Made in the USA - The Great American Guitar Brands

Is America the home of the guitar? What is it we love so much about American guitars?

These are interesting questions, because electric and acoustic guitars made in the USA are still the most revered, the most cherished and the most sought after in existence. Historical models, antiques, famous guitars and even just regular, contemporary production models: they all sit at the head of the banquet table, as it were.

Whilst the acoustic guitar has a long and complex history that seems to have originated in the Mediterranean, it’s probably fair to say that the electric guitar is indeed an American invention. America itself is a nation formed by its Native population and a planet’s worth of other nationalities who’ve come across and made the country what it is today. This might be why we all feel at least some association to the country, its music and the instruments made there. 

Who knows? That’s enough pontificating. What I’m here to talk to you about today are the greatest American guitar brands, via the areas they come from. Since so many brands are from California, I’ll make that state our final destination. Our journey, then, will begin in the Northeast, in a state famous for Stephen King and autumnal rural scenes…

Maine seems to be in a permanent state of idyllic autumn whenever you see it pictured. That leafy wholesomeness definitely helps sell the notion of American acoustic guitars, particularly those that are made in small numbers by a dedicated team of builders. It’s even more of a story when such guitars are made in an old pre-Civil War mill!

Yes, I’m talking about Bourgeois guitars, the brand who’ve been around for a while but who are making a bit of a stir over here in the UK right now. This is thanks to founder Dana Bourgeois’ ability to ‘tap tune’ the timbers used for his guitar tops, listening for resonant frequencies and carving the bracing to make the most of the resonances.

Bourgeois are old school American builders, and though they now have collaborative lines with Eastman guitars, they still handmake their own line of guitars every day of the week.

NYC is undoubtedly a music city, with so many significant bands and venues changing the world again and again over the years. In terms of guitar makers, though, it’s actually mostly small boutique places like Carmine Street guitars who actually build instruments there. ESP had a custom facility there in the 80s - a very famous one - but it is no more. Epiphone is one of New York’s most famous brands, but they’ve not been built there for decades, and the same is true for D’Angelico.

But fear not! Legendary instruments are still created in the Big Apple! Sadowsky basses come to mind first: their USA-made instruments are some of the best in the world, and the same can be said for Pensa guitars. Dire Straits fans will remember Pensa-Suhr masterpieces? Well, you’ll find Mr Suhr in the California section of today’s article, and Rudy Pensa’s brand right here. His guitars are built in small numbers in New York.

Martin are easily the most famous, most historical and most copied acoustic guitar brand on earth. They predate the American Civil War by decades, they’ve been on every major stage and studio there’s ever been, and they are rightly known as originators of several ‘standard’ acoustic guitar designs.

And they did it all (mostly) from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Ok, they started off in New York, but Nazareth is their spiritual home as well as actual one. Their premises has remained the same for over a century, expanding to fit requirements and now also including a museum next to their custom shop.  

If we are talking about American guitars, then they don’t come much more American than Martin.

Right at the point where the North becomes the South, you’ll find the state of Maryland. Maryland, home to a delicious fried chicken flavour and to the infamous Blair Witch. Reasons indeed for visiting the state, and if you needed another? PRS guitars. One of America’s top guitar success stories, Paul Reed Smith and his team are one of the very few brands in the last 50 years who’ve been able to offer an alternative to Fender and Gibson, have the public like it enough to buy it, and then see that support turn into a modern day classic.

It’s not an easy task, but for all of the brands out there who have sought to strike that point in between the two titans of electric guitars, PRS are maybe the ones who struck the balance just right.

Today, all S2, Core range PRS guitars and above are made in Stevensville Maryland.

I wonder if you’ve ever heard of a guitar brand called ‘Gibson’ before? They’re from Nashville, Tennessee and they’ve been in the game for quite a while!

Joking aside, Gibson are obviously the biggest guitar export from Tennessee, though they actually started out in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The move to Nashville occurred in 1974, where they’ve been ever since. There was a Memphis premises for many years too, but all electric guitar building is focused in Nashville these days.

Whilst in town, why not visit the famous RCA Studios where Elvis ‘The King’ Presley shook his legs and sang, the Honkeytonk Highway or indeed the wealth of musical museums that dot around town. Take in a show at the Ryman Auditorium, and no doubt bump into a certain Joe Bonamassa, who lives nearby and is known to quite like guitars.

The name Bill Collings is enough to make most guitarists in the know stare off into the distance in a reverie. A boutique builder whose motto was ‘no shortcuts’, Collings created both acoustic and electric guitars that equalled and then bettered the classics from which he took his inspiration. Bill sadly passed away in 2017 but his company remains, and are as steadfastly committed to his vision as he was.

Texas is of course a great state for music, and if ZZ Top and SRV aren’t your thing, there’s a great underground scene for punk and metal. Pantera were from the Lonestar state, after all! 

I said that all Gibson electric guitars are made in Nashville, but not all Gibson guitars. For their glorious acoustic guitars, you’ll be heading pretty far northwest to Bozeman, Montana. Pack an extra layer for Bozeman: it’s a beautiful city, but it gets the cold quicker than most any other place. 

This city is more of a live session, open mic sorta place, so you’ll likely have a few opportunities to take to the stage yourself, if you’ve a mind to do so. Gibson have been making their acoustic guitars here since the late 80s, when they bought out the Flatiron mandolin company. Gibson acoustics surely need no explanation, right? They look like works of art, sound incredible and are only slightly behind Martin in the 'legendary influence' stakes. Maybe equal to them, in fact!

And so we arrive in the Sunshine state of California. The land of Hollywood, Big Sur, the other Venice and possibly the world's highest concentration of quality guitar brands. Historically, this is the home of Fender, and the place where modding culture and Superstrats came from.

Fender are still here, and still the biggest guitar company in the world. They now look after fellow Californian brands Jackson, Charvel and EVH, with their headquarters split between Los Angeles and Phoenix, AZ. Their US factory is in Corona, a town that is just over the back of Anaheim and the Black Star Canyon.

Outside of Fender and its extra companies, California boasts a number of excellent guitar builders who create at least some of their instruments on American soil. Here are a few that spring to mind for me:

• Rickenbacker - Santa Ana
• Ernie Ball Music Man - San Luis Obispo
• Suhr - Lake Elsinore
• Tyler - Los Angeles
• Taylor - El Cajon
• Santa Cruz - Guess where?
• LSL - Los Angeles
• Schecter - Los Angeles

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few but you get the idea: California is rife with excellent guitar companies! It must be the weather…

I suppose it’s true, really. The electric guitar really IS American. From Rickenbacker’s Frying Pan in 1935 to Leo Fender’s Broadcaster in 1950, the story of electric guitars is mostly an American one, in heritage terms at least.

But America is also home to the most prized acoustic guitars, too: Taylor, Martin, Gibson and Santa Cruz all come from different parts of the US, and they are amongst the most sought after acoustics on the planet.

California reigns supreme for sheer numbers of great guitar companies, but our journey today has hopefully shown that amazing instruments can be had from all quarters of the US. And that obviously doesn’t take Canada or Mexico into account, either!

But these are the Great American Guitar Brands. I hope you found some of your favourites in there.