T
he concept of the
“student guitar”
does not really
exist today as it did in
the ‘50s and ‘60s when
the first electric guitar
boom was in full swing.
Back then, electrics were
only being made by a
handful of companies,
and good ones from
the major brands were
prohibitively expensive for
many working people. A
Fender Stratocaster was
a few hundred bucks, for
example, which sounds
like an incredible deal now,
but in 2017 money that’s
the equivalent of about
three grand. This meant
that only the students
with rich parents or really
good part-time jobs were
getting them. Less well-
off kids wanted to rock
too, though, and thus
the extremely successful
student guitar market
was born.
Brands like Silvertone
specialized in the lower-
end student models,
selling its wares through
big department stores and
mail-order catalogs, and
while many of these were
fine instruments, what
the kids of the ‘60s really
wanted were Fenders and
Gibsons. These companies
realized the potential of
this student market early
on and set about creating
stripped down versions of
their signature instruments
for learners with limited
budgets. These guitars
were built on a shorter
scale as well, and with
slimmer contours, making
words by:
Jamie Wolfert
14
TONE TALK //
The 5 Finest Student Guitars Ever Made
them more suitable for
young rockers with small
hands and shorter arms.
Though student models
were the budget
instruments of their day,
they were just as well-
made as the professional
models, and thus quickly
attained cult status among
accomplished musicians
in addition to beginners.
Some players liked the
smaller size and simplified
designs, and some
(particularly early punk and
post-punk guitarists) simply
bought them because
they were cheap, highly
functional, and still had a
Fender or Gibson logo on
the headstock. By the late
‘70s and early ‘80s, these
guitars were abundant in
pawn shops and still far