Every month, we’ll compile a few lists of gear that’s fresh out of the oven. Here’s one devoted to electric and acoustic guitars.
Fender Player Series
To be fair, this isn’t one instrument but over a dozen. Fender’s hyped-up Player Series replaces the existing MIM Standard line with Strats, Teles, a Jaguar, a Jazzmaster, J Basses, P Basses and a Jaguar Bass. Phew.
Eastwood Crestwood Astral II
Eastwood Custom Shop is producing a replica of Jack White’s rare, 1960s-era Crestwood Astral II, which he used on early White Stripes singles. It’s an eccentric, ES-335-shaped semi-hollow—with a Bigsby-style trem—that lovers of the garage rock guitarist will lap up.
Fender Limited Edition Jazz-Tele
The 2018 Limited Edition Jazz-Tele, from Fender’s Parallel Universe series, combines the looks of a Telecaster and the feature set of a Jazzmaster.
PRS Paul’s Guitar
Named after the PRS master luthier himself, Paul’s Guitar is a refined six-string that has pickups and electronics never before seen on a PRS instrument.
Cort CJ-Retro
Here’s a jumbo-sized acoustic-electric that marries bold, retro-inspired looks with modern components—all in a sub-$500 package.
Framus Stormbender Devin Townsend Artist Series
Previously only available as a Masterbuilt instrument, Devin Townsend’s signature six-string gets a more affordable Teambuilt edition that still crams in premium bells and whistles.
Fender Custom Shop Jimmie Vaughan Signature Stratocaster
The stars of this ’50s-style Strat are its custom-would JLV single-coils—they’ve been voiced to be rich and articulate, and have modified wiring to open up more tone-sculpting possibilities.
Danelectro ’66BT
It’s a Mosrite-inspired semi-hollow, with a baritone register, that also has a Wilkinson tremolo system.
Line 6 Shuriken Variax SR250
The high-tech SR250 is almost identical to the existing SR270, except it has a conventional 25.5-inch scale length rather than the latter’s 27 inches.
Solar Guitars A1.7 Artist LTD BOP
Seven-string fanatics will salivate over this stealthy axe. Its Black Open Pore finish flaunts the grain of its swamp ash body while keeping true to Solar’s understated aesthetics.
Albert Hammond Jr Stratocaster
This reissue of a ’72 Stratocaster comes installed with pickups voiced to emulate the raunchy tone of The Strokes guitarist, and has a quirky wiring system to boot.
Epiphone Prophecy Les Paul Custom Plus GX Outfit
This model caters to progressive players looking for more heft out of their Les Paul. Hotter humbuckers, a faster neck, a flatter fingerboard and a two-octave range set it apart from your everyday LP.