Who is your 5 Fav. Guitarist

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

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.

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]

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]

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Van Halen
Malmsteen
Vai
Vito Bratta
Randy Rhodes

Forever Shred!

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.

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

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!!!

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)