Who are the top Ten guitar players in rock?

    Eric Johnson
    Dave Gilmour
    Robin Trower
    Jeff Beck
    Stevie Ray Vaughan
    Hendrix
    Frank Marino
    Brian May
    Ritchie Blackmore
    Eddie Van Halen

    NICE list's everyone!
    So glad Trower
    Montrose
    Norum
    Kotzens
    Marino were posted.
    I don't think I saw Alex Liefson?
    Eric Gales
    Chris Duarte
    Dave Meniketti
    Paul Gilbert
    Vernon Ried
    Jeff Beck
    Robben Ford
    Dario Mollo
    Kevin DeFrance( local guy here in Roch., N.Y. who kicks butt)!
    Now don't laugh.............Punky Meadows
    OH! and Keith Partridge :lol:
    Happy Polittically correct Holidays All!

    Mark, don't even get me started - that joke is unfortunately rooted in the whining by all the idiots who are trying to ruin the holiday season for the rest of us in recent years :(

    In this litigious age, people are doing their damndest to rain on the parade, clogging the legal system with trumped up complaints about having Christmas ram-rodded down their throats. Hogwash. I adore the Christmas holiday. It's not a religious holiday for me. Rather, it's a time to reflect on the past year, gather together with my loved ones, and celebrate the occasion of our gathering, which is all too infrequent. It's a time for joy and charity, and for rekindling contact with those people that have been out of touch for too long. Do I feel resentment if someone praises the Lord on Christmas, or if my banker wishes me Merry Christmas? No. Nor would I care if a Jewish postal worker wished me a Happy Hannukah. I can at least appreciate that he wished me well, and offer the same wishes in return. I realize that the holiday is a special time for that person, and I don't think any less of them for it. Why can't everyone else do the same?

    Ok, deep breath...and exhale. Sorry for the rant, maybe that should have been a new topic by itself. lol

    So in closing - MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone! Happy Hannukah! And a Happy New Year! :)

    Cheers...Todd

    Quote from mark


    Now don't laugh.............Punky Meadows

    Not something to laugh at, he is looked at as a pretty face and has been overlooked as a fine guitarist for many years.

    A funny story that Punky reminded me of....
    About eight or so years ago, I was looking for a 'handyman' to do some things around my house, as I have trouble changing light bulbs :confused: A young man in a beat up 70-something AMC auto pulls up, and lo it is my handyman...who happens to be Bobby Blaze who replaced Punky Meadows in Angel, and was at that time playing with Lillian Axe. He had some great road stories, but the battered old car just made me laugh a little. You think of "rock stars" in limos and not Hornets. By the way, he was a much better guitarist than handyman :guitarist :biggrinsa

    And to Todd...I agree with you 100%, and I personally will only offer Merry Christmas Wishes to anyone, and if they don't like it, well that's just too bad. I could go on for hours about this kind of stuff, but I will save that for the right venue.

    To all of you then, A MERRY CHRISTMAS and a wonderful and soulful 2006.

    Frank:div27:
    "if only we'd turn around and notice the door to the cell is open"

    Quote from mark

    Now don't laugh.............Punky Meadows

    Now don't laugh.......even more.
    Anybody ever hear of Joe Stump?
    Honest; that's the guy's name.

    I bought a CD because the album cover said that he was
    the world's greatest guitar shredder. I don't know if a
    gazillion notes a minute qualifies, but this guy is it.
    But you have to look at the list of song titles to recognize
    something as familiar as "Happy Birthday" because........

    ........as the Emperor of Austria, Joseph II, said to Mozart,
    (in the movie "Amedeus") after listening to a new opera,
    "There are just too many notes."

    Does that make somebody a great guitarist?
    Don't ask me. But he probably....IS....the fastest.

    Love the cartoon........
    Too true, in too many cases.
    But "if you play your cards right"
    it can be........

    HAPPY.......
    Go to church on Christmas Eve,
    and when they shut off all the electric lights,
    and there's light from just one candle,
    and then you pass along the candle-light to people in each row,
    until everybody's candle is lit,
    while everybody is singing "Silent Night"
    and you're trying to sing along while NOT CRYING like a weenie.........

    And you try to finagle in, a verse of "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus" too.
    In English..........or possibly Finnish? (Ha, ha.)


    Bottom line...............that's Christmas for me.

    this topic depends on if you mean of all time based on total amount of quality output over the last 40 years then people who died years ago like Hendrix or who havent done rock for a few years like Blackmore wouldnt be in it. there are other people like Gary Moore who have gone off in another direction and other who are great players but not songwriters eg Steve Morse. Iommi is a fantastic riff writer but ive not been blown away by his solos. Van Halens first 2 albums were incredible but meant he couldnt top them. others have had massive success in big bands but are nothing exceptional in my opinion.

    Based on a combination of whose work i love and respect the most, who i have the most cds by, and who ive seen live in the flesh or on dvd, i would go for the following but really i need a list of at least 20 - there would be an altogether different list if it was the most influential guitarists:

    Blackmore
    Lifeson
    Gallagher - Rory not Noel!
    Bolin
    Satriani
    Schon
    Schenker
    Angus Young
    Charlton - Manny not Chip! (Nazareth)
    JJ Marsh

    It is very exciting!! Let me think...

    OK! Not in order.

    Ritchie Blackmore
    Steve Howe
    Yngwie J Malmsteen
    Jeff Beck
    Pat Travers
    Michael Schenker
    Jan Akkerman
    Lee Ritenour
    Kyoji (Vowwow)
    Char (Char Boggert Appice)

    Enjoy holidays everybody !!

    1.Ritchie Blackmore!! :bow:
    Tommy Bolin
    Jimmy Paje
    Eric Clapton
    Jimi Hendrix
    Tony Iommi
    Eddie VanHalen
    ....and maybe other too

    Well,I would say
    Jimmy page
    Tommy Bolin
    John Sykes
    Tony Iommi
    Martin Barre
    Paul Kossoff
    Donal Buck Dharma Roeser
    Brian May
    Eric Clapton
    Jeff Beck
    Thank you all :claphands

    Since guitar playing is not a competition and is so subjective, this question could have so many variables, like who had the most original and long lasting recognizable riffs, who influenced the most youngsters, etc. You got to have Hendrix, Blackmore and Page, then Van Halen, and as much as I don't care for it, I think the guitarists whoever they are for Metallica influenced a ton of kids, you can hear it now on the radio....yuck. For me personally it was Mel, Terry Kath, Santana and Robin Trower in that order in my real formative years, but I'm old. LOL.

    As far as BEST rock guitar players? I would say Eric Johnson and Steve Morse by leaps and bounds. Mclaughlin and Allan Holdsworth. Steve Vai. They're all about even in the Best category, cause they can not only play anything by anyone else I've seen listed, but also go so far ahead of them that it's not a fair contest. Just my opinion of course. I would personally say Eric Johnson's name 10 times, and then everyone else afterwards.

    edit: I'd also like to give props to JJ. I think he is one hell of a rock guitarist. I haven't heard Jeff Kolman yet, but I hear he's really good, too.

    Hey Roger,
    You really aren't THAT old now are you ?? Love the fact that you include Mel since he was truly an influence on many who came after him. Let us not ever forget that guy named Fripp who changed the way the instrument was played as much as anyone.

    Frank:div27:
    "if only we'd turn around and notice the door to the cell is open"

    Roger...good to see you mention Terry Kath. He's on my short list of all time guitarists. Live on stage, Terry was a monster. Terry's Chicago bandmate Walt Parazaider, tells a story of when Chicago were opening for Hendrix, Jimi came up to Walt and said..."Hey man, you're guitar player is better than me."

    Chip

    My Top 10 guitarists
    are
    1. Mel Galley
    2. John Norum
    3. Ritchie Blackmore
    4. Micky Moody
    5. Bernie Marsden
    6. Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
    7. John Frusciante
    8. John Sykes
    9. J.J. Marsh
    10. Paul Kossoff

    and many more

    Ayesha

Join in now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our Community!

Register Yourself Login