There’s an argument to be made that the guitar in 2022 is in a extra numerous and fascinating place than it’s been in many years – presumably ever. All throughout the globe, an unprecedentedly numerous forged of dreamers, shapers, gamers and makers are pushing the instrument into new territories and audiences.

Whether or not it’s by the music they make, the tradition that they construct, the merchandise they make, or the manufacturers that they steward, one of the best and brightest of guitar tradition are constructing a vibrant world for us all to play in, and Guitar.com is right here to rejoice that.

Welcome, then, to the Guitar.com Awards – a celebration of what makes us proud to be a part of the guitar neighborhood and to name ourselves guitarists.

From essentially the most progressive and fascinating new merchandise of the 12 months, to the bands and artists who’ve offered our soundtrack, to the individuals behind the scenes making an attempt to make sure that guitar tradition continues to replicate one of the best of us – you’ll discover all of it within the classes under.

And as for the winners, don’t fear, we acquired you – examine again later in November to search out out who’ll be taking residence the winner’s trophies this 12 months.

Gear

Product Of The 12 months

WINNER – PRS SE Silver Sky

The award that wants no rationalization, however it’s the one everybody desires to win essentially the most – the product of the 12 months is just our favorite new piece of guitar gear from the final 12 months.

Likelihood is, every of our nominees may have been featured in some or all the classes under, however that universality and across-the-board excellence is what elevates them into our highest award. Likelihood is you may personal one among these items already, if you happen to don’t, you have to be making a procuring checklist as we converse…

READ MORE: Guitar.com 2022 Product of the 12 months Nominees

Nominees:

The Gamechanger Award

WINNER – Blackstar St James 6L6 Head

Yearly, the guitar trade shocks us with its ingenuity – for a ardour that primarily focuses on the celebration of issues that have been created someplace between 50 and 100 years in the past, barely a month passes with out somebody discovering an ingenious new solution to give us the stuff that we love in an progressive, extra user-friendly or extra reasonably priced trend.

However amongst these merchandise there are some that stand out from the group – concepts whose impression ripples past the product itself and has the potential to completely shift the needle with regards to their specific sector or area of interest.

READ MORE: The Guitar.com 2022 Gamechanger Award Winner

Nominees:

The Hype Award

You realize the sensation. You open up the ‘Gram and earlier than you possibly can barely get by half a dozen tales you’ve been inundated with the nice and the nice of the guitar world getting hype a few model new product that’s about to drop. And look, all of us see it – some individuals similar to to get enthusiastic about new stuff, there’s no hurt in that! However it’s nothing greater than that.

Typically, nevertheless, that buzz doesn’t go away. This isn’t simply this week’s new hotness, it’s a product that has seen all of the noise and chaos and expectations round it and lived as much as all of it.

This isn’t simply hype, that is dwelling up to the hype – and in doing so making itself one of the crucial needed new merchandise of the 12 months.

READ MORE: The Guitar.com 2022 Hype Award Nominees

Nominees:

The Finest Worth Award

You may need heard, we’re within the midst of a value of dwelling disaster. And it doesn’t matter what your circumstances, likelihood is you’ve most likely acquired much less money to dedicate to your favorite interest than you probably did 12 months in the past, and so getting essentially the most to your cash is extra necessary than ever.

These nominees hit that good candy spot on the graph between worth for cash and the way a lot enjoyable you’ll have utilizing them. If you happen to haven’t acquired a whole lot of funds to work with, these are one of the best bang for buck merchandise of 2022.

READ MORE: The Guitar.com 2022 Finest Worth Award Nominees

Nominees:

The Design Award

It’s to our continued delight and amazement that, practically a century after it seized its place as the final word instrument of widespread music, persons are persevering with to do splendidly progressive and authentic issues with guitars and issues that you simply plug guitars into.

The Design Award celebrates the seemingly infinite capability for the brightest and most artistic minds in guitar tradition to give you inspirational new methods to place a spin on a bunch of wooden, strings and early twentieth century know-how.

Whether or not it’s huge weapons discovering new methods to do issues that may have been unthinkable a number of many years in the past, or maverick geniuses figuring out methods to make sounds we’ve by no means heard earlier than, the spirit of the Design Award is the first cause why 70 years on, the guitar stays undefeated.

READ MORE: Guitar.com 2022 Design Award Nominees

Nominees:

The Important Award

Look, we get it – there’s a LOT of latest guitar gear on the market, and the tempo with which new stuff causes a stir on social media earlier than being changed by the newest hotness is tough for anybody to maintain up with – even us.

However some merchandise lower by the noise. They’re not all the time essentially the most reasonably priced issues that get launched, hell a few of them may be downright costly however what they’re, above anything, is inspirational.

And that’s what the Important Award is for – these should not simply nice merchandise, they’ve the potential to rework your total artistic course of, and for that cause alone they’re important. If you wish to know what you have to put on the prime of your demo checklist subsequent time you’re in a guitar store, it’s all of those nominees.

READ MORE: Guitar.com 2022 Important Award Nominees

Nominees:

Music

Artist Of The 12 months

The world of guitar has by no means been a extra numerous or various place than it’s proper now, and so it’s solely becoming that essentially the most fascinating and influential guitar gamers on the market come from genres or backgrounds wherein the guitar has not historically been a focus.

However that’s the enduring energy and genius of the instrument – irrespective of the place it finally ends up, it appears to search out its approach into essentially the most inspiring and ingenious musicians, who put their very own distinctive spin on the guitar and drive the entire tradition ahead in new and sudden methods.

For 2022, there’s one artist above all others that has really captured the zeitgeist of each guitar nerds and common music followers, all whereas making technically astonishing and aurally difficult music.

It’s no imply feat, and that’s why the Guitar.com Artist Of The 12 months is…

Winner – Polyphia

Album Of The 12 months

Like Artist Of The 12 months, the job with Album Of The 12 months just isn’t essentially to choose an inevitably subjective ‘greatest’ file, as a result of there are such a lot of great, various and fascinating guitar albums launched that describing it in such phrases feels a bit reductive.

As a substitute, Guitar.com’s Album Of The 12 months is the album that has most moved the needle within the guitar world, that has pulled us in with its riffs and hooks, and spawned an inevitable wave of imitators who need to seize this file’s zeitgeisty spark.

In 2022, there have been loads of contenders however one stands above all of the others…

Winner – Moist Leg – Moist Leg

Monitor Of The 12 months

You’ve been buzzing that riff in your head for days, that’s an excellent signal isn’t it? Or perhaps you immediately went and sat right down to be taught that solo as quickly because the music completed, that’s one other.

The very best guitar tracks encourage one thing primal in guitar gamers – the best way remoted snippets grasp round in our brains like essentially the most embedded earworms, inflicting us to sit down down and work out precisely how they managed to create a music so nice that we are able to’t get it our of our heads.

They are often difficult, they are often reassuringly acquainted, a few of them will sound like nothing else we’ve ever heard earlier than – that’s the magic of a guitar music.

Winner – WILLOW – ur a <stranger>

Trade

The Progress Award

An enormous a part of why the guitar has endured as a significant software of music creation for over seven many years is its adaptability. Devices that stand nonetheless quickly get consigned to the historical past books together with the music made on them, however guitar’s chamaelonic means to adapt and alter with pop music is exclusive and memorable.

However in 2022 progress is not only measured by what number of genres you’ll discover the guitar in – the guitar trade can not ignore the broader world, and it’s the duty of these concerned to replicate the altering society we stay in.

That’s the reason we created The Progress Award – to rejoice those that are pushing issues ahead, whether or not that’s by way of range and inclusion, environmental issues, staff rights, or anything that helps transfer the guitar ahead, and creates a tradition that we are able to all be pleased with.

Winner – Taylor Guitars

Launch Of The 12 months

As fiction’s favorite promoting genius Don Draper as soon as opined, “It’s ineffective to be artistic until you possibly can promote what you create”. However in 2022, advertising is about extra than simply taking out a shiny advert at the back of {a magazine}.

In such a loud and crowded market because the guitar trade in 2022, in order for you your product to actually stand out, you must get artistic – and no one did it higher this 12 months than our winner.

Winner – Fender American Classic II Telecaster Thinline

The Collab Award

Two heads are, because the saying goes, higher than one – however the guitar trade has all the time been on the vanguard of collaborative design, going all the best way again to when Les Paul and John Huis teamed as much as make a solidbody guitar, and past.

In 2022, collaboration is in every single place – from fascinating and thrilling new signature merchandise, to manufacturers huge and small combining their information and various viewpoints to create stuff which may by no means have even been conceived in any other case.

Winner – MXR x AnalogMan Duke Of Tone