Every week in 2023, we've shared our weekly Most Watched roundup. Now, we're compiling all the museum-quality models, unique finds, and straight-up great deals that Reverbers have Watched the most this year.
Check out our cross-category The Most Watched Gear of the Year, and below, find the Top 20 electric guitars, acoustics, and basses in 2023. Or, separately, dive into the Top 20 synths, keys & electronic gear—and come back all week for soon-to-be-published lists for recording gear, pedals & amps, and drums.
Click any link below to visit the listing and learn more. Please note: All lists in this series exclude new gear from this year that Reverb helped market via launch campaigns.
Gibson, more than any other brand, made quite an impression on guitar Watchers this year, with Gibson electrics claiming an impressive 11 spots on our Most Watched list. The top six guitars are all late '50s/early '60s Les Pauls, as is the final entry in this category:
- 1960 Les Paul Standard, Sunburst (No. 1)
- 1959 Les Paul Standard, Sunburst (No. 2)
- 1959 Les Paul Standard, Sunburst (No. 3)
- 1958 Les Paul Standard, Goldtop (No. 4)
- 1956 Les Paul Standard, Goldtop (No. 5)
- 1960 Les Paul Standard, Sunburst (No. 6)
- 1959 Les Paul Standard, Sunburst (No. 20)
A more modern 2022 Gibson Les Paul Custom from the MOD Collection also placed at number eight this year, along with a 1961/'62 SG with some modifications (No. 14), a '66 Gibson ES-175D hollowbody in a rare "Royal Olive" factory finish (No. 16), and a Seafoam Green '86 Flying V (No. 19).
The only other brand that managed to claim multiple spots was PRS, which saw the popular goldtop SE DGT in the 13th spot and Carlos Santana's PRS Silver Sky Prototype in spot 11.
The rest of the entries in this category were a mix of some of the most popular and affordable models of this year—Squier's 40th Anniversary Telecaster (No. 17) and Guild's Surfliner Deluxe (No. 15)—and a few unique one-offs:
- A rare '80s Hondo H-1 Death Dagger offset (No. 7)
- A transparent MIJ '90s Teisco Spectrum 5 Acrylic (No. 9)
- A one-off 1986 B.C. Rich USA Custom Explorer (No. 12)
- An experimental and splittable 1975 Ibanez 2402 double neck (No. 18)
Gibson, once again, bested all other brands with the most spots on our acoustic guitars list as well. The SJ-200 proved to be the most popular Gibson acoustic to Watch, with variations accounting for three of the brand's nine spots—the only model to make the list more than once.
- 2005 SJ-200 (No. 1)
- Pre-War Custom SJ-200 12-String (No. 3)
- 2019 Custom Shop Stage Deluxe (No. 6)
- 1992/'93 Starburst Standard (No. 7)
- 1968 Country Western (No. 8)
- SJ-200 Regal (No. 9)
- 1952 Gibson L-50 (No. 10)
- '60s J-45 (No. 16)
- '70s Gospel (No. 20)
While no other brand came close to Gibson's nine, a few more acoustic brands managed to get multiple models on the list—three for Martin, two for Collings, and two for Ibanez. Technically, both Ibanez models are the same, extremely popular, nylon-string FRH10N model—just in two different finishes.
- 1974 Martin D-28 (No. 15)
- Martin D-18VS (No. 17)
- 1972 Martin D-35 (No. 19)
- 2015 Collings OM2H (No. 2)
- 2000 Collings D2H (No. 8)
- 2023 Ibanez FRH10N, Brown Sunburst (No. 9)
- 2023 Ibanez FRH10N, Natural (No. 10)
Rounding out the rest of the list is an all mahogany 2020 Waterloo WL-14 MH parlor (No. 4), 1990 Epiphone Orville PR-775S dreadnaught (No. 11), super cool 1933 Dobro National Resonator (No. 14), and Limited Edition Iris DF Dreadnought, hand-painted by Sarah Ryan (No. 18).
Gibson was finally dethroned as the most Watched brand in our bass guitars category, with only one entry on this list at number 15, the 6-string 1964 EB-6. This wasn't the only 6-string to make the list, however—Epiphone's very cool 1963 Newport Bass claimed the third spot overall.
The most Watched brand on this list was instead Fender, which secured the most entries by a single brand with five spots—more, if you count the "Fenderbacker" hybrid custom-built by a luthier (No. 12) or the Fender-inspired BaCH OX BIRD Fenderbird (No. 16).
- 1991 Fender PBAC-100 FL (No. 2)
- 2012 Fender Pawn Shop Reverse Jaguar (No. 6)
- 1961 Fender Precision Bass (No. 8)
- 2020 Fender Japan Modern Series Jazz Bass V (No. 13)
- 2002 Fender AJB Aerodyne Jazz Bass (No. 20)
The only other brand represented more than once was Squier, with two entries for the same 40th Anniversary P-Bass model—one in Satin Dakota Red (No. 4) and one in Satin Vintage Blonde (No. 14). The other half of the Most Watched bass list features no repeat brands and a great mix of vintage classics and modern builds.
- 1977 Greco FVB 900 Flying V Bass (No. 1)
- 1959 Rickenbacker 4000 (No. 5)
- Peterbuilt Telecaster Bass (No. 7)
- Electrical Guitar Company Custom 12-String Bass (No. 9)
- 1979 Guild B-302 (No. 10)
- 1989/'91 Washburn Status S1000 S70 (No. 11)
- 1984 Wal MK-1 Mark 1 (No. 17)
- 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II Deluxe (No. 18)
- 1985 Takamine GB400 (No. 19)