Unique: EART Headless Electric Guitar GW2
- Roasted Padauk Body with Burled Maple Veneer：Padauk has a luxurious reddish brown colour and provides a punchy tone.Rounded with a burled maple veneer, GW2 excels in both looks and tone.
- 5 piece Roasted Maple/Padauk Neck：Multi-piece neck construction ensures excellent stability for lower tunings and heavier gauge of strings.
- Hand Polished Stainless Steel Frets：Stainless steel frets provide unrivaled durability and smooth playing surface for nice and easy big bends. Each fret ends are also hand-dressed for playing comfortability.
- U to C Compound Neck Profile and Compound Radius: GW2 has a unique U to C compound neck profile with a thicker shoulder on the lower frets, slowly tapers down to a slimmer C to higher frets. Along with a 9.5” to 14” compound fingerboard radius, GW2 provides excellent playability for both chording and soloing.
Padauk’s rich, reddish brown color and robust tone make it a desirable luxury wood. GW2’s rounded shape and burled maple veneer make it a beautiful and versatile instrument. Stainless steel frets are indestructible and simple to play on, allowing for effortless large bends. Each fret end is additionally hand-dressed to improve playability. The shoulder of the GW2 is thicker at the nut and gradually thins down as you go up the neck, earning it the nickname “U to C compound neck profile.” The 9.5″ to 14″ compound radius of the GW2 fingerboard makes it easy to play chords and improvise solos.
FAQS
What guitar shape is best for country music?
The dreadnought body style has sufficient volume and depth to play at the neighborhood country club. A spruce top and mahogany back and sides are bonded together to make this guitar.
What guitar do most country singers use?
Although electric guitars have become just as important to today’s country music as the acoustic guitar was at the genre’s inception, the acoustic guitar has always been at the heart of country music. The natural sound of an acoustic has undeniably unique qualities.
What guitars do famous country singers use?
Many classic country artists choose high-end acoustic guitars from names like Martin, Gibson, Guild, Takamine, and even Taylor and other boutique manufacturers.
CONCLUSION
As the decade’s pass, country music’s reign over the interior and periphery of North America only deepens. Numerous guitarists with unique styles and abilities have contributed to the development of the genre. No matter who you look up to for musical inspiration—Buster Jones, Chet Atkins, Blake Shelton, or Keith Urban—any guitar may get you very near to that ideal sound.
