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.

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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:


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

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Here's Roy about 20 years later:
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One other thing about ole Roy, he didn't just play guitar:

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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.

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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

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another infant?