As 2024 draws to a close, online gear retailer Reverb has maintained tradition by announcing its best-selling electric guitars of the year.
As always, three lists have been supplied – one for overall best-sellers, the best-selling used guitars, and best-selling new releases for 2024 – and, as is usually the case, the results make for rather interesting reading.
Perhaps the biggest headline is the fact that, for the overall list, the once-dominant PRS SE Silver Sky has slipped two places in the rankings to third position, having comfortably held down the top spot for Reverb’s best-selling lists in 2022 and 2023.
As Reverb notes, though, that may have been slightly skewed by the fact that the two guitars that came above it were the Fender Player Telecaster (ranked at no. 1) and the Fender American Professional II Stratocaster (no. 2) – two models that received generous discounts over the year, making them even more accessible to players.
The Player Tele, for example, is to be discontinued in favor of the updated Player II iteration, while the American Pro II Strat – usually $1,800 – has had its price reduced, perhaps pointing to a coming range update.
“The PRS SE Silver Sky, after leading our overall best-selling guitars list for two years, did not come in No. 1 in 2024,” explains Reverb.
“It was nudged out by the Fender Player Telecaster and Fender American Professional II Stratocaster, which were both widely available for discounts this year compared to their previous retail price tags.”
The rest of the list makes for largely familiar reading for those who have been following these roundups for the past few years, but there are some significant movers.
Gibson, for example, has two new entries on the list: the SG Standard and SG Standard ’61. Interestingly, neither of those two cropped up in last year's overall rundown.
What’s more, Squier seems to have a reduced representation this time out (potentially due to those Fender discounts) with only the ever-present Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster retaining its space. The Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster and Classic Vibe ’60s Jazzmaster both drop off, making way for the Fender JV Modified ’50s Strat HSS and American Ultra Strat, which was absent last year.
The rest of the top 10 is made up of bread-and-butter guitars, with the ESP LTD EC-1000 once again holding down its place alongside the likes of the Fender American Vintage II ’61 Strat, Gibson Les Paul Standard (both ’50s and ’60s variants) and a handful of PRS guitars, including the SE David Grissom signature, SE Custom 24 and Silver Sky proper.
This year, the more interesting list of Reverb’s three is by far the one that pits 2024’s newest releases against one another.
There have been some blockbuster guitar launches this year, so it might come as a surprise that neither the new Player II range nor the Dave Grohl’s Epiphone DG-335 – widely recognized as one of the most anticipated signatures of recent years – didn’t take top spot.
Instead, it is the PRS SE CE 24 Standard Satin that tops the list. However, when you consider that this is the most affordable CE guitar that the Maryland brand has ever produced – and the fact Guitarist gave it a faultless five-star review when it launched – the outcome is less surprising.
It’s followed by Fender’s made-in-Indonesia Tom DeLonge Starcaster, and then the DG-335, which sits in third.
Other notable entries include the Squier Hello Kitty Stratocaster, which has already sold out after it was launched mere weeks ago, the updated Fender Player II Telecaster and Stratocaster, and the Epiphone Inspired By Gibson Custom ’59 ES-335.
The overall best-seller list can all be found below, and more information can be found over at Reverb.
Overall Best-Selling Electric Guitars of 2024
- Fender Player Telecaster
- Fender American Professional II Stratocaster
- PRS SE Silver Sky
- Fender Player Stratocaster
- Fender American Professional II Telecaster
- Gibson Les Paul Standard '60s
- Gibson Les Paul Standard '50s
- PRS Silver Sky John Mayer Signature
- PRS SE David Grissom Tremolo Signature
- PRS SE Custom 24
- Fender American Ultra Telecaster
- Gibson Les Paul Classic (2019-Present)
- Gibson SG Standard (2019–Present)
- Fender American Vintage II '61 Stratocaster
- Gibson SG Standard '61 w/ Stop Bar Tailpiece (2019 - Present)
- ESP LTD EC-1000
- Fender American Ultra Stratocaster
- Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster
- Fender American Standard Stratocaster (2008–16)
- Fender JV Modified '50s Stratocaster HSS
