Reverb reveals the best-selling guitars of 2022

As is tradition, online gear retailer Reverb has published its annual list of best-selling electric guitars and acoustic guitars, revealing the top 20 six-strings that have dominated sales throughout the past 12 months.

The biggest takeaway from the 2022 list is that, though it was deemed a controversial creation when it first arrived, John Mayer’s PRS Silver Sky is continuing its assault on the Fender Stratocaster market with full force, and has further solidified itself as a firm fan favorite.

It’s a trend that has only been exacerbated by the arrival of the more affordable PRS SE Silver Sky, which was released back in January. Despite its infancy, the SE alternative has smashed the competition, and takes top spot on the 2022 list.

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Interestingly, the US-made Silver Sky drops down to fourth spot – it occupied third spot last year – and is displaced by the Fender Player Stratocaster and Fender American Professional II Stratocaster, which take second and third places, respectively.

That means the first Telecaster we see is the Fender Player Telecaster, which caps off a Gibson-less top five. Gibson does have two models in the top 10, though – the Gibson Les Paul Standard ‘60s (sixth) and Gibson Les Paul Standard ‘50s (seventh) – with its third and final inclusion arriving in the form of the 11th-placed Gibson Les Paul Classic.

It’s an outcome that was also seen in last year’s list, which was wholly dominated by Fender brands. Aside from PRS’s SE Custom 24 – which rounds off the top 10 – and last-placed CE 24, Fender occupies seven of the remaining places outside the top 10.

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Overall, that means Fender sits comfortably in 12 of the 20 spots, with usual suspects such as the Player Telecaster and American Standard all cropping up on the list. From spots 13 to 19, it’s officially the Squier show, with the Classic Vibe ‘50s Telecaster, Classic Vibe ‘60s Jazzmaster, Affinity Series Stratocaster and the ever-popular J Mascis Jazzmaster all following one another.

A further point of interest is the fact that a baritone has crept into the top 20. The baritone guitar was a notable absence from last year’s list, but its inclusion this time out confirms the model's ongoing renaissance and rise in popularity.

2022 has seen a sharp uptick in baritone releases from the likes of Danelectro, D’Angelico, Harley Benton and Solar, highlighting heightened interest in the model – but it’s Squier’s Paranormal Baritone Cabronita Telecaster that manages to sneak onto the list.

Check out the whole list below.

1. PRS SE Silver Sky
2. Fender Player Stratocaster
3. Fender American Professional II Stratocaster
4. PRS Silver Sky John Mayer Signature
5. Fender Player Telecaster
6. Gibson Les Paul Standard '60s
7. Gibson Les Paul Standard '50s
8. Fender American Professional II Telecaster
9. Squier Affinity Telecaster
10. PRS SE Custom 24
11. Gibson Les Paul Classic
12. ESP-LTD EC-1000
13. Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster
14. Squier Classic Vibe '60s Jazzmaster
15. Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster
16. Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster
17. Fender American Standard Stratocaster
18. Squier Paranormal Baritone Cabronita Telecaster
19. Fender American Standard Stratocaster
20. PRS CE 24

Intriguingly, Reverb has also been good enough to rank and reveal the sales performances of guitars that were released over the past 12 months – a list that lends itself to some eye-opening trends.

Perhaps the biggest shock is the fact that Tim Henson’s recently released Ibanez TOD10N occupies fifth spot – a mind-boggling statistic, given the fact it only arrived 23 days ago. It’s even more mind-boggling when you look at the competition it’s beaten: Yamaha’s revamped Revstar II Standard RSS20 and Fender’s JV Modified ‘60s Custom Telecaster – both of which arrived in March – are notable highlights.

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It’s no real surprise to see the PRS SE Silver Sky top the new-for-2022 list as well – it’s just more confirmation that the Silver Sky model has become the number one Strat-style guitar for players who perhaps fancy a modern take on Fender’s own model.

What is surprising, though, is the fact that the second spot is occupied by the Squier Classic Vibe Baritone Custom Telecaster. Like we said, 2022 has proven that baritone guitars have been given a new lease on life, and we wouldn’t be shocked to see more crop up on Reverb’s list this time next year.

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Other honorable mentions must go to the much-anticipated Adam Jones Gibson Les Paul Standard signature – which shared eighth place with the Epiphone ‘58 Korina Flying V –  the love-it-or-hate-it Gibson Theodore model – which managed to get a solid 13th place finish – and the Jake E Lee’s 19th-placed Charvel Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 signature.

The whole list can be found below.

1. PRS SE Silver Sky
2. Squier Classic Vibe Baritone Custom Telecaster
3. Fender Player Plus Meteora HH
4. Yamaha Revstar II Standard RSS02T
5. Ibanez Tim Henson Signature TOD10N
6. Fender George Harrison Rocky Stratocaster
7. Yamaha Revstar II Standard RSS20
8. Gibson Adam Jones Signature Les Paul Standard / Epiphone Limited-Edition '58 Korina Flying V
9. Fender JV Modified '60s Custom Telecaster
10. Guild Surfliner
11. Squier 40th Anniversary Gold Edition Jazzmaster
12. Fender 60th Anniversary Jaguar
13. Gibson Custom Shop Theodore / Epiphone Jerry Cantrell Wino Les Paul Custom
14. Squier 40th Anniversary Gold Edition Stratocaster
15. Fender Player Plus Active Meteora Bass
16. Fender JV Modified '60s Stratocaster
17. Fender 60th Anniversary Ultra Luxe Jaguar
18. Ibanez GRG220PA
19. Charvel Jake E Lee Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1
20. Gibson Slash Les Paul Standard Limited 4 Album / Squier 40th Anniversary Gold Edition Jazz Bass

Joining the best-selling electric guitars lists is a round-up of the 20 best-selling acoustic guitars of 2022. Loosely speaking, it paints a pretty similar picture to the 2021 installment: Gretsch’s G9500 Jim Dandy takes top spot, with the PRS SE P20E, Taylor GS Mini Mahogany and Martin Backpacker all cropping up in the first seven positions.

However, the 2022 list further shows how the Fender Acoustasonic is continuing to shake-up the acoustic market, with the Big F’s American Acoustasonic Telecaster, Acoustasonic Player Telecaster and American Acoustasonic Jazzmaster all featuring in the top 10. Notably, the Telecaster models make it into the top five, occupying second and fourth slots.

Fender’s American Acoustasonic Stratocaster also makes the cut, but is found way down at 14th spot, making it the least popular Acoustasonic model by quite some distance.

See the full list below.

1. Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy
2. Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster
3. PRS SE P20E
4. Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster
5. Taylor GS Mini Mahogany
6. Fender American Acoustasonic Jazzmaster
7. Martin Backpacker
8. Martin 000-15M
9. Taylor GS Mini-E Koa
10. PRS SE P20 Tonare Parlor
11. Gibson J-45 Standard
12. Taylor 214CE DLX w/ ES2 Electronics
13. Gretsch G9520E Gin Rickey Parlor
14. Fender American Acoustasonic Stratocaster
15. Martin LX1 Little Martin / Epiphone Hummingbird Pro Acoustic-Electric Faded
16. Taylor GS Mini-E Koa Plus
17. Martin Standard D-18
18. Martin LXK2 Little Martin
19. Taylor 214CE
20. Seagull S6

For more info on all the best-selling lists, head over to Reverb.