The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today

23rd Apr 2012 | 13:20

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The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Rasmus Standard S100
"A stripped-down, serious tool for amateurs and pros alike"

What is the best mid-price electric guitar? £1000 buys you a whole lotta axe. For a grand (or roughly $1500 US) you can buy a brand new instrument built for life on the road that will see you through hundreds of gigs and recording sessions.

Following on from our recent call to arms that saw you help compile a rundown of the 20 best budget electric guitars in the world today, it was time to crank things up a notch. You nominated dozens of killer electric guitars and we whittled those nominations down to a shortlist of 20 popular axes that are all available on the street for less than £1000/$1500.

You voted, you voted and you voted again. And now here are the results of our poll. Click onwards to see the 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today and find out which stellar six-string you crowned the winner. First up, here's something from the Suhr camp that's heavy on value...

Rasmus Standard S100

Read Guitarist's Rasmus Standard S100 review.

Read Total Guitar's Rasmus Standard S100 review.

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Vox SSC-55
"The sort of instrument that could become a real workhorse"

Read Guitarist magazine's Vox SSC-55 review.

BUY Vox SSC-55 currently available from:
UK/Europe: Gear4Music
USA: American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Schecter TSH-1
"A gene-splicing experiment that has paid off big time"

Read the Total Guitar review of the Schecter TSH-1.

Read the Guitarist magazine review of the Schecter TSH-1.

BUY Schecter TSH-1 currently available from:
USA: Full Compass | American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Gordon-Smith Graduate 60
"A guitar with the UK's own G-word on its headstock"

Visit Gordon-Smith for more on the Graduate 60.

To check out a more stripped-down singlecut from Gordon-Smith, read Guitarist magazine's review of the GS2-60.

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
ESP LTD MH-330FR
"A double dose of active pickup punch"

Read Total Guitar's ESP LTD MH-330FR review.

BUY ESP LTD MH-330FR currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann| Gear4Music
USA: American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Sterling by Music Man JP100
A John Petrucci signature model with "plenty to recommend it"

Read Total Guitar's Sterling JP100 review.

BUY Sterling by Music Man JP100 currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Line 6 James Tyler Variax JTV69
A Korean-made Variax with vibrato for added sonic authenticity

Read Guitarist's Line 6 James Tyler Variax JTV69 review.

BUY Line 6 James Tyler Variax JTV69 currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Sounds Great Music
USA: American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Yamaha Pacifica 611HFM
"A wholly versatile, mid-priced Pacifica with great style and tones to match"

Read Guitarist magazine's Yamaha Pacifica 611HFM review and hear it in action on video.

BUY Yamaha Pacifica 611HFM currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co.| Thomann | Gear4Music

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Gibson SG Special '60s Tribute
"Raw, inspiring and very cool"

Read Total Guitar's Gibson SG Special '60s Tribute review.

BUY Gibson SG Special '60s Tribute currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann| Gear4Music
USA: American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Charvel So-Cal Style 1
"The original hotrod is back!"

Read Guitarist's Charvel So-Cal Style 1 review and check it out on video.

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Fender Road Worn '60s Stratocaster
"This one has it all - feel and sound, a great neck and firm tonality"

Read Guitarist's Fender Road Worn '60s Stratocaster review.

BUY Fender Road Worn '60s Stratocaster currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass | American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
PRS SE Bernie Marsden
"If you like your singlecuts rooted in the '50s, you'll like this"

Read Guitarist magazine's PRS SE Bernie Marsden review.

BUY PRS SE Bernie Marsden currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Sounds Great Music| Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
PRS SE Custom Semi Hollow
"Gorgeously constructed all-rounder"

Read Total Guitar magazine's PRS SE Custom Semi Hollow review.

BUY PRS SE Custom Semi Hollow currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann
USA: Sweetwater | American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster
"Fender's Classic Player series offers astonishing value for money, and this tweaked vintage-style Tele is no exception"

Read Guitarist magazine's Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster review.

BUY Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Sounds Great Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass | American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Fender Classic Player '60s Stratocaster
"Custom Shop tweaks make this Classic Player a sure-fire hit"

Read Guitarist magazine's Fender Classic Player '60s Stratocaster review.

BUY Fender Classic Player '60s Stratocaster currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Gibson Les Paul Studio Faded
No frills but big on value and performance

Visit Gibson to check out the Les Paul Studio range.

BUYGibson Les Paul Studio Faded currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Gibson Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute
"If you've never owned a P-90-loaded Les Paul then this is the perfect guitar to fill the void. Be warned: you might just fall in love!"

Read Guitarist's Gibson Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute review.

Check out MusicRadar's First Look audio demo of the Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute.

BUY Gibson Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute currently available from:
UK/Europe:Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Gibson SG Standard
Good enough for Angus and thousands more, this is an icon

Read Total Guitar's review of the Gibson SG Standard Limited.

BUY Gibson SG Standard currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Fender American Standard Telecaster
"A great performer, especially for modern rhythm styles"

Recently revamped and updated for 2012, Fender's American Standard guitars are some of the world's most popular musical instruments.

Read Guitarist's review of the 2008 American Standard Telecaster.

Read the full specifications for Fender's new 2012 American Standard Series.

BUY Fender American Standard Telecaster currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Sounds Great Music| Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass | American Musical

The 20 best electric guitars under £1000/$1500 in the world today
Fender American Standard Stratocaster
"A pro-standard, modern gigging Strat"

Ladies and gentlemen, here is your winner. With just under 19 percent of the total vote, as American as cherry pie and roughly as popular, it's the Fender American Standard Stratocaster.

An industry standard by name and by nature, the American Standard Strat is the very definition of a workhorse guitar.

Read Guitarist's review of the 2008 American Standard Stratocaster, or check out the full specifications of the new-for-2012 models launched at Frankfurt Musikmesse.

BUY Fender American Standard Stratocaster currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Sounds Great Music| Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass | American Musical

Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section below...

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