Thread: Best guitarist of all time

Kirk Hammet certainly places in the top 5. He is just fucking electrifying.

Randy Rhoads

Marty Friedman

George Benson

Did you see min0's thread, and just didnt want the poll?
I dont know any guitar players by name.. No band comes to mind either

Actually he did it first.

I'm still an Alex Scholnick fan, Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt also wrote great stuff.

Rolling Stone
The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time


1Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Mor
ello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bo Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Queen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Fernando Sor(1778)
Dionisio Aguado(1784)
Matteo Carcassi(1792)
Francisco de Assis Tárrega Eixea(1852)
Emilio Pujol(1886)
Heitor Villa Lobos(1881)
Andrés Segovia(1893)
Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco(1895)
Laurindo Almeida (1917)
Julian Bream(1933)
Jose Feliciano(1945)
Christopher Parkening(1947)

http://www.geocities.com/jojo_mcbean/legends.html

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Actually he did it first.

Oh wow, embarassing. I saw yours started at 2 o'clock, and his at 4 o'clock, and didnt bother to see the AM/PM

The embarassing part is it isnt even 4:00 yet,

The title of that list should be greatest guitar playing performers???

Eric Clapton is a better guitarist the stevie ray vaughn!?!?

I'm torn between Jimmi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and The Edge from U2. They all rule.

On a technical level, Eric Johnson owns everyone, Joe Satriani a close second.

Only on a musical level do I even consider Kirk Hammet and Randy Rhoads. Jimi Hendrix is definitely up there in this department (who wins my vote for the most influential guitarist).

The Rolling Stones list is a complete joke.

It seems to me like it is the most well known guitarist of all time. Kurt Cobain should be no where near the top 1000 guitarists. They probably did a vote for the general public, most of whom have no idea what a good guitar player is. And B.B. King? Ha, I love B.B., a great blues guitarist, but again no where near the best.

Originally Posted by ForemanRules

Fernando Sor(1778)
Dionisio Aguado(1784)
Matteo Carcassi(1792)
Francisco de Assis Tárrega Eixea(1852)
Emilio Pujol(1886)
Heitor Villa Lobos(1881)
Andrés Segovia(1893)
Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco(1895)
Laurindo Almeida (1917)
Julian Bream(1933)
Jose Feliciano(1945)
Christopher Parkening(1947)

http://www.geocities.com/jojo_mcbean/legends.html

The Classical cats are by far the most techinical masters. The jazz players are the most intelligent.
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones????? How?
I gotta work on those power chords I guess.

100 Greatest Jazz Guitarists

1. Wes Montgomery
2. Django Reinhardt
3. Pat Metheny
4. Joe Pass
5. Charlie Christian
6. John Scofield
7. Allan Holdsworth
8. John McLaughlin
9. Jim Hall
10. Grant Green
11. Larry Coryell
12. Kenny Burrell
13. Mike Stern
14. Larry Carlton
15. Pat Martino
16. Al DiMeola
17. Bill Frisell
18. Lenny Breau
19. Herb Ellis
20. John Abercrombie
21. George Benson
22. Lee Ritenour
23. Les Paul
24. Jimmy Bruno
25. Eddie Lang
26. Robert Conti
27. Chet Atkins
28. Jeff Golub
29. George Van Eps
30. Stanley Jordan
31. Kurt Rosenwinkel
32. Hank Garland
33. Joe Diorio
34. Barney Kessel
35. Johnny Smith
36. Lonnie Johnson
37. Tal Farlow
38. Bill Connors
39. Nick Webb
40. Russ Freeman
41. Derek Bailey
42. Jimmy Raney
43. Martin Taylor
44. Howard Roberts
45. Scott Henderson
46. Robben Ford
47. Charlie Hunter
48. Thom Rotella
49. George Barnes
50. Ronnie Earl
51. Frank Gambale
52. Ed Bickert
53. Kevin Eubanks
54. Charley Byrd
55. Ralph Towner
56. Billy Bauer
57. Henry Johnson
58. Billy Bean
59. Ken Navarro
60. Dean Parks
61. Steve Khan
62. Andy Summers
63. Gabor Szabo
64. Russell Malone
65. Ronny Jordan
66. Bireli Lagrene
67. Earl Klugh
68. Grant Geissman
69. Carl Kress
70. Fitzroy Coleman
71. Buzz Feiten
72. Lorne Lofsky
73. Mark Stefani
74. Oscar Moore
75. Daryl Stuermer
76. Phil Upchurch
77. Ulf Wakenius
78. Hiram Bullock
79. Sonny Sharrock
80. John Pizzarelli
81. Tony Mottola
82. Bucky Pizzarelli
83. Norman Brown
84. Harry Volpe
85. Tommy Tedesco
86. Mark Whitfield
87. Julio Fernandez
88. Derek Trucks
89. Greg Carmichael
90. John Pisano
91. Emily Remler
92. Brian Hughes
93. Danny Embrey
94. Mick Goodrick
95. Marc Antoine
96. Mike Elliot
97. Wolfgang Muthspiel
98. Tuck Andress
99. Randy Johnston
100. John Goodsall

Originally Posted by jasone

The Classical cats are by far the most techinical masters. The jazz players are the most intelligent.
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones????? How?
I gotta work on those power chords I guess.

Technical in the sense of music theory I agree totally that the classical and jazz players are the best.

hendrix put everything he felt thru his guitar and in my mind that makes him the best cuz in listening u could feel it to. a robot could play technical, that is not what music is about tho is it?

Originally Posted by Little Wing

hendrix put everything he felt thru his guitar and in my mind that makes him the best cuz in listening u could feel it to. a robot could play technical, that is not what music is about tho is it?

Charo has a song that hits me every time I hear it, Suenos de Espana (Dreams of Spain).

I always judge on the feel of the music, not just technical skill. Lots of people are good players with writing that I just can't get into, all of my choices reflect this.

^ Wow. That song is verry pretty.

Originally Posted by Mudge

Charo has a song that hits me every time I hear it, Suenos de Espana (Dreams of Spain).

I always judge on the feel of the music, not just technical skill. Lots of people are good players with writing that I just can't get into, all of my choices reflect this.

Mudge are you hispanic?

Guero, my brothers are half though.

Some of "them" dont like the term hispanic. Tejanos started it as a way to depart from their ethnic heritage as mexicans, because mexicans were considered "dirty and stupid." So for some its a sellout term.

You look Caucasian

Right, which is why I said I'm white. Guero = white boy, guera = white girl. Many Spaniards are white skinned though as well.

True, they are Europeans.
I never heard of that word.

Its slang, I guess its the Mexican version of the N word for white people. Someone doesn't always have to take offense at it though, depends on the useage. I use the term whitey plenty.

Eddie Van Halen

Originally Posted by Little Wing

hendrix put everything he felt thru his guitar and in my mind that makes him the best cuz in listening u could feel it to. a robot could play technical, that is not what music is about tho is it?

Your right, being technical is not what it's all about. The greatest guitarist of all time (if you can pick just one) would be someone who has completely mastered the guitar in a technical sense, and always has a versatile range of music theory and creativity. A great guitar player and a great song writer are two different things, though both important as a guitar musician.

The topic is the greatest guitar player of all time. The Rolling Stones list is a joke because you have Kurt Cobain at no. 12 (who is a shitty guitar player) and Eddie Van Halen at no. 70. Eddie Van Halen is in a whole other league and is 1 million times better than Kurt Cobain. Kurt is a better songwriter maybe, but not a better guitar player by any means.

I totally agree with you on Jimi Hendrix, he is my favorite guitar player, and I have copied his style more than anyone in my playing. I also play a lot of Joe Satriani because I like his "music" better than Eric Johnson. But, I think overall Eric Johnson is the greatest guitar player I have ever been exposed to.

Hendrix, Hammett, Clapton, Joe Perry, the guy from Queen, Jimmy Page, the guy from Pink Floyd etc. etc. ...there's SO many good ones.