Who is the Greatest Guitarist?

[spiderman]

the title says it all............... give your top 3 if you want.

1. slash  
2. jimmy page  
3. john fruscante (hope i spelt that right)  

[kujo722]

I don't know how you determine the best so here are my personal favorites:

1. Slash
2. Buckethead
3. Eric Clapton
4. Pete Townshend
5. Neil Young
6. Jimmy Page
7. Mike McCready
8. Joe Perry
9. Alex Lifeson
10. Bruce Springsteen

[Timothy]

Brian May
Slash
Zakk Wylde
Mike McGreedy
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Jimmy Page
Tony Iommi

[spiderman]

this is a follow on if you like from the whos the greatest guitarist thread. as sad as this may sound ive compiled a list of the top guitarists from who you have mentioned. these guitarists are in order of how many mentions they have had ifrom you guys in the greatest guitarist thread. so ladies and gents i give you the htgth greatest guitarists as chosen by you....

1. slash (75 mentions)
2. jimmy page (51)
3. jimmi hendrix (44)
4. eddie van halen (33)
5. rhandy rhodes (28)
6. angus young (24)
7. eric clapton (19)
8. zack wylde and joe perry (18)
9. buckethead (17)
10. david gilmore (15)
11. brian may (14)
12. joe satriani (12)
13. kirk hammet (11)
14. steve vai (10)
15. stevie ray vaughan and jeff beck (9)
16. yngwie malmsteem (i know ive spelt that wrong) and toni iomi (
17. kieth richards (7)

players with 5 mentions were john fruscante, tom morrello, pete townsend, ace freely, mick mars and dimebag darrell.
players with 4 mentions included prince, george harrison, dave navaro, dave mustane and marc knopfler.
players with 3 mentions included carlos santana, mathias jabbs, izzy stradlin and malcome young.
players with 2 mentions included traci gunns, robin finck, kurt cobain,  richie sambora, b.b king, ritchie blackmore and mike mcready.
players who only notched one mention included (amongst others) gilby clark and justin hawkins from the darkness  

when counting the mentions it became apparent that slash was gonna win hands down fairly quickly. i personly was surprised carlos santana only notched an embarrissing 3 mentions. this list includes 6 former gnr guitarists. i tried to get this this list as accurate as possible so please dont reply saying "so and sos got 4 mentions not 2" ect. i appologise  for any spelling mistakes and have a nice day....

[Hammy]

Eddie Van Halen ahead of Kirk Hammet & Tony Iommi....WTF?

[Lord Blackadder]

We are talking about best and not favourite arent we?

Brian May (how you can write people like Justin Hawkins before him is absurd).

Slash he even looks like a good guitarist.

Jimmy Page no need to say anything about him.

Those three ARE the best. When i'm listening to each one they become the best, until I listen to one of the other ones.

[Nicoletta]

Edward Van Halen
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
Randy Rhodes
Slash
Angus Young
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Carlos Santana

[DEAD HORSE]

SLASH !!

but i have to admit Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi , Jimm Page , David Gimour,James Hetfield , Chuckberry , Brian May , Darrel Dimebag ,JOe Perry , Blackmore. Paul Stanley and Neil Young Are on my mind right now  

[Skeletor]

Clearly not enough John Petrucci mentions. Ah well.

[Aava]

I don?t know much about playing guitar, but i do like Slash and Dregen!  

[Gunner80]

This is a very subjective topic. There is no such thing as world's greatest guitarist in my book anymore.  Those retard, stupid polls in magazines should never be taken as fact!

[WagMyDog]

So who's technically the fastest?

Wasn't there some list of people who were the fastest shredders? I think it was based on notes-per-minute .. or something ...

And B'Head was 7th .. I think ..

[matt88]

So who's technically the fastest?

Wasn't there some list of people who were the fastest shredders? I think it was based on notes-per-minute .. or something ...

And B'Head was 7th .. I think ..

From what i remember Kirk Hammer was third on that list

[Skeba]

I've read a list from one of the magazines that had ratings based on the fastest songpart recorded on a record, and Vai was the no 1 on that one.

[Miz]

Skeba how long ago was that? Because I read an interview recently that said Vai managed something like 27 notes per second or something stupid like that.  But someone said that Buckethead recorded 32 notes per second.

Both figures are incredibly fast and probably more speed than anyone would need ever.  But I think you'd probably find Angelo or Lane, were he still alive, would actually be able to outplay anyone on the planet.

[Oddy]

do they allow tapping and basically any technique for fastest guitarist?

because i thought that michael angelo baito guy was the fastest because he plays two guitars at once (one left handed one right handed) sorta like two flying v's connected to each other. so it's pretty easy for him to be the fastest when he's playing two guitars.

[Lady Livin]

it's too bad i've had to resurrect this, but i can't believe not one of you even gave kim thayil an honorable mention. he wrote some of the best riffs of the late '80s and early '90s, you people. jesus christ. 

[D]

yeah i thought this was greatest guitarists not fastest, speed is cool kinda novelty but it doesnt make u the greatest

i determine greatest by who has the most memorable recognizable riffs/solo's


32 notes a second is impossible in my opinion id have to see how they counted cause i cant fathom anyway that would be possible in anyway.

[Lady Livin]

if "spoonman", "rusty cage", and "pretty noose" aren't memorable... i don't know what are!

[Sl?sh]

Angus Young: Kinda like the blues on steriods.

I liked that, it sure explaines very well Ang's guitar playing. He's always had the blues there, and that's what I love so much about it. I'm really happy to see Ang said by so many people.


1. Angus Young - This wouldn't even need explanation. He is just perfect. His stage presence is just brilliant, his playing is just perfect, solos are always sending shivers down my spine and making my toes tap and my head bang. Can't get enough of it.

2. Malcolm Young - "The Riffmaker". The man's a fucking machine. His riffs are as good as rock 'n' roll can be. His playing is just so amazing, everytime I see/hear anything played by Mal I instantly want to pickup my guitar and start playing some killer riff.

3. Slash - The man. Just so much emotion on his playing that it always sends shivers down my spine. The solos... damn! Seeing Slash live is something I'll never forget.


Then there's many and many others who I can't choose from, so I'll leave it here.