Best Guitar Players of All Time

[TimTimSalabim]

Gary Moore is a great pick. I've always loved the solo at the end of Still Got the Blues. He's creative and plays with tremendous feeling, I'll take that over the speed freaks any day.

[kdog]

Lot of blues guitarists mentioned in this thread, which as a huge blues fan doesn't surprise me at all. Nobody's mentioned the best yet though. Luther Allison. Been dead for awhile but his stuff is still great. For contemporary blues any fans should check out Michael Burks. The best bluesman around now imo.

[goodguy_1]

other great rock and blues-rock guitarists
Robin Trower, Roy Buchanon, Sonny Landreth, Joe Bonamassa, Alvin Lee, Freddie King and Ronnie Earle.

If I had to pick just one modern rock guitarist Jeff Beck would top my list ..forget how good he was: YouTube - Jeff Beck, Steve Lukather, Jan Hammer - Freeway Jam

blues/rock stuff I'm listening to now that blows me away:

Tab Benoit -NightTrain
Alvin Youngblood Hart Clip 2

[goodguy_1]

Sonny Landreth_Next To Kindred Spirit

Robin Trower Bridge Of Sighs

Jeff Beck - What Mama Said

Roy Buchanan 1985 Live

Rory Gallagher - Bullfrog Blues

Albert Collins - Iceman

[bernie]

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I have been on and off playing guitar for 15 years and have to say I was more influenced by some of the modern guitar Gods.

Three that come to mind are:

Randy Rhoads - Classically trained and a major influence on rock n' roll today.
Joe Satriani - Talented lyricist and guitar wizard suffered with TMJ in his greatest years. He also managed to work with Ibanez (I think) to make the first mirrored paint guitar.
Steve Vai- So good he added another string.

P.S. Another one came to mind: Yngwie J. Malmsteen A PURE shredder.

fyc

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None of these guys are even close to legendary, even factoring in Rhoads' post-death bump. Playing 1000 notes a second does not a great guitarist make.

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You don't know much about Randy Rhoads, huh? Especially if you just think he's a 1000 notes a second player.

Easily legendary.

b

[bernie]

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AH damnit. Clay is right. I had originally thought to make my honorable mention section for one reason. To put in Yngwie J. Malmsteen. There is a video he made called "hot licks" that is the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen. It is an instructional video where he teaches people to play his songs. Keep in mind that i have never seen anyone tap anywhere near as fast as him and he is like "well, this song is simple, just do this and youre good". After which he shreds some ridiculous song that I couldnt even begin to make out the chords to. Black Star and Blitzkrieg are two of my favorite songs ever. Riot in the Dungeon is rad for its cheesy 80'sness.

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Malmsteen was primarily known for playing extremely fast. Sweep picking over and over and kicking off the Bach-n-roll phase(which died for the most part, thank god). Personally, I can't stand sweep picking and most of Yngwies solos sound the same. His solos seem interchangeable regardless of what song he's playing.

That said, he is an underrated rythym player(I really like some of his rythyms). He never should've gotten rid of Jeff Scott Soto.

b

[OrangeCat]

There are players who are not close to being virtuosos or even especially good but because they were in a great band you have to consider them great. The Edge and Keith Richards come to mind. You take these guys out the band and they are nothing special.

There are players who have amazing technical proficiency. That list is very long but once you get past the wow factor they are not so good. I mean, Malmsteen and Paul Gilbert can play some amazing stuff but how much of that can you take? After a point it stops being musical. John McLaughlin is a guy who could play as fast any anybody but also made good music.

There are the legends who have the respect of everyone who really knows about guitar. Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Segovia, Bream, Django Reinhardt, Steve Howe and the like.

Then there are the guys who changed the world. I think Hendrix is the top of the list here. It is hard for anyone under 40 to fully understand how JH changed the way the guitar was played and thought about. Nowadays, a lot of his stuff now sounds very dated and rather crude but that is really because he was so imitated. EVH, Prince, Tom Morello and just about every modern guitar player owes Jimi a huge debt.

Clapton deserves a special category because while not being the most innovative guy (after all, his best guitar stuff is 12 bar blues) he is by far the best in his genre. EC is very generous in his comments about his idols - Buddy Guy, Albert King, Sun House, etc.. – but EC is probably the best blues guitar player ever. There are just so many examples of his astounding playing that it is even difficult to argue that anyone is as good.

While on the subject of blues guitar, I still think “VoodooChile Slight Return” is one of the best blues guitar tunes ever. At the time, it was so over the top crazy that after listening you wanted to run out and drop acid.

Right now, my personal favorite is Wes Montgomery with honorable mention to Jeff Beck and Clapton. Those guys can really play and I can listen to then all day.

[Taso]

Joe Pass is definitly up there too, incredible jazz/blues musician

[Bigmoney]

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Joe Pass is definitly up there too, incredible jazz/blues musician

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QFT

also, im a real musician and some of you guys are seriously underestimating how important technical skill is. i mean i love zep, but cmon, jimmy page is sloppy as hell

[emil3000]

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I love a lot of the guys you mention, but lists like this are a little silly as they reflect much more on the tastes of the individual. my list fwiw:

1) bireli lagrene - no one is as fluid in any context as bireli. flawless technique, huge ears and he is incapable of sounding bad. he's the best living guitarist imo, and to top that off he also plays upright and electric bass as well as accordion, and can sing like frank sinatra.

2) kazuhito yamashita - really not a lot to say. the most impressive technician I've ever seen on the instrument.

3) bill frisell - a complete original. a lot of guitarists are easy to imitate, it's impossible to sound anything like frisell. another guy who's incapable of playing a wrong note.

4) jimi hendrix - I have heard some truly horrendous hendrix recordings, but when he was on he was transcendent.

5) sylvain luc - may very well be france's greatest accomplishment. astonishingly original.

edit: I can't believe I left out wes montgomery. [censored].

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Turnip,
where do you start with Bill Frisell? I have heard a few songs of his that I thought were amazing. I listen to lots of different jazz, including lots of more experimental stuff.