Hendrix...

Mark Knopfler

Matt Bellamy?

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Maybe change the title to "Best metal guitarist" to explain the limited choice of limited musicians.

I'd probably pick Django Reinhardt, Andres Segovia, or Joe Pass.

+1. Each style/genre really has its own leaders. Paco de Lucía, for example... even Jonny Buckland is one of the best at what he does.

OP: Saying which is the "best" is silly. That's just asking for your favorite. It's just going to turn into "compile a list of world-class guitarists."

Anyway, my personal favorite would have to be Zoot Horn Rollo.

Quote from mr_x :

Matt Bellamy?

I knew you would say that.

Daita is/was another good genre-leader (j-pop—the kind of stuff you hear in video games). And he plays a Tom Anderson!

Quote from wark :

+1. Each style/genre really has its own leaders. Paco de Lucía, for example... even Jonny Buckland is one of the best at what he does.

+1 back at you, but next time for god's sake leave Coldplay out of it, they give me the fear.

I would certainly hire Graham Coxon or Johnny Marr if either of them were at a loose end, but I wouldn't have Joe Satriani in my band for all the tea in China.

Carlos Paredes

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v= ... vYNsQ&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v= ... mfRQ0&feature=related

The two Jimmys are probrably the top lot, but what about Eric Clapton as well?

I think others that deserve a mention are James Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers, he is without doubt on the same level as the likes of Slash, perhaps even better as he sings as well as plays live (or does he! :razz.

Also Graham Coxon from Blur, probrably the only to person to single handedly create a whole album! (He did everything from the instruments to the cover art and the producing on his second solo album). He can play just about every instrument under the sun.

Also Johnny Marr from The Smiths, he wasnt big on massive show-off guitar solos, but he can write melodies that nobody else could ever think of.

Kim Thayil from Soundgarden, also another awesome guitarist.

Mathew Bellamy of course, not only is he a guitarist, he is an excellent showman and an amazing piano player.

Newton Faulkner, is quite an exceptional guitar player, just as well as his lyrical skills arent that good, but that doesnt matter as like Johnny Marr he can write the most incredible melodies.

Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead isnt' arf bad either, it's just a shame his guitar skills are going to waste in a band that has been in the doldrums, producing rather dull music since 2000.

Quote from audimasta :

Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler indeed! I don't know a lot about the others mentioned here, except for a few ofcourse. Mark Knopfler is great though

Steve Vai.

Adding Herman Li on that list is going to cause some controversy..

I'd debate including him in that list of 'best' (although he's awesome) but he's definitely one of the fastest guitarists on the planet, and it is pretty scary to think how good he'll be when he's older. (lower-mid twenties I think he is now?)

Quote from 5haz :

Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead isnt' arf bad either, it's just a shame his guitar skills are going to waste in a band that has been in the doldrums, producing rather dull music since 2000.

Johnny Greenwood is an immensely talented musician, and IMHO the Radiohead gig is the perfect vehicle for him. He would be wasted in most bands.

Quote from audimasta :

Mark Knopfler

Yeh hes great. Voted for Hendrix on poll, but Mark is deff up there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVVZPefbR4

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Johnny Greenwood is an immensely talented musician, and IMHO the Radiohead gig is the perfect vehicle for him. He would be wasted in most bands.

Hmm yeah, I just think that the electronica style that they've adopted since 2000 isn't really very interesting, especially the latest album whcih doesnt really seem to have anything very exciting on it.

Radiohead we're fantastic in the 90's though, and I agree that back then they were the perfect vehicle for him, it's just now theres never any of the brilliant riffs and solos from the 90's, their latest albums have certainly been original, but not very exciting IMO.

@ Kev and Wark, if it's jazz guitarists you're on about then there's no competition tbh. These two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLFf1eekg14 are widely regarded as the best on the planet at the moment (if not of all time). Check out their solo stuff. Looky here too this is just a bit special

Quote from Mazz4200 :

@ Kev and Wark, if it's jazz guitarists you're on about then there's no competition tbh. These two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLFf1eekg14 are widely regarded as the best on the planet at the moment (if not of all time).

I've seen better performances from Frank Vignola. I think both of them are too young to really compare to the greats yet - let's wait and see what they can do outside the realms of "museum jazz" first.

What made players like Django and Joe Pass (and Charlie Christian, and Les Paul, and...) legends is the fact that they took the instrument and did something new with it, moved it forward, had their own immediately recognisable style. These young guys haven't had time to develop enough yet.

Carlos Santana

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I've seen better performances from Frank Vignola. I think both of them are too young to really compare to the greats yet - let's wait and see what they can do outside the realms of "museum jazz" first.

What made players like Django and Joe Pass (and Charlie Christian, and Les Paul, and...) legends is the fact that they took the instrument and did something new with it, moved it forward, had their own immediately recognisable style. These young guys haven't had time to develop enough yet.

Harsh, but i understand what you're saying. And yeah, i've seen them both do a lot better too, (it was just the first clip on youtube that came up on the search)

I think it's fare to say both Vignola and Rosenberg definitely have their own style (albeit heavily influenced by the past masters, but who's isn't ?) As far as Jimmy is concerned, i'd say his elder brother Stochelo is more technically accomplished. But in my opinion doesn't have the cutting edge to his playing that Jimmy does. I guess you could say Jimmy is the first punk jazzman, if you know anything about his life you'll understand that he's been a bit of a naughty boy in his time (more akin to the Sid Vicious form of punk rather than the Nigel Kennedy variety).

I think the greatest difficulty for any 'young' musician is to be both unique and original. And since virtually everything that can be done on a guitar has been done already many many times before (not forgetting the limitations of an acoustic guitar too) Surely the only way to be totally original is to come up with some utterly pretentious art house style crap that only Albeig would listen too Strumming with your nasal hair while holding chords with your earlobes perhaps ?

[quick edit] Anyway, on topic. I don't think there's any rock/pop or even classical guitarist can hold a light to the Jazz greats, maybe Jan Ackerman ?, but he was a jazzman all along anyway so...

Robert Johnson.

Its not a case of who is best, its a case of what you like.

There cannot be a best of all time. That is like saying, who was better, Fangio, Senna or Schmacher. Its not possible to tell, as they were all different eras.

But, if you really really really must ask my opinion, then i would say Alex Lifeson (rush). He may not be the fastest guitarist, he may not be the most complex, but in my opinion he is the most well rounded.

Quote from Mazz4200 :

I think it's fare to say both Vignola and Rosenberg definitely have their own style (albeit heavily influenced by the past masters, but who's isn't ?) As far as Jimmy is concerned, i'd say his elder brother Stochelo is more technically accomplished. But in my opinion doesn't have the cutting edge to his playing that Jimmy does.

I think Vignola's more likely to innovate than the Rosenbergs. Everything I've heard them do is very derivative of Django's music, and I don't see them changing any time soon. Andreas Oberg does a decent Django set too, but as good as he is it's nothing new.

Quote from Mazz4200 :

I guess you could say Jimmy is the first punk jazzman,

Hehehe. Nope! There was never a jazzer as mental as Pastorius. Mingus was a pretty scary dude but I'd rather be stuck in a lift with him than Jaco!

Quote from Mazz4200 :

I think the greatest difficulty for any 'young' musician is to be both unique and original. And since virtually everything that can be done on a guitar has been done already ...

Everybody was saying that back when I was starting out in bands, then Tom Morello showed up and we all had to concede that maybe everything hadn't been done already.

That's just an extreme example anyway, you don't need to reinvent the instrument, you just need to have your own voice. And that's why I think 99.9% of metal guitarists aren't worth paying attention to, regardless of how fast they go.

This is the first poll on this forum that I didnt even have to look at all of the options before I made my choice. (really, I didnt need to look at any other option at all).

This one is simple....Jimi Hendrix!!!

I always thought Slash (sp?) from GNR was/is pretty freakin good too.

Ralph "Lighning Boy" Macchio.

No, really, I saw him. It was real..

Quote from SilverArrows77 :

Dave Matthews, very under-rated guitarist, but simply brilliant.

I used to listen to Dave a lot and the two that really stood out for me were Boyd Tinsley (violin) and Carter Beauford (drums). Dave's guitar skills never really impressed me. They were good, just not anywhere near Hendrix or Page good. Maybe it's just because he usually played acoustic, I don't know. John Mayer, on the other hand, when he lets loose on a Hendrix song, is pretty good, IMO. Shame he's stuck writing mostly pop songs.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I think Vignola's more likely to innovate than the Rosenbergs. Everything I've heard them do is very derivative of Django's music, and I don't see them changing any time soon. Andreas Oberg does a decent Django set too, but as good as he is it's nothing new.

Fair comment. The Rosenberg trio are very set in their ways, but they're damn good at what they do, and it pays the bills so, yunno.
Andreas Oberg whilst playing to a very very high technical level, i find him a bit too formulaic, jazz by numbers sort of thing. His playing lacks a bit of soul and character to my ear.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

There was never a jazzer as mental as Pastorius. Mingus was a pretty scary dude but I'd rather be stuck in a lift with him than Jaco!

I gotta admit i'd never heard the names, so it was good old wiki to the rescue, and yeah you got me on that one...then again they're both bassist, and bassists are a real funny bunch of people, all completely bonkers yunno...tis true

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Everybody was saying that back when I was starting out in bands, then Tom Morello showed up and we all had to concede that maybe everything hadn't been done already.

Yeah, Rage Against the Machine did some decent stuff (even though it's not really my thang) But is Morello a great guitarist or a great sound engineer ?

Quote from thisnameistaken :

you just need to have your own voice. And that's why I think 99.9% of metal guitarists aren't worth paying attention to, regardless of how fast they go.

Well that's it innit. Is the guitar riff there to make the guy look good and make lots of noise, or is it there to add an extra voice to the song and be a part of the telling of the story. I was listening to Comfortably Numb by the Floyd the other day, and it struck me how both the lyrics and Gilmours solo complemented each other perfectly in mood, tone and atmosphere, and how the riff was simply an extension of the message. Unadulterated melancholy, but classic prog rock greatness nonetheless.