Have very cool guitars designed for very cool people, including Slash, Emily Wolfe, Mark Lettieri, Alex Lifeson, etc...

What makes the signature guitar so popular? Is it fan service, celebrity honor? This is a theory. But looking at the top 10 this year, we may have different arguments.

There must be some very famous names here. The greatest fingerboard pyrotechnician of the past 40 years, the late Eddie Van Halen, has an iconic model on the last. Slash, the rock animal wearing a bowler hat, is here, and Alex Lifeson is also here. He might try to argue that he is not cool in that way of self-deprecating, but he is cool. 

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The problem is: these guitars don't have any ostentatious signatures. Anyone can pick them up. Perhaps this is why they are so attractive-a good signature guitar will never be overcooked. 

This is also a factor of design. The specifications of the players and their records let us know what kind of sound we can get from the guitar, at least as a launch pad. There will usually be more ideas and love into the specifications, something special.

For many of us, these signature guitars give us a chance to get something slightly different from regular models. They won’t make us cool, but we’ll be satisfied with a good-sounding, player-friendly experience and specs that don’t feel like in the menu. This brings us your favorite 2021 signature guitar. This guitar has a completely new shape and presents a series of sounds that further adopt the HSS S style format.

Mark Lettieri's PRS Fiore won the podium in our 2021 best new electric guitar poll with more than 30% of the vote. The world is clearly ready for high-end electric guitars, which can cover almost any style you can put into it.

Fiore is composed of a sturdy bog ash wood body and bolt-on maple neck. It is a typical and extraordinary guitar making feat of Paul Reed Smith, and has updated the Superstrat format of the 2020s.

If you use a bridge humbucker, these may be the roars of the 1920s, but there is something special about the balance of these pickups. 

On some HSS formats, humbucker overwhelms the single coil, and the pickup combination seems a bit "n" mixed. This is something completely different, Fiore's control circuit allows you to use the pickup in an inspiring way.

MusicRadar conclusion: an impeccable multifunctional S style that makes full use of its HSS pickup configuration through the most imaginative control circuit. Mark Lettieri's iconic Fiori believes that PRS has achieved great success.

Read more: PRS Fiore review

Alex Lifeson’s iconic Les Paul Axcess can be said to be the most versatile version of the classic Solidbody Singlecut. 

It has a Graph Tech Ghost dual lock vibrato, placing pitch screams and swoop bombs on the menu. It has a wide heel carving, allowing you to pass to the 17th fret and beyond. 

If you need, there is a coil tap for single coil spanking. Oops, it even has a piezo. It can do all this. It may be able to open a jar of beans, but we did not expect to try to do so during the review.

The iconic neck contour feels like SlimTaper D and is well balanced, not too thick or too thin, and the ergonomic design of the Lifeson model gives Les Paul a high-performance atmosphere.

And, it's not that we are superficial, but it wears these modern gear well, and its Governor Brown completes an elegant hue for elegant players.

MusicRadar's conclusion: This is the most versatile Les Paul, and it is now part of the Epiphone catalog at a more affordable price, which is good news for players who want to expand their tonal horizons. 

Read more: Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess Standard Review

We have seen the Epiphone Slash signature version of Les Pauls before, but the 2021 Slash series offers the best yet. Epiphone Slash series Les Paul has introduced a variety of Slash-approved finishes and matching hardware with the leading advantages of Gibson USA counterparts.

In other words, signature dating is not that overbearing, even if you have no interest in welcoming passersby into the jungle, you might like this. It is simply an excellent Epiphone Les Paul Standard, and some have appeared in recent years.

In terms of pickups, you have a pair of Epiphone Custom ProBuckers similar to PAF, providing classic old-fashioned LP sounds. The control circuit uses Orange Drop capacitors and CTS potentiometers so that you can take full advantage of the pickup’s dynamics. At the same time, the neck is carved into a Slash Approved C-shaped profile. 

It even comes with a hard shell, but please note: the top hat is sold separately.

MusicRadar conclusion: Epiphone Slash Les Paul has a variety of finishes, top-notch specifications and a tone that welcomes you to the jungle. It is a wise choice for GNR super fans, and for anyone looking for serious but affordable Is a very attractive proposition Les Paul.

Read more: Epiphone Slash series Les Paul Standard

Mariposa by Omar Rodríguez-López is one of the coolest shapes we have seen in artist collaborations in recent years. It has a Jetsons-style retro-futuristic atmosphere, and it seems to exist outside of time itself.

So far, this light and playable whip is only available in the high-end Ernie Ball Music Man version, but released under the Sterling By Music Man brand, this Mariposa can be used without completely stripping the specifications.

The dual humbucker electric car is delivered in Dorado Green or Empire White, and has a similar lightweight frame. This time it uses a nyatoh body instead of the American model okoume. It has a bolted toasted maple neck, locks the tuner to control it, and an old-fashioned tremolo for swinging.

The control circuit is far away...well, as Rodríguez-López likes, there are two independent volume controls and a three-way pickup selector. not one! However, if you are the kind of player who keeps it at 10, that's not a big loss.

Emily Wolfe's Sheraton is a rock machine. Even if it is not, Wolfe will force its hands to run it with carefully selected blur and distortion pedals.

But what makes it particularly successful is how it transcends the feel of this mature guitar—the complete "Tree of Life" headpiece inlay—and, you know, a guitar performed on stage on Friday night. 

Wolfe's signature details can be found on the back of the headstock, but in addition, she also enhanced the Sheraton with a diamond-shaped f-hole and Gibson Trini Lopez.

This is a 2021 Epiphone model. We have high-quality components, including CTS potentiometer, Graph Tech nut, Grover Rotomatic tuner... all of them are combined in this vibrant black finish.

MusicRadar’s conclusion: Sheraton’s smart and imaginative update, with heavy Trini Lopez resonance and sound that perfectly fits the jazz blues rock continuum, Wolf’s iconic model is affordable but playable today The leader of semi-hollow electronic products.

Read more: Epiphone Emily Wolfe Signature Sheraton Review

MusicRadar Conclusion: Jeff Loomis Signature Kelly Ash is a classic update of one of Jackson's most successful electric guitar designs. It is a tone machine with a pair of perfect pickups that provides a typical fast ride.

Read more: Jackson Pro Series Jeff Loomis signed Kelly Ash review

This EVH model is a high-performance electric guitar designed by the ultimate high-performance guitarist and designed for the ultimate high-performance guitarist. It is an affordable six-string muscle car. It can play some serious stunt guitars.

The most important Floyd Rose is stable and stable, so you can hit that overtone, hold it and let it fly, and there is a D-Tuna. Only when you pick up Wolfgang from time to time, you will re-recognize what a brilliant invention it is. Flying with Floyd? Why not be more popular?

Henrik seems to have received his iconic Charvel S-style and celebrated by driving his car, but in this era of highly sought-after cultural relics, we think it will be a sign of love.

What do you want to say about this? It has all the ingredients, from the reverse Strat head, the Floyd Rose for special effects, the extraordinary pickup pairing with Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 humbucker on the bridge, and the DiMarzio Area 67 DP419CR on the neck. Playing.

Read more: Charvel Henrik Danhage Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 review

MusicRadar conclusion: Steckel and Knaggs is a boutique solid single, the sound can be burned, it combines a special musical instrument, can provide a variety of finishes and specifications options.

Read more: Knaggs Eric Steckel Kenai T/S review

We rarely talk about how effective Jackson's Kelly size is. It loosely takes the form of Explorer, but sharpens and expands it. 

But it is a true cult classic, and its second entry in the top 10 shows its relevance today. Brandon Ellis may be disappointed to see his model falling behind Loomis, but with the Green Crackle finish and the 6-row black headstock with a reverse pointed tip with green logo, it is the most metallic. A single Seymour Duncan Parallel Axis Original Humbucker brings noise.

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