User Panel
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In order
Michael Schenker - composition/melodies/technique EVH - Innovation SRV - Mastery Toni Iommi - Riffs Mathias Jabs - Clarity, phrasing and precision |
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I've been playing almost 40 years now .... and I don't do these 'greatest' things because there is no 'one' way to play. There are guys who master technique who can't write a good song...and there are true musical artists who can make an amazing piece of music, but can't handle the technical chops.
In no particular order...if you like guitar music...here is what I suggest listening to..... Adrian Legg Richie Kotzen Eddie Van Halen Steve Vai Craig Chaquico George Lynch Eric Johnson Nuno Bettencourt David Gilmour Gary Hoey Guthrie Govan Joe Bonamassa John Petrucci Andy LaRoque Ty Tabor Paul Gilbert Joe Satriani Neal Schon Carlos Santana Alex Skolnick Robbie Krieger Yngwie Malmsteen There are countless others. This a good start though. |
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The game was rigged from the start.
Buckethead - One of the best, most emotional versions of Soothsayer Live @ Gothic 9-28-2012 |
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Quoted: Absolutely not. Case in point... Slash. He was never a great guitarist. He could put together a good song in the studio, where you get infinity mulligans. Guns'n'Roses inspired a whole generation of guitarists. But slash could never play their songs live. Every live performance you see of them, he sucks butts. And then back to the unknown studio guitarists. The guys fat axel rose has touring with him now are those guys. A couple no-name dudes who learned to play guitar with GnR songs. They are playing Slash's songs perfectly without even trying. I mostly agree with this. This one girl on the youtubes has more technical abilities than most of the big rockstars. What she doesn't have is a band and a tour bus and her own songs and a record deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpASSx0ecTU View Quote I used to follow Tina but she dropped off the face of the earth 5 or 6 years ago with with no explanation. Unbelievably talented. |
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Top 5 is really tricky.
I'm going to have to go with Phil Keaggy, Gilmour, Clapton, |
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Those of you listing Jerry Garcia must be as high as he was his entire life.
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I'm not an expert. My favorites are
Tony Iommi Gary Rossington Glenn Tipton Randy Rhoads Jimi Hendrix I'm impressed by many Eddie Van Halen Jeff Beck Steve Vai Jeff Hanneman/Kerry King Dave Mustaine James Hetfield/Kirk Hammett Dicky Betts Allen Collins Steve Gaines Ed King Richie Faulkner Dave Murray Adrian Smith Brian May And many many others I think my list reflects the type of music I enjoy and the artists who make it, and not necessarily my appreciation of true guitar virtuosity. I think |
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Quoted: Those of you listing Jerry Garcia must be as high as he was his entire life. View Quote The Eleven (Live in San Francisco, 1969) (2001 Remaster) Attached File |
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Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendri Jimi Hendr Jimi Hend Jimi Hen Jimi He Jimi H Jimi Jim Ji J |
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Tina S
Ludwig van Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata ( 3rd Movement ) Tina S Cover |
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I can’t fooking believe no one has mentioned Peter Frampton or Joe Walsh.
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Robert Johnson,
Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhoads, Edward Van Halen, Tony Iommi I didn’t pick mine based on technical proficiency, although all of them are excellent guitarist. I voted based upon the impact that they had on music. Specifically, popular music sounded one way before they came along, and it sounded another way afterward. They literally changed rock ‘n’ roll music. When viewed from that perspective, I think my list is pretty good. |
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Quoted: Any list without Eric Johnson is automatically invalid. View Quote Just the fact that the vast majority of rock ‘n’ roll music fans have never heard of him tells you he doesn’t belong on any list of the greatest. He might be one of the best, but he certainly hasn’t had a huge impact on rock ‘n’ roll music. |
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Not mentioned yet
Tommy Boland Randy Rhodes Terry Kath Billy Gibbons Hundreds of other players in bar bands and recording on small labels 90% of us have never heard of before. |
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Quoted: How's anyone leave Jimmy Page out?Thread is a less objective survey of top guitarists, and more a list of personal faves. Glad to see SRV is mentioned 90% of the time. I'm NOT a blues guy, but damn his Voodoo Child shows his diverse skill across the spectrum. View Quote My comparison would be SRV’s version of Hendrix’s Little Wing. I can’t get enough of SRV’s cover. My subjective opinion. I’ve read opinions about SRV that he was just OK. Not sure why just OK, but I’m not a guitar player and my hearing sucks, so my opinion can be questioned. |
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Jimmy Page
David Gilmour Edward Van Halen Jerry Garcia Warren Haynes |
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Danny Gatton
Stevie Ray Vaughn Eddie Van Halen Dimebag Chet Adkins ETA: Giant honorable mention to Tommy Emmanuel Danny Gatton Solos With A Beer & Towel |
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I’m finding the lack of Duane Allman in this thread disturbing
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I’m going to go with
Terry Kath SRV Jimmy Page EVH Mark Knopfler I put Terry Kath first because IMO he is one of the most underrated, hardly ever mentioned and Jimi Hendrix called him the greatest guitar player Watch the entire video, the shredding starts at 2:58 Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4 - 7/21/1970 - Tanglewood (Official) |
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Quoted: Who are YOUR Top 5 gee-tar pickers. All music genres and styles apply... mine are: Prince Stevie Ray Vaughan Jimmy Page Roy Clark David Gilmour *Honorary recognition goes to Billy Duffy (The Cult) Wat u gots..? View Quote EVH Prince Stevie Ray Vaughan Jimmy Page Roy Clark |
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Quoted: Ah, the glory days of boomer rock... In terms of technical proficiency, the top five guitarists of all time are probably all under 30 today. Kids learn techniques that didn't exist back then when they are 5Y/O Composition is a whole other question though. View Quote Maybe so, but Eddie is changed everything. Boomer or not. |
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Adrian Smith jamming to Floyd (Comfortably Numb) at RnR Studios |
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Leo Kottke
Alex Lifeson (Aleksandar Živojinovic) Danny Gatton (so sad for wasted talent) Justin Johnson All in no paticular order. Couldn't think of a 5th. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Prince did not learn to play guitar until late in his life. Someone else played those parts. I’m curious about this… Where did you get that info? From his asshole Yes. He was a great showman. He had rhythm and wrote very catchy and popular songs. Yes, later in his career, when he switched to the telecaster, he had some basic chords and bends. But overall, all he could do was make musical rhythmic sounds. His guitar skills were rudimentary first year stuff. All of those wild, bendy wailing lead solos were nothing impressive; they don’t require a lot of skill.. The rhythms were obviously played by someone else. He wore the guitar like a prop. He didn’t know where to put his hands. You never see his hands; there was always smoke or glare or the camera cut away. To a non- guitarist it looked and sounded really impressive. He was not a top 5 guitarist. And, your interest in my asshole just shows your breeding. |
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Quoted: Yes. He was a great showman. He had rhythm and wrote very catchy and popular songs. Yes, later in his career, when he switched to the telecaster, he had some basic chords and bends. But overall, all he could do was make musical rhythmic sounds. His guitar skills were rudimentary first year stuff. All of those wild, bendy wailing lead solos were nothing impressive; they don’t require a lot of skill.. The rhythms were obviously played by someone else. He wore the guitar like a prop. He didn’t know where to put his hands. You never see his hands; there was always smoke or glare or the camera cut away. To a non- guitarist it looked and sounded really impressive. He was not a top 5 guitarist. And, your interest in my asshole just shows your breeding. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Prince did not learn to play guitar until late in his life. Someone else played those parts. I’m curious about this… Where did you get that info? From his asshole Yes. He was a great showman. He had rhythm and wrote very catchy and popular songs. Yes, later in his career, when he switched to the telecaster, he had some basic chords and bends. But overall, all he could do was make musical rhythmic sounds. His guitar skills were rudimentary first year stuff. All of those wild, bendy wailing lead solos were nothing impressive; they don’t require a lot of skill.. The rhythms were obviously played by someone else. He wore the guitar like a prop. He didn’t know where to put his hands. You never see his hands; there was always smoke or glare or the camera cut away. To a non- guitarist it looked and sounded really impressive. He was not a top 5 guitarist. And, your interest in my asshole just shows your breeding. Attached File |
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No Petrucci?
Eric Gillette? Tony MacAlpine? Phil Keaggy? This thread needs help |
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This month?
Dave Gilmour George Lynch Buck Dharma Lindsay Buckingham Anders Wikström |
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I see a lot of votes for Hendrix,but I think he didn’t have a lot of versatility ,he was a one trick pony.-he was good at that but one trick
I don’t see enough votes for Carlos Santana. He is a master Roy Clark Steven Ray Eddie van Mark knopfler One name I never see on these list is Robert Cray Considered the best blues guitarist .when I turn people on to him, it’s always the same “ he is amazing” the best! Check him out. I think you will agree |
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I’m not even sure why I feel compelled to come and defend Prince.! Skip to 3:30 marker and enjoy. No smoke, mirrors, camera trickery or prerecorded track. This was a live, raw performance. RIP Prince.
2021 Remaster "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Steve Winwood |
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Tony Iommi
Edgar Winter Hank Sherman Andy LaRocque Karl Sanders Andy LaRocque ("King Diamond" black haired guy on the right, watch the entire show, the guy is a beast in the 90's sound) King Diamond Live Fillmore Full Hank Sherman (Mercyful Fate) is on the right. He did his best work with paired up with Micheal Denner on the first few Mercyful Fate albums in the 80's. MERCYFUL FATE - Live at The Tabernacle (Ultra HD) Sherman and Denner on one of the heaviest songs of the 80's. Mercyful Fate - A Dangerous Meeting (OFFICIAL) Karl Sanders (NILE) big dude on the left; he also has several instrumental albums out on his own Nile - Black Seeds Of Vengeance ( Den Haag ) |
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I know nothing about playing a guitar but this always impressed me (both of them):
Frank Zappa - Stevie's spanking (Featuring Steve Vai) Live duet version |
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Buddy Guy
Johnny Winter Ry Cooder Freddie King Mike Mann (Hollywood Fats) |
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These kinds of threads suck. The spectrum is too broad to give s singular answer. Best at what? Performing? Innovation? Song writing?
My opinions: EVH was the Maestro in performing. Jeff Beck obviously gets a nod here too. Hendrix was the first to really cross the big line in innovation. Honorable mention to EVH and Page. Song writing featuring guitars??? Page, Beck, Clapton, Gilmore, Blackmore, Iommi, EVH... etc, etc. The list is long. Too many are left off that list. But alas... |
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Guthrie Govan
David Gilmour Eric Johnson Randy Rhoads Michael Hedges |
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Tony Iommi
Alex Lifeson Mark Knoppfler Richie Blackmore David Gilmour Hard to narrow it down to 5, and I just went with my favorites. So many great players. Love Terry Kath as well, amazing, would have loved to see him in a straight ahead rock band. Underrated singer too. The video posted above of 25 or 6 to 4 at Tanglewood is chill bump material. Make time to watch it if you have not seen it. You won't regret it. |
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EVH
SRV Neal Schon Mark Tremonti Nuno Betancourt Also: Jimmy Page Peter Frampton Ian Thornley Eliot Easton Steve Lukather Dimebag |
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A while back, there was a thread about who should be on the Mount Rushmore of guitar players. Never got around to posting in it, but my picks would be:
Chuck Berry Jimi Hendrix Eddie Van Halen Dimebag Darrell |
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In no special order
Les Paul Tommy Tedesco Alvino Rey Roy Buchanan Chet Atkins |
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