Heavy metal is a pretty vague term because it could include a lot of sub-genres that fall under the “metal” blanket…depending on who you ask, at least. There’s a lot of purists who say that heavy metal bands have to have singers (no screamers allowed), or have a contempt for any albums released after 1989.
However you choose to define the genre, we can agree that some of the best guitars were designed with heavy metal bands in mind. Quite a few modern big name guitar manufacturers got their start in the 80s thanks to endorsements from heavy metal guitarists.
A Heavy Decade
The 1980s was an explosive period for the electric guitar. The stage for metal was bigger and virtuoso players were put on a pedestal. Keeping up with the pace, guitar-makers put out a lot of radical/experimental body styles in bombastic colors, and the hardware was designed with speed in mind.
We’ve compiled the most popular heavy metal guitars based on a database of all heavy metal bands and their guitarists – with particular focus on ‘classic’ heavy metal bands. The results give us a balanced list of the most popular guitars in the genre without any bias in the selection.
Some of the results were surprising – check out the conclusions summary at the bottom when you’ve finished!
The best heavy metal guitar’s by popular vote:
ESP – M-II
Notable Players:
- Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
- Richard Z. Kruspe (Rammstein)
- Craig Goldy (Dio)
Jackson – Dinky
Notable Players:
- Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
- Scott Ian (Anthrax)
- Phil Collen (Def Leppard)
- Doug Aldrich (Dio)
Jackson – Soloist
Notable Players:
- Jeff Hanneman (Slayer)
- Doug Aldrich (Dio)
Jackson – JS32 Rhoads
Notable Players:
- Phil Campbell (Motörhead)
- Robbin Crosby (Ratt)
- Marty Friedman (Megadeth)
- Scott Ian (Anthrax)
- Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
- Sam Totman (Dragonforce)
- Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne)
Jackson – King V
Notable Players:
- Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)
- Robbin Crosby (Ratt)
Fender – Stratocaster
Notable Players:
- Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)
- Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
- Rudolph Schenker (Scorpions)
- Matthias Jabs (Scorpions)
- Andreas Kisser (Spultura)
- Wolf Hoffman (Accept)
- Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest)
- Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple)
Charvel – San Dimas
Notable Players:
- Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
- Andreas Kisser (Sepultura)
- Warren DeMartini (Ratt)
- Christian Martucci (Stone Sour)
Kramer – Baretta, Pacer
Notable Players:
- Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
- Joe Satriani
Gibson – Explorer
Notable Players:
- Glen Tipton (Judas Priest)
- James Hetfield (Metallica)
- Matthias Jabs (Scorpions)
Gibson – SG
Notable Players:
- Angus Young (AC/DC)
- Tony Iomi (Black Sabbath)
- Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
Gibson – Les Paul
Notable Players:
- Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest)
- Brian Robertson (Motörhead)
- Richard Fortus (Guns N’ Roses)
- Slash (Guns N’ Roses)
- Adam Jones (Tool)
- Paul Landers (Rammstein)
- Jay Jay French (Twisted Sister)
Gibson – Flying V
Notable Players:
- Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)
- Michael Schenker (Scorpions)
- Rudolph Schenker (Scorpions)
- James Hetfield (Metallica)
- Wolf Hoffman (Accept)
- Kerry King (Slayer)
- Eric Peterson (Testament)
Signature Shredders
And now we get to the shred gods of the heavy metal era – you’ll note that Ibanez sweeps the board. If the signature model prices are too high, you’re guaranteed to find a mid-priced model of very similar specifications and the same build shape. Ibanez has made it a mission to dominate the midrange market, and has set the bar for midrange quality in doing so.
Ibanez – FRM200
Notable Players:
- Paul Gilbert
Ibanez – PGM333
Notable Players:
- Paul Gilbert
Ibanez – JS2450
Notable Players:
- Joe Satriani
Ibanez – JEM
Notable Players:
- Steve Vai
The aforementioned interesting conclusions (based on the data)
Some signature models and very slight variations counted as votes toward a particular model. Charvel & Kramer are surprisingly rare these days compared to the influence they had in the 80s – just take a look at Kramer’s endorsement list.
After compiling all the data to make this list, there were some interesting conclusions to be made looking over the spreadsheet:
- ESP has made a massive effort to endorse as many heavy metal bands and guitarists as possible. The reason they don’t appear on this list more is because they’ve gone overboard with making signature models for all of their artists. They could very well be the biggest guitar brand in heavy metal now, but no single model stands out on paper.
- [All Gibson buying links have been removed due to their poor manufacturing quality and marketing choices – 01/20]
Gibson guitars are clearly the most influential. There’s no need for them to be churning out signature models and endorsements, most of their models were icons of the genre right from the start. Most likely due to their early preference for humbucker configurations.
- Flying V-type models are extremely popular in the genre. A bunch of the guitarists who used a V-shaped guitar as their primary instrument also used other brands with the same style over the years.
- Jackson’s growth as a company has been almost entirely in thanks to the metal community – particularly in the 80s.
- Ibanez is, very surprisingly, appears to be under-represented in the heavy metal genre. It may have had a little to do with the timing (since this does focus on the more ‘classic’ era – 70s & 80s), or maybe their numerous lawsuits around that time were slowing them down. It’s likely just due to the fact that they weren’t the established brand they are today until the 80s when the likes of Steve Vai and co. took a chance with them. That’s one endorsement that certainly helped propel the company to new heights – all the other shredders soon found Ibanez to be the most suitable instrument for their style of playing too.
- Kramer was purchased by Gibson and there’s a fairly large 80s Kramer purist crowd – check out www.vintagekramer.com
- Stratocasters continue to be versatile – in terms of metal, it’s a little surprising to see a guitar model without a humbucker at the bridge.