TOP GUITARS of 2023! - The Best and Most Surprising Guitars of the YEAR!

hey guys welcome back to the channel I hope you're all doing very very well today in this video I'm going to be looking at the best guitars of 2023 this is one of my favorite videos to do all year as we look back and talk about some of the best guitars that came through the studio this year let's jump in now the first thing to note is the guitars on my list are guitars I've played extensively in 2023 so it's not like a random list taken off the internet these are guitars that I have a lot of handson time with uh so that's the first thing I want to say and the second thing is the manufacturers have no idea uh that I'm doing the video or if they've made the list or not it's completely my personal opinion so these are my favorite guitars of 2023 here we go now guitar number one on my list I'm going to categorize as one of the biggest surprises of the year I was not expecting this guitar from this manufacturer that's for sure so what is it well this is as you can see a sheer now I love the Indonesian shter uh the Korean shter that kind of middle uh middle range and low range from sheer they make some incredible guitars but this one caught me off guard and that is because it is a Japanese made super Strat from shear as you can see it says crafted in Japan there as you guys know I love japanese-made guitars and this is a no compromise beautiful Japanese guitar from Shor and that just came straight out of the blue and yeah it's just a wonderful guitar um figured neck plays like an absolute dream all the the high-end specs you could dream of I'm not going to go into specs in this video because it's just my best of I'll link to all the guitars for specs uh you guys can just click on the link and see but like super versatile 5way switch pull out pots all that kind of stuff uh high-end trim just a joy to play so yeah that's my uh kind of one of my surprises of the year was a Japanese made super Strat from Sher check it out now the second guitar on my top guitars of 2023 as you can see from the birds is a PRS SE now the SE line is the quintessential mid-range guitar you know offering really great tones great playability for not like an insane price and the model that I picked for this year is the Mardi 594 what a guitar this is just stunningly beautiful for you know a guitar in this price tier they even included things like the mixed metal on the bridge and saddle some really nice high-end features uh coil Taps for added versatility whether you use them or not it's really nice to have and yeah just a very very classic look brought from The Core Series which as you guys know is super duper expensive down to the SE line so that we can finally afford a guitar like this um beautiful beautiful guitar and yeah definitely made my list for 2023 now guitar number three on my list of top guitars of the year is a very distinctive instrument now this is the Bal wingman such a cool guitar and in 2023 Bal really just kind of came out of nowhere seemingly and uh yeah it took the market by storm so obviously they have their very high-end Danish guitars these ones here are made in South Korea so some really good savings to be had and as you guys know I'm a huge fan of guitars in South Korea the quality controls excellent here we've got a really cool gold cream and white aesthetic beautiful inlays for the wingman the big so it all just comes together into a very unique and surprisingly playable guitar really well balanced because of that offset design it's a bolt-on neck with a satin finish on the back of the maple obviously so we've got some really good combinations going very playable very smooth um and just a Vibe unlike no other so this is the Bal wingman now the next guitar on my list for top guitars of 2023 is my pick for best budget guitar this is always a highly contested tested category because there's so many great budget guitars out there but this one really stood out so what is it and why do I like it well this is The Sire 3 Series so you can see the T3 Larry Carlton T3 by sire uh this also applies to the S3 which is the Strat style Body uh my nephew is currently playing on that one he loved that guitar quite a bit so he's playing on that so I still have the T3 here um but it also applies to the S3 now what do I like about it classic good looks but at at the same time we get things like Contours and a Slimmer heel joint right there as you guys can see nice Contours right in here really playable um rolled fingerboard edges satin Maple neck uh great sounding pickups all for a price that you kind of double check you're like is that actually the price of the guitar they're very affordable and very very beautiful instruments so this is The Sire 3 Series which is the brand new budget line from sire so the seven Series has been out for a while and that definitely turned some heads because hundreds of dollars less than like a player Series Strat but with features that rival much higher than that so there you guys go that's my pick for Budget guitar of the year The Sire 3 Series uh the T which is the T style and the S now along with the best budget guitar of the Year this category is also one of my favorites the best Innovative guitar of the year I really love to see what companies are doing to push you know what a guitar can be and evolve the instrument past winners have been you know amazing companies like relish like gyro just incredible guitars and this year is no exception this is from CI guitars an incredible instrument on first look you're like well it's just a straight ahead you know dual humbucker kind of retro inspired instrument and you'd be right and that's one of the things I like about it you just pick it up play it feels like an like totally normal instrument and I think uh looks really really good now the secret on the back is well a simple pull of the lever like this and your guitar has two joints in it and in the matter of you know if I do it fast one second your guitar goes into its gig bag uh packed into a crowded trunk if you're traveling into the overhead bin if you're you know flying all that kind of stuff tiny footprint from like uh you know a full scale guitar that feels totally normal to play and then yeah locks down in like 2 seconds you just grab the lever There You Go full tension and you play and when you're done that's it so incredible design the guitar sounds great um you know traditional humbucker is tone so you can cover a ton of ground on it but yeah just the design of it incredible guitar so this year uh yeah it goes to CR guitars for this incredible design next up on my list of top guitar guitars of 2023 is this absolute head turner this is the h150 from Heritage guitars and as you guys know up to 1957 uh all these guitars had P90s and then of course the humbucker was introduced in 57 but before that all P90s and this is like the perfect you know iteration of those early 50s guitars and Heritage as you guys know was making these guitars back then so very very cool so these guys no tradition they're all made in the exact uh same way and this of course is the custom core which is uh their high-end version um so no tiny little features overlooked very traditional guitar very very beautiful you play on it and like I said in my review you kind of feel like you're going into a time machine and just like hearkening back to uh you know those early days so stunning astonishing guitar the h150 P90 from Heritage next up is a japanese-made super Strat but without that insane super Strat price as most of you guys know you know a Japanese super Strat horrifyingly expensive lots of people would love to play them but they're just so expensive uh this brand brings that experience down so that more people can enjoy and uh yeah experience that Japanese made super Strat this is from vola what do I like about it uh number one high quality guitar really flat fingerboard for fast playing satin on the neck contoured heel joint right there uh very versatile you've got splits you've got a direct out dip switch kind of thing right there uh high quality trim system lightweight guitar supremely playable so if you want a Japanese made super Strat and you're like well I'm never going to be able to afford that uh check out vola because they've got some very affordable models uh that bring you that experience uh love that about them all right you guys next up are the the best mid-range guitars of 2023 and I've picked two for you guys one hollow body and one solid body there's so many amazing guitars in the mid-range it was so hard to pick uh but here are a couple of my favorites number one musicman Sterling ct50 plus now this guitar has since gone to one of my friends buddies he's playing on that guitar uh absolutely killer instrument the specs on it are amazing they have new higher output pickups with the boost control on that you know very very affordable guitar so incredible instrument so that's my pick for solid body guitar the ct50 plus I love that instrument uh the hollow body oh Feast your eyes on this yes this is a mid-range guitar absolutely stunning this year it got P90 pickups which again just brings the the Vintage Vibe even harder this thing brings it great playability great Construction uh this is again another sire guitar so this is from the seven series which is a little bit uh more expensive than that three series that we talked about earlier so this is from their Mainline uh beautiful beautiful instrument yeah like I said H7 with the P90s incredible guitar so this one and the Sterling ct50 plus uh my picks for uh mid-range guitars of the year you cannot go wrong with either of these and those brands in general and finally guitar number 10 my final favorite guitar of 2023 is my favorite custom instrument and yes this is an SG type body shape not something I ever thought I would love but this guitar is absolutely a joy to play Insane from like the really cool metal work on it the shotgun shell knobs you know the worn-off uh heavy duty Relic finish the block inlays like the wooden block inlays absolutely insane so what is it it is of course a powley what an incredible instrument this is like I said a little bit of a surprise actually a pretty big surprise you know I'm not an SG guy but I started playing on this guitar and everything from the playability to the balance that works to the tones that come out of it to the custom looks everything just hit me right there beautiful insane guitar check out petti if you haven't already in the past this one uh the Aesthetics and stuff were done uh by me so you can see the signature up on that uh headstock so I'm a little biased on this one but yeah incredible instrument for sure love it so that's my pick for custom guitar of the year so I just want to say a massive thank you to you guys for tuning in in 2023 what an incredible year it's been couldn't do it without you guys really appreciate each and every one of you uh thanks so much for watching have yourself an amazing Christmas break we'll be back in the new year with a bunch of new videos uh so tune in subscribe if you haven't done it other than that have a great break take care

Channel: Darrell Braun Guitar

Views: 129,853

Keywords: carbon fiber guitar, darrell braun guitar, Fender telecaster, fender stratocaster, epiphone vs gibson, epiphone vs schecter, heritage h-150, heritage vs gibson, GTRS guitar, GTRS p800, fireflt guitars, firefly guitar, valiant guitars, ABASI Larada, guitar comparison, fender vs gibson, fender vs squier, fender vsd prs, fender vs ibanez, gibson vs epiphone, schecter, guitar lesson, barre chords

Id: ziLYqaKq0k0

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 21 2023