The 10 Coolest Australian-Built Guitars on Reverb Right Now

Considered Australia's most historic guitar brand, the story of Maton Guitars goes back to 1946. This guitar—a signature model for Phil Manning of blues outfit Chain—comes from the late '70s and includes a stereo output configuration.

A world leader in the realm of multiscale (aka fanned-fret) guitar design, Ormsby guitars have rapidly scaled to a position as one of Australia's most in-demand brands. Initially recognized for their higher-end custom builds like this 7-string Goliath, Ormsby has also recently started producing a line of ready-built instruments dubbed the GTR range.

Built by Gerard Gilet, this electric resonator is modeled after various "map-shaped” guitars distributed under the National brand in the '60s, but with a wooden body instead of Res-o-glass plastic material used in most original map guitars. While a highly regarded maker of acoustic instruments, Mr. Gilet makes few electric models. This Map Resonator is a rarity.

Based in Preston, Victoria, Jon Shub is a custom builder who crafts sleek electric guitars in a number of a body shapes, with the offset DC-01 ranking as one of his most popular base models. Because Shub is a custom builder, completed guitars like this offset don't crop up on Reverb too often. Shub used to build under the 2012 Guitars brand name and has crafted instruments for bands like Sleepmakeswaves and We Lost The Sea, in addition to playing bass in Gold Class.

Anthony Paine of Harvester Guitars is known for vintage-inspired instruments that bring a distinct aesthetic sense to old-school forms. With the "Serio Antonio," Anthony has branched into the world of aluminum guitar craft, drawing inspiration from Italian Wandre guitars of the '60s. In the case of this guitar, inspiration was also taken from the Travis Bean TB-500.

Based in Melbourne, Cole Clark is one of the largest Australian guitar manufacturers, and produces acoustics at every rung of the price ladder. As evident with this Angel 2, Cole Clark takes a lot of pride in its use of Australian-grown woods such as Tasmanian blackwood and Queensland maple. Their also known for their innovative electronic system, the Fat Lady 2 which can you learn more about here.

One of Australia's most respected luthiers, Jack Spira builds exquisite flattop acoustics along with the occasional bouzaki. While many of Spira's instruments use more modern cutaway body shapes and fanciful inlays, this Diston strikes a more Old World, parlor-guitar vibe.

The video here comes via Dolphin Guitars in Suita, Japan, who are currently selling this guitar.

This stunning 17-inch archtop comes from Victorian luthier Roderick Octigan, who builds an extraordinary range of different kinds of archtops. This particular Octigan channels a more traditional archtop style, reflecting the work of master John D'Angelico.

A family operation run out of Queensland, Kim Hancock along with sons Sean and Dane are considered some of the foremost guitar builders in Australia. Unlike some workshops that focus on just one type of guitar though, the Hancock family has put its name on everything from modern solidbodies to classical guitars and Ukuleles to fine Archtops like this Custom Adelaide Cloud Nine.

While most of the guitars on this list are included for their playability, tone, or other musical virtue, we'll close things today with a build that speaks for itself: a guitar built by Chons Guitars in the shape of Australia.