3 Best guitar players ever ????

Charlie Hunter-Actually plays a guitar with five guitar strings and three bass strings. Lays down the baseline and guitar parts and does both very well. It is not just a parlor trick. Plays the role of three instruments as at times he sounds like an organ as well as doing guitar and bass.

Grant Green-The guy is on so many great albums as a sideman and has released some awesome albums himself. Live at the Lighthouse is probably the best I've heard.

Eddie Hazel-The ultimate funk guitarist. He had a very short career with Parliament-Funkadelic due to legal problems and drugs. To hear what he is all about and how great he was just listen to the song Maggot Brain. He may not really belong in the top three but I had to put at least one funk guitar in the group.
 
Rock- Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore and Jimmy Page.
Country-Jimmy Bryant, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins.
Jazz- Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Lenny Bruea.

My personal all time favorite guitarist is Robby Krieger of the Doors (original).
 
I'm surprised that so many people like Vai.
I saw a birthday special on guitarist Les Paul with Slash, Via, and about eight others and Vai had the weakest "knat in a tin cup" guitar tone.
Les would hit a flurry of clean licks that would just blow away Vai's heavy distorto whammy wanking.

Eric Clapton- Listen to the John Mayall "Beano" album released in late 1965 early '66. No one sounded like that or played as aggresive as Clapton on that cd. He was way ahead of his time.
Jimi Hendrix wanted to meet Clapton the first day that he got to London and Page, Beck, Buddy Guy, Dylan, George Harrison and Bloomfield thought highly of his guitar playing.
He is the reason a 1959 Les Paul cost over 85 thousand dollars and pre-1966 Marshall amps go for over six thousand.
 
Any axman that can get a instrumental on a singing album gets my vote for best. If you can get the nancy boy singers to put a ax-only tune on a record, you must have MAD skills.

George Lynch needs some props here people! Mr Scary and Without Warning are two awesome displays of his talent. Plus during his live shows he just kicks some major @$$! He only gets 4th place however.

Eddie Van Halen - just listen to Cathedral from Diver Down. Not to mention Eruption. Probably the man that started most others careers. The man almost every guitarist wanted to be from 76 to 85.

Randy Rhodes - Ozzy thought so much of his skills that he put Dee on Blizzard of Ozz. Randy was even faster live.

SRV, he was redefining a genre, and was cut short of changing the world. Unfortunately RR was dead by the time I found Ozzy, but I remember the exact moment I was told SRV was dead. That my friends is the sign of a great guitarist.

Just imagine a SRV/RR jam...<sigh> I just hope there is a heaven so I can hear them jam...

(Trivia - Hendrix died the day I was born. I hoped his guitar karma would have left him to enter me, but I have no musical skill. I guess the music died that day)
 
Twinkie's Top Three

3. Pete Townshend

2. Eddie Van Halen

1. George Lynch

I'm still not sure on the order, but these are my definite top three (with Jimmy Page coming in at fourth). It's really hard for me to separate the talent of the guitarists from the talent of the bands, though.
 
There is really no "best" guitar player. Each type of music has its own proufound players. Talent wise, it is all based on the type of music you play and/or listen to. I mostly listen to heavy metal and classic rock, and I'm a metal guitar player. For example, since my ear hasn't really expanded in the jazz genre (which I'm hoping it will soon), I can't play that type of music at all.
There is a difference between being able to play an instrument, and being able to write good music. Some of the people stated are good, but not the "best" (most talented) in their catergory of music. They just write good riffs.
 
Justin Chancellor played with peach, then with tool, and a couple other bands along the way.


edit: fixed typo that screwed up post
 
Originally posted by sHaZbOk
i think jimmy page made up some really awesome riffs though (kashmir)

I have it on very good authority that John Paul Jones was the main muso and musical arranger in Led Zep. I remember seeing Led Zep play their second ever gig at a pub in North London... their gear took up a third of the entire space available and they were fucking great!
 
Other Great players.....

I have to agree with a few previous posts and state that making selections of who are greatest guitarists is really too subjective to one's personal taste, interests, style, and technical judgement.

However, it always sparks great discussions and debates. There are so many phenomenal players. I think the real benefit of posing this question is not to validate who is the best but instead to find other great guitarists that have been overlooked or could simply just be new to your personal listening preferences. I know I was happy to see some of my favorites listed and I was equally delighted to see a few names that are new to me. It's really kind of a win/win situation. So, I figured I would post a couple great musicians who I feel deserve a listen. I am not saying this guitarists are the greatest of all time......but I definitely feel they deserve some recognition as talented musicians.

JOE PASS

(jazz virtuoso.....I think he definitely ranks up there)


MELVIN SPARKS

( excellent off the wall funk/jazz player!!! Right up there with Grant Green. I was glad to see Grant mentioned.)

JIMMY HERRING

(One of Berklee's finest....and absolutely floors me with everything he does)

ERIC KRASNO

(New school jazz guitarist.......takes after Sparks, Green, and Benson. Very verstile and plays in SOULIVE, LETTUCE, MOON BOOT LOVER, and also works with DJ LOGIC. Great NYC guitarist)

GEORGE BENSON

( I know he has done alot of soul and R&B ballads....but he is an unreal guitarist.......Check out BAD BENSON for his most impressive licks.....and its all instrumental!)

JOHN GUTWILLIG

(Guitarist of the DISCO BISCUITS......This guy is really something else.....If anyone thinks Trey is something....You have to hear this guy improv. and jam. Really adapts to any groove and is very technically sound without being overbearing. He is something else!)

Here are two great young players....that play slide and pedal steel


DEREK TRUCKS

( Phenomenal slide player.......really is going to surpass Duane Allman as one of the best slide players of all time. If he already hasn't.)

ROBERT RANDOLPH

( Already considered by many the Greatest Pedal Steel player of all time.......I've seen him live several times and I can honestly say I've never seen nor heard anyone compare!!!!)

Well there are a few names......Sorry I strayed away from Metal but I think almost all my Favorites were mentioned....I was surprised that Kirk Hamnet wasn't mentioned by someone?

I'll also throw in my two cents on ZAPPA. He might not be as technical or impressive as Vai, but any musician honestly knows he was a true musical genius.....his compositions, arrangements, musical dictation, discipline, and overall musical sense of humor is really undisputed.

Opinions, replies, and corrections are always welcome.
 
The 3 best guitarists imo. . .

Nice thread guys. Here are my picks:

-Andres Segovia (you gotta give this man serious credit; he brought classical guitar to a whole other level!)

-Eric Johnson (wow; I had the privilege of meeting him. he's also a cool guy besides being ultra talented)

-Stanley Jordan (this guy plays the guitar like a piano! incredible technique AND musicality)


There are a ton more great guitarists I could mention, but these ones immediately came to mind.
 
Dave Matthews? :bugeye:

1. Jimmy Page
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Stevie Ray Vaughn

Honorable mentions:
Clapton was great with Cream and shortly after, but soon got pretty lame. I also like Jeff Beck, BB King, Albert King, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, Eddie van Halen, blah blah blah.

A couple of great guitar players you may not have heard of are Grant Green and Richard Thompson.
 
Alan Holdsworth, Steve Howe, John Petrucci, Tony MacAlpine, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Hackett, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jason Becker, Eric Johnson, SRV, Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck.
 
I think everyone here has missed the greatest new guitarist around - Robert Randolph.
 
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