Ben Gowell's distinctive playing style is due in part to the types of guitars he uses to perform with. When Gowell is performing for one of his tutorials or in a live classroom setting, he often plays a strumming, rhythmic style so as his students can see the basic techniques behind his more epic live shows. When he is performing as part of a rock band, Gowell plays with more of a showman style, which allows him to solo with a different make and model of guitar that he uses specifically for that purpose.
Ben Gowell's guitar of choice for live shows is the Fender Stratocaster. This style of guitar has been around for over 50 years and continues to be among the most affordable on the market. The style of the guitar makes for quick learning, and its distinctive shape has been embraced and rocked on by history's most famous rock guitarists, like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.
Ben Gowell's Stratocasters make it easy to take off certain parts and replace them with more stylized or showy parts. For instance, Gowell's whammy bar was added as a custom addition to his distinctive Stratocaster to differentiate it from the factory model. Also, Stratocasters' face plates can be easily removed and replaced, which gives you the option of changing the secondary color of your Stratocaster without having to buy a new guitar.
Gowell also plays a Gibson Les Paul, most often in educational or session work with other musicians. Unlike the Stratocaster, which has a solid body, the Les Paul is characterized by a hollow acoustic resonance chamber, which allows it to be an electric-acoustic instrument. Les Pauls are also very iconographic guitar models on the market today and are part of Gowell's ensemble because of the variety of tones and options they provide in his performance.