Best guitar player?

To me it's always been Stevie Ray Vaughn. But I love Dimebag Darrell. So many others are great too. I remember watching a Stevie VHS when I was about 12 and that was it for me. That guy is the best ever. And I stand by that. I got into guitar and learning music and keeping time but I never had that natural ability like the greats.

a reply to: Toolman18

This belongs in the musical mudpit!!



Best guitar player certainly would be relative wouldn't it? I mean where to begin to compare: training, influence, complexity, fan base, ingenuity, originality?

I would have to say it would be a tie between Randy Rhodes and Joe Satriani. Besides the fan base they would mark high in each of the afore mentioned areas.

Great Thread, this should be good!

Ah yes i know who it is!!!

Randy Rhodes!!!!


waves to JinMI

ETA: lol just say you mentioned Rhodes as i posted! Great Minds eh?

s/f Nice Thread ToolMan

a reply to: JinMI

Yeah it is relative. Of course every person has their own best. But Dimebag? Man he's awesome

originally posted by: Toolman18
a reply to: JinMI

Yeah it is relative. Of course every person has their own best. But Dimebag? Man he's awesome

I agree. 110% !!

Having to pick a best I couldn't even do just one, maybe I'm not qualified.

Maybe you'll have to break this down by era/genre.

a reply to: awareness10

So sad to see two already in this thread gone well before their time. Can you imagine the impact Dime or RR would have had on music given the opportunity. Musical culture has been robbed.

Not to discount the many, many others btw.

a reply to: Toolman18

I'd have to ask my brother, he's the guitarist in the family.

Dimebag is great, Hammett, Mustaine, all legends.

But for pure off the wall insane technical writing abilities, it has to be Muhammed Suiçmez from necrophagist.

If you like Blues guitar, check out Carvin Jones. The guy is a monster.

Would say Dimebag, the solo on floods was insane

The "best" pop/rock guitarists simply have an extensive repertoire of fairly standard licks they play fast and loud. There's not much more to those guys than that. What SRV is to the pentatonic scale, RR is to harmonic minor. Rinse. Repeat. Recycle.

And I'm a guitarist. You really start to realize the sophomoric and gimmicky nature of pop music once you start branching out into (and really listening to) different genres, such as jazz or classical.

Not to rain on the parade or anything. Just when you say "best guitarist", I don't immediately think of any pop musician. Ten years ago, maybe.

a reply to: Toolman18

Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci are my top three

I cannot believe that I have read this thread so far and no one has mentioned Bonamassa.

Chet. Chet Chet Chet.


You really can say whos "best", but Chet trumps all.

frank zappa
always tops for me.


i agree with the jazz comment too

I know most people will not agree with me...as this question seems to be aimed at 'most skillful' and 'talented,'

I can only post my favorites. I never was a big guitar fan (I preferred some piano,) until I discovered Jimmy Page.

I'd say Page and Brian May are my favorites. Are they the best? Probably not, but they're somewhere on the list.

Somehow they don't just play--they talk through their instruments, and it's solos like these that slay me.

My favorite has always been Michael Hedges. Most violent accoustic guitar player for his time. After that? Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Brian May, Pete Townshend, Steve Howe, Santana, Kirk Hammett, Jimmy Page, Clapton, Stevie Ray, Hendrix, ........ it's hard to choose the best

Tonight, and just for tonight, I choose Synyster Gates, of Avenged Sevenfold. Crisp, pure, evocative and powerful. What's not to lurve.

a reply to: Toolman18

Django Reinhardt.

Stevie Ray , Jeff Beck, Alex Lifeson.

Roy Clark

a reply to: Toolman18

I love it when people ask this question and then answer it with the names of rock guitarists.

Rock guitar is pretty basic stuff, technically and musically speaking. The technique is a simplified version of blues playing. And as Marshall Chess once put it: 'The blues is a music of bare competence, and these guys are barely competent.'

The most difficult guitar styles are rockabilly and flamenco.

SRV was a great player because he transcended his style, but let's face it: he took most of his best licks from Glenn Miller.