Collection: Suhr Guitars

John Suhr spent twenty years building other people's dream guitars before building his own. New Jersey in the mid-1970s, then Rudy's Music Stop in New York in the early 1980s, then Pensa-Suhr from 1984, which put a signature model in Mark Knopfler's hands in 1987. Then five years with Bob Bradshaw at CAE designing the 3+ preamps and the OD-100, then two years as Senior Master Builder at the Fender Custom Shop. In 1997 he and Steve Smith founded Suhr. Today it is roughly a hundred people in a 27,000 square foot building in Lake Elsinore, California, and every single guitar that leaves gets a PLEK fret dress.

Guitar Freaks is an authorised Suhr dealer, a real boutique in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, run by the team behind Bass Freaks, shipping worldwide. And no, not the Konami arcade cabinet.

The Suhr range at Guitar Freaks

Suhr questions we actually get asked

Where are Suhr guitars built?

Lake Elsinore, California, in a 27,000 square foot facility with about a hundred people in it. John Suhr is still there and his son Kevin is now involved. The Rasmus by Suhr line, which was built offshore, ran from 2010 to 2012 and has been discontinued for well over a decade.

Classic S, Classic T or Classic JM?

Three different classic outlines, built to the same standard. The Classic S is the S-style, available SSS or HSS, and it is the one most people mean when they say they want a Suhr. The Classic T is the T-style, so brighter and more percussive. The Classic JM is the offset, with the 10 to 14 inch compound radius rather than the 9 to 12, which makes it feel slightly more modern under the hand.

Classic S or Modern?

The Classic S is a vintage-voiced guitar built to a modern standard: 9 to 12 inch compound radius, medium stainless frets, single coils that behave like single coils. The Modern is the high-gain platform: 10 to 14 inch compound, jumbo stainless frets, humbuckers, a neck built for speed. Same company, same quality, opposite jobs. If you are choosing between them you probably already know which one you are.

What does Antique mean on a Suhr?

Aged thin nitrocellulose with checking and light dings, done deliberately. It is not a different guitar underneath, it is a finish treatment for people who want the guitar to look like it has been played rather than looking like it is waiting to be.

What is a Vintage LE?

A period-correct spec build: nitro finish, roasted maple neck, rosewood board, and nickel frets rather than the stainless Suhr normally uses. If you want the feel of an old one and the build of a new one, that is what this is.

What is SSCII?

Suhr's hum cancellation system. It removes hum without altering true single-coil tone and it requires no battery. That is the whole claim and we will leave it there, because the technical explanations floating around contradict each other, including the official ones.

What does PLEK actually do?

It is a computer-controlled fret dressing machine that measures the neck under simulated string tension and then levels the frets to that measurement. Every Suhr gets one. It is the reason a Suhr off the wall plays like a good guitar after a great setup, rather than like a good guitar that needs one.

What is the Alt T?

A chambered T-style with an F-hole and two SSV humbuckers. It is lighter than it looks, it has more air than a solid T, and it does not feed back the way a full semi-hollow will. Very underrated instrument.

What is a Standard Legacy?

A limited edition Suhr built in 2021 and 2022. It is not part of the current catalogue, so if you see one, that is what you are looking at. We have carried them and they are excellent, but they are not something you can order new.

Can I order a custom Suhr?

Yes, through the Suhr configurator, and we place the order as your dealer. Worth knowing: there is no separate Suhr Custom Shop division, despite what the phrase "Suhr Custom" implies. It is a dealer-ordered build programme running through the same shop that builds everything else, which is the point. Suhr does not publish a lead time and we will not invent one.

What pickups does Suhr use?

Their own, and there are a lot of them. V60LP, V63 and V70 on the vintage single-coil side, SSV and SSH+ humbuckers, Thornbucker for the Pete Thorn voicing, Asatobucker, Woodbucker, and the Aldrich at around 17.5k for people who want the loud thing. Which set is in which model is on the product page.

If you are also looking at

The obvious cross-shop is the Duesenberg Starplayer TV, which does vintage character from the other direction, semi-hollow rather than solid. If you want the same standard of build with more gain and lower tunings, Mayones guitars out of Gdansk are where we would send you. Chapman Guitars cover a lot of the same ground for a lot less money without being embarrassing about it. Everything we carry is on the electric guitars page.

Buying Suhr from Guitar Freaks

Authorised Suhr dealer, physical boutique in Louvain-la-Neuve, worldwide shipping from Belgium. Suhr is a brand where the difference between models is in the feel rather than the photos, so the twenty minutes it takes to come and play three of them will save you a lot of second-guessing. Or mail us, and we will ask you what you actually play before recommending anything.