5 Favorite Guitarists.....

[GH2001]

Ok, so sometimes I get ideas looking at other boards. This was a topic over on Rivals. Actually it's not a bad idea for any type of top 5.....guitarists, front men, sports teams, guns, presidents, foods, whatever.

YOUR Favorites...not the best...not the greatest....your favorites. Sometimes your favs may also be what you call the best. So - No wrong answers. Honorable mentions welcome too.

1 rule - No one from KISS, K..... or Hall and Oates, Snags.


1. Eddie Van Halen - no doubt one of the greatest, most innovative. But also my personal favorite. Growing up in the 80's and 90's this one is a no brainier for me.

2. Eric Clapton - also a great, his catalog is so broad.

3. Jimmy Page - also innovative like EVH and helped usher in "hard rock". His playing on the 12 string at MSG during their short "residency" still mesmerizes me.

4. Keith Richards - I don't consider him a great in the technical sense. If Keith and Mick do anything better than anyone, it's timing and inflection. They are masters of it and just "sound good". The bluesy/rock riffs he came up with still sound great. They produce music you can jam to, move to, dance to - and Keith is a HUGE part of that.

5. Angus Young - much like Richards, he does what he does very well with a limited number of chords. He just passes the "sounds good" test.


Some others I like but not quite in my top 5 favorites:

Duanne Allman/Dickie Betts
Glenn Campbell
Pete Townshend
Brad Paisley (yes hes badass)
Slash
Edge
Steve Clark
Kirk Hammett

And I have to at least mention Hendrix, although only a few of his songs actually "do it" for me. Same with Steve Vai.

[WiregrassTiger]

1. Chet Atkins
2. Eric Clapton
3. SRV
4. Billy Strings
5. Steven Hamner

[GH2001]

1. Chet Atkins
2. Eric Clapton
3. SRV
4. Billy Strings
5. Steven Hamner

Number 5 should be Number 1. I totally screwed mine up. Steven Hamner is always Number 1 is all of our hearts.

[Snaggletiger]

1. John Oates
2. Daryl Hall
3. Mark Mothersbaugh - DEVO
4. Elias -From the WWE
5. Rob Hickman

[WiregrassTiger]

Number 5 should be Number 1. I totally screwed mine up. Steven Hamner is always Number 1 is all of our hearts.

And his fingers can tickle more than a fretboard, I’m here to tell you.

[WiregrassTiger]

1. John Oates
2. Daryl Hall
3. Mark Mothersbaugh - DEVO
4. Elias -From the WWE
5. Rob Hickman

that’s a legit list.

[GH2001]

1. John Oates
2. Daryl Hall
3. Mark Mothersbaugh - DEVO
4. Elias -From the WWE
5. Rob Hickman

Number 5 should be Number 2.

Robert Jerome Hickman is always Number 2 is all of our hearts.

[Snakebite]

1. Ronnie Montrose
2. Tom Morello
3. Chet Atkins
4. Jesse Cook
5. Jake Kiszka

Honorable mentions: Adam Jones, Carlos Santana, Rob Hickman, Esteban Hamnero, & Jimi.

[wesfau2]

Ah...here come 5 pages of arguing about the merits of John Mayer.

I kid!  Great topic. In no particular order:

Prince (ok...this one might be in the correct position) - I'm on record with my opinions of Prince.  The motherfucking GOAT.
SRV - the absolute soul that drips out of that man's fingers is transcendent (nerd alert: knowing that he's pushing .013s makes what he does WAY more impressive).
Jimi - Innovator.  Was working on what he called "electric sky church" music when he passed.  Really fucking wish he'd have stuck around a few more decades.
Gilmour - Iconic tone and phrasing.  There's a reason that DSOTM has sold about 4trillion copies and he's half the reason at least.
Mike Campbell - Just perfect at finding the riff/phrase/lick to complement what Tom was conveying.  So many songs and nary a fucking miss among them.

Honorable Mentions:
Les Paul - legend
Roy Clark - criminally underrated outside his core fanbase
EVH - Jimi's spiritual descendant and a transformer...the technicality of it just isn't always my thing.
Knopfler - another iconic tone and style.  made rock 'n roll finger picking cool...or at least he stole it from...
Buckingham - Another Campbell-type, with the perfect part that doesn't dominate the song, but elevates it.
Morello - iconoclastic.  I love that shit and his super percussive riffs are SO MUCH FUN TO PLAY!
Adam Jones - Maybe more a product of the band as a whole, but I think this guy writes interesting solos and transitional pieces.  Bonus points for being the animator behind the Sober video (and most of them, I think) with the meat-tube.
Dimebag - Love his play, but not much of a fan of Anselmo so I don't revisit this stuff much.
Beck - Jeff, not Hansen.  Singular style and just making it look so fucking easy.
Marc Ford - really wish he'd stuck with the Crowes, but SHMC rocks so goddamned hard with him he makes my list.

[GH2001]

good callout both of you on Chet.....dude is like the OG of guitar picking in the modern era.

Some other honorables heading in another direction to the Mississippi Delta style guitarists who had a HUGE influence on many of the classic rock guitarists we all know and love:

Robert Johnson
Muddy Waters
BB King
Tommy Johnson
Howlin Wolf
Eddie Wilson (of the Funk Brothers house band for Motown)
Buddy Guy
And lastly the awesome Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

[GH2001]

Ah...here come 5 pages of arguing about the merits of John Mayer.

I kid!  Great topic. In no particular order:

Prince (ok...this one might be in the correct position) - I'm on record with my opinions of Prince.  The motherfucking GOAT.
SRV - the absolute soul that drips out of that man's fingers is transcendent (nerd alert: knowing that he's pushing .013s makes what he does WAY more impressive).
Jimi - Innovator.  Was working on what he called "electric sky church" music when he passed.  Really fucking wish he'd have stuck around a few more decades.
Gilmour - Iconic tone and phrasing.  There's a reason that DSOTM has sold about 4trillion copies and he's half the reason at least.
Mike Campbell - Just perfect at finding the riff/phrase/lick to complement what Tom was conveying.  So many songs and nary a fucking miss among them.

Honorable Mentions:
Les Paul - legend
Roy Clark - criminally underrated outside his core fanbase
EVH - Jimi's spiritual descendant and a transformer...the technicality of it just isn't always my thing.
Knopfler - another iconic tone and style.  made rock 'n roll finger picking cool...or at least he stole it from...
Buckingham - Another Campbell-type, with the perfect part that doesn't dominate the song, but elevates it.
Morello - iconoclastic.  I love that shit and his super percussive riffs are SO MUCH FUN TO PLAY!
Adam Jones - Maybe more a product of the band as a whole, but I think this guy writes interesting solos and transitional pieces.  Bonus points for being the animator behind the Sober video (and most of them, I think) with the meat-tube.
Dimebag - Love his play, but not much of a fan of Anselmo so I don't revisit this stuff much.
Beck - Jeff, not Hansen.  Singular style and just making it look so fucking easy.
Marc Ford - really wish he'd stuck with the Crowes, but SHMC rocks so goddamned hard with him he makes my list.

Wouldn't turn down any of those 5.

You guys are putting some good ones out there I forgot - notably Jeff Beck from yours. I deserve a lashing for not including him at least on the long list. Guy was amazing.

[War Damn Six]

Ah...here come 5 pages of arguing about the merits of John Mayer.

I totally agree with you about Prince.  He was a musical genius. 

Why do you hate Mayer?

[GH2001]

I totally agree with you about Prince.  He was a musical genius. 

Why do you hate Mayer?

His incoherent ramblings make jmar look sober and scholarly. I can't get past that.

[Jumbo]

No mention of Jerry Reed??? 

[War Damn Six]

No mention of Jerry Reed??? 

East bound and down…

[CCTAU]

This is always subjective.

Chet Atkins
Eddie VanHalen
Roy Clark
Brad Paisly
And Prince. Even though he was technically not just a guitarist. The fact that he was a part time player that was as good as he was. I’m still pissed off at him for not taking care of himself and having to take drugs for the pain.

Have to mention Keith Urban. To be a singer and an accomplished lead guitarist is a tough gig. I’m still upset I missed the Brad and Keith tour.

Robert Johnson is one of those that sits in his own lane. If you’ve never listened to him, give it go.
And some may chuckle at Daryll Hall, but that dude is one helluva musician.

There are a lot of guys mentioned that are very accomplished guitarists. I can’t say any of them are less.

And I will never tire of that FreeBird solo.

[Snakebite]

Doyle Dykes is a lesser known one, but can do all sorts of cool things with a guitar. I’ve been to two of his performances. He really likes to tell a story with words, and with his guitar. Chet Atkins said that Doyle is a guitarist that he’d pay to go see, on record.

https://youtu.be/DLB35BI-FgI?si=0Dn7d8NBxUCloxOQ

[War Damn Six]

Robert Cray.  Anyone?

[War Damn Six]

BB King?

Anyone?

[War Damn Six]

John Lee Hooker?

Bueller?