February 23, 200818 yr I know we had this thread like a year or so ago but I thought it would be fun to drag it back out and see what everyone thinks. First of, I think the argument for who is the top guitarists is one that will never be settled based on varying opinions. Most of the time people judge their opinion as to the type of music they like best. To be a great guitarist you must possess some or all of the following characteristics. Technique and ability - few have mastered almost every guitar technique while there are many who have mastered specific ones. For example, Eddie Van Halen with tapping. Creativeness - being able to write and play some killer guitar tunes. Who comes up with solid riffs every time or who writes things that makes you say how in the world did he go from there to there. Also thinking outside the box and doing something totally innovative. Good example would be Jimmy Page and the bow. Soloing - to me this may be the most important. I mean who doesn't love a good solo. Effects and Distortion - To be great you have to know how to play and mix with different effects and distortion. To be real great you sound good and make crazy sounds without even using, see Jeff Beck on occasions. Presence - something very important. Presence on stage, in public eye, etc is very crucial. Who has the look, and who can take a 100,000 people crowd and keep them in the palm of their hand with just a guitar? Alright, I laid out a few characteristics that lay out exactly what it takes to be considered on a list of say the top ten guitarists of all time. Taking such characteristics into consideration, lets see some of your guys' lists of who you think should have guitar immortality. Think about it a little bit and really try to break down and analyze who all is the greatest. I'll have my list in a few. Let the fun begin. :ylsuper:
February 23, 200818 yr Author Oh and BTW, just my opinion along with many others I have discussed with. Rolling Stone Magazines list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time is a disgrace to Rock music. The most horrible list I have ever seen, so at least everyones list on here will be better than theirs.
February 23, 200818 yr Since I like the blues alot I'll go with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, & B. B. King on a national level. Locally I'm a huge fan of Sonny Moornan.
February 23, 200818 yr This is my top five. Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Lindsey Buckingham, Slash, and of course, Jimi Hendrix.
February 23, 200818 yr This is essentially my list from the last thread. I think that you have to factor in a lot more things than success or “skill” when looking at guitar players. There has to be a solid combination of skill, musicianship, song writing ability, and innovation to be considered great, rather than simply exceptional at one of those. 1. Jimi Hendrix – No one with his talent and imagination has ever picked up the instrument. He could make anything sound good and turn it into a song. It is a shame he died as young as he did because I feel the best was still on its way. I think it’s amazing he has been known for so long, yet is still relevant and no one has yet sounded like him. The rest: Chuck Berry – I would consider him the first real guitar hero. He could wail. Jimmy Page Eric Clapton Stevie Ray Vaughn Duane Allman & Dickey Betts Kirk Hammett Mark Knopfler John Frusciante David Gilmour Slash
February 23, 200818 yr This is essentially my list from the last thread. I think that you have to factor in a lot more things than success or “skill” when looking at guitar players. There has to be a solid combination of skill, musicianship, song writing ability, and innovation to be considered great, rather than simply exceptional at one of those. 1. Jimi Hendrix – No one with his talent and imagination has ever picked up the instrument. He could make anything sound good and turn it into a song. It is a shame he died as young as he did because I feel the best was still on its way. I think it’s amazing he has been known for so long, yet is still relevant and no one has yet sounded like him. The rest: Chuck Berry – I would consider him the first real guitar hero. He could wail. Jimmy Page Eric Clapton Stevie Ray Vaughn Duane Allman & Dickey Betts Kirk Hammett Mark Knopfler John Frusciante David Gilmour Slash :sleep: :lol:
February 23, 200818 yr Since I like the blues alot I'll go with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, & B. B. King on a national level. Locally I'm a huge fan of Sonny Moornan. That's Moorman. Bad typing on my part.
February 23, 200818 yr Author Just something to throw out there before I give my list. One of my most valued guitarists and certainly one of the most underrated and perhaps even unheard of to some is the one and only Zakk Wylde. Hopefully everyone on here has at least heard of him, if not just know that based on all the characteristics mentioned earlier he is one of the best. Zakk was picked up by Ozzy at an early age and pretty much played with him through Ozzy's stretch of the 90's. Zakk also did the new Ozzy album after taking the past one or two off. He is just as well known for his own band Black Label Society, and also has been a part of a few more major projects. I guess one of the reasons Zakk fails to get cred is because the type of music he plays and I guess maybe because he is somewhat recent. However, even though he is predominately metal, Zakk is an incredible blues player/southern rock, (listen to his side project Pride and Glory) Anyway if anyones interested on checking out some incredible guitar shredding here ya go......he actually has two unreal solo's in this.....the second one is around the 7:40 mark if you want to fast forward. His use of pinch harmonics (one of the hardest techniques to master) is unreal in this. here is a second one from back in the ozzy day's. and if someone still wants to doubt the ability here is even an acoustic vid I would put a face mask on before watching these haha.
February 23, 200818 yr My favorite is Tim Reynolds by far. I'm sure you can argue that there's better guitarists out there, but some of the songs I've heard him play with the Dave Matthews Band blow my mind.
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