Best Guitars for METAL 2025!
What are the best guitars for playing metal with?
Well…what type of metal? If you’ve checked out my Metal Sub-genres blog, you’ll know there are tons and tons of metal varieties out there. Do you need a different type of guitar for each sub genre?
No, not really. It’s tempting to simply say ‘go for something made out of mahogany with a humbucker in the bridge position’, but we all deserve a little better than that, don’t we? Whilst most guitars will - to some degree or another - give you a platform to play metal, I think we can all agree that some guitars are better suited to it than others, right?
Good.
So today, I want to grab a bunch of those guitars and bring them all together here in one place, so that we can have an excuse to blast some amazing tunes and decide on today’s ‘must have’ next guitar. I’ll include 7 and 8 string guitars alongside the expected 6-string axes, and brands will doubtlessly feature more than one model because we have no rules here, only METAL!
Onwards…
The Guitars at a Glance
Other great Ibanez Metal Guitars
Ibanez Iceman
- Classic, original look that hasn’t been ripped off too much
- Absolutely will not fit in a regular guitar case
- Guitar of choice for top heavy bands across the ages
I’m beginning with the Ibanez Iceman because it’s a style I have loved for many years. It is SO metal too, with bands like System of a Down and Meshuggah using them often. The band I most associate with the Iceman though is…no, not KISS! Come on, this is a blog about metal! No, the band I most associate with the Iceman would easily be White Zombie, the kickass metal band Rob Zombie was in back when he was good.
White Zombie’s guitarist Jay Yuenger had a sound that everybody in 1995 wanted, and a sparkly green custom Iceman with stars all over it. Subversive? Sure but also totally metal.
Today’s Icemen (Icemans?) are mostly geared towards a sort of 70s rock vibe, but Ibanez do have the rather excellent ICTB721 Iceman in their Iron Label range. It's a big brutal 7 string and it does not mess about.
The Iceman is distinctive and alternative, but also a classic from the 70s. It’s an underused and underappreciated gem of a guitar style!
Other great Ibanez Metal Guitars
- Ibanez are constant innovators
- Very influential and popular brand
- Famous quality control at all price points, not just top tier
Ibanez are one of the leading brands for metal axes, so I could write a list of a hundred suitable guitars here! I’ll pick a few examples instead:
Ibanez Universe: the original 7 string, developed by Vai but made famous by Korn.
Ibanez RGD: the definitive choice for metalcore bands in recent years. Extended range guitars tend to need a longer scale length, and these offer that with a cool modern take on the famous Ibanez RG 80s style.
LTD Snakebyte
- Stylish take on a classic shape
- The Signature model of one of metal's best-loved riff players
- Extremely comfy to play
- Sonically devastating
ESP are one of the huge metal guitar brands, with most players actually using their LTD sub brand, rather than the more expensive ESP label guitars. LTD is more affordable than ESP, but it’s not a Fender/Squier situation at all, given how expensive and professional LTD’s can be! There’s often not much space separating the two, these days.
Anyway, ESP/LTD are an obvious choice for inclusion here, and I also think that the ‘EX’ shape is a metal mainstay too. Obviously, I’m talking about James Hetfield here, whose truly iconic use of ESP EXs back in the day became an indelible image for metal.
This guitar shape was clearly the Gibson Explorer, and because Gibson objected to ESP lifting their design (fair enough), today’s Hetfield model has some redrawn lines and shapes to make it more unique. The LTD Snakebyte is the result, and it is so fun to play! This thing is designed for chopping out huge riffs, and sounds appropriately enormous. I also personally think the updated shape is a total winner as well. What say you?
Notable ESP Metal Guitars
- Hugely visible guitar brand for metal fans
- Confusing number of sub brands: most players stick with LTD
- Played by a number of the biggest acts in metal, from Metallica to Rammstein
Like Ibanez, most ESP guitars are perfect for metal. They offer a wide range, so here are some favourites:
EC1000: the LP-referencing Eclipse model is captured perfectly here in the EC1000. It’s a bit thinner and lighter than its inspiration, but no less mean. The one with the EMG pickups is the classic.
E-II Arrow NT: This is a very cool take on the Randy Rhoads offset V. ESP offer this shape across their ranges, and in a number of finishes and hardware options. I think this sleek, matte black number with through-body stringing is about as ‘metal’ as it gets. This is from the company’s higher-end E-II range, made in Japan. The quality is stonking.
Jackson 'Shapes'
- Several iconic guitars
- Hugely relevant to this day
- As copied as Gibson
- As with Ibanez, quality is high across the price points
- Cheap models as cool looking as the expensive ones
For Jackson, I’m not picking out one model. No, because Jackson have at least three ‘shape’ guitars that are all tying neck-and-neck for heavy metal supremacy, and I cannot decide which one is the best. Therefore, I’m going to equally salute the Kelly, the King V and the Randy Rhoads. In terms of which is ‘best’, that might depend on your budget. Jackson have a comprehensive range, so you might start with a Jackson JS32 King V (amazing value, totally fine for rocking on), then continue to a Jackson X Series Kelly, available in a bunch of very cool finishes, and then ascend to the Pro Series RRT-3, with top hardware and still reasonably-priced.
To top that off, you have the USA Jackson models, which are first-class metal machines! They’ve just released the Jackson American RR24 model, a delicious Rhoads with an unbelievable spec that includes Seymour Duncan pickups, a Floyd Rose tremolo, a compound radius ebony fingerboard and the all-important features: sharktooth inlays and a reverse headstock!
Gibson: The OG Metal Brand
- Every metal guitar brand has ripped off Gibson a bit at least
- Les Paul Custom is still the heavyweight champion for tone
- Several OG guitar shapes that now define metal
- Epiphone alternatives available as official replicas
Gibson should definitely get their dues as purveyors of metal guitars. As well as influencing the design of pretty much every metal guitar that isn’t a Superstrat, they are routinely used by some of the heaviest players in the world for that unmistakable crunch that only a Gibson seems able to give.
Black Sabbath, Mastodon, Zakk Wylde and endless others have turned to the power of a Gibson SG, Les Paul Custom, Explorer or Flying V to get that original richness. In fact, most heavy bands do at least some of their studio recordings with Gibsons, whether they tour with those guitars or not.
So, what are the most metal Gibsons? That’s easy to answer:
- Gibson SG Standard in Ebony: it’s an unprovable ‘fact’ that the black SGs sound heavier than the Cherry red ones.
- Gibson Les Paul Custom: that crazy body weight definitely translates into some of the thickest guitar tones in humanity.
- Gibson Explorer: huge mahogany sound, iconic style. No Explorer, no heavy metal. Simple.
- Gibson Flying V: see above. Also, it’s the most copied guitar design in the world that isn’t a sensible shape. The Flying V is as much a statement of intent as it is a musical instrument. Weirdly underrated.
Schecter Synyster Custom
Hear me out. I’m not the biggest Avenged Sevenfold fan, but this guitar is massively ‘metal’. Why?
- The Schecter Synyster Custom is a unique design that hasn’t overly ripped off anything else, but has lasted for over 20 years on its own merits. That is pretty metal.
- It’s absolutely enormous sounding, with daftly powerful pickups and a feel that encourages you to play in a very tasteless, over-the-top manner. SO metal.
- It has bats on the inlays, devil horns on the headstock, but then gets subversive with pinstripes on the body. Kinda like a King V with Polka Dots, right? METAL!
This guitar is not in any way caring if you like it or not, and it doesn’t give a hoot about fitting into any particular genre or scene. It is quite defiantly its own thing. I love that about it, and I also love that it is an extremely capable instrument: it’s very performance-friendly.
In some ways, the Schecter Synyster Custom is the most metal guitar there ever was.
Strandberg Boden 8 string
In recent years, lots of more technical metal bands have reapproached two notions: extended range guitars and headless guitars. Together, such features have appeared to spark off an entire trend/subculture. It’s a way for these modern musicians to quickly tell their audience that no, they will not be playing their dad’s music.
Headless guitars have been around before, and extended range guitars have been normal in metal for decades, but spearheading the two together was Swedish brand Strandberg. Strandberg are famous for having guitars with square necks (actually lovely to play on) and they’ve sort of cornered the market for those looking to buy a quality headless axe. Whether you are a Sleep Token fan, a Deftones fanboy (I know he plays a Kiesel ok?) or even a Plini-loving avant-garde jazzhead, I expect you’ll already love the Strandberg Boden 8. I want to highlight the Boden 8 string in particular, because this may be the easier 8 string guitar to play, and it sounds pretty ferocious.
How Metal Do YOU Get?
How was that for a list of metal guitars? Are you upset because I didn’t include the BC Rich Warlock? Stop crying about it: once they make one that’s metal enough for this list, I’ll consider reapproaching it.
And no, Strats are not metal in any way. I don’t care that Iron Maiden all use modded Strats or Superstrats: if it looks like it could belong on a stage with Dire Straits, then it’s not making this list, capiche? People listen with their eyes, and if you are serious about the metal, then make sure you hit the stage armed appropriately.
So, these are the guitars I’d recommend checking out if you want to mosh harder than a blood-soaked barbarian riding a dragon. There are others out there, but these ones are all guitars I can recommend personally. You don’t need to spend lots of money, thanks to brands like Jackson and Ibanez: they build great guitars for comparatively little cash alongside their grander creations, so there’s no need to miss out when it comes time to annihilate.
To the power of METAL!
