5 Guitar Manufacturers that Aren’t Gibson or Fender

The next person that approaches me and tells me how he’ll never play anything but a Gibson is going to force me to binge-drink myself into oblivion. And, if you’re a regular reader of my articles, you know how messy that can get. The same goes for whoever says the same about Fender. Are you trying to tell me that in the eighty or so years since the advent of the electric guitar that no one but these two companies have gotten it right? I’m calling shenanigans on that one. There’s plenty of other axes out there for anyone willing to pull their heads out of the sand long enough to take a look.

RICO JR. 

 If you’re looking for something with a bit of an edge, you got guys like Rico Jr. who are willing to try something new. Weather it be exotic-looking pieces like the Vixen or the more-straight forward Phat Daddy, every guitar has its roots in the need to create something different. It’s called innovation. It’s the reason why we moved out the caves. You got new bloods like Misha Mansoor of Periphery crushing skulls with his Rico Jr. Jekyll 727. If it’s good enough for him…

Minarik

 Every guitar here is a work of art. The Inferno looks like, well, an inferno, and the Diablo looks like it could’ve only come out of the darkest depths of hell itself. These wont provide you with that classic Les Paul tone. But who cares? You’ll look so good wielding them that nobody’s gonna forget your name.

B.C. Rich

If checking out Rico Jr. wasn’t enough, why don’t you go to the company that his daddy started. B.C. Rich has been around for over forty years. You know why, because they’re awesome! If you’re looking for beastly, why not try the Beast or the Warbeast if you’re really serious. If the darkest servant of hell himself, Kerry King, calls himself a B.C. Rich man, what else do you need? If you don’t have a stomach for the hardcore stuff, B.C. Rich also has an elegant side with pieces like the Mockingbird and the Eagle. They’re not as scary looking but still sound brutal. Besides, Fucking Slayer!

G&L

These guys are a particular favorite of mine. If you’re into Fenders and you haven’t played a G&L, then you have no idea what a Fender should sound like. What do you think the ‘L’ in ‘G&L’ stands for? It stands for Leo Fender. That’s right! After Fender had been sold off to CBS, he started G&L with his buddy George Fullerton. I’d put a G&L Legacy against any Strat any day of the week. And after playing an ASAT classic, the only thing you’ll want a Tele for is firewood. Alice in Chains guitarist, Jerry Cantrell, has his own signature model. And it has breasts.

PRS

Yet another favorite of old Knox. While they are really expensive, they are worth every penny. The tones that you’ll get from a McCarty with a pair of 5708s will make any Les Paul sound like it was sold as a blue-light special at the local mega-mart. And, unlike the Pauls that play like baseball bats, your fingers will move across the neck of a Single-Cut like Mercury himself blessed you with the abilities of supernatural speed. This is possibly the first guitar that’s so sexy, that I would probably have sex with it.