What about these guys?
Shawn Lane ,Timmo Tolki, Vinnie Vincent, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Shencker,
George Lynch, Gary Moore, Joe Stump, Vito Brada, Adrian Vanderburg, Paul Gilbert, Mattias Jabbs, Alejandro Silva (check him out if you haven't already OMG!), Janick-Dave-and Adrian (together like in the "Trooper" solo), and the new guys from Shadow's Fall; Mathew Bachand and Jonathon Denais, Jake E. Lee, Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Steve Morse, Chris and Mike Ammot, John Norum, Chris Poland, Tony MacAlpine, Marty and Dave, Alex Skolnick, **** it goes on and on...
What about these guys?
"Eddie Van who???"
Look some of these guys up...
Of course I love the contemps like Zakk and *Rhoads* and Yngwie but man, if you kick off what's on the list now for Eddie and Vai and the other contemps, then you might as well kick a few of them off for a few of the players I've listed above. They are just more obscure, that's all.
This is a redundant post. It's like posting the classic "Who's the fastest guitar player in the world?" question for a topic.