Your Five Favorite Guitarists

Me
Freddie King
Judd Proctor
Chester Burton Atkins
James Patrick Page

 

Martin Taylor
Pierre Bensusan
Richard Thompson
Clive Carroll
David Gilmour

 

Rory Gallagher
Dave Gilmour
Jeff Beck
Johnny Marr
Jimi Hendrix

 

This will be easy, I thought. Ended up with about 30, many of whom made a unique and irreplaceable contribution to one band but who are less great in other contexts, others who are extraordinary guitarists but whose music I don't necessarily like as much.

Top 5:
Derek Trucks/Duane Allman (not cheating, Derek is Duane reincarnated )
Jimi Hendrix
Martin Barre
Stevie Ray Vaughan
John Mayer

Rest of my shortlist:
Mick Ronson
Mick Taylor
Robert Fripp
David Gilmour
Steve Cropper
Steve Howe
Pete Townshend
Steve Hackett
Frank Zappa

 

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Mick Taylor
3. Duane Allman
4. Ritchie Blackmore
5. Jeff Beck

 

Lou Reed, Larry Carlton, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather. And the guy who play in The Rolling Stones, you know...

 

Daniel Ash

John Martyn

Chuck Berry

Chris Spedding

Phil Manzanera

 

Ritchie Blackmore
Pete Townshend
David Gilmour
Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Page

 

As a guitar player, these are the guys that made me want to pick up the instrument and practice my butt off:

1. Jimmy Page
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Yngwie Malmsteen
4. Ritchie Blackmore
5. Eddie Van Halen

 

Jerry Garcia

David Gilmour

Richard Thompson

Jimi Hendrix

Jimmy Page

 

Right now?

Ritchie Blackmore
Uli Roth
Michael Schenker
Tony Iommi
Eddie Van Halen

 

>>> Michael Hedges <<<
Bill Frisell
Allan Holdsworth
Michael Schenker
Pat Metheny

 

Jimmie Vaughan
Cliff Gallup
Don Rich
Steve Cropper
Albert King

 

Duane Allman

Richard Thompson
Jeff Beck
Steve Howe
Al DeMiola
+ Derek Trucks

 

Mick Taylor
Richards
Gilmour
Buckingham
SRV

 

Hopkinson Smith
Derek Bailey
Henry Kaiser
Jim O'Rourke
Keith Rowe

 

Does Hopkinson Smith play guitar? On every album I own, he plays lute.

 

From the last one:

 

Question: Do I have too much time on my hands?
Answer: I think this post will prove the answer is "yes"

So, I compiled a list, and here are the guitarists who got at least 5 votes...

Spoiler

Jimi Hendrix - 75
David Gilmour - 44
Eric Clapton - 31
Robert Tripp - 30
Jimmy Page - 30
Jerry Garcia - 25
Jeff Beck - 24
Richard Thompson - 24
Frank Zappa - 21
Pete Townshend - 19
Neil Young - 16
Duane Allman - 15
Toni Iommi - 15
Eddie Van Halen - 15
Ritchie Blackmore - 14
Steve Hackett - 12
Mark Knopfler - 12
Brian May - 12
Steve Howe - 10
Keith Richards - 10
Peter Green - 10
Rory Gallagher - 10
Johnny Marr - 9
Alex Lifeson - 8
Stevie Ray Vaughan - 8
Pat Metheny - 8
Ace Frehley - 7
Prince - 7
Mick Taylor - 7
Tom Verlaine - 7
Bill Frisell - 7
Mike Bloomfield - 6
George Harrison - 6
Wes Montgomery - 6
Michael Schenker - 6
Django Reinhardt - 6
The Edge - 5
Lou Reed - 5
John Fahey - 5
Ry Colder - 5

A few observations...

-I figured Jimi would win, but wow!
-Unsurprisingly, the list is almost all classic rock.
-Out of approx. 315 picks, a whopping 6 were women (Nancy Wilson being the only one who got more than 1 vote).
-George Harrison only got 6 votes! Where is the SHTV forum I used to know?
-Don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys...but if you want them to play guitar, name them John or Steve (a combined 34 picks)
-I'm the only one who voted for Tom Morello
-Honorable mention: SHTV Forum member "oxenholme" got a vote as one the 5 greatest guitarists of all time...congratulations! *

*He voted for himself

 

He does, yes, when the work calls for it. See his Francisco Guerau, Alonso Mudarra or Gaspar Sanz recordings, for exemples of his guitar work. He also plays other "lute variants", like the theorbo and the vihuela. (I LOVE the theorbo, sadly there doesn't seem to be much solo music for it.)

 

Jimi Hendrix
Jeff Beck
Vernon Reid
Jimmy Page
Robert Fripp

 

Good to see Scott Henderson and Bill Connors appreciated.

 

Robert Fripp
Jerry Garcia
Frank Zappa
Ritchie Blackmore
Grant Green

 

Today, that would be:

Jeff Beck
Robert Fripp
Jimi Hendrix
Steve Tibbetts
Frank Zappa

 

Jimmy Page
Andres Segovia
Eddie Van Halen
Russell Donnellon
Randy Rhoads/Jake E. Lee/Zakk Wylde