Who is your 5 Fav. Guitarist

[Steveman112]

Mine are...
1.Brian May
2.Yngwie Malmsteen
3.Joe Satriani
4.Tony MacAlpine
5.Joe Perry
Why Brian May is the most under rated guitar player in the history of the world.Nobody realy understands harmony
as well as him.I would say the the reason that he is over looked is the same reasons that people like E.V.H.
Now Van Halen has hits and Queen has hits.But Eddie was the first to use to left hand taping to its full use[Well he didnt realy since Joe Satriani has made his own improvements}.Eddies fan base is 50% becuz is great 50%
cuz his bag of tricks...and bag of tricks does not make a song.
Yngwie Malsteen...The Rickson Gracie of GUITAR... do I realy have to say any more.
Joe Satriani...King of the pitch axis theory.
Tony MacAline...In Bio. class I would say his atoms are
4Yngwies protons two Satriani Ions and a cluster of bad ass
jazz and blues.
Joe Perry's playing is a Sweet Emotion, his chord structures makes us all go Crazy and his solo's are Amazing... so why would Aerosmith jam with N'SUCK????

[Joseph]

Over the past several years there have been so many different guitarists who have inspired me in more ways than one, and its not enough to just name five who have inspired me the most. I have to add Jimmy Page to the mix, his unique style has definitely played a big part in my life for so many years now, hes one of the main reasons why I picked up this instrument, he opened my ears to the various possibilities that this instrument has to offer, and he has increased my enthusiasm along the way. Kim Thayil, his impulsiveness is what attracts to me to his playing, I don't know where he comes up with this stuff, (on every Soundgarden album he keeps me guessing.) No matter how hard I try, there are just certain Soundgarden songs that Ijust can't completely master in getting the right sound effects, and this doesnt discourage me it just makes me work even harder. Kirk Hammett of Metallica, this guy is by far the greatest lead and rhythm metal guitarist, and the most creative. I'm sure its safe to say that every serious guitarist appreciates metal, and it doesnt come any better than Metallica. Whenever I have those rather hectic days I love to just sit back and play my favoirite Metallica riffs and solos,in some ways its a form of therapy, its great. Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Perry, Edward Vanhalen, anyone who plays with passion to reach a higher level of completness with his personality. There are so many others, but thats all for now.

-Joseph, :).

[AtomicMassUnit]

We had one of these topics ages ago, but i guess this is a new generation, and there's always changes in taste.

My current favorites are:

Warren Haynes (Gov't Mule)-The most amazing guitar tone and playing I've heard probably ever. You owe it to yourself to listen to this guy's playing (even though he sings like Bob Seger)

Brian Blush (the Refreshments)-Tone from heaven. I know Raskolnikov is chuckling at this right now, but even though this fellow's lead playing isn't godly, he's melodic, and has a completely individual style, and he's a cool dude.

Trey Spruance-(Mr Bungle, former Faith No More, Secret Chiefs 3) versatile dude. This guy's good. There is no one that can touch Bungle in creativity, individualism, style, awesomeness, you name it, they got it.

I'll have to limit it to 3 for now. The main thing I'm into is tone and creativity. The two best guitar tones i've ever heard on record were from the first two guys i mentioned, listen to the first chord played by the electric guitar in 'dont wanna know' by the refreshments on a GOOD CD PLAYER (not napster) and you will hear tonal nirvana. This also goes for the Govt Mule stuff. That guy's tone is always flawless. (trey is up there because he's damn good, but his tone isn't the most amazing, just a G&L thru a fender twin and a Marshall JMP-1)

The other interesting thing is gear. Both Warren Haynes and Brian Blush use Les Pauls, and good ones. Both use Les Paul Customs and Standards, and nice amps, namely, Matchless for Blush, and Soldano for Haynes.

Well, i've blathered quite enough.

Atomic

[Zeppelin]

Those topics are really fun :)
my five top are:

richie blackmore- the guy that could play anything in any style, and i think was one of the first sherders, all together with great feel

brian may - i dont think he is underated... everyone i know likes queen... anyway yes he is the king of the harmony

angus young - most energetic man to play guitar ever

jimmy page - great composer, great player, nothing else to add

andy summers, pete townshend , steve morse, steve vai..
i think this is it :)

[LuigiCabrini]

Pat Metheny-
One of the most interesting, versatile, talented guitarrists out there. Pioneered the use of effects in the jazz guitar world. Redefined fusion, is a compositional wizard, and on top of it all a great melodic improviser.

Django Reinhardt-
One of the most beautifully melodic soloists I've ever heard on guitar. His phrases are just so strong, and they make so much sense musically. The music just flowed out of him, and all of this with two fingers.

Joe Pass-
My favorite solo guitar player. He was a wellspring of musical ability. He could make so much happen with walking bass and chords, weaving in melodies with his chord lines, he was a band in a man.

Joe Satriani-
In the world of shred it's rare (in my mind) to find a player who plays with a lot of melodic sensibility and is able to tastefully use his technique. To me, Satriani is one "shred" player who plays music, not the guitar. I just love his tunes.

John Williams-
A classical player with great technique, but also a very open mind. He's willing to experiment with new sounds, and he makes everything he plays his own. He explores the tonal possibilities offered by the guitar, and makes beautiful music with it.

[sustain_kick]

Mine are:
Edward Van Halen - He's great. Many people think tricks don't make the player, but it got him respect!

Jimmy Page - He was Awesome, plain and simple.

Most people think Carlos Santana is awesome, but hes just good. He really uses tremolo to make it sound complicated, bu it learned "Smooth" in two hours!

Just my 2 cents.

[Bofatron]

Buckethead
Hendrix
Vernon Reid
Bill Frisell
Scofield

http://ShredLikeHell

[muya]

Well I'm from Texas, so SRV is up there. I like Chris Duarte. My tastes change from week to week. I like Slash's tone and Tom Morello's sonic art. The Arc Angels to Slipknot, or Santana to Endo, Amen to Zappa.It's all good!
1.Jimi Hendrix
2.Jimmy Page
3.Randy Rhoads
4.Joe Perry
5.Eric Jhonson

[RoadHouse]

Stevie Ray Vaughn: He's an animal and thats all there is to it.
Eric Clapton: Lots of feeling and a very clean pick'er.
Jimi Hendrix: For taking the blues a step futher ok mabye it was more than a step.
Johnny Lang: and a few others for keeping it going.
Robert Johnson: For showing us all the way.

This is my first post . What a great site! My thank to all envolved. I hope I have not given away what kind of music I like to play!!

[Smashing Young Man]

First post here myself. :)

Zakk Wylde - Sweet jesus... I don't know what else to say... the dude absolutely rips. I was reading that other huge thread and someone was saying that hearing "shred" does nothing for them. By and large, I agree (if it's sterile shred for sure), but when I hear Zakk "shred", I just wanna go and rip someone's head off. :D

Ross Childress (Collective Soul) - Here is one guy that can rip; I wish that he'd to it more. That being said, he is the only guitarist in popular music today that plays anything that's even remotely challenging.

Stevie Ray Vaughn - What a loss. When I first heard Crossfire, it was like a slap across the face. I remember catching him and Joe Satriani on MTV unplugged. They both played the same night, and one of the things that really grabbed me was the audience reaction to both guitarists. There was this one fast run that SRV did that had the audience cheering wildly... it wasn't as quick or as clean as any of Satriani's licks but man.... you could feel it. Satriani's flawless shredding never recieved more than polite applause his entire set... need I say more?

Jerry Cantrell - The only way I can describe his playing is incredibly organic. His guitar sounds like a living, breathing thing... and those riffs...

Slash - Not only for his soulful (and sometimes endearingly sloppy) playing, but for his whole attitude. He looks like the epitome of the "too cool for you" guitarist, but at the same time, he's very unassuming and humble. Gotta love that.

Is that five? *counts* Yeah, that's five. :)

[BadHorsie]

Originally posted by sustain_kick

Most people think Carlos Santana is awesome, but hes just good. He really uses tremolo to make it sound complicated, bu it learned "Smooth" in two hours!


People think Santana's music is complicated? What kind of drugs are these people taking? j/k :)

[hamster]

In no particular order:
George Benson
Jeff Beck
Steve Morse
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Stanley Jordan

[Raskolnikov]

Originally posted by Smashing Young Man
Ross Childress (Collective Soul) - Here is one guy that can rip; I wish that he'd to it more. That being said, he is the only guitarist in popular music today that plays anything that's even remotely challenging.

Try some Incubus.

[Smashing Young Man]

Raskolnikov, by "popular music", I meant more mainstream music. There are certainly some guitarists who are off the beaten path that are doing some interesting stuff, no doubt. While Incubus is fairly well known, they're far from mainstream.

[Raskolnikov]

I made the mistake of suscribing to their newsletter- Sony has pushed them into the mainstream, you only need listen to the radio long enough to hear this. (Or spend some time watching MTV if you can stomach it).

I realized you were talking about mainstream music, otherwise I would have suggested Primus, Fishbone, Charlie Hunter, Buckethead, The Refreshments, Drum and Tuba...

[Fender Man]

I have a lot of favorites, but I would have to say
#1-Hendrix
#2-Yngwie Malmsteen
#3-SRV
#4-Jimmy Page
#5-I have a lot, more than just 5, Slash, Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen, Satriani, Vai, Johnson, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, and a lot more.

[stratman42]

1 - Dave Gilmour! DAMMIT! Why hasn't he been mentioned yet? He is the master of style emotion and feeling in playing the guitar. That's all there is to it.

2 - Jimi Hendrix. Also a master of style emotion and creativity, second only to the above.

3 - Jimmy Page. The man has a style all his own. No. Make that many styles all his own...

4 - Tony Iommi. The godfather of what we know as heavy metal. Lightning solos, doom chords, acoustic intros, he started it all. Bow down.

5 - Kirk Hammet. The greatest metal guitarist ever (apart from Iommi) and a master of style as well. A well deserved place.

[Raskolnikov]

Really?
I thought Kirk was just the master of all things E minor... ;)

[redheffer]

It's nice to see some people are hip to more than the pop/rock players. Those who aren't would do well to check out other genres. We all play guitar because of Segovia. There are many other fantastic classical players as well. If you haven't heard Django Rienhardt do it NOW! That guy shredded before the term was invented. Joe pass could beat if you are concerned with using technique to make music, not just athletics. For sheer inventiveness Wes Montgomery was one of the best. Pat Metheney, Mike stern, Emily Remler, Howard Alden, Bucky Pizzarelli (80 and still kickin' butt), Jimmy bruno, Pat martino, Tal farlow, are all Jazz guitarists that every guitarist should be familiar with. Art does not happen in a vacuam...unless you know what came before you can't do anything meaningful. I don't want to soulnd too preachy, but if you don't know who these people are/were your opinion doesn't mean much. The more you learn the more fascinating it gets!

[Raskolnikov]

Speaking of jazz, ever listen to Charlie Hunter?

[Joseph]

For anyone whos interested in the guitar, you have to give the devil his due, Tony Iommi, he continues to compose the most withering riffs this side of Hades. As the leader of Black Sabbath, Iommi pioneered an entire school of dense, ominious, high amplified music, which eventually became heavy metal. The thrill I get every time I plug in my guitar when playing the first few chords to War Pigs is unbelievable, and to still have such a strong effect on me today really says alot about this guys talent. When playing guitar, its all abou feeling, this guy has it.

-Joseph :D

[stratman42]

I agree. A lot of people i know dismiss him as just another heavy metal speedfreak, but there's a difference. He is the original heavy metal speedfreak, and hes not just that. Most people class speed players as having no feeling, but i'm glad that someone realises, as i do, thatIommi has both speed and feeling, and many people ttrying to copy his style have missed out the latter, degrading the music toatally.

[Led Zeppelin]

5. Blind Blake - Unbelievable guitarist - lack of songs let him down
4. Rory Gallagher - Great guitarist, visited his grave
3. Jimi Hendrix/Jimmy Page - Cant decide
2. Gary Moore - Best blues
1. Hank Marvin - Best ever

As you can see its mostly blues influenced which is where I draw my insperation.

[Edited by Led Zeppelin on 03-24-2001 at 05:07 PM]

[TheElg]

Well... this is such a useless (but nevertheless interesting) discussion... :)
Well, here's my list:
1. Stevie Ray Vaughan (this guy was just insane)
2. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (technically not all that masterful.. but his melodic solos are just incredible)
3. Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi (from reading the last few articles, I know I don't have to tell why)
4. Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler (Nobody fingerpicks like this guy)
5. Øystein Sunde (I bet most of you haven't heard of him :-)

On the other hand (I know, I'm gonna get flamed for this one), I totally disagree with those of you who claim that Hendrix was a great guitar player. Okay, he was innovative and creative... but in my opinion, all he ever did was come up with a bunch of tricks that people had never heard before... I mean, anyone could stand on the stage, making weird noises with their guitar, if they just had enough distortion and other cool effects... :-P

[Edited by TheElg on 03-25-2001 at 08:01 PM]

[BadHorsie]

Let's take that one step further. Anyone can be as technically proficient as Petrucci, Gilmore, Vai, etc. Anyone can be as melodic as Johnson. So now that we know that everyone's favorite guitarists are not gods and are not "above" anyone, why should we think that any guitarist is good?

[BadHorsie]

Oh, one more thing. When did Black Sabbath become a speed metal band. Tony, a speed metal guitarist?!

[Vulgar Display of Jeff]

My favorite 5:

1. Mick Mars: Phenominal Blues/Metal guitarist. Doesn't get nearly enough credit as he deserves.

2. Dimebage Darrell: Another phenominal Blues/Metal guitarist. He's singlehandedly pushed the envelope as far as what you can physically do to a guitar and what kind of obscenely twisted sounds you can get out of one.

3. James Hetfield: Undoubtedly the tightest, most intense rhythm guitarist ever.

4. Alvin Lee: Ever see that movie Scanners, when the dude's head explodes. That how I feel when I watch this guy's fingers move or listen to his riffs.

5. Dick Dale: King of Surf Rock and tremolo picker extraordinaire. I've seen him twice and got tired just watching him play.

[Raskolnikov]

I've never thought of Iommi as a paticularly speedy player, but he's no slouch either. I think his real strength is riff writing. Just think of "Children of the Grave" and you know what I'm talking about.
I think when it comes down to it, Black Sabbath was (is) just an awesome band. Geezer and Bill Ward made a killer rythm section, and Geezer wrote some great lyrics. AND... Like him or not, Ozzy's pretty damn good at being Ozzy.

[Stone Temple Pilot]

Ugh, I'm gonna get flamed for mine but, oh well. :-)

Jerry Cantrell -- Already mentioned previously, the dude just ****in' rocks. Go buy his solo album, now.

SRV -- I know, know, he's on everyone's list, but there's a reason -- the guy plays like a diva sings.

Tal Farrow -- If you ever feel your ego gettin' outta check, pop this dude in the cd player. He'll put you in your place reaaaaaal quick.

Joao Gilberto -- Da King of Bossa Nova, real Bossa Nova

Dean DeLeo -- The Core stuff was pretty generic but he's done some pretty wonderful things after that. Extremely veratile.

[johnny5]

kirk hammett of couse. joe satriani,yngwie malmsteen,jimi hendrix,and john petrucci from a bad ass band called dream theater

[aeroslash]

1)Slash
2)Yngwie Malmsteen
3)Zakk Wylde
4)Joe Perry
5)Angus Young
6)TJ Parker

[Mai Zure]

Van Halen
Malmsteen
Vai
Vito Bratta
Randy Rhodes

Forever Shred!

[Viking]

Hi guys! this is my first time here, so i hope you guys are easier to get along with than the guys on Guitar.com! well anyway, my five picks are in no order Angus Young - Joe Perry - David Guilmore - Jimmy Page - Ted Nugent.

[Christoph]

Yeah Viking, I'd say we're more easy going over here.

[Blues Legend]

My ABSOLUTE favorite is

SRV....


BUT there is a new guy that is THE MOST VERSATILE that I've EVER heard, and he does
it all on an acoustic!!!

Monte Montgomery.....check him out.....WOW!!!

[Brian Black]

1. Slash-the last GREAT rock guitarist to come out in my opinion, others have been good, but he's the man. He's not too technical-he's got something better-a great feel for the instrument. That's something that just comes naturally. One last word: TONE.

2. Eric Clapton-'Nuff said

3. Joe Perry & Brad Whitford- One without the other is like night without darkness. The best 1-2 riff punch in rock history.

4. Brad Paisley-He's a new guy and he's country-therefore some of you may not really have heard him. But I will say he's one of the best I've ever seen perform live. Even if your not into country music, you've got to respect this guy's chops.

5. Stevie Ray Vaughan- once again-feel-you either got it or you don't. It is a God-given talent.
When this guy played, he held nothing back, but it all fit the song. Pure emotion.


Honorable mention: Hendrix, EVH, Chet Atkins, James Burton, Phil Keaggy, Keith Richards(not on skill-but because he changed music-open G, true rhythm that was perfect for the song)