Poop-Loops said:
I have a question for you, since you started playing before JH hit the scene. Whenever I see guitar magazines list "best guitarist", obviously JH is their #1. Do you think this is true?
I see a lot of guitarists these days and in the past (but after JH) who have mastered control of their instrument to a Godly level. JH completely innovated the guitar, but would you still call him the best guitarist?
As Danger said, there can be no "best", but Hendrix was VERY influential in '60's rock. Prior to him, I'd have to say that the most influential electric guitarist was T-Bone Walker. He invented a whole new style of music that influenced rock, rockabilly, and blues artists, and I have a bunch of his recordings on CD. Even today, guitarists like Kid Ramos (former lead guitarist of the Fabulous Thunderbirds) are mining Walker's style.
Contemporary guitarists who are very hot include Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Robben Ford, Adrian Legg, Mark Knopfler...the list is a long one. In the early 70's, an interviewer for a guitar mag asked Jimmy Page who his favorite guitarist was, and his top pick was Donald Roeser, guitarist in the Blue Oyster Cult. I saw them in the first show of their first tour, and I've got to say that Page wasn't far off the mark. Listen to "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" - the lead still blows me away.
I started playing when electric guitar strings were made of nickel wrapped over steel cores, and they were much heavier than most people would consider using today. I still use nickel-wound strings with wound G-strings. When I was running the blues jams at a local tavern years back, some guys would ask to borrow one of my guitars for a song or two. Usually, they never asked again. It takes some hand strength to bend notes on heavy strings, and few people have it.