Has no one mentioned SRV? What about the man himself, Les Paul? I agree with Hendrix. Sorry, a child of the 80s..Eddie VH. Roy Clark should be on this list. Slowhand, Mr. Eric Clapton. The new guy on the block, and Porsche fan, John Mayer. Please do not forget Robert Johnson and Buddy Guy!!

I had heard this guy's name mentioned in music circles I hang in but had never heard him play 'till today. Sweet Balls this guy can play.

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I will see every guitar player mentioned in this thread, and raise you one

PAT METHENY

Holy hell I can't believe his name never came up once. Finest guitar player of all time, honoring and synthesizing the jazz masters and taking the art of guitar playing to a whole new world. A-freaking-mazing.

Been following him since my first Pat Metheny Group show at the Agora in Atlanta in 1982. Jawdroppingly mindblowingly incredible.

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Here he is playing one of his many inventions, the Pikasso, a 42 string guitar...

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ive seen him too. he is great. i dont think he is the best of all time because i dont think there is anyone that can claim that. guitar playing and appreciating, is too subjective. pat is certainly near the top though

This thread has been making me smile for months now. Music is so subjective there can never be a single answer for everyone. The best player to you is the guy who most often plays what you want to hear.

In my mind the "best" players are the ones who affect every player who comes after them. Jimi Hendrix is one of those. No electric guitar player plays anything without referencing Hendrix's tone and technique. (Jazzers excepted)* And Chuck Berry. Ask any player you respect and he/she will tell you, it is impossible to play rock guitar without playing a Chuck Berry lick. He pretty much defined the art.

I'm sure there are those who will disagree.:)


*the best jazz guitarists are the ones who stay out of the B3 player's way.

The best guitar player ever......:)

How about the one who started it all:

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Perhaps the most remarkable of Maybelle's many talents was her skill as a guitarist. She revolutionized the instrument's role by developing a style in which she played melody lines on the bass stings with her thumb while rhythmically strumming with her fingers. Her innovative technique, to this day know as the Carter Scratch, influenced the guitar's shift from rhythm to lead instrument.

—Holly George-Warren[2]

How about the most efficient player? Three cords are all you need:



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I'll take that simplicity over any 'technical' shredder anyday.

Didn't Robert Johnson do this as well? I believe I recall Clapton referencing this in his autobiography. Not taking anything away from Mrs. Carter.....

me too. long live johnny ramone. ron asheton as well. as simple as ron was, his unrecognized influence on guitar is as profound as most better known giants of guitar. may they both rest in peace. damn

well, maybelle carter really developed the idea of picking out the melody to accompany the voice in harmony, while at the same time playing the rhythm. she is a great player.

leadbelly is another who could really play, in a similar style

that carter vid appears to have lester flatt playing in it, another amazing player

i dont think anyone mentioned Clarence White

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True dat!

And those of you who want to dig back to the roots,

Robert Leroy Johnson

Here, here!


Another 'simple' guitarist that does it for me.

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I see at least one mention of Robben Ford... one of my favorites... lots of technical ability, but feel and artistry is what you hear... and he's usually plays with a really tight, simple backup like this...

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Another favorite is Tom Principato... if you ever get the chance to see him, don't pass it up.

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Likewise with Michael Burks... have seen him probably 8 times and he's my favorite... plays with more pure emotion and raw power than anyone I know. Dunno why, but this is "embedding disabled by request"...his interpretation of "Hey, Joe"... this one has his slower opening... I've heard him rip into it at a much faster pace, too.
YouTube - Michael Burks, 2007-02-10 (04) "Hey, Joe" (Darwin's)

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Lawd have mercy...

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Forget the goofyness of the movies.
Jerry Reed could flat whip a Telecaster!
Saw him do it live once. He was spell bounding.

Absolutely! ++++

One of the best living bassists today is Cleve Eaton. Played with almost everybody including Count Basie for about 16-years.

Chuck Berry is a genius.
A must maligned genius at that.
He has a reputation for being surly, arrogant and mean. But it has been my personal experience with him that this is so not true of the man.
I had the great pleasure of standing beside Chuck Berry, off stage, watching Jerry Lee Lewis beat the keys off a piano as he waited for JLL's set to finish and for his closing act to happen.
I was apprehensive of starting up a conversation with him because of the reputation he has.
But I did.
I was pleased to find a warm, genuine person that was more than happy to indulge a young white boy in conversation for about 20-minutes.
When it was his time to take the stage he bid me well and said, "Time to go to work" and he did putting on a "clinic" for nearly two hours.