Look, Fender and Gibson are brilliant. Nobody’s disputing that. The Stratocaster is one of the greatest objects ever designed by a human being, and a Les Paul through a loud amp is basically a religious experience.

But here’s the thing. Walk into any guitar store in the country and what do you see? Row after row of sunburst Les Paul copies and baby blue Strats. The big two have such a gravitational pull on the market that it’s easy to forget there’s an entire universe of incredible guitars out there, made by brands who have spent decades (sometimes over a century) doing things their own way.

Some of these brands are beloved by working musicians and kept deliberately quiet, like a great local restaurant you don’t want to see get too popular. Others are hiding in plain sight, endorsed by artists you know and played on records you’ve had on repeat for years.

Here are the ones worth knowing about.

PRS (Paul Reed Smith)

If you’ve never played a PRS, you are genuinely missing out. Paul Reed Smith started building guitars by hand in the late 1970s, famously convincing Carlos Santana to try one by showing up uninvited at a concert. That kind of audacious belief in the product tells you everything.

PRS guitars sit in this beautiful middle ground between a Gibson’s warmth and a Fender’s snap. The playability is exceptional across the whole range, from the flagship Custom 24 down to the more affordable SE series.

The bird inlays are polarising. You’ll either love them or think they’re a bit much. Either way, you’ll play the guitar and forget about the inlays entirely.

Who plays them: Carlos Santana (obviously), John Mayer, Mark Tremonti, Mike Mushok.

Best for: Players who’ve felt like they have to choose between Gibson and Fender and resented the question.

Gretsch

Gretsch has been making guitars since 1883. That’s not a typo. They were building instruments before anyone alive today was born, and the hollow and semi-hollow bodies they became famous for in the 1950s still look and sound utterly unlike anything else on the market.

There’s a natural warmth and a slight looseness to a Gretsch that you either fall in love with immediately or find a bit unruly. Chet Atkins built his entire career around one. Brian Setzer plays them exclusively. Jack White has used them to make some of the noisiest records of the last twenty years.

The Electromatic series offers a genuinely affordable entry point if you want to try the feel before committing to a White Falcon (which, yes, is as spectacular as it looks).

Who plays them: Brian Setzer, Jack White, Neil Young, Eddie Cochran.

Best for: Rockabilly and country players, or anyone who wants to walk into a room and have people ask “what IS that?”

Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker is one of those brands that sounds like nothing else. Literally nothing else. That bright, jangly, almost 12-string-esque chime is so distinct that you can identify it within two seconds of hearing it.

The Beatles played them. Tom Petty played them. The Byrds essentially invented a whole genre around that sound. Later, bands like R.E.M. and The Jam kept the tradition going.

Rickenbackers are a bit quirky to play if you’re used to conventional neck profiles, and they’re not cheap. But they occupy a sonic territory that no other guitar does, which makes them worth serious consideration if you’re chasing that chimey, melodic tone.

Who plays them: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Pete Townshend, Roger McGuinn.

Best for: Players who want to jangle. Gloriously, unapologetically jangle.

G&L

Here’s one that deserves far more attention than it gets. G&L was founded by Leo Fender himself after he sold Fender to CBS. He literally took everything he’d learned from building the Stratocaster and Telecaster and started over, making what many players consider his best work.

G&L guitars look familiar because they should. But the hardware, the pickups, and the build quality reflect decades of refinement. The ASAT (essentially their Tele-style guitar) and the Legacy (their Strat-style) are outstanding instruments that often undercut comparable Fenders on price while arguably outperforming them.

If you’re a Fender person who’s curious whether there’s a better version of your favourite guitar, G&L is the honest answer.

Who plays them: George Fullerton co-founded it, and the brand has a loyal following among session musicians and working guitarists who know their gear.

Best for: Fender loyalists who want something a bit special without straying too far from home.

Collings

Collings is what happens when an engineer decides that acoustic guitars aren’t being built to a high enough standard and decides to fix that himself. Bill Collings started building guitars in the 1970s out of a Houston garage and built a reputation so strong that Martin and Gibson started paying attention.

These are not budget instruments. A Collings acoustic will cost you, and it should, because the craftsmanship is genuinely extraordinary. The tone is clear, balanced, and responsive in a way that makes you play better simply by holding one.