6 Must-see Guitars of Fall 2022

With cooler weather on the horizon, we’ll be spending a lot more time inside, and you know what that means: fewer excuses not to practice. We’re kidding (even if someone knows they need to be spending more time with the tunes), but having more time for music is as good a reason as any to hone your chops, record that project, or break in some new gear. Sweetwater’s Guitar Gallery is brimming with invigorating instruments that you should experience firsthand. We’re serving up a sampler of six must-see guitars for fall 2022!

Schecter C-1 Rob Scallon Signature

Rob Scallon isn’t bad with a guitar, even though he describes himself as a YouTuber and rollerblader. Okay, he’s pretty (read: immensely) talented. Beyond his blazing technical proficiency, Rob’s multigenre musical menagerie begets an axe capable of searing solos, dreadful djent, crisp cleans, and anything in between. Schecter answered the call, bringing the full force of their guitar research history to construct the C-1 signature model. Every design decision reflects Rob’s style-spanning aural odyssey, resulting in a menacing machine capable of flexible tonal traversal. The 25.6-inch-scale design (yes, you read that correctly) includes a lightning-fast C-shaped neck-thru construction with Schecter’s Ultra Access profile complementing the body’s arched top. Reinforced with carbon fiber, the 3-piece mahogany neck boasts an ebony fingerboard with a 14-inch radius to deliver a unique blend of accommodating comfort and light weight, enabling the guitar’s diverse output. Hipshot Grip-Lock tuners and a string-thru-body hardtail bridge are augmented by a Graph Tech XL Black Tusq nut to ensure stable tuning and buzz-free tones. Sonically speaking, the swamp ash body, mahogany neck, and ebony fretboard coalesce in a dazzling blend of resonance, clarity, and heft with punchy lows and shimmering highs to handle anything you throw at it. Add a set of Rob Scallon’s signature Schecter Diamond ’78 pickups, and it delivers a classic PAF-style humbucker sound with a modern edge engineered for precision in every register. Plus, the push-pull tone control will elevate your sound at a moment’s notice from thundering low-end chugging to blistering high-octane leads.

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Kramer Baretta

Hearkening back to Kramer’s halcyon days of maximalist shredding and maximum hair spray, the Baretta is simultaneously a pastiche of 1980s glam and an honest emissary of the heavy-metal era they helped define. Their position as a genuine authority lets them have fun with exotic “self-aware” finishes that say its output is anything but a joke. The aptly named “Danger Zone” graphic is reminiscent of arena rockers’ bright colors and leather pants. Still, the little details make this the real deal — the reverse headstock, Floyd Rose tremolo, and slanted, two-tone pickup scream “synchronized stage presence” in the best possible way. The bolt-on maple neck features a thin, satin-finished profile for fast, comfortable playing, and the matching fingerboard boasts 22 jumbo frets across a 12.6-inch radius for premier riffage. The slanted Seymour Duncan JB humbucker is bridge mounted for an uncompromising blend of heat and clarity, complementing the sonic foundation of alder and maple tonewoods with rich, sustaining harmonics. Reliable die-cast tuners adorn the contrast-colored headstock, and the double-locking tremolo delivers endless expressive potential from animated vibratos to multi-octave dive-bombs.

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Ibanez Josh Smith Signature FLATV1

The sonic odyssey of Josh Smith has taken him around the world, opening for the likes of B.B. King and more before dazzling audiences throughout an ongoing, successful solo career known for his vibrant and inventive fusion of blues, rock, and jazz. Ibanez took up the gauntlet, and their luthiers devised a fantastic offset emblematic of the multigenre artist’s oeuvre. Tonally, the guitar is anchored by its solid ash body, a wood known for its glistening character, robust mids, and tight lows. The bolt-on roasted maple neck and matching fingerboard imbue your sound with excellent articulation and sustain, balanced and bright through every register. Roasting is accomplished through the patented S-Tech process, drastically increasing the wood’s dimensional stability and water resistance and decreasing the already-low proclivity for warping and twisting found in healthy maple. Gotoh craftsmanship bookends the guitar’s 25.5-inch scale with their steadfast tuners and a 3-saddle bridge accompanied by a bone nut, working together to keep your tones clear and reliably in tune. Seymour Duncan FLATV T-style pickups are loaded into the neck and bridge positions, augmenting the guitar’s naturally vibrant tones with its alnico magnets, ready for the twang and high heat of your explosive grooves. Straightforward volume and tone controls are accompanied by an ergonomic 3-way blade switch, letting you easily dial in your sound. Born from blues and ready to rock, the Josh Smith Signature FLATV1 is a commendable, versatile guitar that would do well even in the jazziest of arsenals.

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PRS Mark Tremonti Signature 10-Top

If your only familiarity with Mark Tremonti is through his work with Creed, then you’d be forgiven for wondering how he landed a signature axe — and with PRS no less. Well, this Grammy Award–winning guitarist and songwriter wasn’t named Guitar World’s “Guitarist of the Year” three (consecutive) times for nothing. His time in Alter Bridge and Tremonti allowed him to demonstrate his nigh-virtuosic capabilities, penning a solo with fellow Alter Bridge guitarist for the titular track of their second album that Guitarist would dub the “greatest guitar solo of all time” in 2011. Coupled with his penchant for collecting guitars and amps, crafting an instrument capable of handling Tremonti’s tones was no small task. Unsurprisingly, PRS would craft a worthy signature by utilizing an instantly recognizable 10-Top figured-maple design, topping a mahogany body for an impeccable mix of warmth, substance, and articulation. The Pattern Thin mahogany neck blends speed and comfort for a raucous range of riffs and searing solos with 22 frets sprawling the 10-inch radius of the rosewood fingerboard. PRS-made Phase III locking tuners and a Gen III tremolo harmonize for endless expressive potential, bringing out the full force of the tonewoods’ harmonic suite. A beautifully carved top pairs well with the iconic PRS bird inlays to make a guitar that looks as great as it sounds, thanks to the Tremonti-designed “S” humbucking pickups engineered for high heat and incredible dynamic range. Each pickup has its volume and tone controls alongside a 3-way toggle to let you dial in a precisely personal tone.

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Gibson Acoustic Jerry Cantrell “Atone” Songwriter

From his iconic work with Alice in Chains to an extensive solo career and a slew of soundtrack contributions, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Jerry Cantrell has traversed more tonal terrain in his career than most musicians might in a lifetime. His third solo album, released in 2021, was met with critical acclaim. Its lead single, “Atone,” comprises a dazzling constellation of sonic design, revolving around the tones of his titular guitar. Featured heavily throughout the video, it became an instant icon, due in part to its distinctive, contrasting “Circle in Square” pickguard. Rest assured, his recognizable dreadnaught offers style and substance. With a solid rosewood back and sides and a solid Sitka spruce top, sonorous projection meets exceptional dynamic response with tonal clarity that stands up to the hardest strumming. A thinner body is complemented by LR Baggs VTC electronics, ensuring accurate capture of the guitar’s full sonic spectrum from unplugged intimacy to arena-filled crowds. Cantrell’s aesthetic touch doesn’t stop with the pickguard, as the 20-fret Indian rosewood fingerboard features his “Double J” waterslide decal on the rear of the headstock, an artist signature on the truss-rod cover, and a cheeky “12” inlay at the 12th fret. The mahogany neck comfortably accommodates players with its Advanced Response profile, and the upper cutaway makes for generous use of the fingerboard’s 16-inch radius. Stylish gold Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners and a reverse belly rosewood bridge bookend the 25.5-inch scale with a Tusq nut to guarantee dependable, buzz-free tones.

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Squier 40th Anniversary Stratocaster, Vintage Edition

Forty years with anything is undoubtedly a celebration-worthy benchmark, and Squier’s commemorative Vintage Edition Stratocaster has style in spades. The satin-finished solidbody ticks every box of the bona fide retro rock experience with a few contemporary considerations. Tonally anchored in the hefty, harmonic-rich mids of the nyatoh body, the maple neck and fingerboard imbue the sound with tight, bright articulation in every register and shimmering top end. A triple threat of single-coil sizzle brings these tones to life, Fender designed and loaded with Alnico V magnets to sing with premier panache. With two tone controls, a master volume knob, and a 5-way blade selector, you’re set to dial in a perfect personal sound with a veneer of iconic rock sonics that would feel at home in almost any genre. An accommodating C-shaped neck ensures comfort for just about any play style, and the modern-inspired 9.5-inch fingerboard radius boasts plenty of room for bends across its 21 Narrow Tall frets. As if that’s not expressive enough, you’ll love the 6-saddle vintage-style synchronized tremolo, bookending a 25.5-inch scale opposite the equally retro tuners, with a bone nut to keep your tones clear and clean. The Squier 40th Anniversary Strat masterfully pairs iconic aesthetics with contemporary design, making this an axe out of time with bark and bite.

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A Taste of Premier Sounds

Each guitar on this list is brimming with uncompromising character and designed to elicit solid, imaginative tones through a masterful medley of form and function. These are just a handful of intriguing instruments rolling through our Guitar Gallery this fall. If you see something you like, have questions, or want to dive through the full suite of unmatched axes, then contact your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700 to get the instrument that’s right for you!
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