Best Living Guitarist?

syringe

Living because Jimi would just pop up every single post.
I'd go for one of the more obvious, Eric Clapton.

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If the leaves falling from the trees in Autumn were gold, or the white foam on the waves silver, Fionn would give it all away.

Winning Hand

Um methinks Jimmy Page outranks clapton by miles.

I also think slash is really handy at the geetar

Dustaz

Slash, ffs. get back in yer box

Im pretty sure that all the replies after this are going to be either blues guitarists or metal/grunge/goth types. So ill go for summat different.
The Edge or Prince (hate his recent stuff, but good god, ive heard some bootleg club gigs and he can do just about anything).

syringe

Ah! Dustaz just made me realise how naive I was. I was so young then, didn't know right from wrong. Tom Morello for his originality, and Muddy Waters cos he's funky.

Dustaz

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by syringe:
Tom Morello for his originality, and Muddy Waters cos he's funky.</font>

Hard rock and blues
BTW, An on/off switch for your pickups is original?

Slaanesh

want to hear savage guitar ?? Listen to Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson or ... Steve Vai(Guitar god), that guy can do some insane stuff on guitar. Try downloading a song by Steve Vai called The duel from the crossroads, some savage guitar in that.

slaan

Dustaz

Didnt Ry Cooder do the other parts for that Duel sequence? gotta say that was pretty good

Dont be at yourself

*cough* Slash *cough*

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Eye ham zee Walroos.
You ham zee Flyhead.

K!LL!@N

Ahem, did someone mention the Edge in a "Best living guitarist?" topic ?!?
Are you on crack?!?
I'm sorry but the Edge is a pretty mediocre guitarist by anyones standards.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying he's not good at what he does. And i quite like some of the stuff he does. But come on, he is hardly an exceptional guitarist.
I do agree with most of the other people mentioned, Vai is an exceptional guitarist, Clapton is also really good, likewise Satriani, Page and Slash are both great as well. I really only replied because i saw The Edge mentioned.
When people think about great guitarists they always seem to mention rock guitarists. But never a mention of classical guitarists. You should really check out John Williams stuff. He is an exceptional guitarist.

GreenHell

Marty Friedman.

Winning Hand

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dustaz:
Slash, ffs. get back in yer box

The Edge</font>

Me get back in my box? Fell off my seat laughing at that one

Also forgot Santana, Gilmore and as mentioned above, satraini

syringe

Tom Morello, yes he's original. And he's bald.

Jimi-Spandex

i'm off to resurect hendrix so i can win the arguament, but imo tis.....

BB King

Kali

yep David Gilmour, sure he's not doing anything particularly special.. but his perfection and use of the equipment are just so good.
see Comfortably Numb (played live is one of my favourite solos ever), Time, Echoes (those who have seen Pompeii video will know what I mean about equipment) or Shine On You Crazy Diamond...
Many players have tried to imitate those on Roger Waters "Live In The Flesh" tour, and its only then do you realise how bloody damn good he was/is.

Little known Floyd fact #1:
Waters originally wanted Clapton to join instead of Gilmour but thought his price would be out of their league, I personally am well damn glad they didn't get him

OSiriS

Jeff Lang - Australian Blues Guitarist
The best guitarist I have ever seen, he can play an acoustic guitar faster than I have seen anyone (including steve vai and joe satriani) can play their electrics.

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Redesigned

Lucutus

Nice topic...

Always a matter of taste, as there's the best in a genre, and then there's the best there is in the world.

..and they have to be living too.

Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, (Satch practically taught Vai how to play, however definatly a case of the student surpassing the master after time in the 'Space Age' guitar thing!), two talented people and by far the best two rock guitarists I have ever heard.

Eric Clapton, definatly.
BB King YES, the man taught himself how to play, and apparently couldn't even string chords together for quite some time, there's only so long you can go just playing the notes on strings one by one, BB king has gone the longest I think!

And what about classical guitarists? No-one has mentioned any names there? Probably because no-one here knows or is interested? Jazz too. Come to think of it, most rock guitarists get into jazz guitar at some stage, when they reach a certain level of skill and musical awareness.

As for some of the chancers people have mentioned... The Edge for one, give that idiot an acoustic guitar and take away his RACKS of effects pedals and you're not left with much real talent at all, I'm sure if you asked him, he'd probably admit that himself. And Slash? AHAHAHAHA

Hmmm, Osi mentioned Jeff Lang, I've seen the name around a lot, haven't heard any of his stuff, can you recommend an album to pick up Osi?


[This message has been edited by Lucutus (edited 07-05-2001).]

Lucutus

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dustaz:
oh yeh and say what ye like about Edge but at least he never appeared on stage with a 3 necked guitar in the shape of a heart..Stand up Mr Vai!</font>

ROFL, Yea, but even worse than the guitar, (which BTW, has a great sound due to it's HUGE size!), is appearing on stage with David Lee Roth *shudder* OH THE SHAME OF IT ALL!

Always liked his solos with Whitesnake tho...

I wasn't commenting on Edge's writing ability, purely guiter ability.

As for Satch and Vai's song writing, it's decent, they can write excellent songs...and both have, they just can't sing them.

Luc

tobi

Dustaz

Look at the flame on that one.

High_Ping_King

One of the boys from the Presidents of the United States of America has got to be in there with a shout.

I mean like, come on!

Brummers

On pure talent it has to be Joe satriani.

On the most influential and unique, obviously Hendrix.

At present the best guitarist IMO would have to be Tom Morello from RATM, just cos' he is the man and also is very unique (he only started learning @ 17 or something.)

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In a dark dark place, in a dark dark house, in a dark dark room, in a dark dark cupboard, in a dark dark shelf.

HendrixSEVEN

Jimi Hendrix is dead??

Guess it will have to be the bass guitarist Victor Wooten.
Some of the stuff he does on his one bass album, I can't remember the name, sounds like three in one, rythm beats, got to listen to it. Can one post music on this message board?? oops sorry Napster!

Dustaz

Hmm. I feel i must defend Edge here
As Luc said its entirely a matter of taste, but i feel the edge edge has is the ability to write better music
Sure, Vai and Satriani are technically brilliant, but neither can write a decent song to save thier lives *IMO* and neither does stuff thats hugely original. oh yeh and say what ye like about Edge but at least he never appeared on stage with a 3 necked guitar in the shape of a heart..Stand up Mr Vai!
Cant argue with Dave Gilmour or Carlos Santana tho
Robbie Krieger had an interesting style too.

Shiminay

I'd definitly say Tom Morello - he's introduced (looking for the right words) a new style of playing with effects and LOADS of bands are doing it - Korn, Limp Bizkit, At The Drive In, etc...

I had my Mum (who's a church musician for over 30 years) watching a live performance from RATM and she was impressed at the sheer range of sound he was able to produce from a guitar - she couldn't believe it, so I took out my effect board and started creating some crazy sounds to convince her

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All the best!
Dav
@B^)
So I turned around to Jack Charlton and said: "Well of course it's not a football Jack, it's an '86 Chardonay!!!"
[honey i] violated [the kids]
Tribes 2 Goodness
The Dawn of the Beefy King approaches...

--Kaiser--

Eric Clapton and The Edge are both sh|t!

The best are Jimmy Page(god), Tom Marrello, Max Cavalera and Jeff Beck
and some others i cant think of...

nesf

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by --Kaiser--:
Eric Clapton and The Edge are both sh|t!

The best are Jimmy Page(god), Tom Marrello, Max Cavalera and Jeff Beck
and some others i cant think of...</font>

Are you serious?? (about Clapton of course ) Listen to "for Love" and the control he shows in the solo, on acoustic so he has talent

I'm suprised Ignmie Malmstein (spelling is totally wrong) hasn't come up, he's not my sup of tea, but he is a very gifted guitarist.

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Stephen Hawking: "Your idea of a donut shaped universe is intriguing Homer. I may have to steal it"

boddah

well i'm gonna mention John Fruisciante (chili peppers), mostly cos no one else has mentioned him here yet
just thinks of the classic riffs from under the bridge/scar tissue, and all the cool funky stuff most people havn't heard

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Durty auld Morris drums... they're fu*kin' great!!

black_wizardd

Best living guitarist - hmmm, could'nt pick one, but im sure if i heard more classical guitarist's then i would pick one of them, that sh!t is really hard to play.

Best ever guitarist (had to do it) - Rhandy Rhoads...An absolute god, imagine what he'd be doing today if he was still alive, he'd blow the socks off satriani/vai/malmsteem, hurts my head thinkin about it.

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But oh, no tears please, fear and pain may acompany death, but it is desire that sheperds its certainty, as we shall see...

Loomer

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Winning Hand:
Um methinks Jimmy Page outranks clapton by miles.
</font>

Outrageous, I reckon even Jimmy would disagree with you there. I have to say Brain May was pretty innovative

TwoShedsJackson

Dave Navarro.

Bard

CLAPTON... great.

All else... not as great.

I have spoken.

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Bard

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"We do know it was we who scorched the sky..."

Yo Mamma

It has to be the guy from Dire Straits, Mark Knoffler or however u spell it !!

He is one of the greats without a doubt !

BossArky

I think that you are forgetting Kirk Hammett, ... to a lesser extend James Hethfield.

BossArky

what do you people think of Mike McCready?

Karl Hungus

I'm suprised The Edge was even mentioned here...
He has to be one of the most minimalist guitarists there is.
Most of the stuff he does is with Delay pedals and effects, it's slightly pathetic actualy.

I'm just happy nobody mentioned Noel Gallagher(sp?)...

Joe Satriani is an obviose choice, as is Steve Via and Eric Clapton.

But Mention HAS to go to Samoth from Emperor (AKA - Zamoth, when playing with side-project Zyklon).
That man is something.

But Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho from Children Of Bodom is one ****ing MENTAL guitarist...
If you like guitar solos, you HAVE to hear this guy, he plays like a ****ing depraved lunatic!

Galder (Old Man's Child/Dimmu Borgir) is also a fantastic guitarist, not to mention a magnificent song-writer.
He also played all Guitars, bass and keyboards, as well as doing all the vocals on the Old Man's Child "Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion" album. Which in itself is very impressive.

But my personal Favorites would be Paul Allender and Gian Pyres from Cradle Of Filth.
They really work together, and both are astoundingly tallented guitarists.
I like them because of the style they have, and many would disagree, but it's definetly the style I like the best. And the songwriting in second to none.
Seeing Paul live is another thing altogether though!
He's ****ing astounding. Last time I saw the band, I was up the front and I watched his finger movements like a hawk. He's fantastic.
And the way Paul and Gian work together creating the melodies is just unlike anything else I've heard.

Shiminay

I understand what you're saying about the 2 Cradle of Filth guitarists, but you need to listen to Iron Maiden and then you'll realise where they've copied the style from. Best song I can suggest you listen to is Phantom Of The Opera and you'll notice the similarities straight away.

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All the best!
Dav
@B^)
So I turned around to Jack Charlton and said: "Well of course it's not a football Jack, it's an '86 Chardonay!!!"
[honey i] violated [the kids]
Tribes 2 Goodness
The Dawn of the Beefy King approaches...

El_Presidente

Right, well I think you have named most of the biggies...

Clapton and B.B. King if your into blues, Vai and Satriani if you feel like some crazy up and down the fret board madness.

For me and this is a very subjective point of view Tim Reynolds just blows me away every time I hear him play. Its not so much that he is doing anything insane like Vai (although he can) its just that what he plays just sounds... right.

For an example get yourself a track called "stream" off "Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds live at luther college", or indeed any track from that album.

Dustaz

Had a great chat with Angelwhore last night about what this topic actually means.
I cant for one second agree with 'best' guitarist being the same as 'Most skilled' guitarist.
You can train any monky to do hammer ons at the speed of light or play 1000 different scales in less than 10 seconds (Satch taught Vai didnt he? ).
A truly good guitarist makes truly good music. He is capable of innovation and originality.
90% of the people posting here would not be able to tell satch from vai if they heard 2 songs back to back.
Anyway, Ill keep sticking up for Edge and also remind ye all about Prince. not only can he play something like 10 instruments but he can play any style of guitar you want.

Prof.Frink

The best is probably Slash BTW in my opinion the only real talent in the band were Axel Rose & Slash

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Glaven

Karl Hungus

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Kharn:
I understand what you're saying about the 2 Cradle of Filth guitarists, but you need to listen to Iron Maiden and then you'll realise where they've copied the style from. Best song I can suggest you listen to is Phantom Of The Opera and you'll notice the similarities straight away.
</font>

Oh yes...
I was listening to Maiden well before Cradle... They definetly have a similar technique, but the style is quite different.
But for a good Maiden song, have to go with Fear Of The Dark.

Out of personal preference, I go for Cradle over Maiden any day though...

But I do agree there is a big similarity...

BTW... Great chat with Dustaz last night...
He's still a big dickhead though...

Karl Hungus

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dustaz:

You can train any monky to do hammer ons at the speed of light or play 1000 different scales in less than 10 seconds (Satch taught Vai didnt he? ).
</font>

And on this point I'd also like to point out that Satch taught Kirk Hammett too... And who would you rather listen to? Honestly...
Technicaly, Satch and Via would smoke Hammett.

neuro-praxis

Dave Matthews and Tim reynolds have got to be in the running.

Listen to Live At Luther College - it will blow yer socks off.

black_wizardd

No one has mentioned Kerry King or Jeff Hanneman (Slayer's guitarists) so I think they get my vote. Those guys are animal guitarist's (I cant decide who's better, probably king). Their riffing is untouched by any guitarist i've ever heard.

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But oh, no tears please, fear and pain may acompany death, but it is desire that sheperds its certainty, as we shall see...

Gerry

I don't think satriani or vai are in the same league as Hendrix, I know we are talking about living guitarists here, but theres more to a guitarist than pure speed.

El_Presidente

Gotta agree there, theres a hell of a lot more to it then just speed (you hear that Ronan!)

Although I have loads of respect for the likes of Vai I would rather listen to Clapton, King or Reynolds because they just sound better to my ear.

Not sure if he has been mentioned here but I think Santana deserves a mention on this thread as well. He's just got that smooth sound that I could listen to all day.

syringe

Pure speed doesn't make the guitarist etc, I agree to a certain extent. I wouldn't put Santana in there tbh, he's just not good enough, in my opinion. My points have gone a bit wobbly order-wise, so try and make out what I'm trying to say. Here's one:

Eric Clapton: 'Yeah I've heard that said, it's not what you play, it's what you don't play. But that's all boll0cks, isn't it?'
The man knows where his towel is. And how the FU<K do you write something like 'Tears in Heaven'? That's amazing. If you're going for something thats talented but doesn't "show off" I'm surprised Kurt Cobain hasn't been mentioned (or has he?), since it's fairly commonly thought though he didn't show it often he was gifted at the guitar. I've lost track of myself now... You get the point anyway.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Slaanesh

I forgot to mention Gary Moore, just listen to the classics, Parisienne Walkways and Still got the blues for you. Nothing fast there, just guitar that is very pleasing to the ear. Always with me, Always with you is a song by Satch that aint very fast at all but is just sooooooo melodic. If you ever get a chance to hear the Irish Paul Gurney(If thats how its spelt) at play, your in for a treat. Possible the greatest Irish Rock guitarist. Ever hear a 5 minute whiskey in the jar intro ??? Rather amusing, the singer didnt know what paul was doing so he went to the toilet, came back, and he was still doing the intro.

Classic,

Slaanesh

Spidey

What about Johnny Marr or Roddy Frame? Both great songwriters and brilliant guitarists!

Slosh

Easy one this - but I have to pick three.

Slash, Joe Perry & Billy Gibbons.

None of them the best technical guitar players out there, but they have feel - which is something the Satriani's, Vai's or Malmsteens will never have.

Q_Ball

I feel that I'd have to put "The Edge" in there. I'm of the opinion that a solo has to suit the song, and doesnt need to be played with 5 notes a second. I'm not saying that those solo's dont suit the song but i'm a fan of slow solo's. Thats why i enjoy listening to the stereophonics That being said tho I think that Eric Clapton's "CrossRoads" is absolutly one of my favourite songs ever. I love it. BB King is the man. Muddy waters too. Kurt cobain, not so much for his solo's but because he could write song great chord progressions. Santana's "smooth" is also a great tune cos the guitar in that is "fun".

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It's a 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

HIT IT!