best guitarists of all time list.

[satchboogie]

vacquero..

those above mentioned guitarist are indeed awesome, but to each his own. i personally dig the shredders.

 

[little chris]

I guess its a matter of opinion and musical preference. There is no real way to name the best guitarist of all time. Thats like trying to name the best singer, drummer, or bassist of all time.

 

[Debaser]

Addendum to Kevin Shields as I mentioned above:

Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth
Doug Martsch from Built to Spill

Guitar Gods, these aren't guys who just have fast fingers. They have all created music that is truly amazing, not just technically impressive.

 

[perkele]

There is no real way to name the best guitarist of all time.

Yes & no.

Impossible to say which one is better, Larry Carlton or Lee Ritenour. But very easy to say that Larry Carlton is better than Kurt Cobain.

 

[VAQUERO]

Yes & no.

Impossible to say which one is better, Larry Carlton or Lee Ritenour. But very easy to say that Larry Carlton is better than Kurt Cobain.

totally agree

do you prefer a Pinto
or a Masseratti??????

unfortunately the music right now is much more about the attitude

than a vitrtuosity...

 

[Debaser]

Yes & no.

Impossible to say which one is better, Larry Carlton or Lee Ritenour. But very easy to say that Larry Carlton is better than Kurt Cobain.

It's still not easy to say that. You might be able to claim that he is a technically better guitarist (as in he could play Cobain's riffs but not vice versa), but you can't say he came up with some of the catchiest, greatest guitar riffs of all time (that happened to be largely ripped off from the pixies).

But Jesus Christ, if you've never heard Kevin Shields, you're missing out on the works of a fanatical genius. I recently read a good description of the album Loveless, which sums it up pretty well:

"My Bloody Valentine's entire career has been aiming toward the perfect guitar noise that Kevin Shields has in his head: a pure, warm, androgynous but deeply sexual rush of sound. Loveless is overwhelming, with Shields and Bilinda Butcher's guitars and voices blending into each other until they become a distant orchestra, the rhythm section striding in majestic lockstep, and occasional bursts of dance rhythms (as on the single "Soon") buoying the live instruments' warp and drift. Furiously loud but seductive rather than aggressive, the album flows like a lava stream from one track into another, subsuming everything in the mix into its blissful roar, and pulsing like a lover's body."

 

[Sir Foxx]

Eddie Van Halen of course. Would be nice if he got off his ass and played something.

 

[longarms]

totally agree

do you prefer a Pinto
or a Masseratti??????

unfortunately the music right now is much more about the attitude

than a vitrtuosity...

Maseratti's are bad to the bone, but I can't get 4 saxes, 3 guitars, a bass, an amp, mic, sax and amp stands & my Bag-o-Tricks in a maseratti.

Sometimes faster just doesn't get the job done. Sometimes an Escort Hatchback has just the right feel and tone for the job at hand.

Now a Hayabusa is a whole 'nuther story!

 

[The Shadow]

Clapton
Stevie Ray
BB King
Hendrix
Page

 

[ThirdEye]

Chet Atkins and Al Dimeola aren't on that list.