Who is the Best Guitarist of All Time?

  • Thread starter DR13
  • Start date
In summary: I think the best guitarist of all time is subjective and can't be determined definitively. However, some popular choices among guitar enthusiasts include Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Kirk Cobain, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, Erik Mongrain, Andre Segovia, Chet Atkins, Frank Zappa, Paco De Lucia, Victor Wooten, Ronni Le Tekrø, Leo Kotke, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Buckethead, Michael Romeo, Alexi Laiho, and Jesper Strömblad. Each of these musicians have their own unique styles and talents that have earned them recognition and admiration from fans. Ultimately, it is a matter of personal preference and opinion.
  • #71
turbo-1 said:
Too many "bests" to list. As a guitarist, myself, my "best" changes frequently. Often bubbling to the top are Hendrix, Junior, Adrian Legg, Robben Ford, and Danny Gatton.

I agree, there are WAY too many great guitarist out there that deserve to be mentioned in a list. My opinion over guitarist changes all the time day to day years to years.

@Evo I love Nirvana :-p. I have to disagree with you about Hendrix not being one of the best guitarist ever. I list him up there merely for how innovative he was with the guitar. Sure he wasn't technically sound as more modern players but he certainly laid the foundation plenty of guitarist to follow. I agree with most of your choices though :-p
 
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  • #72
I love Satriani:
 
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  • #73
DR13 said:
Some others that I like (in no particulat order): Kirk Cobain, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman

Uhhhh... did you mean Kurt Cobain. It's like you tried to fuse Kirk Hammett and Kurt Cobain.
 
  • #74
zomgwtf said:
@Evo I love Nirvana :-p. I have to disagree with you about Hendrix not being one of the best guitarist ever. I list him up there merely for how innovative he was with the guitar. Sure he wasn't technically sound as more modern players but he certainly laid the foundation plenty of guitarist to follow. I agree with most of your choices though :-p
I have all of Hendrix's albums. He was great, and yes I would agree that he opened people's eyes as to what guitar playing could be.

I still think some of the classic spanish guitarists are probably the most skilled, if not as well known.
 
  • #75
turbo-1 said:
Once, when an interviewer asked Jimmy Page about his favorite guitarist, he cited Donald Roeser of Blue Oyster Cult. Listen to the lead about 1:50 into find out why.



You can't beat BOC for some mind melting riffs.

I would also like to throw out Zakk Wylde of Ozzy. That guy can throw down some mean tunes.
 
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  • #76
MotoH said:
You can't beat BOC for some mind melting riffs.
Roeser's runs are smooth and expressive. Years back, a friend of his started dropping into my open-mike blues-jams with his buddies. He seemed oddly amazed that people in central nowhere had enough talent and creativity to rip it up musically, and draw crowds doing so.

My friend would drop in with some of his RI friends every summer and pack the bar for a couple of weekends each time. I never got to meet Buck Dharma, but that's OK. A whole lot of talented guitarists came through my jams, and it will be nice to watch some participants go on to make their livelihood in the music business.
 
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  • #77
zomgwtf said:
I love Satriani:
Sometimes I do too. I this clip, he engages in some cold, soulless riffing that any competent blues/rock guitarist can pull off, followed by some leads that are busy, dull, and devoid of talent. I have some of his music on CDs, and this example is really not a fair representation of his abilities. Satriani can shame Vai and Van Halen - this clip shames him.
 
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  • #79
w3390 said:
Clearly there are no fans of thrash.

Trash you say?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apD_nDwOSxQ&feature

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pultHqVOis&feature

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4jOUhQRg_w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdC_-Oc72l8&feature

Actually Suffering Hour must be the most underrated metal album ever.
 
  • #80
How about Eric Johnson? Young kid had a concert shown on HDNet. Wowed me!
 
  • #81
awestruck said:
How about Eric Johnson? Young kid had a concert shown on HDNet. Wowed me!
Young kid? He's 56, just two years younger than me, though he's been well-known for only about 20 years.
 
  • #82
turbo-1 said:
Young kid? He's 56, just two years younger than me, though he's been well-known for only about 20 years.

Good to know!
 
  • #83
 
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  • #84
Anyone mention Wes Montgomery yet?
 
  • #85
turbo-1 said:
Once, when an interviewer asked Jimmy Page about his favorite guitarist, he cited Donald Roeser of Blue Oyster Cult. Listen to the lead about 1:50 into find out why.

Buck Dharma is great, especially live.

Roeser's guitars - http://www.buckdharma.com/Guitar/GuitarGallry.shtml


His performance in Last Days of May and Cities on Flame on the live album is great.

Joe Satriani is one of the greatest.
Raspberry Jam Delta-V (Live in San Francisco)
:biggrin:
 
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  • #86
?
 
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  • #87
I think that John McGeoch has to be up there with the best of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McGeoch

He was the guitarist for "Siouxsie and the Banshees" but performed in loads of other bands!

I would include Johnny Marr(and I still do) but after trying to play McGeoch it feels like magic pouring out of your finger tips.

On Ultimate-Guitar.com check out the tabs.

John McGeoch is dead now but there are lots of tabbers trying to decipher what he was playing.



Guedzilla is probably the closest anyone can get!

Number one must be Hendrix but that's kind of obvious!
 
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  • #88
Astronuc said:
Buck Dharma is great, especially live.
I saw the band in concert in their very first performance on tour to support their first album. They were fantastic. To say the least, I was blown away by his fluidity and phrasing. I wish that he had come to my open-mike jams in Skowhegan when his biker buddies from Providence were patronizing the place on their summer-jaunts to Vacationland.

One great side-effect to going to school in Orono. I saw BOC, New Riders, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in their first appearances on US tours. Stuff was still fresh for them, malleable, and ripe for stage dynamics and interplay. We got the initial dates before Boston and NY simply because of geographics and the huge airport (former SAC base) at Bangor, plus the straight shot down I-95 to hit the big east-coast venues.
 
  • #89
I'd have to give additional props to Chet Atkins. His "CGP" was a great collection, but I have a soft spot for the duet albums that he did with Les Paul, Jerry Reed, and Mark Knopfler. All great in their own way. "I'm confessing, I never took a lesson. All my notes are a matter of guessin'" (From Yackety Axe)
 
  • #90
chaoseverlasting said:
Anyone mention Wes Montgomery yet?

I've got one album by him, but I don't think I've listened to it carefully enough yet. I've read he's good though :smile: I'll get back to him sooner or later

I just started going through my old Manavishnu albums & here's a good one I found
 
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  • #91
I don't have that one. I had a couple of his acoustic jazz albums and I raved to my girl friend how great he was. I was aghast that his new band was placed last in the lineup. Byrds opened, Blue Oyster Cult followed and the Mahavishnu Orchesta cleaned up. I though McLaughlin should have played first, IMO, because of his very delicate picking, vibrato, etc.

Nope! When the band got under way, McLaughlin was playing a Les Paul through a very healthy blackface Fender Twin Reverb. I wasn't expecting that. Too much volume!
 
  • #92
Astronuc said:
Joe Satriani is one of the greatest.
Raspberry Jam Delta-V (Live in San Francisco)
:biggrin:


I have that G3 dvd, it's fantastic!
 
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  • #93
a couple more good ones



 
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  • #94
"Best" is tough, so I'll put my favorites instead...

Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine)
Jorn Viggo Lofstad (Pagan's Mind)
Michael Romeo (Symphony X)
Adam Jones (Tool)
Paul Masvidal (Cynic)
 
  • #95
Michael Hedges, or Pierre Bensusan, for their unique styles and technical ability deserve mention.
 
  • #96
Marty Friedman and Jason Becker. Just listen to this song Concerto.

 
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  • #97
Evo said:
Erik Mongrain. Have you ever seen anyone able to play a guitar like that?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbndgwfG22k


Wow, Evo. I had a difficult time even looking at the other posts after this one. I've never seen anything quite like this...
 
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  • #98
This may not be the fastest, nor the most technical, but this takes the cake as far as I am concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bShX-aIZXW8
 
  • #99
MacLaddy said:
This may not be the fastest, nor the most technical, but this takes the cake as far as I am concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bShX-aIZXW8

I was about to say that sounds like Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd .. until I saw that it was, SOYCD, but a solo by D Gilmour. I wonder if you've ever heard the original, in the Pink Floyd album ? The one that starts with an organ solo of about 5 minutes, then goes into the guitar piece - which as actually very different from this one.

THAT, IMO takes the cake, particularly the indescribable rift about 7 minutes in, where he does a sudden, shattering legato slur over a number of notes, that seems to send you (well, me anyway) into a separate space ..
 
  • #100
Evo said:
Erik Mongrain. Have you ever seen anyone able to play a guitar like that?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbndgwfG22k


Extraordinary !
 
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  • #101
B.B. King in his prime...
 
  • #102
alt said:
I was about to say that sounds like Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd .. until I saw that it was, SOYCD, but a solo by D Gilmour. I wonder if you've ever heard the original, in the Pink Floyd album ? The one that starts with an organ solo of about 5 minutes, then goes into the guitar piece - which as actually very different from this one.

THAT, IMO takes the cake, particularly the indescribable rift about 7 minutes in, where he does a sudden, shattering legato slur over a number of notes, that seems to send you (well, me anyway) into a separate space ..

I agree, but this was the best live version I could come up with. I would love to be able to find a decent quality live version when the band was whole (with Waters, that is), but alas, nothing.

Unfortunately I was never able to see them perform live, but I have seen The Australian Pink Floyd Show seven times in the last six years, and they are the next best thing. www.aussiefloyd.com
 
  • #103
Elliott Easton is not the best guitarist ever, but this song contains his best solo ever, IMO.

 
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  • #104
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5RI752K0C0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFh1w801Yvs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxWNmGGItXg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbeAbllBpGo
 

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