The Greatest Guitarist In The World

Sweetloaf said:
I'd also like to add Frank Zappa and Steve Hillage.
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Funnily enough, I was about to suggest Frank Zappa. I don't think I've ever really, truly been wowed by any other guitarist I've heard. Then again, I'm not really into 'guitar music' :p

arty
 
arty said:
Funnily enough, I was about to suggest Frank Zappa. I don't think I've ever really, truly been wowed by any other guitarist I've heard. Then again, I'm not really into 'guitar music' :p

arty
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:D Have you heard his cover of stairway to heaven? Genius :D
 
I don't really like talking about "the greatest guitarist" of all time because there are diffrent guitarists I love for diffrent reasons that make it difficult to say which one is the best. I think it gets to a point where judging purly on technical ability becomes difficult.

I do like guitarists who have a very unique style and it's easy to say "Jimi had unique style at the time" or "SRV was so distinctive" when we're at a point where its a tone and style that is so emulated that it's now common place. That doesn't mean I'm saying or necessarily think these guys were bad guitarists, quite the opposite, in fact. But I'm sure you see my point here. Something which I think is very difficult to achieve these days is that unique tone that people like Jimi and SRV and Clapton had in their days at the peak of their fame. People like Bumblefoot, Buckethead and John 5 are a few who have truly unique, genre bending sounds in the sense that they seem to be carving out their own sound in an era where guitar tones have become generic and by and large, disposeable given the way guitar histronics have come back in a variety of genres.

Sorry for the ramble haha.
 
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Hmm I like Cream, some good stuff in there (Strange Brew for example) but later Clapton doesn't really do anything for me.
Again Hey Joe is great and I like Hendrix..

Clive Carrol to me isn't any different to this but still leaves me dead..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNXwF-73NA


I'd have to say for me the greatest guitarst is Alirio Diaz.

I love this piece, I paints a sunny fantastic day in my mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT4az_Fzfqo

Something more "abstract".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XQ-XifFZL0&mode=related&search=


His teacher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNjNXuGQaAE&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5w2PqxnXS4&mode=related&search=

To compare - John Williams rather precise execution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPfZVflJdp0&mode=related&search=


So to me the greatest guitarist is about what feeling they add, like a painter with brushes and cavas it's what they add.
 
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Woody__ said:
I think it gets to a point where judging purly on technical ability becomes difficult.
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Well don't judge them on technical ability then, judge them on whose music gives you the most enjoyment and inspiration...if we were judging on technical abillity, we'd all be naming some tasteless shredder like MAB, but it looks to me like people are naming guitarist who they enjoy listening to, rather than technically brilliant ones.

A case in point would be Hendrix - I've said before on this forum (somewhere lost in the mists of time) that I hate Hendrix's music, and I think even his more ardent fans would agree that his technical ability wasn't too great, yet they still claim he's the 'greatest'. The moral of this post is, screw technical ability, choose someone who greats great tunes! :p
 
My list (no particular order)

Buckethead
Steve Vai
Satch (Joe Satriani)
Slash
Mark Knopfler
Paul Gilbert
John Petrucci
Michaelangelo

..probably would add some more, but can't be fudged.
 
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My favourites, not necessarily the greatest.

Paul Gilbert
John Petrucci
Steve Vai
Joe Satch (his classic stuff)
Frank Gambale
Tommy Emmanuel
Chris Broderick

Plenty others out there
 
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