Who's the greatest guitarist of all time?

[jim360]

BUt the very fact that you used the word opinion shows that it's a question based on  personal assessments. So at best you can only ask, "Who do you think is the greatest guitarist of all time?" In which case, despite your constantly saying "rubbish" to anyone other than Steve Vai *exaggeration*, every name so far given is perfectly valid.

BY the way, I should have warned you guys earlier, you can tell that Marti is passionate about this subject...

[Mitch_Face]

Although i am not a huge fan of him, i would honestly have to say Eddie Van Halen.
Simply because he sent guitar playing into a new era. He truly raised the bar on fast strumming and Finger tapping.

Although......bucket head is just a plain crazy guitarist.

[Marty]

While Eddie Van Halen is a very good tapper, he's a bit of a one-trick horse. All he can do exceptionally is tap - at everything else he's merely above average. There are better all-round guitarists out there:

Buckethead, as you mentioned,
Joe Satriani (Solo Artist),
Guthrie Govan (Jazz guitarist),
Steve Vai (yes, him again),
Paul Gilbert (Solo artist, formerly of Racer X and Mr Big),
Jon Gomm (Solo Acoustic Artist),
Jimi Hendrix (If you havn't heard of him then go ask for your brain back),
John 5 (now solo artist, used to be with Marilyn Manson),
Yngwie Malmsteen (whom I personally hate - no taste at all, just speed),
Michael Angelo Batio (fastest guitarist in the world, but another one with no taste),
John Petrucci (Dreamtheater).....

and many more. Check each of those out and you'll see that Van Halen is no way the most skilled guitarist out there

[BFM_saes]

I just thought of another: Angus Young.

[Marty]

Hmmm...Angus Young.

I quite like his soloing, but....well....it's all simple. Not that simple is bad; it's just that I'd never say he was the bast guitarist. A good song writer, though.

[Mitch_Face]

I geuss its hard to pick "the" best guitarist as most are exceptional in one field of guitar playing:
E.g:
Yngwie Malmsteen: Picking Speed
Van Halen: Finger Tapping
Slash: String Bending
Tom Morello: Weird awesome noises.

As you said there are some good all rounders, but it is difficult to pick the ultimate guitarist.
For me Atm it would still Be Buckethead, as he is reallly good in most forms of Guitar, plus he is really good at bass, even the mandolin and the fiddle

[BFM_»Jây! iC]

Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold. He may be the best guitarist ever, but he is definitely my favorite.

Quoted for truth

[BFM_saes]

it's just that I'd never say he was the bast guitarist.

I don't think I would either. However, I would say he is one of the best.

[Mitch_Face]

it's just that I'd never say he was the bast guitarist.

I don't think I would either. However, I would say he is one of the best.

The reason he wouldnt be in the top list of guitarists, is because he is not an "exceptional" guitarist. There are many others who are very similar to him. He Plays excelent riffs but nothing that hasnt already been done.

[Marty]

Exactly - and this is trying to find out who the BEST is 

[Igor]

They're all technically good, it's all a matter of opinion on their style.
My favourite is Matthew Bellamy from Muse, he didn't copy any style made famous by those mentioned, as he didn't want the band to just replicate the sound, he tried to create his own sound.

[jim360]

Exactly - and this is trying to find out who the BEST is 

Well so far it strikes me that you'd already decided what the answer to the question is, and anytime someone suggests another name you pounce on them with words like "simple", "rubbish" etc.. So it's not been much of a meaningful debate. I've tried patiently to explain several times - in mini-essays, really - that the question being asked is, at best, opinionated in any answer given, but you seem to disagree with what I say, even though it is backed up with stacks of evidence.

The opinion on which you base the answer is formulated, among other things, by subject knowledge and understanding, and of course your familiarity with the repertoire of the guitarist, and these two are variables. My personal favourite guitarist is probably Brain May because I think Queen's songs are extremely well-written, and effective, and the sound of the guitar works well. But that's because I am guitar-illiterate and have mostly heard Queen.

So... Let's just decide: who is your favourite guitarist of all time that you've heard of, and let's try not to ask perceptive questions that allow for interpretation and somewhat frictional debates.

[BFM_Hlao]

They're all technically good, it's all a matter of opinion on their style.
My favourite is Matthew Bellamy from Muse, he didn't copy any style made famous by those mentioned, as he didn't want the band to just replicate the sound, he tried to create his own sound.

AGREED! Muse do some incredible things with their guitar-based sound, they are a truly unique band.

[Marty]

Well, jim360, I'm not dismissing anyone who is actually a candidate for being the most skilled guitarist of all time - FACT. People like Angus Young, Slash and Synyster Gates are, quite simply, NOT the most skilled guitarists of all time. There are hundreds of guitarists out there who can not only do the same thing, but did it before anyone else.

Take Angus Young for example. A good songwriter and a talented soloist, he sounds very good. BUT his every solo is made from the minor pentatonic scale and that's it. Slash - another inventive songwriter and soloist, but again, nothing much original - BB King, Clapton and Jimmy Page make up his style. The same sort of thing goes for Synyster Gates.

Then we move on to people like Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen, who are very innovative in a certain field. Van Halen took tapping to a higher level and was a very good soloist, but couldn't do anything really exceptionally except tapping. Yngwie Malmsteen helped invented shred, but he can't do any other style of music exceptionally.

My personal opinion upon who could be the best guitarist of all time is the one who can do the most styles exceptionally.

[Mitch_Face]

True that
when you find me such a guitarist
give me his name