Who Are Your Favorite Guitarists?Music 

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Edward Van Halen and Randy Rhoads are my two favorite guitarists. There was a good article in Guitar World about the history of shred a while back that had an excerpt of an interview with George Lynch recalling when a little band called Mammoth (I don't think they were calling themselves Van Halen yet) opened for his band and the guitarist of that band completely blew his mind and "saw everything he thought he knew about playing guitar change right before his eyes, at his own show." I think it is safe to say that Hendrix ushered in the first revolution in the way the electric guitar is played, and Edward ushered in the next era.

Favorite solos
EVH - Push Comes to Shove
Randy Rhoads - Revelation Mother Earth
Dimebag Darrell - Cemetary Gates
Mark Knopfler - Sultans of Swing
Carlos Santana - Europa
Dickie Betts - Jessica
 
Matt Maiellaro is one of them. all his stuff is pretty much improvised solos.
 
my personal favorites- (no real order except for number one)
Synister Gates (Avenged Sevenfold)
Sammi Carr/Kirby Charles Johnson (Himsa)
Adam Dutkiewitz (KillSwitch Engage)
Corey Beaulieu/Matt Heafy (Trivium)
Dimebag Darrel (Pantera/Damage Plan)
Slash (Guns and Roses)
Dan Jacobs (Atreyu)
Angus Young (AC/DC)
 
I'd be saying everyone that has already been said... Hendrix (my arse he wasn't the best - he still is! If you could hide crappy untight playing behind distortion Kurt Cobain didn't do too well... you really can't hide behind it... Hendrix has pure voodoo soul, better than being anally in-time with a metronome IMO), Vai, Satch, SRV, Gilmour, Eric Johnson etc etc...

Except I'd elevate Mark Knopfler RIGHT up there near the top, along with Jeff Beck! Knopfler is even more 'tasteful' than Gilmour IMO, which takes some doing! His lines always just fit perfectly... and every tone he ever uses is just beautiful.
I also absolutely love Buddy Guy, that guy just cracks me up with his funny phrasing etc. He's the Thelonius Monk of the guitar world IMO! :D

There are so many awesome blues guys too... Albert Collins, both BB and Albert King, Hubert Sumlin, John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray etc etc...

I don't go for the super heavy metal guys really, I like a more tasteful, bluesy melodic sort of thing. I only love Satch and Vai because IMO they are the only two "fast/shredder" guitarists that can still make me "feel" their playing... I'm going against the trend so far in this thread but I have to say that Vai is much more emotional than Satch, and his note choices are more interesting - more strange modes and scales which give a really great atmosphere to his tunes... rather than just rockin' out bluesy jams like Satch seems to enjoy (much more the bluesman than Vai IMO). I still love Satch however!

I have to rock the boat and say that Eddie VH is crap. Not much (diversity of) emotion evident, and his note choices aren't all that interesting, even if he plays them fast. I think Vai or Satch is better. Eddie also comes across as having loads too much ego (dunno if he really does) and I just don't like the guy for some reason, maybe he's okay and I just haven't heard his ummm, supposedly more subtle and 'moving' stuff... but all the stuff I've heard just sounds like wanky fun-time rockin' out fretboard gymnastics for the sake of it. Plus I don't really like hair-metal of the david lee roth era. I didn't like Vai in that era either, but I like Vai's new (solo career) stuff cause its more emotional and spaced out trippy...

Eddie sounds like he's still playin' real fast and stuff, but its still pretty predictable American hair-metal and rock riffs- nothing wrong with that - but Vai (to me) sounds like he's comin' from outta space, from a different place entirely. He just channels these liquid, wierd alien talking kinda strange solos that are just flow so well despite their speed... I've always been drawn to people that just exude that eccentric kinda psychedelic crazyness... and Vai has definately picked up that mantle after Hendrix IMO...

Can anyone tell I like Vai? :lol:

I'm amazed I didn't find this thread before!
 
I think Eddie Van Halen is popularized because of the double-handed tapping technique he invented. Which left a lot of people in awe back in 1978. However, the band haven't really branched out since their debut album and thus, EVH has pretty much exhausted his style.

It goes without saying though, I'd love to be able to play like him! There's no doubt he's a great guitarist, but it gets repetitive when you play the same style over and over. Just like Yngwie Malmsteen I guess...
 
Jimmy Page is my favourite guitarist, no other guitarist has made me go "Woah, I want to play like that!" Though Jimi Hendrix is also mind blowingly amazing, 'Crosstown Traffic' got me hooked and his improv at Woodstock at first sounded like noise to me, but now I love it.

But Jack White is the best! :lol:
 
GTRacer4
But Jack White is the best! :lol:
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You should be able to get banned for that. :lol:

Hendrix was the one who made me want to play guitar. There was a phase where all I did was learn Hendrix songs, listen to Hendrix etc... He made me buy a Squire strat when I was 13. Man was I happy that day! I couldn't keep my eyes off it for a week, it was like seeing pornography for the first time!
 
haha yep! Its funny like that, when you want something SOO bad, that when you finally get it, you almost don't believe you really own it.
 
Jimmy Enslashay
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Eddie Van Halen
3. Eric Clapton
4. B.B King
5. Carlos Santana
6. Jimmy Page
7. Kerry King (many people won't agree on this, but if you've even heard him in recordings where the other Slayer members recorded things of him messing around on the guitar, you'd actually agree...and also listen to his damn music, he's the best Metal guitarist around imo)
8. Stevie Ray Vaughn
9. Jeff Beck
10. Joe Satriani

That's MY opinion, and if you don't agree with it, I respect that.
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Dissagree I certainly don't, thats probably the best list posted so far.
 
My favourite guitarist is Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine and more recientally Audioslave.

What he can do with a wammy pedal, an amp and a guitar amazes the hell out of me, totally creative and produces new ways to play the guitar. His music is not modified in any way in the studio so he sounds just as good, if not better live as he does on the albums.

He's best solos, in my view, are on many songs for both RATM and Audioslave, notibly Sleep Now In The Fire, Guerrilla Radio and Drown Me Slowly (Audioslave).

Peace.
 
My favorite guitarist would be Dave Mustaine from Megadeth. He been introduced by Metallica in the Kill 'Em All about and it sounded so good. Megadeth is a great band, and Dave has good riffs and solos. He knows how to play guitar for sure.

Kerry King from Slayer is following the list, cause he is really good as I listen to his solos and created riffs.

Back in the days of Follow The Leader and Issues, I liked Head very much. 7 string growing all the way with Munky, that was crazy.

James Hetfield is in the top 3 list. Back in the real Metallica's days, he was probably the best guitarist ever.

Van Halen is a legend too... Rock N Roll !!!!

Top 3:
1- Dave Mustaine - Megadeth
2- Kerry King - Slayer
3- James Hetfield - Metallica
 
You guys are missing some of the best guitarists:

- Wes Montgomery
- Pat Metheny
- John Scofield
- Michael Hedges
- Lee Ritenour

They're all in the jazz section ;)
 
MugenVTEC
My favorite guitarist would be Dave Mustaine from Megadeth. He been introduced by Metallica in the Kill 'Em All about and it sounded so good. Megadeth is a great band, and Dave has good riffs and solos. He knows how to play guitar for sure.
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You know Marty Friedman did a lot of the solos for Megadeth... not Mustaine.
 
Shannon
You know Marty Friedman did a lot of the solos for Megadeth... not Mustaine.
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Mustaine blows, IMO. I always knew it was Marty doing those guitar solos.

I was just listening to Steve Vai's Passion & Warfare CD again, and it was unbelieveable all over again. This is a "MUST HAVE" guitar album. Forget downloading the songs off of the net. Go out an buy the frick'n CD!

I was also listening to Joe Satriani - "The Phone Call" and enjoying the hilarious lyrics. Hee-hee.

"Well, you look like a Yuppy, and that's too bad."
"Yeah, it used to be funny, but now it's sad!"
"And your friends are all stupid, and they talk too much."
"And I'd really feel better staying out of touch."

:lol:
 
Slicks
SRV All the way. I have not yet heard a song by him that I haven't liked. By far, my favorite guitarist (and band).

And in no particular order...
Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Page
Eric Clapton
Pete Townsend
Neil Young
Angus Young

I can't think of many more worth mentioning right now.
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Me a year ago. I've changed my tastes somewhat but not durastically.

SRV is still at the very top, with his rendition of Hendrix's Little Wing as one of my favorites

Eric Clapton is next, with Layla and White Room among others.
(I'm out of time here, so I'll just abbreviate this)
Neil Young
Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)
Santana
Steve Vai
Peter Townsend
Joe Satriani
Mark Knopfler
Lynyrd Skynyrd
 
Fairlady240zg
Clapton Is God!
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Clapton WAS God... until he saw Hendrix and cried all the way home in the back seat of a car... and almost gave up guitar then and there.

Clapton's big problem (that hurt him emotionally) was that when he was just getting started he made himself a promise that he would "be the best blues guitarist in the world". Very naive, and impossible to achieve in the company of certain other guitarists...

I love how Pete Townsend and Jeff Beck went out to a movie together
(they never normally got on that well) after Hendrix appeared on the London guitar scene, just to ***** about how (worryingly) good Hendrix was!
 
My favourite guitarist ever is Charlie Simpson from Busted.

My favourite solo is the one in "Air Hostess" by the same band. Check it out. 👍
 
Slash - November Rain
Thanks to grade 8 dances, that solo is etched into my head chord for chord. Not one of the greatest ever, but a great in his time I suppose.
 
I just saw an Australian guitarist on PBS(public broadcast) by the name of Tommy Emmanuel. Not only was he one of the best guitarist I've ever seen or heard, he had moves I'd never seen before. He was doing some stuff with the guitar that was completely new to me.

I'm definitely adding this guy on my all-time best guitarist list. He's got some serious skillz.
 

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