The Best

Every year, we like to pause and take stock of the year's best-selling gear. What's hot? What's not? And how do this year's winners compare to previous bestsellers?

Yesterday, we explored the best-selling synths and electronic gear of 2022. Today, we're looking at guitars, with pedals, amps, and recording equipment to follow.

Below, we take a few different looks at the guitar market: Our first list is a snapshot of the hottest-selling guitars that were newly released in 2022, including electrics, acoustics, and basses. After that, we take a look at overall sales in all of those subcategories as well.

Note: All rankings are determined by total order count—that is, the actual number of items sold, not the total price of sold items. Releases that were exclusive to Reverb are not reflected in these rankings. And because Reverb is home to individual sellers, independent brick-and-mortars, and makers alike, our rankings include all sales, whether brand new or used.

A few interesting things to note from the list above:

One of last year's storylines that came out of our best-selling guitars list was that the original PRS John Mayer Silver Sky outsold all American-made Fenders on Reverb. This year, that is no longer true, with the American Professional II Strat outpacing the US-made Silver Sky. But what is true is that the made-in-Indonseia SE Silver Sky outsold all other guitar models on Reverb, no matter where in the world they were built.

One notable runner-up that very nearly cracked the Top 20 is the Kramer Baretta Special, a $179 powerhouse that sold incredibly well this year too.

The Beatles' Let It Be documentary that dropped last Thanksgiving spurred interest in one of the more surprising gear cameos: the band's Fender VI. While these six-string basses had sold moderately well before, Squier's Classic Vibe Bass VI model—the only Bass VI in current production—benefitted from all the extra attention.

While it tops our best-selling bass list, it does occupy a sonic space closer to a baritone than a standard bass. So if you're curious, had it been included in our best-selling guitars list above, it would have come in at No. 10, just after the Squier Affinity Telecaster.

This 2022 best-sellers list for acoustic guitars is remarkably similar to last year's. Once again, the Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy—a sub-$200 parlor guitar—tops the list. It's followed by the Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster, up one spot from last year and just one of many Acoustasonic models on this list.

Travel guitars, which as a class have sold well over the past two years, continue to be well-represented here, with several Taylor GS Minis and smaller Martins claiming spots in the Top 20.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said that the PRS SE Silver Sky was made in Korea. It is in fact made in Indonesia.

What stands out to you on our best-selling lists? Let us know.