Nothing feels quite as satisfying as unleashing a ripping solo on a built-for-speed shred machine.
Most guitar players will tell you that the true greats of the instrument sound incredible on any guitar. Yngwie Malmsteen still famously plays his white Stratocaster, after all.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you shouldn’t be using the right tool for the job. In this list, I’ll cover some of the best shred guitars on the market today.
Don’t be fooled by the colors and shapes of these instruments. Many high-performance shred guitars boast excellent clean tones and tremendous playability, and they tend to offer great versatility for a range of styles beyond high-speed metal and prog.
7 Best Guitars for Shredding - My Top Picks!
1. Schecter Hellraiser
Unsurprisingly, given the edgy modern-metal aesthetic of the Schecter Hellraiser (perhaps named for the infamous Ozzy-Lemmy collaboration of the early 1990s), it’s a verifiable shred machine.
Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR-S
With a solid mahogany body, a supermodel-slim neck, and a very cool humbucker configuration, this guitar is absolutely built to rock. This is hardly a shrinking violet’s guitar: playing it, it almost begs for brutal palm mutes and pick squeals.
The coolest thing about this Schecter is its choice of pickups. With the classic metalhead’s favorite EMG 81 pickup in the bridge position, it’s ready for high-octane heavy rhythm playing.
In the neck position, however, is a markedly different Sustainiac pickup. This pickup was actually designed with a specific sustain circuit, which allows notes to ring out indefinitely.
If you’ve ever envied the infinite note on “Parisienne Walkways,” I’d highly recommend trying out the Sustainiac pickup, which offers organic, warm sustain that I far prefer to a Freeze pedal or squeaky compressor.
The guitar’s neck is nicely thin for shredding, so running up and down the neck is a relatively painless experience.
The upper part of the neck where it joins the body is also carved in, a frequent shredder’s choice that facilitates easier upper fret access. It’s certainly more comfortable to play after the 12th fret than, say, a Les Paul.
All in all, in my extensive testing of shred-friendly axes, this will surely get a place in the top 3. Read our full review to know more about this beast.
2. Charvel Pro Mod DK24
Charvel has long been a major name in shred guitars. Going back to the dawn of the Superstrat guitar in the 1980s, Charvel’s high-speed machines have been at the forefront of shred playing for decades.
Charvel Pro Mod DK24
The Pro Mod DK24 takes clear inspiration from the Fender Stratocaster. It’s an alder body with twin cutaways, standard fare for the Superstrat-type guitar.
So too, is the finished maple neck, complete with licensed Stratocaster-shaped headstock. So what makes the Pro Mod different from a regular Fender Stratocaster?
First is its 24-fret neck, but a far bigger difference comes with the Pro Mod’s twin Seymour Duncan humbuckers. In the bridge position is the aptly named Full Shred, with an Alnico II neck pickup offering some sweetness in comparison.
For me, the Full Shred pickup is really where this guitar shines. Imagine the saturated, white-hot lead tone of ‘80s metal: Ozzy, Iron Maiden, and Motley Crue. That’s exactly what this red-hot humbucker offers.
If you want some clean sparkle and a bit of old-school Strat magic, you simply need to engage the 2-way mini-toggle switch to enjoy series/parallel selection. This isn’t quite coil-tapping, but offers the same result: a thinner, brighter tone more associated with single-coil pickups.
Another major plus is the Gotoh tremolo system, recessed into the body. Unlike the Floyd Rose that was popular on ‘80s Charvel guitars, it requires no special tools to restring the guitar. The guitar also snaps back in tune despite even the most aggressive dive-bombs.
3. EVH 5150
Given that Edward Van Halen pioneered the Superstrat-style guitar as we know it, it’s no surprise to see the brand that bears his name leading the charge for modern shred guitars.
The EVH 5150 is based on the Kramer model Eddie wielded in the mid-80s, most notably in the early years of the Van Hagar era. It looks almost identical to Eddie’s mid-80s 5150 model, although you’ll have to look extra hard to find one in the famous striped color scheme.
The 5150 feels astonishingly comfortable, with a lightweight basswood body and a very solid-feeling maple neck.
EVH 5150 Series Standard - Pickups
With twin Wolfgang humbuckers, this guitar churns out white-hot hard rock and metal tones very easily. I wouldn’t recommend it for jazz or blues, but you can clean up the guitar nicely by rolling back the volume knob.
One nifty feature on this guitar is its Floyd Rose and D-Tuna setup. If you need to switch between standard tuning and Drop D, you simply engage the D-Tuna. It’s definitely useful for switching between “Running With The Devil” and “Unchained.”
The bright red killswitch is also a lot of fun to play with, allowing for sputtering, stuttering effects.
This guitar’s tone is definitely aggressive, with plenty of midrange snarl. Harmonics are bright and clear, and palm-muting (especially with the D-Tune engaged) offers satisfyingly chunky, heavy sounds.
4. ESP LTD Arrow-1000
The ESP LTD Arrow is hardly a subtle guitar. In bright candy apple red, with a very, very pointy V shape, it’s a guitar that insists on shredding. You won’t see this guitar in a jazz club.
The twin EMG active humbuckers immediately bring to mind the classic high-gain tones of classic Metallica and Zakk Wylde.
ESP LTD Arrow-1000 - Closer Look
I personally am not a huge fan of the Floyd Rose tremolo system, as I feel tremolo technology (such as those offered by Gotoh and Wilkinson) has moved far beyond the Floyd Rose in recent years.
However, for many players, there’s simply no alternative to the original shred tremolo system, so the Floyd Rose is a welcome inclusion on guitars like the ESP-LTD Arrow. Dive bombs and Dime squeals are suitably assertive on the Arrow, and it stays in tune nicely despite the most aggressive playing.
Power chords ring out for what feels like an eternity on this guitar. That’s largely thanks to the set-through neck, which runs deep into the V-shaped body for extra resonance and longer sustain.
While this guitar demands attention and feels like a high-speed soloist’s instrument, I really enjoyed its tone and playability for chunky rhythm playing. An excellent heavy metal all-rounder.
5. Jackson Pro Plus Series Soloist
Jackson’s Dinky body shape, seen here on the Pro Plus Soloist, exaggerated the familiar Stratocaster silhouette with more aggressive points and improved upper-fret access.
Jackson Pro Plus Soloist SLA3
Arguably the most notable Jackson player of the era was Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith, who wielded a white guitar very similar to this one.
The Pro Plus Soloist is a very comfortable guitar to play. The neck is much slimmer than I’m used to, and takes some getting used to, but once you’re accustomed to the ultra-slim profile, lightning-fast licks seem to jump off the fretboard.
Although the guitar is built with the neck through the body, it isn’t nearly as heavy as expected.
Jackson Pro Plus Soloist - Neck-through Design
My favorite thing about this guitar is its HSS (Humbucker/Single Coil/Single Coil) pickup configuration.
The two single coil pickups in the neck and middle position allow this Superstrat-style shred machine to offer clean, clear tones that you just can’t get from even the best coil-tapped guitars.
The Seymour Duncan single-coils sparkle and glimmer through a clean amp, and even offer a touch of bluesy breakup with the gain turned up.
The bridge pickup, a Seymour Duncan Distortion, is similarly heavy, and as expected offers searing high-gain tones.
For a cheaper alternative (albeit lacking the Pro Series’ outstanding pickups), I’d highly recommend the Dinky Arch Top, which has a far lower price point that’s easily within the reach of beginner shredders. You could even put aftermarket Seymour Duncan pickups into the Dinky to improve its tone, as the Dinky has a similarly slender neck to the Pro Series.
6. Kramer SM-1
Kramer guitars were very common in the late ‘80s MTV-metal era. The familiar Superstrat silhouette of the Kramer guitar saw it wielded by the likes of Eddie Van Halen and KISS’ Bruce Kulick.
This is a heavily hot-rodded guitar built with vintage shredding in mind. The humbucker, a Seymour Duncan JB, is very hot, although it’s nowhere near as high-gain as more modern iterations of the Alnico magnet. Likewise, the Seymour Duncan Cool Rails might look like Strat-style single-coil pickups, but in fact they’re stacked humbuckers.
Kramer SM-1
The tonal result is a guitar that sounds thick, hard, and heavy in all pickup configurations. The mini toggle switch offers coil-splitting for those that want single-coil snap, but I’d recommend the Kramer SM-1 to players who want high-gain rock tones.
This guitar’s ‘80s-style specs extend to the Floyd Rose tremolo system, with a dive-only setup. It’s great for doing the motorcycle intro to “Kickstart My Heart!”
It’s a vintage metal machine in every way, from its searing tone to its neon orange finish. Plugged into a JCM800 (a staple of Chuck Schuldiner, Judas Priest, Ghost and countless others), it offers hair metal tone heaven.
Better known is the Baretta, the more affordable and highly recognizable single-pickup classic from Kramer. It has a similar level of shred-ready playability, although the modern Baretta lacks the clarity and punch of a Seymour Duncan pickup.
7. Ibanez Genesis RG550
Japanese guitar builders Ibanez are incredibly popular with shredders worldwide, from Steve Vai to Polyphia’s Tim Henson. It’s no surprise that the Ibanez Genesis RG550, with its highlighter-yellow finish (although I got my hands on the Road Flare Red) and exaggerated points, is yet another great entry from the guitar-building titans.
The old-school ‘80s Ibanez shred guitars were popular among high-speed players for a reason. The Ibanez neck feels very comfortable in my hand, and its slender profile makes running up and down the fretboard at breakneck speeds very easy.
Ibanez Genesis RG550
One great feature of this guitar is the inclusion of jumbo frets. These reduce the pressure required from your fretting hand, allowing for a lighter touch. This really facilitates faster playing.
I notice the difference the most when playing arpeggios or two-handed tapping sequences. Unlike, say, my Les Paul the lighter touch of these techniques does not result in a lighter tone. Definitely a welcome feature on this shredding guitar.
The HSH pickup configuration is different from most other guitars, but offers a nice amount of versatility.
Of course, I don’t expect this neon-colored Ibanez instrument to play country or classical. However, there’s a mid-heavy amount of “quack” in the middle pickup, and the mixed pickup positions are appreciably different from the sound of either humbucker in isolation.
The bridge pickup really is where this guitar sounds best. Lead lines ring out with searing accuracy. Arpeggios are clear and articulate. Power chords are, well, powerful. Paired with a nice, powerful tube amp, this is a phenomenal guitar for old-school shred.
What is a Shred Guitar?
Before we know what kind of guitar is best for modern shredders, it’s best to look at what exactly shred guitar is.
The term “shredding” came into popular use in the 1980s, buoyed by a bevy of virtuoso guitar players in the rock and metal worlds.
Spearheaded by the likes of Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, players like Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, and Yngwie Malmsteen brought levels of speed and technicality more commonly associated with classical or jazz to mainstream rock.
Shredders used extremely fast alternate picking, tremolo picking, tapping, and sweeping arpeggios to unleash unfathomably fast flurries of notes. For a time, no MTV-ready pop-metal track was complete without a lightning-fast guitar solo.
Shred guitar by definition pushes the boundaries of what is possible on the instrument. It’s the most extreme type of guitar playing, with players constantly seeking new ways to challenge themselves.
Modern shred owes much to the neoclassical movement of the early 21st century. In particular, bands like Dragonforce brought shred guitar into the new millennium, and versions of JerryC’s Canon Rock became a shredder’s standard.
What Features Should a Shred Guitar Have?
Distortion-friendly Pickups
Shred guitar, typically, requires high levels of distortion, with high-gain pickups a preference among shredders.
In the ‘80s, most guitar players used Seymour Duncan pickups, and Seymour Duncan’s high-gain humbuckers remain a popular choice with players today.
Great Playability
Because shredding requires extremely fast, precise playing, shred guitars are engineered for maximum playability. This often means they feature slim necks, low action, and high frets.
These reduce the distance a player’s fingers have to travel from one note to the next, even if only by millimeters. At high speeds, every fraction of an inch counts.
Narrower necks and high frets also reduce the pressure required to fret a note properly. A lighter touch means your hands don’t fatigue as easily as they might on a guitar with higher action or a wider neck.
Often, shred guitars also feature twin cutaways for easy upper-fretboard access. This makes playing the super-fast licks that characterize shred guitar easy at the upper part of the neck, which on a single-cutaway guitar such as a Les Paul can be tricky and uncomfortable.
Whammy Bar
Shredders often also deploy extreme whammy bar techniques, borrowing heavily from the Floyd Rose system pioneered and popularized by Eddie Van Halen.
Most modern shred guitars come with a Floyd Rose locking tremolo system or similar for dive bombs and squeals.
I actually prefer non-locking tremolo systems such as those produced by Gotoh or Wilkinson, as they don’t require as much fiddling around when restringing, but that’s a personal preference. The Floyd Rose system is the standard on shredding guitars because it’s reliable and easy to use.
Lightweight Body
Shred guitars are typically made from very light wood. This affects the guitar’s tone, often giving them a more treble-forward sound than darker, heavier wood like mahogany.
Some shred guitars are made from mahogany, but this is typically balanced out with a maple cap for additional brightness.
Shred guitars benefit from treble-heavy guitar tone because it cuts through a busy band mix more easily than a dark or bass-heavy tone. The other benefit of lighter wood is that it reduces player fatigue in the live setting.
The Importance of Technique & Practice
Finally, as always with guitar, the instrument can only take you so far. Shred guitarists devote hours of practice time to building their speed. It’s arguable that a metronome is a more important tool in the shredder’s arsenal than any guitar could be.
Regardless of the guitar you choose, it’s important to practice your alternate picking, economy picking, and string muting. At the higher levels of gain and compression common in shred playing, any stray notes will stick out enormously.
That said, it’s a great idea to refine your technique on a guitar specifically built for doing so. Using the right tool for the job is always a good idea.
Closing Thoughts
Shred guitars are built for maximum comfort while pushing your playing to its limit.
In my experience, shred guitars need to be both lightweight and comfortable. Left-hand comfort is of paramount importance when you’re playing at extreme speeds. That’s where the extremely slender necks and high-performance fretboards of these guitars are truly invaluable.
While many shred guitars are aimed at vintage-style shredders looking to capture high-gain tones in the hard rock and metal realm, modern instruments are more versatile than ever.
Many of the guitars on this list boast stellar clean tones that are as well suited to jazz and neo-soul players as to nasty, snarling hard rock.