The best guitarist to ever grace the earth is....

[nathanael hale]

Shawn Lane.Anyone agree...?

[turkeyjerky214]

how do you define best? most technically skilled, best writer, most emotional playing style?

if I had to pick one person as the best (well known) guitarist of all time I would have to go with Clatpton. not only can he play amazing while he's sober, but he was able to play some of the best songs ever while completely strung out on heroine.

I idolize him so much I've often thought about taking up heroine, getting addicted, and then quitting so that if I ever meet him we'll have something to talk about.

[light487]

Is Bach "better" than Mozart?.... I mean.. really.. it's so subjective it's not funny... but it does beg the question, as turkeyjerky214 has already mentioned, "How do you define 'best'?"..

I was chatting on the Reaper IRC channel last night and someone suggested I have a listen to this guitarist called John McLaughlin.. personally I'd never heard of the guy.. but he is pretty amazing. He was part of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.. an experimental band from the 80's I think.. though they look like they are all hippies from the 70's.. :) Anyway.. the violinist in that band is simply amazing.. but the guitarist, John, is one of the best I have ever heard. I checked out some of his other stuff and the only thing I can think is the cause of him being relatively "unknown" is that he may possibly be too "classical" sounding to be considered "popular".

The point is.. you are always going to find these obscure "best of" people and songs that you never knew existed as you go through life. Even with a Masters Degree in Musicology or Musical History.. you still can't definitely prove one "artist" is better than another.. and certainly not "the best".. all you can do is give an opinion and back it up with facts and opinions of others.

[nathanael hale]

very good point ,but take a look at this just from an appreciation skill standpoint this guy is ridiculous.IMO no one could touch this guy on a "pure talent level".So i maybe should have rephrased and said the best pure talent ever on guitar. and this was at a time when vanhalen was all the craze.How could they overlook this guy?This is 1970 feaking nine!

[Superhuman]

Have to admit, its possible that he was the greatest ever. Thats a bum link man, here's are a couple of lessons by Shawn Lane that are absolutely crazy. The only only player I have ever seen at this speed is Rusty Cooley. He was a brilliant player, very impressive - not all speed either, very expressive slower pieces by the bucket load. He had the same vibe as Vai at times but was so much more complicated and raw. Amazing that he never hit big time fame like Satch or Vai. Imagine if he lived to play the G3 tour, he would have blown Satch and Vai off the stage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57q5zdvMw58&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOLZ6z959U8&feature=related

[nathanael hale]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvNlPyxDX5I

[dreamstate]

I'll put in my 2cents worth. Yeah, Shawn Lane was incredibly talented but how did he get overlooked? Well, being extremely fat didnt help one bit, as far as those recording companies were concerned, looks played a huge part in determining how marketable your going to be and thats ashame really. Prejudice overwhelmed virtuosity in the end. I mean, if Yngwie started out being overweight, I doubt he'll be as sucessfull. :D

[looneytunes]

I don't know if he is the greatest ever, but he is certainly one of my all time favorties.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=u7MEKFTYqMo&feature=related

[Superhuman]

Excellent stuff man! Nice find, never heard this guy before, not the genre I go for but he's an amazing player allright.

[looneytunes]

Excellent stuff man! Nice find, never heard this guy before, not the genre I go for but he's an amazing player allright.

If you like that, check this one out!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6lbvSBNLLoo

[looneytunes]

Excellent stuff man! Nice find, never heard this guy before, not the genre I go for but he's an amazing player allright.

Maybe you prefer a little percussion along with that old guitar.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BuuBKuPZUuI

[ccstunes]

I'm into old rock and country music but yall need to check out Chet Atkins,
Roy Clark,Vince Gill....Thats where real guitar players came from even Chuck Berry.

[looneytunes]

I'm into old rock and country music but yall need to check out Chet Atkins,
Roy Clark,Vince Gill....Thats where real guitar players came from even Chuck Berry.

I too love the old rock-n-roll and country, from the Carter Family to Beatles.
The artist you list are great, but I love Tommy Emmanuel, Andy McKee, Paul Keaggy, Doc Waston, Tony Rice, Doyle Dykes, and David Cousino. I never cared too much for Chuck Berry although I do like "Johnny B. Goode". Not much there, but I like it. I'm going to go see Emmanuel and Keaggy in concert next month. If you are interested, I'll give you a full report when I return.

[andett]

Reading these, I go back to what turkeyjerky214 said..How do you define best? Clapton is great, but Al DiMeola is faster. Does it make him better? What about Paco DeLucia and other flamenco guitarist's? How about Andres Segovia, who practically invented clasical guitar? And Santana, SRV, Hendrix and on and on..
I think the greatest guitarist in the world is the one that you feel in your heart, soul, mind, stomach and/or groin when you want to feel something in your heart, soul, etc. Who it is depends on what you want at the time you're listening.

[HDJ]

I still say Steve Vai....He's one of the few, if not the only guitar player that I've ever heard that can play any style of music there is and put feeling into it....

For example, most "shredders" can't play blues, and vice versa...but Vai can do it all.

[oib111]

Jimi Hendrix no doubt about it

[la'guit]

far to open question, my answer is no - one is the one and only best... however, i am a big hendrix fan

[buckethead14]

id have to go with buckethead, he has such a wide arrange of techniques and styles of playing(blues, country, rock, avante garde) and plays a multitude of instruments including the bass, banjo and keys, and not to mention he can nunchuck and robot dance at the same time!

oh and lets not forget that a the front crowders at his show almost always get a gift froom him personally be it a spider ring, severed head(toy), or power ranger

[Silimtao]

Is Bach "better" than Mozart?.... I mean.. really.. it's so subjective it's not funny... but it does beg the question, as turkeyjerky214 has already mentioned, "How do you define 'best'?"..

I was chatting on the Reaper IRC channel last night and someone suggested I have a listen to this guitarist called John McLaughlin.. personally I'd never heard of the guy.. but he is pretty amazing. He was part of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.. an experimental band from the 80's I think.. though they look like they are all hippies from the 70's.. :) Anyway.. the violinist in that band is simply amazing.. but the guitarist, John, is one of the best I have ever heard. I checked out some of his other stuff and the only thing I can think is the cause of him being relatively "unknown" is that he may possibly be too "classical" sounding to be considered "popular".

The point is.. you are always going to find these obscure "best of" people and songs that you never knew existed as you go through life. Even with a Masters Degree in Musicology or Musical History.. you still can't definitely prove one "artist" is better than another.. and certainly not "the best".. all you can do is give an opinion and back it up with facts and opinions of others.

I agree "the best" can never be quantified, and after returning to this forum after a year, I see this debate is still ongoing. Looked at the YT vid of Shawn, very talented, no doubt about it. Best? Not my cup of tea. Would I like to know what he knows and how? Sure. The best in my book? No.

I don't have a favorite anymore. Used to be Santana, almost strictly for his tone, but I found his (live) solos very lyrical.

re: McGlaughlin. He's not unknown to old-timers like me. He was at the forefront of fusion. When I saw him with MVO, he had a female violinist. She matched him note for note. "Sick" as kids say today (I learn modern slang from my teen daughter and 22 yr. old nephew, lol.) McGlaughlin is very well respected by oldies of my generation. At one time he played a guitar with a scalloped fretboard! I have a friend who's a big-time Holdsworth fan, so he's getting heavy into theory, modes, etc. He told me that McG has something like a 9 DVD set of lessons that's just sick.

True, it may be that McG is relatively unknown and not very popular among guitar players right now, but he certainly is respected among those who have followed him. To say that McG is a sick player would be an understatement. That said, I can only listen to him in bits and pieces at a time. I know what he's saying is light years beyond my understanding.

[Silimtao]

I still say Steve Vai....He's one of the few, if not the only guitar player that I've ever heard that can play any style of music there is and put feeling into it....

For example, most "shredders" can't play blues, and vice versa...but Vai can do it all.

I first heard of Vai when Guitar Player magazine put its first (I'm pretty sure)vinyl record recording in an issue...and it was Vai playing...can't remember the tune, but I was impressed. Oh, I think it was the Attitude Song...something like that.

But the best? I dunno- I'm listening and relistening to so many different players right now, I don't even have a favorite anymore.

Bottom line is, whatever floats your boat.

[Kevin Taylor]

I first heard of Vai when Guitar Player magazine put its first (I'm pretty sure)vinyl record recording in an issue...and it was Vai playing...can't remember the tune, but I was impressed. Oh, I think it was the Attitude Song...something like that.

But the best? I dunno- I'm listening and relistening to so many different players right now, I don't even have a favorite anymore.

Bottom line is, whatever floats your boat.

They had a vinyl record for Yngwie Malmstein as well back before anybody had ever heard of him. Must have been the mid 1980's.


I don't think I could specifically name one guitar player as 'best' either.
I can name certain guys that had influences on me over the years like Van Halen, Alex Lifeson, Tommy Tedesco etc...

But for some reason other guys who are considered by many to be 'greats' I've never really gotten into. Like Vai, SRV, Satch, Malmsteen, Clapton, Hendrix. I don't think I've ever listened to any of their publicly released stuff except for a song or two. Probably cause I just don't like the style of music playing in the background. (probably why I like Alex Lifeson, cause Neil Peart is amazing)

Must be a cultural thing or something. Certain kinds of music give me a 'homesick' kind of feeling, like Pink Floyd, Supertramp... even old British theme songs like Dr. Who or The Persuaders give me that butterfly feeling.
But ever since I was a kid I always thought of stuff like Hendrix or the Stones as being too 'dirty' and not meant for me so I never listened to em.

Now though, I gotten into downloading bootlegged home and studio demos off of usenet to hear what those guys sound like when they're just practicing or doing alternate versions of famous songs.
(and I've got positive proof from the studio recordings, that Van Halen's solos in Eruption and Beat it were done in small sections and spliced together from the best takes.)

Anyways...Rambling on...

[Silimtao]

Probably the most recorded guitar player in history that no one has heard about. I used to enjoy reading his articles in Guitar Player. I used to have every issue of GP magazine. My soon to be ex sh** canned them for the sheer enjoyment of it :mad:

[wylde4guitar92]

there are so many great guitarist you cant pick just one. id go with Zakk Wylde and Eric Clapton but there is no right answer.

[Zenbuster]

Nuno Bettencourt

[Sasuke199]

The greatest guitarist of all time.... wow..... Probably one of the hardest question I've had to answer... I feel like Randy Rhoads could've easily been the best and then some if he had lived. But.. he wasn't the most technical guitarist out there. I think that buckethead, MAB or Malmsteen have the most technicality out there right now. I would probably say that my favorite guitarist would be Brian May, becasue Queen is the greatest band of all time IMO.

[super crazy]

i dont agree. i reckon Tony Iommi is the best. he inspired me to get a guitar(which arrived this morning). i just dont know how he made some of his riffs.

[roadrunner666]

How about the late great Danny Gatton?
Doesn't bear thinking about at what else he could have achieved.

[Lao_Tzu]

the best guitarists on this planet are urselves if u can be bothered to put the time in. search deep and create!

[hunter60]

the best guitarists on this planet are urselves if u can be bothered to put the time in. search deep and create!

Very Zen ... Grasshopper appreciates! :)

[Lao_Tzu]

if you like that you may want to google my name :)

[quickfingers]

Must be a cultural thing or something. Certain kinds of music give me a 'homesick' kind of feeling, like Pink Floyd, Supertramp... even old British theme songs like Dr. Who or The Persuaders give me that butterfly feeling.

(and I've got positive proof from the studio recordings, that Van Halen's solos in Eruption and Beat it were done in small sections and spliced together from the best takes.)

Anyways...Rambling on...

i get nauseatingly happy when i listen to bands of my early teens (i'm only 20 so this is all i can truly draw from). i got into playing guitar because of punk rock so bands like the misfits and the circle jerks really take a part of me when i listen to them. too many good memories. pink floyd in particular will make me cry and i can't listen to certain bach fugues or mozart melodies without smiling like a madman and pretending i'm conducting them. embarassing **** you do with the privacy of a lock on your door.


and about EVH on "beat it", i KNEW IT!!!! that **** was almost too meticulously clean and wiped free of bull****. are you sure about eruption though? i read in an interview that the recording we hear is take #2. eddie says he messes up on this ascending riff and it eats at him when he hears the recording.

[JJ777]

Vai rules... Need I say anything else?

[Drew77]

He's a giant douche bag though.

[mdavion]

John Petrucci of Dream Theater, not only is he one of the fastest players ever he also knows when to go slow, he is one of the most technically sound players in existence, he also writes good music if metal and prog is your thing, and even if it isn't you still have to respect his greatness.