Rock guitarists......your opinion on greatest ever

[HeiseNBerg]

Greatest ever? Can't really pin that down -- but here are my faves:

David Gilmour
Alex Lifeson
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers (possibly the most underrated guitarist out there)
Brian May of Queen
Jerry Cantrell
Frank Zappa

Ok...I'll stop there

 

[Faceplant]

Good to see some love for Jerry Cantrell in here. My son and I were lucky enough to hang out back stage with him and the rest of the guys on my sons bday a couple years ago. Really cool guys. Oh, and the Rams beat up on the Redskins that day just to make it more epic.

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[Faceplant]

While in this thread. Might as well give Dimebag Darrell a nod. He was an incredible guitarist and super nice guy. Hung out a couple times with him back in the day. R. I. P.

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[Faceplant]

Oooh. Nuno Bettencourt also. Extreme was a terrible band, but he is amazing. I am just going to blow this thread up every time I hear a good song......

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[Mister Sin]

I don't usually jump into conversations that have more than two pages before I read it(just a general rule of mine) but this one caught my eye. I haven't read through to see what has been said but this is my opinion on the matter.

Current day-mainstream- it's gonna come down to two people. Brad Paisley or John Mayer. The guitarist from Dragonforce is really good, but I don't believe he could keep up with with of these other two. I watched a video recently of ZZ Top featuring guest guitarist Slash and Mayer. The each did their own solo. Needless to say Mayer showed who the real talent was. The lead singer of ZZ Top actually walked over to Mayer and started fanning off his guitar.

Old School-Mainstream- Put away your Hendrix, and pull out your Randy Rhoads card. This guy was amazing. The world lost what could have been when he died so young. (Don't forget Clapton either)

The most talented guitarist IMO, that I've ever heard personally was Steve Vai. But his play is selfish. You can never and will never be the big name guy that people are mentioning by playing the way he does. The best guitarist know the meaning if a band. Madison Square Garden will never be packed to watch a man like him. Funny thing is, even with his days with Whitesnake, no one ever mentions him.

 

[Mister Sin]

^ a whole damn lot to type on an iPhone

 

[-X-]

^ a whole damn lot to type on an iPhone

Nice job though. :ww:

And yeah, Steve Vai is a pretty awesome guitarist IMO.

 

[Mister Sin]

It's all a matter of taste really. I find it hard to hold any respect for heavy metal guitarist. There are some that are great, but few that greatly impress me. But to some people, that's what they love, and they strive to hear great death metal. Just not this guy. A lot of folks hate country music so they would never in a million years think a guy like Brad Paisley would be the best. However, those same people most likely do not know that he was a child prodigy, winning national picking competitions again 30+ year vets, at the age of 12. A guy like Mayer, has a bad rep because of the way he acts, or a case of folks not liking his songs. But he can rip a blues riff better than BB King ever dreamed. Everyone has a flavor they love, just because i don't like a certain type of ice cream, doesn't mean it isn't the best of its kind.

 

[Faceplant]

Of course it is about taste. I agree that John Mayer is a hell of a guitarist. I also think that there are plenty of "metal guitarists" who are amazing as well. Many of them could sit down and rip off blues scales that would blow your mind, they just happen to play a different style in their respective bands. Zakk Wylde is a good example of a guitarist who you may classify as too "" metal", yet most of his influence is rooted in blues and country. As someone who played in bands for years, and was lucky enough to share stages with everyone from Pantera to Foghat... I appreciate guitar talent in pretty much any form. Different strokes...

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[Mister Sin]

Of course it is about taste. I agree that John Mayer is a hell of a guitarist. I also think that there are plenty of "metal guitarists" who are amazing as well. Many of them could sit down and rip off blues scales that would blow your mind, they just happen to play a different style in their respective bands. Zakk Wylde is a good example of a guitarist who you may classify as too "" metal", yet most of his influence is rooted in blues and country. As someone who played in bands for years, and was lucky enough to share stages with everyone from Pantera to Foghat... I appreciate guitar talent in pretty much any form. Different strokes...

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no i dig the hell out of Wylde. Im talking about these death metal guys, screaming and just making noise. I just can not get into it. I know when im playing, i would give my ball bag to be able to sound as smooth as slow hand himself. I cant get into it and i think that crap lacks soul. But im sure to the folks playing it, it means the world to. We just live in different worlds lol

 

[Mister Sin]

Anything on youtube of you playing? I would enjoy seeing it. Must have been great to be on stage with established acts. I dont have it in me to play in front of too many people.

 

[libertadrocks]

Y'all bring up an interesting candidate in Wylde. He is a great guitarist. Check this out, if you have any doubts:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M4nprvYAxw[/youtube]

I dig the majority of his music, but I have a slight beef with the way we plays. If you listen to a lot of his music he has a tendency to rely on the same type of progressions and ends up playing too fast, particularly during solos. IMO part of a great guitarist is knowing when to hold and bend a note. When to play fast and when to slow it down. Point in case, "Comfortably Numb". Zakk has one of the most identifiable sounds of any guitarists, which separates him from a lot of guys, but his style leaves me wanting more.

 

[bwdenverram]

Y'all bring up an interesting candidate in Wylde. He is a great guitarist. Check this out, if you have any doubts:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M4nprvYAxw[/youtube]

I dig the majority of his music, but I have a slight beef with the way we plays. If you listen to a lot of his music he has a tendency to rely on the same type of progressions and ends up playing too fast, particularly during solos. IMO part of a great guitarist is knowing when to hold and bend a note. When to play fast and when to slow it down. Point in case, "Comfortably Numb". Zakk has one of the most identifiable sounds of any guitarists, which separates him from a lot of guys, but his style leaves me wanting more.

Yup, agree 100%. Love his playing but damn it man, stop trying to play 100 miles an hour all the time. If he would freaking just play a little slower and with soul I would listento him for days at a time. But he goes from a great tune to all over the place and just loses you.

 

[RamFan503]

Man - this is such a tough one. I haven't responded because I don't know how to define it. I am going to expand to not only rock guitarists but people I have seen play live.

Maybe my favorite guitarist is Neil Young. I know I know - but the king of sloppy leads lays down so much feeling and tells a story just with his guitar. It brings tears to my eyes.

Joe Satriani may be the most amazing guitarist I've ever seen play. Just freakin wild. Saw Eric Johnson at the same time. Pretty close to Joe but not quite.

I don't know if any of you ever saw Roy Clark actually play but he could shred on anything with strings. Though not a rock guitarist, he might still deserve to be in the conversation.

The Nuge is highly under rated.

IMO - Eric Clapton is the most over rated guitarist EVER - but that's just me.

Ottmar Leibert will blow your mind if you get a chance to see him play. Yeah - another non-rock guitarist but...

My wife and I were going to go see Stevie Ray with Joe Cocker several years back. We decided that we shouldn't spend the money and we would wait until Stevie's next tour. That ranks up there as my biggest regret on musicians I should have gone to see. Two weeks later, his helicopter went down. If you haven't heard Tin Pan Alley - you really need to. Sit in front of some speakers on a really good system and just close your eyes. Fucking amazing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYWhsjFpNM[/youtube]

 

[RamFan503]

Some may not of heard of this guy but I think Joe Bonamassa is pretty bad ass also. He also had a pretty cool voice.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn09Xn9JF5s[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8mW8SZWLrY[/youtube]

Now THERE's a guy you don't hear much about.

This guy is pretty under heard as well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uXbz_p5K1U[/youtube]

 

[Mister Sin]

Did I just read that Clapton is overrated? Lol I don't know how to make those little faces, but if I did it would be shaking his head

 

[LesBaker]

I agree that Clapton is over rated. He's technically pretty average and I have had people who play (I don't) say that.

But like 503 says it's the feelings, the sounds, that's where Clapton gains fans.

 

[Faceplant]

Clapton and Santana are very overrated technically, but both have a style and phrasing that a lot of people enjoy.

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[Thordaddy]

WTF ? I MEAN WTF does "over rated" mean?

I haven't seen ONE guy mentioned on this thread that is what I'd call over rated,they are all among the best , taste is what it is but OVER RATED? Nah I call BS

 

[RamFan503]

WTF ? I MEAN WTF does "over rated" mean?

I haven't seen ONE guy mentioned on this thread that is what I'd call over rated,they are all among the best , taste is what it is but OVER RATED? Nah I call BS

IMO - abilities don't match the hype. That's all. But the same can be said for Neil Young so... opinion is what it is on this.