The blues is easy to play but hard,’ said Jimi Hendrix while conjuring what was impossible at the time with a white Strat, an amp, and the first attempts at a fuzz pedal. The two later might not be of importance to most, but the white Strat remained in history as the instrument that merged blues, psychedelia, and rock into his hands.
Fender is not alone as the guitar that shaped the blues and its has many forms. From the Gibson L5 Robert Johnson is said to have played in the Crossroad to Dereck Trucks SG, here are the most iconic blues guitars and, for your convenience, the most similar alternatives you can buy without busking the bank.
As mainly a blues player, my heart lies in the legendary guitars my heroes played, yet we can’t afford them, so that you might get out of this piece not only inspiration but a new instrument for your wish list.
Can You Define What a Blues Guitar Even is?
In the early 20th century, the original blues players were lucky to have anything resembling a guitar and a bottle to slide over. Fast-forward to the 50s and any available electric guitar became a blues—humbuckers and high-gain amps were not a thing until the 70s, the era when the concept of ‘blues’ guitar arguably started popping up due to the rise of the ‘heavy’ instruments.
You would not imagine playing the blues with an IbanezJEMM or a 7-String Schecter. While I argue that somebody has done that, and it did sound special, the blues are tied to the clean and woody single coil, warm and full P-90 Humbuckers, and vintagePAFF tone.
Simply put, the guitarist defines a blues guitar; on that note, let’s explore the guitars that made history and why they are still the best choice today.
The Different Kinds of Blues Guitar
While it’s the player that makes the guitar, we can categorise the different kinds of blues guitars depending on which spectrum of the gain knob you stand.
- First is the small-body parlour acoustics that gave birth to the delta sound
- Second, the jazz hollow-body that many would typically associate with the 50s, big bands, country and Elvis
- Third, the single-coil bright blues guitar, like the Tele and Strat, is both a jack-of-all-trades and a unique guitar in the blues realm.
- Fourth, the humbucker-packed blues guitar. This is where Gibson guitars came along and started the British blues invasion, along with a very loud Marshall.
Depending on the music you like and your playing style, any could be right for you.
The Fender Guitars That Defined the Blues
Before Leo Fender launched the first commercially available electric guitar, the blues was limited to archtop and parlour acoustic instruments. His inventions are the instruments that started the modern age.
Fender Stratocaster
Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck—almost everyone who led the blues scene in the 1960s and 1970s played a Stratocaster. It is still, to this day, considered the most versatile electric guitar and is on the list of guitars you are expected to have in your rig.
What makes a Strat so unique for the blues is its Interaction with a tube amp and the many sounds it can conjure without any pedal. The sparkling clean of the bridge, the woody sound of the neck, and all the infinity in between had the original Les Paul players, like Beck and Clapton, give up on gold tops and switch to the Strat.
US-made Strats are not guitars anyone can buy. However, the Vintera series I’ve previously reviewed in detail might be the best for you.
Fender Telecaster
You knew this was coming after the Strat, so the sooner we cover it, the better. Albert Collins, Roy Buchanon, Robben Ford, and Keith Richards played one. Considered by many to be the most honest and ‘transparent’ electric guitar—a statement I very much agree with—the Tele is both a jack-of-all-trades and a specialised clean and crunch blues machine.
There’s nothing more spanky than a Tele’s E string when a master of bend reaches a higher octave. Along those lose, rarely has any instrument sounded more funky and crips clean than a Tele through a Fender amp.
I notice that many people undermine the glory of the Tele due to the very characteristic that makes it unique: simplicity. However ‘simple’ though, the price is premium if you’re going for a US made model.
The Affinity series is a good budget choice, yet I would recommend the Fender Player series the most for working musicians or players who still can’t afford a US model.
The Gibson Guitars That Defined The Blues
If Fender was dealing with clean tones, Gibson pushed things further by starting the British blues invasion with the Les Paul.
Gibson Les Paul
If not the Strat, the guitar everyone thinks of when blues is mentioned is the Les Paul. The archetypal ‘warm’ blues guitar was touched by blues legends like Peter Green, Duane Allman, and Rory Gallagher, modern guitar heroes like Bonamassa, and the guitar’s designer, a jazz-blues pioneer, Les Paul himself.
Countless players used Les Paul to conjure blues sounds from soft to wild. Even rock legends like Jimi Page and Slash, arguably the two most famous Les Paul players, played a variation of the blues but with slightly more gain to it.
Les Paul’s, especially those of the late 50s and early 60s, are notoriously expensive and now become a collection piece as much as an instrument. Newer flagship models are pricey too, yet intermediate players or ever-working musicians on a budget could very well go for a quality Epihone – just like Slash does; yet everyone still thinks he plays a Gibson Les Paul!
A Les Pual is timeless, and depending on the pickups, you can go from modern to vintage at will.
Gibson SG
When theSGG first came out, Les Paul, the designer of the guitar that bears its name, hated it. Fastowrd half a century, and it’s the company’s most sold electric guitar mode, wielded by blues giants like Derek Trucks, Gary Clark Jr, and Clapton during the early years.
In my book, theSGG is the best guitar for the wild side of the blues and the instrument that best agrees with the slide. The aggressive tone of the full-on humbuckers or P90s can be dialled with a twist of a knob into a warm, rounded clean sound that holds all the shades of the blues into it.
Crank the gain up, and you get a full Angus Young rock n’ roll crunchy blues tone; tone it down, and it even becomes a fantastic Jazz guitar. I would argue is the best marriage of a Les Paul and a Telecaster but with its own bite and character.
Gibson L Series
Hailed as the ruler of the best blues acoustic guitar, mostly due to the hands that made it famous. It is said that this is the very guitar that Robert Johnson is said to have played at the crossroads where the blues we know today was born.
I love all parlour guitars due to their focused mid-range tone that favours single-note lines and chunky acoustic blues tones. The L1 is the next-level acoustic that follows this description, made for the classic delta blues lover.
Playing it feels just like the century of blues they represent—yet. It’s not the guitar you would want to accompany vocals with powerful strums due to the small body.
Gibson ES-355
The 335 is the blues guitar that can do everything, likely beating the Strat for versatility. The instrument that BB King turned into his faithful Lucille is a synonym for the warm, sustained bends that shifted blue from the delta to the mainstream.
Later on, the guitar was picked up by the hands of the greatest session guitarist of all time, Larry Carlton. You can hear the swift mixture of blues, jazz and rock that the ES-335 helped invent in the Steely Dan records of the day – all thanks to the versatility of the guitar and the hands that played it.
I recommend a 335 to anyone, no matter the genre – especially if your playing has even the slightest touch of blues. It’s an investment that pays back in years of endless tones. If the flagship model
Epiphone Casino
Did the Beatles play the blues? This is the question that arises when an Epiphone Casino is seen on this list. The instrument is best known for being used by George Harrison and John Lennon, yet blues giants like Keith Richards and Howlin Wolf turned it into a blues.
The Casino’s legacy proves that an affordable Epiphone can overshadow a Gibson if it falls into the right hands. Nonetheless, the Casino is built care as the finest Les Paul Custom, yet is accessible to intermediate blues players unless it’s a vintage model from the 60s or the newer Gibson reissue.
This hollow-body semi-acoustic guitar has a unique sparkle and clean woody tone, which implies a certain blues era on the first days of the electric guitar. While it’s perfect for the blues of the period, it might not be the best choice if you lean toward the rock side.
Other Iconic Guitars
Gretsch
I read a quote once that went like this: ‘If it ain’t been in a pawn shop, then it can’t play the blues.’ The first thought in my mind after reading this was a fancy Gretsch that has never been out of the collector case or sold off to anyone who didn’t keep it in mind condition.
The blues is rough, but Gretsch guitars are not, and even though not many associate Gretsch with blues, they make for exceptional guitars for the genre. Rolling down the tone knob slightly and picking with the right dynamic can get all the edge-of-breakup sound blues guitarist use.
I’d recommend this for plays exploring the extremes of blues, either the classic hollow-body style or the rock’ n’roll Angus Young blues.
As you might have guessed, Gretsch is expensive, but the Streamliner new series is not. Even though they don’t have the same fines, the sound and feel are exceptional.
National Reso-Phonic Guitars
To end the list, I choose the most ‘special’ blues guitar, which many associate with bluegrass and old-style country.
Resonators are unique acoustic instruments that produce a metallic bright tone. They were very popular during the Delta days of blues with a slide. The sonic range can drift from that high end to very low, making them good for dark, moody blues playing.
Before picking one, there’s much to know about Resonators, yet the one I choose here is as legendary as they get. A fair warning: They are an acquired taste and are not for everyone.
Final Words – Don’t Overthink It
The beautiful thing about the blues is that there are no prerequisites to it. Today, there are even fewer than there ever were, with pedals, amps, and digital models able to get so much out of any guitar.
If you feel you like a guitar but are worried that perhaps you might not be able to get the tone just right, there are wise ways to hot rod it, pedals to boost it and all sorts of other risks. Go by, feel, and you won’t be disappointed.
FAQ
Question: What Are The Best Blues Guitar For Beginners?
Answer: Any affordable guitar that can stay in tune does not have high-output pickups and gives you the right feel is good for beginner blues players. I would recommend an Epiphone from Gibson, a quality Squier or Fender Player series, and the New Gretsch semi-hollow body streamliner guitars.
Question: What Are The Best Guitars To Play With a Slide?
Answer: Resonator-style guitars and pedal steel guitars are meant to be played with a slide. For most electric guitars, all are fine as long as the action is high, yet many famous slide players prefer the Gibson SG and Telecaster.
Question: What Are The Most Famous Blues Guitar?
Answer: The most famous blues guitars areBB. Kings ‘Lucille, Peter Green’s Greenie, Alber Lee’s Flying, and Eric Clapton’s or Jimmi Hendrix’s Strat.
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