Greatest Guitarist of all time...

[radrock]

haha, no mention on Django Rheinhardt?

Any relation to Django Fett?

[adam-antium]

As some people have already said, you cant really say who is the best all you can say is who are some of your favorite players. For me its a long very varied list.
One of my favorite guitarist of all time (who i don't think has got a mention) Rory Gallagher check him out players with real heart and feeling Amazing!!in that same vein of music SRV holy **** the man is a legend

for finger style stuff as already mentioned Tommy Emanuel , Ive seen him twice he is unreal.Amazing what one man can do with a guitar

for the shredding stuff - Petrucci, Satriani and Paul gilbert, these guys know when to shred and when NOT to.

For anyone who has never heard this guy he is well worth checking out, i only came across him on youtube. I think he is pretty unknown??!!??
Check him out on Youtube has loads of video's Fernando Miyata- he has it all

[Jack FFR1846]

This is the most sane discussion of the original topic I've ever seen!

(I've participated in a few that had gone downhill in non-music oriented sites.......and then been called a "non-guitarist" for my choices)

First, I don't believe there is such a thing as "best guitarist". There are guitarists who have topped the field in particular categories. Some who come to mind for me and why.....

Improv metal solos: Zach Wylde: I appreciated him more when seeing a "duel" where he and Slash were playing together. It was clear to me that Slash writes his stuff....plays it over and over and then has his great solos. Zach just pulled stuff out of nowhere and ran with it. It also seemed clear that he was greatly restraining himself so as not to embarase Slash on stage.

Class....I don't even know what to call it: John Frusciante: After studying a few of his songs (and learning some), I tell people that John is like Eric Clapton with ADD. He never stops. Where there are breaks for the great bluesman, Eric, John would put in half a song to fill his time so as not to be bored. And I do love Clapton.

Master of everything: Eddie Van Halen: It's pretty clear to us EBMM people that Eddie has had a huge influence. Like John (above), he's doing something all the time. But it's not little embelishments here and there, it's using every part of the guitar to make sounds he wants to hear. When courting Valeri, he wrote and played the intro to "Little Guitars" to show something that could sound like flemenco guitar. How he does all he does is beyond me. I've watched him play and it's all effortless childplay for him. Give me 5 more years and I'll finally have all of Eruption......

Bluesman worker: Buddy Guy. The freaking guy seems like he's playing every night. He's 72 years old and rocks harder than most 19 year olds. I don't know how he does it. I'd be dead trying to play a set with him. Heck....I'd probably fall over just keeping up on rhythm with him for a night. BB King usually eclipses him on the headline but Buddy is like the energizer bunny....

There are plenty of unknowns out there who are really good. And plenty of knowns who are very fast and play very difficult stuff. But should difficulty be the only measure? I don't think so. I know of a particular, great guitarist who played metal leads that are impossible (to me) but I like his work in the rest of the song and don't really think the leads are appealing (think the lead and the rest of Cemetary Gates). It's all opinion, though.

Heck....if difficulty were the only measure of success, would Linkin Park, Greenday or Beastie Boys ever even have made it anywhere?

jack

[rockerjt]

I hate the idea of who's the "best", as again, it is so subjective. My tastes are all over the map. Randy Rhoads and Slash have always been my top guys, then Gary Moore is up there with them, but then I also think Adam Jones has a genius to his style as well. Joe Bonamassa, Angus, George Harrison, DJ Ashba, Tommy Skeoch, Dave Meniketti, Mick Mars, Frank Hannon, Billy F. Gibbons, Robertson/Gorham, Michael Schenker, Paul Chapman............I could go on and on. I love all these guys for what they do, and I can't say that any one of them is better than the other. Are there aspects that are better from a techinical standpoint? Sure. To me music is an art, and if these guys create something from nothing that they or others can enjoy, then that is art, and that makes it good enough for me.

[Craiguitar]

Yeah, I don't agree with the "Greatest" guitarist debate either. Not many mentions of: Larry Carlton, Allan Holdsworth, Joe Pass, John Mclaughlan, Jay Graydon, Adrian Legg, Al DeMeola, etc..... the list goes on and on. And we are mainly talking "Eletric guitar here too, and haven't really got into acoustic, pedal steel, dobro players etc.....Do they count?? some of 'em are THAT good.

Nevertheless, these list keep cropping up, and still make me laugh how narrow the playing field is.....

[RobertB]

When I was a kid, my mother and I would argue over this. At the time, between us it was Clapton (Mom) vs. EVH (me). EVH wouldn't get my vote today, but hey, I was around 15 or 16 at the time. My mom would say "Bobby, don't you know 'Clapton is God'?", referring to the famous graffiti to that effect photographed in the Underground station in London during his Bluesbreakers days.

My opinion is that there's no greatest; there are just the Greats. And some are unknowns. I met a kid - a blues player in Russia in 2000, who was truly an undiscovered genius. Drank so much, I'd be surprised if he's still alive. But part of the grand tapestry none the less.