Who do you think is the best guitarist

gary moore

there are too many

jimmy hendrix

eddie v.

eric clapton

if you're not saying Jason Becker, then you haven't heard Jason Becker.

Buckethead
Jimi Hendrix
Zakk Wylde
Joe Satriani
Dimebag Darrell
Randy Rhoads
Dave Mustaine
Marty Friedman
KK Downing
Tony Iommi
Kirk Hammett

Take your pick.

Iommi, Gilmor and May play with 3 of my all time favorite bands. BUT I have to say that my favorite is Stevie Ray. And hey, no love for Tom Morello?

It all dependeds on what genre of music you are listenng to. Here are my top seven picks in no particular order because any one of them may be my favorite on any given day.

Eric Clapton
David Gilmour
Phil Keaggy
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Jimmy Page

reply to post by freedomSlave


Jimi Hendrix for sure. Just listen to 'Machine Gun', most of it is just a really long guitar solo, and remember, Jimi dint even know how to read music, it was all just natural to him, the music just flowed from his fingers onto the strings.

reply to post by 8fl0z


You'd be surprised how many great musicians can't read music.

Also, someone mentioned no love for Tom Morello?

I honestly can't stand him. Pushing your foot up and down on an effects pedal and making random noises doesn't equal talent to me. Wes Borland and Buckethead can do what Tom does but much better.

A few more talented guitarists who don't get enough love, IMHO:

Ry Cooder

Alvin Lee

Jeff Lyne

Johnny Winter

The most underrated, best guitarist has to be Steve Lukather. Most people only know him from Toto (but have never heard the hard rocking Kingdom of Desire, where he really shines) but he also played on about 2000 other records, with everyone from Alice Cooper to Michael Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin and millions of others.
Unlike most other guitarists, who can only play one style, he can basically do anything from Fusion Jazz to Blues to shredding. Most musicians regard him as one of the best ever (guys like Santana, Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen said that). It's a shame, the public never really took notice, even though they propably heard him hundreds of times

Other great guitarrists:
Rory Gallagher - completely underrated
Duane Allman - the god of Slide guitar
Criss Oliva - died to soon because of a drunk asshole, awesome guitarist as proven by the Savatage stuff
Peter Green - created Black Magic Woman, The Green Manalishi, Albatross...no need to say more.

Lots of really good ones, but I'd have to go with Hendrix as he changed the way the guitar was played.

Honourable mentions:

Eddie Van Halen
Eric Clapton

Awhile back Rolling Stone listed the top 3 as...

1. Hendrix
2. Clapton
3. Page

There are a ton of things to consider in "best" - but I'd pretty much have to agree with that top 3.

Originally posted by Frogs
Awhile back Rolling Stone listed the top 3 as...

1. Hendrix
2. Clapton
3. Page

There are a ton of things to consider in "best" - but I'd pretty much have to agree with that top 3.

I'd agree with Hendrix being in the top three but honestly, the only "top guitarists of all time" list I'd accept would come from a magazine like Guitar World and not one like Rolling Stone or NME that basically cover mostly "popular" and "mainstream" music.

Page is good and Clapton is ok but compared to a lot of other guitarists, they're small fry.

reply to post by curious7


That's why I said there are ton of things to consider with regards to "best". It all depends on what you define best as. If its pure technical skill, hand speed, etc - then yup there are likey ones that are better. If it other criteria are taken into account then.. maybe not. "Best guitarist " is kind of like "the most attractive woman" - beauty is in the eye of the beholder to some extent after you reach a certain point.

Anyway, as far as the Rolling Stone list. Here is the list of people who voted - so you can judge for yourself the worth of the list..

100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time - Rolling Stone

We assembled a panel of top guitarists and other experts to rank their favorites and explain what separates the legends from everyone else. Featuring Keith Richards on Chuck Berry, Carlos Santana on Jerry Garcia, Tom Petty on George Harrison and more.

THE VOTERS: Trey Anastasio, Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), Brian Bell (Weezer), Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple), Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket), James Burton, Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Gary Clark Jr., Billy Corgan, Steve Cropper, Dave Davies (The Kinks), Anthony DeCurtis (Contributing editor, Rolling Stone), Tom DeLonge (Blink-182), Rick Derringer, Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Melissa Etheridge, Don Felder (The Eagles), David Fricke (Senior writer, Rolling Stone), Peter Guralnick (Author), Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes), Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band), Brian Hiatt (Senior writer, Rolling Stone), David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Lenny Kravitz, Robby Krieger (The Doors), Jon Landau (Manager), Alex Lifeson (Rush), Nils Lofgren (The E Street Band), Mick Mars (Mötley Crüe), Doug Martsch (Built to Spill), J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Brian May, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Scotty Moore, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Tom Morello, Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Brendan O’Brien (Producer), Joe Perry, Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Robbie Robertson, Rich Robinson (The Black Crowes), Carlos Santana, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Marnie Stern, Stephen Stills, Andy Summers, Mick Taylor, Susan Tedeschi, Vieux Farka Touré, Derek Trucks, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Nancy Wilson (Heart)

CONTRIBUTORS: David Browne, Patrick Doyle, David Fricke, Will Hermes, Brian Hiatt, Alan Light, Rob Tannenbaum, Douglas Wolk

There are some pretty decent and well respected players in that list of voters...

Jimi hendrix I mean he's the best... not my favorite not even close but.. gotta give credit where credit is due

My top three would have to go:
1. Hendrix
2. Slash
3. Michael Angelo-Batio

Hendrix


Slash


Michael Angelo-Batio

reply to post by affter333


Yep..Gary Moore has always been my favorite..