[picassov7]

i really enjoy dave matthews. and if you put him with tim reynolds then you have one amazing duo.

[grets22]

Paul Simon and JT My mentors and to me will allways be top of my list!
Regards
Greta (S.A.)

[BackToBlack]

Brian May. His delayed solos during live solos are awesome and he has that perfect crunchy sound to his Red Special.

[P-90]

Originally Posted by rocketman

Eric Clapton, I can't believe he took up guitar so late. Didn't he start in college or something?

He started when he was 13, and by the time he was 18 he was already in The Yardbirds. He was a few months past his 21st birthday when Cream made their first public appearance.

There's room in my list for him anyway.

If I discount relatives, Santana has to be at the top of the list for being such a genuinely and completely nice guy. Barry Melton fits into that category, too.

Others would be Hendrix, Townshend, Beck, Page, Gilmour, Zappa, Peter Green, Duane Allman and John Cipollina, with honorable mentions to Jorma Kaukonen, Randy California, George Harrison, John Lennon, Dick Dale and Jerry Garcia. Semi-honorable mention to Alvin Lee for making everyone think he was blindingly fast when 90% of what he played was based on barre chords.

But the list wouldn't be complete without a nod towards the blues background to all of that other music, so B.B. and Albert King need to fit in there as well, along with Muddy Waters, and all those guys from Son House to Robert Johnson that brought the music along.

There's no way I could pick just one!

[Myrdhinn]

I've ever seen Alvin Lee use 90% barre chords in his solo's which is where he got teh moniker "fastest guitarist in the west" in the 60s. He used lot of jazz runs which no one else was doing at the time but he was a great fan of jazz players. The fact is at that time, he was blazingly fast. And if people like Clapton etc were asked the question, they'd say the same thing. They all new each other from the London scene and would reguarly be in the audience of each others shows.

[missAMYbaby]

Dimebag with out a doubt.... Before he got shot of course........

[Laney1566]

I think the purest raw talent out there was Angus Young. During a time when everybody was using pedals and effects, Angus simply plugged direct into the amp and used very little distortion yet still got all that tone out of his guitar. Anybody who as ever tried to copy his chops note for note knows it is a daunting task to perfect.

That said....Ace Frehley is still my hero
Yes Zakk is great. Yes Eddie is great. Perhaps the greatest guitarist ever never had much of a chance to show us his full potential. (Randy Rhoades)

[gibson lover11]

my guitar teacher ,thomas erak,eric clapton

[P-90]

Originally Posted by Myrdhinn

I've ever seen Alvin Lee use 90% barre chords...

I'm sorry to see that there is no way to edit one's posts after they've been up for a little while... I've reconsidered my statement, in that this seems to be a place where critical statements can only take away from from the supportive atmosphere. I therefore retract my snarky comment about Alvin Lee.

[Myrdhinn]

No problem ...everyone has their tastes and view guitarists differenty. Just I've see TYA in concert settings and The Alvin Lee Band in the club setting. He's slowed down since TYA but when I saw TYA in the mid 70s he really was extremely fast doing solos. Not like the ones now days using a more classical approach but still impressive.

[astratslinger]

I'm in for a double-shot of Warren Haynes.

[Berlu]

I admire Brian May from Queen the most right now. He was an innovator of the Delay effect, and that wall of AC30's is just fun to look at.

[SGK531]

Well, for whatever reason I'm not a huge, huge fan of classic rock and metal-type stuff. however, I can definitley understand the utter awesomeness of many of the guitarists mentioned above.

I think Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney's guitarist) is pretty rad. She's not the most worldsmost talented in terms of technique, but she's probably inspired more girls to pick up guitars than any other woman in rock. She also wrote/co-wrote some awesome songs.

[stringslinger]

Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman and so many others I couldn't list them all. I have favorites from country, jazz, blues, rock, metal, instrumental, classical, flamenco... basically any player who plays with intensity, melody, phrasing and timing is worthy to be on my list. How could anyone pick just ONE? Glad you didn't make us!

Though, I really enjoy Joe Satriani... if I had one person I'd want to study with, it would be him... not because I want to be a rock god, which I don't, I just happen to feel Satriani's music in my soul more than any other, and I wish to one day be able to create music that hits me just like his music hits me.

[Daddycool]

Brian May for rock but Paul Simon i admire most