Who is the Best Guitarist of All Time?

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The discussion revolves around the question of who is the best guitarist of all time, with participants sharing their opinions and favorite guitarists. Jimi Hendrix is frequently mentioned as a top choice due to his innovative techniques and impact on music, though some argue about his technical skills compared to modern players. Eric Clapton, Leo Kottke, and Paco de Lucia are also highlighted for their unique styles and contributions to guitar music. The conversation touches on the distinction between technical proficiency and emotional expression in guitar playing, with many asserting that true greatness involves both. Other notable mentions include Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani, and various metal guitarists like Dave Mustaine and James Hetfield, emphasizing the diversity of styles and personal preferences in defining the "best" guitarist. The debate reflects a blend of admiration for technical skill and the emotional connection that music can evoke.
  • #51
knopfler is one of my favorites. but nobody has mentioned jimmy page, chuck berry, kirk hammet, van halen, david gilmour.
 
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  • #52
bp_psy said:
From metal these two know how to write riffs.

Tommy Vetterli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTlBua7mfao

Trey Azagthoth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7YLblswAI0

iommi started it all. children of the grave probably is the best riff ever
 
  • #53
Evo said:
Erik Mongrain. Have you ever seen anyone able to play a guitar like that?



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


Evo said:
Probably the greatest guitarist of all time - Leo kotke. Unfortunately no good videos of him playing survive. This is a horrible quality video, but gives you an idea of his capabilities.



I like Hendrix, Zappa (not known for being a good guitarist, but an incredible mind), and the others listed so far, but they don't have true talent that rises above the rest.

Popular songs is one thing, exceptional talent is another.


Greg Bernhardt said:
Always liked Buckethead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Et6BSDMNLY

Michael Romeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG2804ggsI0

John Petrucci
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVmq2C5kLoM

Alexi Laiho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuHXAOrwkI

Jesper_Strömblad - steel guitar solo is awesome at 2:10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrdGYVir6DU

some of these like kottke, mongrain, and buckethead i ahd never heard, and they are ossum
 
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  • #54
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  • #56
chhitiz said:
some of these like kottke, mongrain, and buckethead i ahd never heard, and they are ossum

Except for Kottle, I really don't see what's so "ossum" (I assume you meant "Awesome") about them. they can play things that are really hard to play, but it's nothing ground breaking, you heard 10 seconds you've heard everything they have to offer. Anybody can do it, all you have to do it take the time to mindlessly play arpeggios all day long, in no time you'll be able to play fast. What really takes talent is to capture an emotion and hold peoples attention for long periods of time. Not many people are going to listen to those guys for anymore than a minute.
 
  • #57
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adV8-_hgL4g

I win

=]
 
  • #59
chhitiz said:
knopfler is one of my favorites. but nobody has mentioned jimmy page, chuck berry, kirk hammet, van halen, david gilmour.

I guess everybody has heard of them? here they are anyway













 
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  • #60
chhitiz said:
iommi started it all. children of the grave probably is the best riff ever

He is still one of the greatest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BkhtJM8CqE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhhAfeuqanc&NR
 
  • #61
No Megadeth fans? That's a shame. He may not be the most technically prolific guitarist, but he sure knows how to write killer riffs and can play a rhythm guitar better than anyone these days. I like how MotoH has Synyster as his favorite. He one of mine as well. Here's Sleepwalker. Get ready to headbang!

 
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  • #62
Stratosphere said:
Except for Kottle, I really don't see what's so "ossum" (I assume you meant "Awesome") about them. they can play things that are really hard to play, but it's nothing ground breaking, you heard 10 seconds you've heard everything they have to offer. Anybody can do it, all you have to do it take the time to mindlessly play arpeggios all day long, in no time you'll be able to play fast. What really takes talent is to capture an emotion and hold peoples attention for long periods of time. Not many people are going to listen to those guys for anymore than a minute.

i could really connect to their music. you should listen to the melody of both- mongrain and buckethead. what you said about holding an emotion is true. that's why i never liked petrucci much, though some DT songs are 'ossum' in terms of riffs, solos and capturing emotions- under a glass moon, octavarium, change of seasons.
 
  • #63
Chi Meson said:
If you liked that, here is what many consider his "most gorgeous" composition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thP4jkMOPxI"

Well, evidently his "most" is awfully darned so. One thing that will never cease to blow me away about people who have a genius for something is how absolutely effortless they make doing it appear.
 
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  • #64
w3390 said:
No Megadeth fans? That's a shame. He may not be the most technically prolific guitarist, but he sure knows how to write killer riffs and can play a rhythm guitar better than anyone these days. I like how MotoH has Synyster as his favorite. He one of mine as well. Here's Sleepwalker. Get ready to headbang!



megadeth= great riffs \m/
 
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  • #65
Some of my favorites have been mentioned, so I will go ahead and add Michael Hedges and Paul Gilbert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5UPcSLnqe8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPGA3vjMLgE
 
  • #66
David Gilmour
 
  • #67
chhitiz said:
i could really connect to their music. you should listen to the melody of both- mongrain and buckethead. what you said about holding an emotion is true. that's why i never liked petrucci much, though some DT songs are 'ossum' in terms of riffs, solos and capturing emotions- under a glass moon, octavarium, change of seasons.

I've tried listening to them, it just doesn't do it for me (or for anybody that was listening with me). It appears like a select few that actually like that kind of music. It just seems to be forced, it doesn't have that natural flow, it sort of sounds like a robot playing.

Speed is great if you know how to use it, unfortunately many guitarists/bands don't know how. And if they do, when they play slow its really nothing worth listening to. A lot of them hide behind their speed.
 
  • #68
Stratosphere said:
Speed is great if you know how to use it, unfortunately many guitarists/bands don't know how.

These boys do...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SqKxo72Ujc&feature=related

I will sign on the petition which says that *speed* matters **** all if you don't have *feeling*.
 
  • #69
"it's very hard to explain... just let me shred" :-p



instead of posting something that hasn't been posted yet, not even after 4 pages, I'll post these:


 
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  • #70
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.

 
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  • #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
 
  • #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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