Not one mention of Alex Lifeson.

Ok then, Lerxst!

I love Alex. I've met him twice and seen him play probably 50 times now. One of my favorites.

One of the greats - not many know him but oh man.. I just love upbeat lydian riffing.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qzPpF_JZrro&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qzPpF_JZrro&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

King of the Fishes!

Billy Gibbons

Roy Buchanon

Mick Mars- Motley Crue

Easy. Kurt Cobain. Most overrated musician, person, overall band, ever.

I used to think Mick Mars sucked, but I've seen him twice in the last few years and he played very well, sounded much better live than on CD. Kurt Cobain truly was horrible. Worse yet, he inspired a lot of kids to play just as badly. With his music, you can be a non-guitar player, be at his level three mos. after you start playing and then think you've hit the pinnacle. Really sad. I find that whole early 90's genre of Seattle music to be some of rock guitar's darkest days. Even if the 80's hair bands were cheese, you had to have some chops to play that stuff. I spent countless hours learning every White Lion solo and am still a better player for it.

Couldn't agree more, Rick. Though in Seattle's defence, it came from a resurgence of the punk ethos, and therefore *shouldn't* have been about extreme talent. It still seemed like a pre-packaged ripoff, though.

I went through a metal phase in my early teens, and also spent countless hours learning other bands' songs (though I never sunk as low as White Lion! :) ) Playing Guns and Roses developed my left hand, and playing Slayer developed my right hand. Those 2 guys from Slayer are un-f*#king real guitarists. Forget the solos, that's just crap, it's the other stuff that's amazing. And their drummer(s) are wicked, too. Absolute top-notch musicians.

Sunk as low as White Lion? Geezus! Vito Bratta is AWESOME. His stuff is as technical as it gets. Sure, it's not the hardest stuff to play with a band. But the guitar work is serious. I was also (still kinda am) into Loudness from Japan. I saw them open for AC/DC when I was 16. Their guitar player kills.

But I'm still a Van Halen disciple to this day more than anything else. I got their first album when it first came out when I was in 2nd grade. To this day, I can still listen to almost any of their stuff and hear or learn something new from it. 20-30 yrs. and thousands of listens later and it never gets old. I still get goosebumps on my arms from a lot of it.

I guess I need to give him another listen.

BTW, do you know about the disease he has? It's a miracle he still plays, let alone, tours at all. He has some strangely named disease that fuses all his vertabrae together. He looks like the Cryptkeeper now, can barely move and wears make-up like the Joker in Batman to cover up how horrible he looks. I think the two shows I saw he played a Strat with a Floyd Rose and some humbucker, played that one guitar for the whole show, wasn't into fancy effects or changing guitars every song. That axe made Steve Ray Vaughn's look shiny and new. God, was it a beater. But he really played well. I was with some other musicians at those shows and we were all very pleasantly surprised. No, his playing never inspired me when I was a kid, though I learned a lot of their songs. But the proof is in the pudding when you see someone play live. Mick has it.

I was referring to the music itself, not the technical ability.

I play a mean AIR GUITAR...sounds just like Keith Richards...

I don't know about guitar but this girl might be the best organist!
<object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4XsYuHbXZUk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color 2=0x6b8ab6&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4XsYuHbXZUk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color 2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="349"></embed></object>



<object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9pS5xzOWbwo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color 2=0x6b8ab6&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9pS5xzOWbwo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color 2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="349"></embed></object>

bah....cute sequencer & drum machine....Give me Chester Thompson, Jimmy Smith or Dr. John any day over that...

Jon Lord blows that little girl away. :D

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ILDxii_1H-g&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ILDxii_1H-g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9YJIgyJFIo0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9YJIgyJFIo0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Went from best guitarist to worst, (don't know may have been more from pages 2 thru 4), to organists. To funny :D
Back to guitarists... Lindsey Buckingham wasn't to bad. Certainly not the best but a very unique style.

I'm a big heavy metal fan. We don't see much of what I like here in the states anymore, but over in Europe, it's apparently much more alive.

I'm a HUGE fan of Kai Hansen. He founded Helloween way back in the late 80's, split off to form Gamma Ray and has been with them ever since. Going on 20 years, they're still together and touring the world. I love to watch him play. He was far more energetic in his younger days (as seen in the videos below) than he is now on stage nearly 20 years later. His solos are some of the more unique of the bands I listen to.


Don't know if any of you have seen or heard of him, but here you go. He's the red haired lead guitarist. I don't miss the denim and spandex from the 90's though.

one of my ex girlfriends used to be the gf of the singer in that band ^^ i found out later she also was with axle rose. before me.... :(

Suprising only one mention of Roy Buchanan- "Roy's Bluz" live will send chills down your spine. Talk about channeling...for my money, he has to be in the discussion.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S8O5wZAd2z4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S8O5wZAd2z4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

We would be amiss if we didn't give props to some of the guys who started this whole guitar thing, Chet Atkins comes to mind:


<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/smplqf0FYCk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/smplqf0FYCk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Roy Clark was no slouch about 40 years ago .......

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k59g3pX-C_s&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k59g3pX-C_s&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Here's Roy about 20 years later:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WmY89NKkl5w&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WmY89NKkl5w&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

One other thing about ole Roy, he didn't just play guitar:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0k0uPCTChpg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0k0uPCTChpg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

LOL, Roy playing Malaguena with a 12 string. Not bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVjSmng7ris

Best guitarist? That's like best beer. It depends.

How 'bout Alan Holdsworth.

I have not read this thread.. but I can tell you there is only one best guitar player.. here is how you choose him:

He must have style the crosses ANY type of music: jazz country rock classical..
Must have technical abilities beyond anyone else
Must have techniques that make others look infantile.
Must be able to reproduce his craft live

The man, the legend, the best guitar player as of 2009 ever to be heard...

Steve Vai


Nobody comes close.. NOBODY

Robben Ford............check him out and decide.

Finally, someone gets it right. Shredding is quite over-rated. Satriani, Vai, and the like, bore me to tears halfway through their first song. I can't imagine listening through an entire album of that.

Listen to some of Billy's early work, then go see him live today. Maybe he'll play you a Hendrix tune, just better and cleaner than Jimi did it...Read what he has to say about music history, and guitar playing in particular.

Impressive dude...

JR

I remember when Roy was a guest on the Tonight Show probably 30 years ago. He immediately broke a string when he began to play, unfazed, he simply blistered a jawdropping solo instrumental version of "Ghost Riders in the Sky". The man could play anything with strings :). I don't think I've posted "my best"...simply impossible. Many have already been mentioned here, but I couldn't even list 50 without leaving someone out who is fantastic (like Roy)...

Me too...different strokes :)

While I love Vai's accomplishments (technique, trascribing ability), I have to grin listening to him being "taken to school" while trading off with Zappa when he was in Frank's band....But damn....what an impressive lineup of guitarists HE had through the years! (Ray White, Adrian Belew, Lowell George, Ike Willis,etc...)

This isnt a question of preference.. its a question of who is the best. Sure Vai can shred.. he can also do anything else asked of him.. BY FAR the best ever.. no one can compare in ANY dept.

Its clear by your comment that you are not familiar with Vai's COMPLETE works.

While Vai does have great technical abilities and a fairly eccentric, musical style for a shredder(thank Frank) - he is the best at everything? Hardly.

He admits that Ry Cooder schooled him all the way through the movie Crossroads - 'cept for the little classical arpeggio crap at the end - Ry dun do much classical.

This thread asks a question for which there is no answer.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PscAZyOMGiA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PscAZyOMGiA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

I'm not much of a country boy myself(even though I live in the sticks) but I'd kill everyone on this board to have a right hand like Albert Lee. ;)

Looks like an infant up against Vai. The biggest difference being that Vai had both hands, forearms, wrists, and whatever else he can use.. I think Vai's biggest natural born asset is the length of his digits... his physical abilities are certainly an asset and a good reason very few can pull off some of his techniques.. actually, Ive NEVER seen anyone do some of his stuff.. even his backup players which play note for note with him cannot provide that last little twise on the end of a note that Steve can.

Funny, Vai actually doesnt "shred" much even on his solo stuff. Dont know where you guys are coming from. Has anyone listened to Zapa?? Im not thinking Zapa's music lends itself to shredding. He certainly has a blues feel to much of his stuff but I think you folkes are misunderstanding technical for shred. You want to hear shred? Listen to Roy Clark sometime.. the king of shred...

Nope.. the best EVER Steve Vai.. hands down.. (and btw.. EVERYONE takes lessons from everyone so that argument is silly). The first thing ALL guitar players do when they make it big is book lessons with every great alive.. mainly because they can afford it and are on the road so often.. thats just a silly comment.

So true. I have not heard every note he's ever played. Where we disagree is not on technical ability, but on style, composition, etc. I'm more interested in what he says with a guitar, than how it is played.

Vai's music gives me a headache. Sorry.

JR

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZNJf-h7F8s&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZNJf-h7F8s&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

another infant?