"My" top 50 guitar players

Ill expand this list..

10. Jimi Hendrix
9. Neil Young
8. John Petrucci
7. Stevie Ray Vaughan
6. Brian Setzer
5. Alex Lifeson
4. Roine Stolt (Flower Kings)
3. Eric Johnson
2. Mark Knopfler
1. David Gilmour


Edit: This is really hell, im afraid ill want to make changes to the list, not just add stuff.....

Ok, since I cant edit the post anymore, ill just make a new one. I take it out in my spamaccount...

Who am I kidding?

1. David Gilmour
2. Mark Knopfler
3. Eric Johnson
4. Neil Young
5. Brian Setzer
6. Stevie Ray Vaughan
7. Roine Stolt (Flower Kings)
8. John Petrucci
9. Alex Lifeson
10. Jimi Hendrix

Dunno why the list is like this, its a combination of liking, skills and tone hehe

I'm kind of surprised that Marc Bolan isn't cracking the bottom of some of these lifts. Sure, he's no technical wizzard by any means, but his stuff is damn catchy, and he has influenced alot of today's players.

I'm surprised Van Halen or Frank Zappa hasn't been included in any of these lists as they are usually amongst the usual suspects in published lists. I'm not to sure if they would make it into my list if I was to make one, but I do like Zappas playing if not always what he plays. I think that makes some sense anyway.

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I've been listening to a lot of Neal Schon lately -- probably should have him on that list somewhere.

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Hmmm, I stratter's list includes many of the key elements of mine, but necessarily in the same order.

10. Pete Townsend
9. Eddie Van Halen (or Edward, as he now prefers)
8. Al Stewart
7. Yngwie Malmsteen
6. Vinnie Moore
5. Andy Timmons
4. Roine Stolt
3. Dave Gilmour
2. John Petrucci
1. Eric Johnson (They guy is a god, what can I say?)

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Fulghers, et. al.

Finally got around to listing my top guitarists - but I only have a top 16...50 is way too many for me to think of, specially since I'm just an appreciator of the instrument and not a player (other than the 8 or so chords I can play...which gets me through a lot of songs, including CN...)

So, here's my list:

16) Kerry Livgren (Kansas): Perhaps I'm a child of the 70's and early 80's, but I really like Livgren's work.

15) Tommy Shaw (Styx): Perhaps I'm a child of the 70's and early 80's, but I really like Tommy Shaw's work - both acoustic and electric.

14) Neal Schon (Journey): Ditto.

13) Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme): Say what you will about Extreme, Nuno is one fabulously talented guitarist.

12) Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits): I know that there are a lot of Knopfler fans in the APFFN that rank Knopfler higher...sorry. I saw Dire Straits on their first tour in a community college gym in Denver, CO. Great show!

11) Lindsay Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac): One of the most under-rated guitarists, IMHO. I could listen to Lindsay play all day. Along with Neil Young, he's the king of the 'one-note guitar solo'.

10) Frank Zappa: He wrote some weird songs, but he played an excellent guitar.

9) Brian May (Queen): One helluva guitarist - very inventive and a style all his own.

8) Prince: Say what you will about the little man in purple, but he has more talent in his little finger than most musicians have in their whole body. And it carries over to his guitar playing. Simply outstanding!

7) Trevor Rabin (ex Yes guitarist): Another one of my favorites - a technical guitar player's guitar player. From blistering runs, to really well-thought-out mellow solos, to his rhythm work - he's really good.

6) Eric Clapton: Every time I see Clapton play live, I walk away appreciating how easy he makes it look and how good he sounds.

5) Al DiMeola: Anybody familiar with his work would have him in their top 5.

4) Alex Lifeson (Rush): As you all know, I'm a huge Rush fan (only topped by Floyd). I love Lifeson's work - just put on any Rush album and marvel at the styles of rhythm and lead guitar that flow from his fingertips. He's a great, great guitarist.

3) Eddie Van Halen: Say what you will about the band, it's undeniable that Eddie is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Even BDG tips his hat to the genius that is Eddie Van Halen.

2) David Gilmour: Sorry BDG, as much as I love you as a guitarist, song-writer, and singer, you don't top my list.

1) Stevie Ray Vaughan: My top guitarist is someone who evokes the most emotion when I hear him play. Gilmour does that quite often (Driven would call those Gilmour moments), but SRV does it all the time. It is un-frickin-believable the riffs that came out of that man's guitar. Such soul, such fire, such beauty. I am really jealous of Fulghum, who saw SRV's last concert the night he died. And like Fulghers, I mourn the loss of the man and all the music that was still in him. RIP, SRV.

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"David Gilmour can do more with one note than most guitarists can do with the whole fretboard."

Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)

Hey i must commend you on the variety of your list with Nuno and Prince and also Al Dimeola. I fogot about all of them on my list. Nuno has always been overlooked because of the band he was in. Prince tore it up on a Tribute show to George Harrison a year after the ex-Beatle's death and I was very Impressed. And Al Demeola is an Awesome guitar player who I haven't listened to in years.

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I really like Trevor too. You'll catch a lot of moaning from Yes fans who couldn't abide Rabin replacing Howe, but Trevor brought his style to Yes and it was GOOD.

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Taking away from you for the greater good. (The Audacity of Socialism).

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery".-- Winston Churchill

"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant" - Omar Ahmad (founder, C.A.I.R.)

Pretty sure I checked all the posts and as such i'm shocked no ones mentioned Tom Morello (RATM, Audioslave) yet, not even in Top 50's. He can do things with a guitar that I haven't heard anyone else even attempt. This is a PF site tho so a lot of people may not be into his bands.

I also love Radiohead so I would find a place for Jonny Greenwood if for nothing else than his work on Paranoid Android. Ed O'Brien doesn't stand out as much, he accentuates rather than solo's so I dunno where i could place him on solo talent alone.

This is a fabulous thread.

I'd like to note that while I mostly agreed with some of your choices: I'm surprised to not see too many high nominations for Jeff Beck and Gary Moore.

I also thought that Michael Schenker would evoke a rating - better or atleast earlier than Cobain!


I must also admit that it warms the cockles of my heart to see Knopfler held in high regard. I've pointed it out before that I think he's very under-rated (if nothing else, he isn't as popular as he ought to be. Hey, it maynot be true for YOUR generation. But it certainly is true for mine!)

cheers,

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Actually, in a bit of generalization, I must say that non of the people mentioned in the typical "why isnt this guy on the list" have even had the slightest posibility to end up on my list. Jonny Greenwood? Come on..

, Mark. I hope this prompts you to pull out DiMeola's 'Elegant Gypsy Suite' and enjoy.

And you're right about Prince live - he's out of this world on the guitar.

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"David Gilmour can do more with one note than most guitarists can do with the whole fretboard."

Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)

I must be one of the few that enoy the 'Rabin Yes' as much as the 'Howe Yes'. They each have their share of great songs. The Yes with Trevor Rabin wasn't afraid to get a bit heavier (Squire and White can certainly play in that style). I read an interview with Rabin in which he said the Union Tour was a blast because he and Rick Wakeman would just sit and jam - the two went on to do some more work together. Rabin is a true talent.

Not to dismiss Steve Howe - he's a great guitarist in his own right (probably shoud have put him in my top 15), and I love all of the Yes albums with him.

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"David Gilmour can do more with one note than most guitarists can do with the whole fretboard."

Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)