The Greatest Guitarist In The World

tTz said:
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.
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My point was that I don't judge on technically ability because it becomes quite difficult to do so purely on that basis alone. There are many who do, and those that do are obviously attracted to that side of playing.

tTz said:
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
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Indeed. I don't think I made myself clear enough though. Some guitarists are very technically good, which is fine. But being the way I am, I'd also put great song writers up there with great technical guitarists. Which is why I would put someone like Steve Vai alongside Elliott Smith (who, incidentally, was a great guitarist. He was always such an unassuming guitar player that his technical ability was often overlooked because of his great songwriting ability)
 
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Woody__ said:
My point was that I don't judge on technically ability because it becomes quite difficult to do so purely on that basis alone. There are many who do, and those that do are obviously attracted to that side of playing.
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Ah, fair enough, I seem to have misunderstood you. I thought you were basically saying you were finding it difficult to say who was technically the greatest. Maybe I should stop skim reading posts. :p
 
tTz said:
Ah, fair enough, I seem to have misunderstood you. I thought you were basically saying you were finding it difficult to say who was technically the greatest. Maybe I should stop skim reading posts. :p
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Haha. Nah. What I meant was that I find that after a certain point how technically good a guitarist becomes totally irrelevent because I think there are a lot of guitarists who are very, very technically good that it'd be a close call to determine who was the most skilled guitarist ever is. :)
 
This is the reason why I like Alirio Diaz. Undoubtedly a superb technical player but he focuses on the music not just technical logical passionless reproduction.
 
EVH said:
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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EVH? :)
 
hmm.. difficult... To be honest i wont say who i recon is the best, because someones already said - i like many different guitarists for different reasons .. but for the mad crazy stuff that he does with guitars >> Matt Bellamy << .. then again >> Carlos Santana << .. the way he makes a guitar scream out is truely spine chilling sometimes. But thats my take on it all anyway.
 
sist_si said:
I've never been one for guitarists who follow 'the book'. So you know all the scales and can play an hour long solo covering the length and breadth of the fret board. BORING BORING BORING I say.

I would pick someone who can write a life chaging riff, whether it uses three or thirty chords. Someone who changed music.
Also in some cases, the band they changed music with can't go unnoticed. Without their chemistry, that riff wouldn't have sounded the way it did.
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A good riff meister in the early 70's was Tony Bourge of Budgie, he gave it up because he felt he wasn't good enough..........

EDIT Oh and hello Music Forum.:)
 
WoZZeR said:
A good riff meister in the early 70's was Tony Bourge of Budgie, he gave it up because he felt he wasn't good enough..........
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I saw Budgie so many times in the 70's I lost count.
I also saw them supporting Blizzard Of Oz just after Bourge left and I went to see them 2 years ago at The Limelight in Crewe.
Their songs were just never quite good enough.
 
Yeah, I thought Bourges guitar was nice, clean and individual but maybe being a 3 piece gave them a lack of depth. Also they were stuck in the middle ground a bit, not metal but harder than rock. I saw them a few times in my youth, I met Bourge on my 18th in London, he was playing for a average/below average HM outfit called Tredegar.

Metallica's version of Breadfan has everything Budgies never had, but the guitar is till Bourges.
 
WoZZeR said:
I saw them a few times in my youth, I met Bourge on my 18th in London, he was playing for a average/below average HM outfit called Tredegar.
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The name LION also rings a bell but it might have just contained the original Budgie drummer.
I remember the bassist was sooooo fat he had a chair to sit down on.
 
I find it very difficult to be particularly impressed with electric players now after seeing a few acousic guitarists pull off the same stuff. It's a lot harder to play fast and keep any kind of decent tonal quality etc on an acoustic.

Edit: Not my favourite but I'm surprised Erik Mongrain hasn't had a mention in this thread - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxdOq-wifUc
 
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Although Mongrain is very good, I've always been very fond of him (that piece in particular is fantastic) I wouldn't say he's THAT good.

EDIT: After watching that video again (haven't seen it in a while), I'd say he is very good actually.
 
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