Best-Selling Guitars, Market Trends & Insights from 2021 to 2024

Reverb.com, the humongous musical instrument buying and selling site, publishes a ranking of their best-selling instruments once a year. They’ve been doing it since 2021, so we have access to what happened in the guitar market (at least on that site) over the past four years.

I don’t mean to be a spoiler, but some brands went up drastically. Some others didn’t have any models pushing forward and went down several positions.

Yes, the guitar landscape has changed a lot.

In this post, we’re going deep into the market trends and the insights we can distill from the information Reverb gathered and shared with us so kindly.

This is all you need to know about the electric guitar market and its evolution since 2021.

Welcome.

What’s the Info on these Charts?

The info on these charts comes from Reverb. I bet you know the kind of online retail store we’re talking about. They sell new, used, and exclusive gear. This is a great pro regarding data analysis because we know what is going on in the entire market, not just with brand-new guitars.

I have to say one thing before we start. The rankings Reverb makes are based on total order count, which means the “actual number of items sold, not by the total price of sold items.” This means we’re not judging what instrument-making company makes the most money, but which sells more guitars.

Also, it excludes any items exclusively for sale on Reverb.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s have some fun with these numbers.

Overall Electric Guitar Sales

The 2021 Charts and Insights

Source: Reverb.com 2021 Ranking

Let’s start from the beginning, these are the numbers for the 2021 chart. This includes new and used guitars. On the top chart, you’ll find the number of guitars each of those brands had in the top 20.

The Fender and Squier models lead the chart with ease. Next comes Gibson/Epiphone with the same numbers as PRS, and, finally, ESP/LTD with one guitar, the EC-1000.

If you look at the second chart, you’ll see what the top 5 looked like in 2021. Leading the chart, you have the Player Series by Fender. These are the made-in-Mexico versions of the Telecaster and the Stratocaster. As a confessed Tele lover, I have a slight grin as I’m writing this because the Tele model took the pole position.

The one odd guitar that makes it to the chart in 2021 is the PRS Silver Sky. Mark this moment because another version of this guitar is going to come in strongly, very strongly in the following years.

Another thing to note is that the Silver Sky is the most expensive of all the models above. In the Fender line, the American Professional II is the only US-made Fender on the list.

Finally, what we have here is also one of the cheapest Squier models, the Affinity Telecaster (grin again), a beginner-oriented, inexpensive guitar made in Asia.

The 2022 Charts and Insights

Source: The 2022 Reverb.com Ranking

From 2021 to 2022, Fender/Squier lost one spot that went to PRS. The Gibson/Epiphone and ESP/LTD remained the same.

As for the top 5, my inside Tele lover was quite sad in 2022 because four of the five top-selling models are Stratocaster or Strat-like guitars (you could sing “Your body’s from another brand…” to John about the Silver Sky).

The SE version of the Silver Sky took the pole position, and the US-made version of the same guitar also made it to the top 5. This means that PRS had a big hit with this model.

On the one hand, yes, it has John Mayer’s signature on it, which would make it sell on its own. On the other hand, they outdid the makers, their version of Strat went above anything Fender (the creators of the design) did.

Can we give them the benefit of the novelty? Maybe the whole advertising campaign by PRS (which was huge) had its effect and those who couldn’t afford the US-made version went in-masse to buy the SE version out of curiosity?

We’ll see if these popped up in the used market in the following years.

Another important thing to notice here is that it’s the only Asian-made guitar in the top 5 because Squier got completely debunked and Epiphone didn’t make it up there this year either.

The 2023 Charts and Insights

Source: The 2023 Reverb.com Ranking.

By 2023, PRS had taken more room, and the big players were losing terrain to this new phenomenon. Yes, Fender/Squier gave up 2 more spots in the top 20 to make room for PRS models. The count still favors the brand with the big F, but the competition was coming close.

PRS created a Strat model with one of the best-known Strat players in the world. What all of us said was “Well, if it’s good enough for John, it must be a great Strat”. So, we could say that galloping over the fame of the Silver Sky, PRS managed to push up other models as well.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the chart, Gibson/Epiphone and ESP/LTD (the only Japanese manufacturer on this list) remain unmodified with 3 and 1 models respectively in the top 20.

The top-5 chart comes with a big surprise. Yes, the PRS SE Silver Sky still came out first, followed closely by the MIM Strat and Tele and the American Professional II Strat. Did you notice what guitar comes up in the fifth position? Yes, Gibson made its first top 5 appearance in 3 years. This guitar, the LP Standard ‘60s, features an easy-to-play slim taper neck.

But why did Gibson make it to the top 5 in 2023?

Well, a possible explanation was that there was a pivotal moment in 2023 when the brand confirmed Cesar Gueikian as the company’s president and CEO. His revolutionary take on the brand put Gibson back on the map through artist agreements, exciting new guitars, and a complete revamp of the brand’s online positioning.

But the story began a little earlier, in 2019, when the then-Chief Merchant Officer, Cesar Gueikian, hired Mark Agnesi from Norman’s Rare Guitars. A guitar salesman who ran the “Guitar of the Day” YouTube show, pouring decades of knowledge into short clips about old, vintage, new, and rare guitars.

Together, they designed the #MakeGibsonGreatAgain idea. Mark was hired to “re-imagining and implementing creative ways of delivering the Gibson experience” That was exactly what he did through Gibson TV, artists’ partnerships, and the Gibson Garage.

Through all that effort, a guitar with the price tag of a Gibson Les Paul Standard finally made it to the top 5. But that’s not all, because Gibson bet strongly on Epiphone’s ability to take over the mid-priced market.

Why? You might ask. Well, because mid-priced Fenders and PRSs were the best-selling guitars for years.

The 2024 Charts and Insights

Source: The 2024 Reverb.com Ranking

Just like the Phoenix that comes flying out of the ashes, Gibson/Epiphone had a huge comeback in 2024. They managed to steal two positions from PRS, making it very clear who they were after and securing the second place.

Let’s start from the beginning, the big news for Fender was the addition of another American Professional II guitar to the top 5. This means players with a big buck to spend on a professional-level guitar chose the brand with the big F. That said, the MIM version of their guitars was still driving the biggest sales numbers with the Telecaster (grin, big grin) taking the pole position.

As expected, the PRS SE Silver Sky is still part of the top 5. Although it lost the pole position to the Player Telecaster, it remained in third place. As a big blow to PRS, it lost its place to another Stratocaster, Fender’s US version of their most iconic guitar, the Professional II Strat.

Perhaps, because Paul knows Teles are making an amazing comeback to the music business forefront, he teamed up with Myles Kennedy to come up with a souped-up version of the Tele, the NF3 Myles Kennedy guitar.

Will it make it up to the top spots? That’s yet to be seen.

Finally, although Gibson lost its one spot in the top 5, it managed to include more models in the top 20. These were the usual Gibson Les Paul Standard ’60s and Gibson Les Paul Standard ’50s in the 6^th and 7^th positions respectively.

To those, we must add the Gibson Les Paul Classic (2019-Present), the Gibson SG Standard (2019–Present), and the Gibson SG Standard ’61 w/ Stop Bar Tailpiece (2019 – Present).

We could say that Gibson’s media efforts are paying off but not yet with the groundbreaking new models coming out of the company with the big G. We’ll see in the 2025 ranking if Epiphone carves a spot for itself there.

The Big Players

The big players, AKA, the biggest guitar brands on the planet, are still dividing the guitar market. We could say that the disruptive element is PRS Guitars, a fairly new brand taking over a big segment of the market.

Although in 2021, when the measurements started, the market was much more in Fender and Squier’s hands, that changed a lot until the 2024 measurements. New players made it to the chart and the economic efforts made by Gibson/Epiphone paid off.

But there’s one more catch when talking about brands because Fender covers a lot of sonic ground after making some key purchases in the past. This is the chart for the best-selling brands of 2024.

Fender participates in this list with 6 brands, Fender, Squier, Charvel, Jackson, EVH, and Gretsch. Although none of these other brands made it to the top 5, they’re still adding value to the brand with the big F.

The Gibson Family of Brands, as the company calls it, is made up of some heavyweights like Mesa Boogie amps, Kramer, and Steinberger. Yet, none of them made it to this list other than Gibson and Epiphone, so the brand with the big G takes only 2 brands.

Next, with the same number as Gibson comes ESP/LTD with their own designs and those of Schecter, a company Shibuya Hisatake, owner of ESP, acquired in 1987.

The final brand with subsidiaries on this list is Yamaha with their own guitars and Guild, a former Fender brand. The Cordoba Music Group bought it in 2014 and was purchased by Yamaha in 2023. With this purchase, the Japanese giants also secured DeArmond, Savarez, and Cordoba guitars among other brands.

Finally, the remaining brands that take one spot on this list are B.C. Rich, G&L, Ernie Ball Music Man (two additional brands founded by Leo Fender), Dean, and Harley Benton, Thomann’s (one of Europe’s biggest musical instrument retailers) inexpensive line of instruments.

Best-Selling Models

Although the market still comes up with different takes on classic designs, the top 5 from 2021 to 2024 are still populated by timeless models. The ones that sell the most are Stratocasters and Telecasters, whether they are made by Fender/Squier or other brands, like PRS.

The Gibson model that made it once to the top 5 is, perhaps, the company’s most classic design of all time, the Les Paul.

We can say that the best-selling models are timeless guitars with a signature sound that’s been recorded and heard live for decades. Guitar innovation hasn’t made it up the ranking to the top spots, at least not yet.

New vs. Used Electric Guitar Sales

What we saw and discussed above was the data belonging to the overall guitar sales per year. Those charts didn’t make any distinction between brand-new and used electric guitars. What we’re about to see is the difference between those.

Before that, I must make some comments:

• The best-selling used electric guitars ranking was first published in 2023 by Reverb, so we have used data for 2023 and 2024 only.
• In 2022 and 2024, the platform published only a “New guitars released this year” ranking. That’s what we’re using for insights and calculations in those years.
• In the first year of the rankings, 2021, it was only the “best-selling electric guitars”, so we’re not taking that into our calculations.

2022

We already spoke about the overall best-selling guitars in 2022, but what we can add now is the best-selling guitars released that year.

The top position of the SE Silver Sky isn’t at all a surprise. What does surprise us is that the chart has two Japanese brands and none of the best-selling guitars are US-made, contrary to what happens in the overall ranking (the chart on your left).

The second place is for the baritone custom Telecaster and the third place is for Fender’s new (and outrageously-pointy) Mexican-made Meteora. This is big news. In a market in which traditional shapes took over completely, these disruptive models making it to the top 5 isn’t big news; it’s huge news.

Finally, the Yamaha Revstar II, perhaps thanks to Matteo Mancuso’s virtuosity and exposure, takes fourth place ahead of the groundbreaking Tim Henson Signature Guitar by Ibanez.

The difference between these charts might mean that, although most companies are pushing the boundaries with new, revolutionary instruments, people tend to buy timeless classics more.

2023

The comparison of the year 2023’s charts gives us a big, very big difference.  These are new guitars versus used guitars.

Let’s begin by saying that companies making guitars only get money from the chart on your left. The guitars on the chart on your right will only leave money to the retailer.

The PRS SE Silver Sky is no surprise at the top position, and neither are the Fender models below. Perhaps, the PRS SE DGT might surprise you. Nevertheless, the DGT, released in 2007 originally, has never been discontinued. It’s been a steady model pushing PRS forward. The release of an affordable SE model was big news in 2023, and it sold accordingly.

The used market, on the other hand, is topped by the Gibson Les Paul Standard ‘60s. This is Gibson’s flagship guitar. Can we think that people think it’s too expensive (or simply can’t afford it) at its original retail price but love the instrument? Because guitar players who choose a Telecaster or a Strat don’t want a Les Paul; there’s a huge sound difference there.

So, spots one and four being Gibson guitars tell the brand their guitars are awesome but out of reach for many.

Also, those PRS Silver Sky SE and Fender Player Series people bought started showing up in the used market. Maybe some of those sales pushed the selling numbers of the American Professional II Series? It’s possible because moving from the Player Series to the American Professional is the logical step up in the Fender line.

2024

As said before, the charts for the years 2022 and 2024 reflect only new guitars released that year.

Looking at the chart on your left, the effect is similar to the 2022 comparison. The best-selling new guitars released in 2024 are all different, disruptive, wild designs.

Firstly, the PRS CE 24 Standard Satin isn’t a common PRS guitar because it’s bolt-on and doesn’t have a maple top over the mahogany body. The Starcaster Fender did for Tom DeLonge is an amazing one-pickup instrument, but it’s a hollow-body Fender guitar with one humbucker to play punk with loads of distortion. A rarity indeed.

The big news is Dave Grohl’s Epiphone signature making it to the top 5, which marks the disembark of Gibson’s mid-priced guitars to the top 5. Gibson/Epiphone invested heavily in this market segment in the past five years, and, according to this ranking, it’s starting to pay off.

To finish off this chart, the SE NF3 is the closest you can get to the Silver Sky with a more purely PRS DNA. That DNA is in the Narrow Field pickups (yes, that’s where the guitar’s name comes from, duh!). This is a bolt-on, Strat-like instrument with noiseless pickups and many sonic possibilities.

Finally, the Hello Kitty Squier and all its paraphernalia caused an earthquake upon release and earned this instrument a spot as the top 5 best-selling guitars released in 2024.

The chart on your right is completely different from the one on the left. It’s no surprise that the best-selling overall electric guitar models are close to or the same as the best-selling used guitar models. Plus, the guitars that have been selling steadily for the past four years are now going into different hands in the used market.

For example, those who bought the PRS SE Silver Sky are now selling because it tops the used-gear best-selling list. I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing, because it might mean people felt the urge to buy it when it came out but then wanted to move on. It can also mean that people who couldn’t afford it brand-new went for it when it was reduced in price in the used market.

Finally, the Gibson Les Paul Standard ‘60s is another statement of people loving Gibson and not being able to afford it at new retail prices.

The Mid-Priced Market Boom

Most of the guitars that came up on the rankings we just saw (new and used) belong mainly to the mid-priced market. These are guitars by the biggest names in the business but priced at an affordable price so hobbyists, amateur players, and enthusiasts can enjoy them too.

Up until 2021, Fender owned that market with its powerful Player Series guitar. These made-in-Mexico guitars were the continuation of the Squier line and were priced sensibly less than their US-made counterparts.

I, as someone who worked at a Fender dealer for years, can say that they’re bestsellers. I opened many boxes of MIM guitars while the US-made models were not selling as fast.

I’m not saying they sound or play like the more expensive versions, but they do grant you an immense bang for the buck. You can have a righteous Stratocaster or (hopefully) Telecaster for half the price a US-made guitar would cost you and it’ll look and play like the real thing.

In my opinion, it takes the hands and ears of a seasoned player to enjoy the nuances separating those guitars from their US-made counterparts.

Recently, PRS became a competitor for these guitars with their expertly crafted SE guitars. They don’t sound, look, or play like the real thing, but will cost you a quarter of the price and will give you many years of fun and enjoyment. This is especially true about the PRS SE Silver Sky, topping the charts for two years in a row.

Another brand that invested very heavily in this market segment was Gibson/Epiphone. They even added some guitars in the Epiphone line with the traditional open-book headstock, which was exclusive to Gibson.

Moreover, the partnership with Kirk Hammett to release the Greeny and the endorsement of rock icons like Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and Dave Mustaine (Megadeath) might mean they’re making a stellar comeback and trying to equip young players of the coming generation with Epiphone/Gibson instruments.

The Dave Grohl Signature is a great example of this move as are the Firebird models (single pickup, double pickup, and dual-pickup with vibrola), and the 1959 ES-355 (with Custom trapezoid on the open-book headstock). These are guitars that would cost you, at least, three times more if they said “Gibson” on the headstock.

The biggest names in the market are fully aware of the mid-priced boom and are aiming all cannons at the epicenter of it, joining the battle for the pole position.

What Can We Expect for 2025?

Since the mid-priced market has been a heavy-investing hub for the big names in electric guitar research and development, it has become crowded with great guitars at affordable prices.

Well, this year’s NAMM brought a huge surprise for everyone from our fine folks at Fender. They just released a $599-priced line, made in Indonesia with the Fender logo on the headstock called Fender Standard (read my review). This means they just changed the game again by moving the benchmark to an even lower price.

On one hand, this might mean that the Player Series guitars made in Mexico can become a pricier instrument. On the other hand, Fender just made available their most traditional models to all the people who want to play them but can’t afford to buy them.

Could this be Fender’s response to the Player Series being among the best-selling used instruments? Let’s not forget that Fender doesn’t make one penny out of the used guitar market.

Along the same line, will Epiphone or PRS offer a new version of their instruments with a drastic price cut just like Fender did? Or will they choose to elevate the game and outdo Fender’s Standard Series with pricier instruments offering groundbreaking, appealing options?

Finally, Gibson’s race to the top might mean a plethora of their timeless classics become available at the less-than-a-grand market and are bought massively by mid-tier players.

Whatever 2025 brings in terms of electric guitars, I think companies’ biggest efforts will be aimed at the low-to-mid-priced market.

The Bottom End

The guitar market changed dramatically after the big push the pandemic gave big companies. Although most are making a big effort to put out revolutionary, new designs, the vast majority of players buying from Reverb are after the timeless classics.

Speaking of which, companies like Fender, Gibson, and PRS are trying to conquer those who want a good guitar at a price they can pay. Therefore, the mid-priced market is packed with high-selling instruments.

We saw very few low-priced guitars on these rankings and no guitars belonging to the Custom Shop of either of these companies. Perhaps, when the players who started with the Player Series, the PRS SE, and the Epiphone guitars want something more, they’ll buy higher-tier guitars? That’s a possibility, but another possibility is that they found their ceiling and are keeping those guitars to mod them or get years of playing joy from them.

We’ll have to wait until Reverb publishes the 2025 ranking to see if Fender’s move and Gibson’s effort change the current landscape or are futile.

Happy playing!