Best Guitarist of All Time

i will absolutely second andy summers, if you could surgically remove sting from the police you have one of the best duos ever

Depending on criteria -- chops, technique, innovative qualities, the dreaded 'influence" -- you could make arguments for a lot of different guitar players, such as John Martyn, Blixa Bargeld, Neil Young, Steve Howe, etc, etc...

Also, an observation: only dudes seem to get included in these lists and only dudes seem to care.

maybe, but fwiw, my vote was for gabriela, of rodrigo y gabriela.

Nancy fucking Wilson.

manics fella can hold his own, he also did all of the suicide (maybe he did maybe he didn't)(4 real) guys parts in the studio too!

also, nick drake?
technically brilliant, but that was part of his downfall, live shows boring, people lost interest because he's spending time between songs with weird tuning.

Lol btw, where I said "Joe Satriani" could you actually substitute "Steve Vai" because that is who I actually meant

unlike Satriani, Vai has actually played on decent records (primarily early DLR solo) so he gets a little bit of a pass from me

Also, an observation: only dudes seem to get included in these lists and only dudes seem to care.
― Lostandfound, Friday, 9 April 2010 23:31 (9 minutes ago)

Yip, very true, a big circle jerk going on here -- a bit like the "what's yer fave solo" thread.

*unzips trews* ....ahem....

Neil Young

what makes "best guitarist of all time"
song writing skills
technique
sound
originality... etc

Also, an observation: only dudes seem to get included in these lists and only dudes seem to care.

a few women have been cited already but its no mystery that the vast vast majority of guitarists, and particularly lead guitarists, are male. I love plenty of female musicians but most of them don't have any interest in coming off as guitar virtuosos (some exceptions to this, of course, primarily in the metal world - Nancy Wilson, Lita Ford, etc.) All those riot grrrls played lots of loud guitars but the only ones who seemed to really rise above the general squall as far as technical chops go would be Sleater-Kinney, I imagine...? Was never blown away by any of the guitar playing on Bikini Kill or Huggy Bear records.

Joan Jett and Dolly Parton are amazing songwriters/performers but I don't really rate either's guitar picking as all that special, for ex.

Hearty assent to Nick Drake, amazing technique, amazing style. A bunch of guys from that brit pastoral tradition not being mentioned in this thread. Jansch etc.

Have never heard Kaki King but she seems to get the plaudits?

eh never been that impressed by Nick Drake - half the songs on Pink Moon use the same melodic trick over and over for ex. Someone like Jansch is obviously next level but lolz thought this hypothetical listing was strictly electric...?

I was doing the 6 music 30 yr.

Should read thread title

Fahey and Drake without a doubt

Baden Powell (not the Boy Scout guy but the Brazilian bossa nova guitarist named after him). Dude had an such a delicate and soulful touch that listening to it makes me want to cry. I'm generally not a guitar fanatic, but Baden Powell's Canto on Guitar is one of my favourite albums ever.

it's worth pointing out that i'm not really a guitar jock kind of guy. most of my favorite male musicians are not virtuosos, or even guitar players at all

there is a sociological issue/path dependence problem where guitar jock-ism is not a route for young women, tho, it's true.

And Bert J

Right, I'm off to shoot owls

There are a ton of great guitarists, from David Byrne to Wilko Johnson to Link Wray, who were massively influentially, but perhaps better known for a sound or style than actual technique. And in terms of influence alone, yeah, those sorts of would be totally different from "best" lists. So basically ...

It's Clive Langer.

Rick Didjit from da Didjits
Stan Lee Dickies

Stuart Hall

strengthened my pathetique boner

richard lloyd

Richard Lloyd deserves more props. Until I saw Television live, I assumed all the big solos were Verlaine, but no, many of them are Lloyd. Verlaine is great and tends to do the weirder, more angular stuff, but the super-heroic soaring solos are Lloyd.

If this is best guitarist of all time, as opposed to the 6Music 30 years thing, then the possibilities are limitless. But here are a few all time favourites:

Sonny Sharrock, especially when he does the slide freakouts.

Richard Thompson, especially once he switched to a Strat and developed this amazing drone and twang sound. The guitar breaks on When I Get To The Border are incredible, and his solo in Shoot Out The Lights is angular, spiky and vicious.

Eddie Hazel. Funkadelic axe god. Super Stupid, Maggot Brain...

John Martyn, a brilliant acoustic picker, but particularly of note for his inspired use of echo and volume swells. Small Hours is heartbreakingly beautiful. Gotta love his synth guitar experiments too. Smooooth.

The mysterious Nicholas of Love, Cry, Want... INCREDIBLE free jazz/rock from the mid 70s. Dude plays a prototype synth guitar. Completely wild ring mod damaged freakouts over Gallivan's percussion and Larry Young's keyboards.

Neil Young, John McLaughlin, Steve Howe, Ernest Ranglin, Mick Green, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Cropper, J Mascis, D Boon, Carlos Alomar, Mick Ronson, Paul Leary, Tony Iommi, George Harrison, Robbie Robertson, Keith Levene...

^^^only good list in this revive

list pfunkboy posted to start the revive is just a sad fucking commentary on the state of guitar playing in music ppl actually listen to

hey dont blame me!! ;)

lol i didn't, just sayin dogg

like i stan hard for a lot of r.e.m. but buck's guitar rep is entirely based on like one thing he did in the early 80s

muse guy and radiohead guy are insane britisher picks

Larry Coryell, based on his first few solo albums and some of what preceded them. Weird that he doesn't appear earlier in this thread...

Radiohead guy is really good, come on. If we're talking technique, the actual best guitarists are probably noodling behind the counters in guitar stores, or playing lutes in orchestras tbh. The best I ever saw was a young guy playing flamenco in a bar in Jerez, I'll cast for him.

Also Oranthi Panagaris, if you want female virtuosity.

No love here for Michael Timmins?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ

i dig that clip. also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoq6_2xnQeY&feature=player_embedded

These lists are so frustrating because as noted earlier, they're basically just lists of people's favorite guitarists.

So I'll do the same. If I had to make a short list it would look something like:

John McGeoch (Johnny Marr would rally for him before himself)
Peter Koppes/Marty Willson-Piper (OK I'm biased here)
Ed Kuepper (those who only know him from The Saints really need to listen to Laughing Clowns/solo albums)
Nick McCabe

Forgot Michaels Karoli and Rother! Also, Derek Bailey, Joe Morris, Robbie Basho, Steffan Bash Jungans, Sandy Bull, John Renbourne, Ike Turner, Curtis Mayfield...

Ooh, Ben Chasny.

If I was going to pick best female guitarist, I would say Charo.

This should be so simple. Just count raving fanboys and tote up the winner.

― Aimless, Friday, 9 April 2010 19:34 (4 days ago) Bookmark

the only three people I can listen to play an extended guitar solo are Prince, Eddie Hazel and Frank Zappa, fwiw

There is a lack of Uli Roth on this thread. A sad, sad lack.

wow, horror director, actor and master guitarist; is there anything he can't do?

Har, Har. Ulrich Jon Roth - that better? The link between Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen.

and in the Britpop category, rampaging at the fore are Martin Carr and Graham Coxon

The whole thread premise is kind of dumb. It was a C-Man thread, that should have tipped everyone. Best in a certain style? Proficient in the most styles? It's too broad; confuses "favorite" with "best," which is a crock no matter what xhuxk says.

That said, Whiney's post did prompt me to go listen to "Holiday in Berlin (Full Blown)" this morning. Fantastic solo.

http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/image/George_Formby_2781317.jpg

Got a soft spot for Manuel Gottsching and Gabor Szabo.

Whom, by the way, haven't been mentioned at all on this thread. Shame on you ilx.

I would have mentioned both had I ever heard of either.

Gabor Szabo's pretty amazing, sorta Django Rinehart v 2.0