i have a lot of fave guitarists- chuck berry, bb king, george harrison, eric clapton, jimmi hendrix, eddie van halen, peter frampton, jimmy page, toni iommi, santana, stevie ray vaughan, keith richards, jerry garcia, buddy guy, frank zappa, pete townshend, angus young, satriani, vai etc. etc.

...but out of all of these guys, my all time favorite would be brian may. and i'm not saying he's the best in terms of skill. hell, first of all, there's so many guitar players out there and its hard to say who is better than who- infact, it is unfair to do that comparison because all of these guitarists have their different styles and they're masters at their own specialties. They are each in a world of their own. Second, when we make comparisons of such vast and diverse musicians, we forget the matter of different eras. Everyone's work were revolutionary in their own era and each contributions are as important as the other because without it, there wouldn't be any advancement- everyone benefits and improves from what the others have done in the past. For instance, when hendrix first came out-his work was considered out of this world and unique- no one can do it. Because of the standard he set, nowadays, everyone can play his songs and add their lil bits to it so that the standard that he set is raised so that the next generation guitar players can improve it further. therefore, i give props to all of them.

i only like brian may out of the whole lot of them in a sense that he makes a personal appeal to me that's all. for me, simple is the better and to me, he's the most simple of all guitar players. he doesnt spin or break guitars on stage like others- whatever hype and emotions he displays it in his solos which he plays with such passion! he doesnt play a billion notes like page but his articulation is superb and the length of his (very melodic)solos really gets into you. He is also unique in a way that he made his own guitar (unique at that time)unlike others who relied on production models, whose sound is one of the most distinct. I also like his use of guitar harmonies and orchestration and thanks to him it is now a standard in rock. he is well educated and smart with degrees in physics and astronomy (anyone know of any famous guitarist who have a physics degree?). And lastly, everyone respects him. Just watch the tribute to freddy mercury concert and their comments to brian may. Everyone's there- nuno bettencourt, tonni iommi, robert plant etc. and they admit being big fans of brian may.