This is the next in the series of posts I am doing that will showcase some of the best in the world for a particular instrument. Like the drum post I did this is not meant to be a definitive list of the best in the world for each specific instrument, but rather a sample of some of the best that are currently playing. Hopefully you enjoy the post and definitely feel free to chime in with some of your favorites as well.
Devin Townsend
Buckethead
John Petrucci
Muhammed Suicmez
Joe Satriani
John Frusciante
Tom Morello
Uli Jon Roth
Slash
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Steve Vai
Gary Moore
Zakk Wylde
Steve Morse
Eric Johnson
Michael Angelo Batio
Robert Fripp
Yngwie Malmsteen
Al Di Meola
Ron Jarzombek
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
Very cool – nice to see that Fripp looping stuff – what about John Mclaughlin thou?
Where is Jimi Hendrix? So stupid list.
Jimi Hendrix is dead dipshit.
Are you illiterate: FTA – “this is not meant to be a definitive list of the best in the world for each specific instrument, but rather a sample of some of the best that are currently playing.”
So stupid fuck.
no dimebag? pfffft. ninja please!
This is only living guitarists. I am a huge Dimebag fan and I have been listening to Pantera since Cowboys came out, the glam shit before that just sucks. If he was currently still with us he would be on here for sure.
Where on this list does it say “living guitarists”?
Matthew Bellamy!!!!!
Wheres Kirk Hammet, James Hetfield, Ron Wood, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Jeff Beck.
2nd to last sentence – “this is not meant to be a definitive list of the best in the world for each specific instrument, but rather a sample of some of the best that are currently playing.”
I think current would probably mean they are alive, wouldn’t you?
lol, give em hell, S.A.!
I’m left to wonder who has the short attention span here… anyhow, great list! Nice to see Devin Townsend on the list, I met him at Northern lights, and complimented him on his work w Steve Vai, he was impressed I knew about that!
Jason Becker comes to mind; he’s paralysed now, still writing via computer though… Vinnie Moore, Dave Chastain, Jake E. Lee’s work w Badlands especially… All of the guitarists that have worked w Les Claypool… the 2 Death Angel guitarists… the guitarists from Cathedral… As I lay dying’s guitar team… Tony Iommi, of course… Scott Ian of Anthrax, Jack Frost’s work with the Bronx Casket company… Chris Cornell, John Christ of Danzig, Tom Gabriel Warrior of Celtic Frost, Type o negative dude, Mantas of Venom, Jack White, Steve Swanson of Six feet under… Ty Tabor of King’s X, and props to dozens of the guitarists that have played my shows in the 518!
there’s my 20, now someone needs to so much as tell me I can’t count and they’ll think that S.A. was being nice to them… honorable mention to Prince; listen to Steve Vai’s Fire garden cd, there’s a track called burning hunger, Steve Vai ripping on Prince??
nice to share, and awesome page, S.A.! I’m going to browse around, Peace, Joe
ps visit myspace.com/controlledchaosmmp
The two names I’m most shocked not to see are Paul Gilbert and Shawn Lane.
Great list, some great players for sure, but too shred oriented. Playing 20 notes a second and a big effects board are cool but theres more to greatness. One man, one opinion…
where is Angus? most on that list couldnt play half as good as the lead guitarist for Care Bears on Fire and what, she is like 12 years old?
Cool list…but there are three guys you left out:
David Gilmour for sure from Floyd!!!
Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree
Alex Lifeson from Rush
Where are Blackmore, Knopfler, Page, blah blah…?
Where is Carlos Santana???
10 Grammy’s
One of the first to have a residence at The Hard Rock in Vegas
freakin racist!
Jimmy Page
Jeff Beck
You nailed it Enrique, I left Santana off because Im racist, haha.
Santana is an excellent guitarist but he is just not on my list, I am not a racist. I am so sick of idiots like you trying to turn everything into a race issue.
Get a life retard!
Why is he not on your list? Show me accomplishments? Give a reason to think differently. Look into it and read what is out there. If you go to different sites this is what you read http://www.gearslutz.com/board/moan-zone/350771-carlos-santana-sucks-guitar-4.html
is calling “Corny white people” racism?
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=23870
I think he is out of touch on issues but if you surf the net you will find out that he is not appreciated. The majority of postings are sad. I believe that me calling you a freakin racist was out of line so I apologize for that. I agree with about 75% of your list but I would categorize the list with guitarest accomplishments, history, milestones and ability to continue to bring in the crowds not just for one or two shows but tours all over the world.
Thanks
Idiot retard
I think Santana is a great guitarist like I said, I just do not have him in my list. I know many people that love Santana and I am sure there are just as many haters as any other guitarist. If you look up any guitarist or musician in general online you will find bad stuff being said about them, it’s part of being famous. Sorry I lashed back and called names as well, I just do not like being called a racist.
Okay, I can’t stay quiet anymore. CARLOS SANTANA IS THE SINGLE MOST OVERRATED GUITARIST IN THE HISTORY OF THE INSTRUMENT. There, I said it. Wanna argue? Fine. Carlos Santana has been playing guitar literally twice as long as I’ve been alive. In that amount of time, he has literally shown ZERO improvement in skill, and a total lack of musical originality. His songs all sound the same, and his solo work is boring and repetetive. I’m only 28 and I could easily play circles around this guy, in multiple styles, and so could pretty much anyone else on this list. In fact, if you had put Santana on this list, we’d have to have a long talk about the future of ITC… dude, of course I’m just kidding. Seriously though, Santana is awful. “Hmm, what could I do to make a comeback? Hey I know, I’ll just get a bunch of singers that the kids really like nowadays and I’ll have them sing over my boring crap music from the sixties so it sound new!”. Oh, and then there’s the 10 grammys… because we all know that winning a grammy makes you a talented musician. So you’d naturally be a huge fan of Celeine Dion, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston… hey wait, don’t they all suck? A little gold record player doesn’t make you talented. It just means you were a little easier for America to digest than the other million guys in line. And while we’re on the subject, Jimmy Page is a little overrated too. Not as much as Santana, but his style hasn’t really changed much in the last 35-40 years either. Play the same stuff enough times and you’re gonna lose my attention pretty quickly.
Oh, and don’t ever call my friend a racist again.
I like most of the guitarists on this list, lemme throw in some more for next time:
Alan Holdsworth
Chet Atkins
Jeff Beck
Jennifer Batten
Paco De Lucia
Vernon Reid
Jeff Loomis
Kenny Wayne Shepard (‘cuz Vaughn’s dead, we get his clone!)
Alex Lifeson
Ty Tabor
and of course, STEVE LUKATHER!!!
Not that any of this matters, since you could’ve just had the list go like this:
Steve Vai Steve Vai Steve Vai
Steve Vai Steve Vai Steve Vai
Steve Vai Steve Vai Steve Vai
Steve Vai Steve Vai Steve Vai
Steve Vai Steve Vai Steve Vai
Steve Vai Steve Vai John Petrucci
Steve Vai Steve Vai
And I would’ve said the same thing, “Great list, well done!”
And yes, I just can’t make a g-list without Petrucci. So I’m biased, sue me!!!
Hey Lead Guitarist,
Who is your label? What is the name of your band? Hmmm repetitive you closet freak. You are the type person that in public says “Hey dude did you see Carlos last night he was awesome” Maybe when Carlos gets to old to play he will ask you to help him on his next 9 Grammy’s. Do you know who these guys are Benny Reitveld, Myron Dove, Alfonso Johnson, Chris Chambers, Neal Schon, Greg Rollie, Buddy Miles, David Margen, leon Chancler,Chris Solberg excelent musicians that have toured as part of Santana. So when I go see Santana I dont see that boring shit you see I see very talented musicians playing as whole. You cant tell me that when you went to see him you were not blown away by the bass and precussion towards the end of Black Magic Woman? Come on sport be nice and maybe soon I can vote for you to be on this list. I will take my vote serious and put you on the list not because you are a great guitarist oh no I am voting for you because you said you could play circles around your master.
28? yeah I believe you
Oh I’m sorry Enrique, I didn’t realize I needed to be on a major label to speak. I’ll make sure that all the ridiculously talented and UNSIGNED musicians I’ve ever shared a stage with (including the one who actually invented this site, with whom I share the stage every show we play, so watch what you say about us and our music on here), as well as the thousands more I listen to and admire on a daily basis , know that they’re not allowed to have a voice unless they’re on a major label. I’m sure they’d all appreciate that.
Uh, other than that, I really had trouble understanding what you wrote… I will say that I’ve never, EVER been “blown away” by anything Carlos has ever done. I’ve sat through Santana tunes hoping to hear something, ANYTHING different, and I’ve been disappointed every single time. Maybe if I ever get sick of hearing new and exciting music all the time I’ll start to enjoy hearing the same horrible guitar solo over and over and over and over and over….. in every song… on every album…
Ps, when did we start talking about the musicians Santana has played with? I thought we were talking about Santana himself? Man, you suck at this arguing thing. Come back with something a little better, will you?
My comments were not directed at everyone on this site. I was replying to you. I could not understand how it was possible for you a musician to be outspoken and not give Santana credit for anything except the fact that he bored you with his long and boring solo’s. The reason for the other musicians was the fact that nobody not even great guitarist can make powerful music without the other band members. I have enjoyed Santana over there years and have been lucky to see him share the stage with Beck, Reynolds, Clapton etc: I just find it hard thats all and you are entighteled to not like him. True musicians appreciate accomplishments and that means even the street peddlar trying to make a buck. So this lame reply about un labeled musicians does not apply. I have many friends that are waiting for a shot and can maybe play better than Santana. Like I said great because of ACCOMPLISHMENTS!!! My opinion!! I dont like a lot of heavy metal music but it doesnt bore me I dont think Slash is a great but I can enjoy his music. I am sure you are a great musician in your ways as I told the moderater it would be nice if you guys posted videos and maybe I would actually be able to form a opinion on your music and kind of understand where you are coming from.
Actually, I’ve seen several great guitarists make amazing music with nothing but a guitar and their imaginations. Just check out CANDYRAT RECORDS and all the phenominal guitarists they have on their label, like Andy McKee, Antoine DuFour, Craig D’Andrea, the legendary Mr. Don Ross, and dozens of other insanely good musicians who don’t have to share credit with any other musicians (although I’m sure they do every once in awhile, being honorable gentlemen). Fact is, I’d give far more credit to Santana’s backup bands over the years than I’d ever give to the man himself. Even so, your statement, “nobody not even great guitarist can make powerful music without the other band members”, is just flat out WRONG, and just the guys on this one record label can attest to that. If you care about guitar music as much as I do, you end up looking for these kinds of people. Ironically, our host is the one who first showed me Andy McKee and Candyrat, so he knows what I’m talking about too. IT IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE TO MAKE POWERFUL MUSIC BY YOURSELF, WITH JUST ONE INSTRUMENT.
My next point would have to be that while I do sometimes appreciate musical accomplishments (given the appropriate context, and my own personal feelings regarding the accomplishments), I just appreciate MUSIC itself more. Most of my favorite musical artists have never even been nominated for a grammy, but I still find their music powerful, beautiful, and deeply moving. That wouldn’t change, even if I found out that all they ever did was sit in a room and write music all the time (I’ve been there, believe me). Truthfully, I really don’t care about the accomplishments; I just care about the music. TRUE MUSICIANS APPRECIATE MUSIC, AND MUSIC ALONE. All the other accolades and formalities are just tidbits compared to a truly moving musical experience.
Anyway, now you need to go find those Candyrat guys. Go on YouTube and look up all those guys I listed before, especially Andy McKee and Antoine DuFour. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
Lead Guitarist!
Chill! I think a guitarist can make great music by himself and can play till his fingers are blue but a guitarist becomes more powerful when he has a keyboard guy following his lead or a bassisit has a drummer and so on. I would sit through VAI for about an hour but if just paying to here his music I will by the CD. I enjoy whatching him bring out the best in other musicians but anyways like I said before my opinion. I dont think everyone that that visits this site agrees with you. I have been to so many rock concerts over the years and lucky to tell my son about all the different bands I have seen I am 48 years old and I can listen to Music from the 50, 60, 70, 80, and so on. I might seem a bit nuts to my 17 year old but i do not give a *!@%@. He cant ever tell anyone he saw Zeppelin, Frampton, Sabbath, Deep purple, Clapton, Nugent, Eagles, Mahogany Rush, Van halen, Fleetwood Mac, I can go on and on. I enjoy music so maybe I am looking at it from a fan and not a musician. I have seen what you are talking about that is why I was intrigued by the site.
CANDYRAT RECORDS. On MySpace. Seriously. Or better yet, just to start, go on youtube and look up ANDY MCKEE. One man, one instrument, but more powerful than a million of the bands I’ve ever listened to. A guitarist does not always become more powerful when accompanied by other musicians; some of my best work is just the stuff I write on my acoustic, late at night when I just feel like playing, just myself. So yeah. CANDYRAT RECORDS. Go. Now.
Lead Guitarist you are right ! I have seen Andy Mckee and the guy is very gifted . I enjoy music at hole I have seen Clapton and Santana and many others shred and to be honest it does not excite me. Watch the shred first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_E6fJTCKC0
and then watch Beck, Carlos and Lukather.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nLdhXZb_z4
Then watch how Reynolds schools Santana on Acoustic. I enjoyed Dave and the other guys just making a great tune on stage. Like I said my opinion I bet you and I could have a great time at a Rock concert. Maybe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nqrnrD18Hk
Hi!
I´m Pablo Bianchi and I from Argentina.
I’d like to share my music with people like you.
I leave the URL here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EjMjWLzlbM
I hope you like it, leave comments and ratings!
one man left out Enrique Iglesias. done.
is joe satriani still alive?
the bests guitarist’s are wearing girls pants
No Synyster Gates? This list is a fuggin JOKE!
No, it would be a joke if he WAS on the list. His shit band has been around for what, maybe 5-6 years now? He don’t compare to any of these guys sorry man. Their music isn’t bad, but their singer sucks and they look like a bunch of emo bitches. Listen to some real fuggin metal dude, not that fake wannabe garbage they play on the radio.
agreed
MATTHEW HEAFY of TRIVIUM! Who are in the same idea with me?
The best electric guitarist should be old, witrh long hair, in jazz band or in a metal band and always playing guitar. Some of the guitarists like Gary Moore are very strong. I come from Madagascar, my country has got a lot of good artists but not very experimented. When I saw for the first time The Legendary Gary Moore, I was very surprised for his behaviour to be fun and rock when he play guitar. I think that it’s good to be fun when you play guitar. I’m fond of metal music and I like METALCORE music that’s why I say that Matthew Heafy of Trivium is a good guitarist. GARY MOORE AND MATTHEW HEAFY, 2 GOOD GUYS!
May I add Orianthi, she’s incredible.
Brian May anyone?
I don’t get why some people are complaining.
This is “20 of the Best Electric Guitarists in the World”.
I don’t see Allan Holdsworth or John McLaughlin on it but so what?
This is one guy’s opinion. And all of the dudes up there are kick ass mothers.
I guess some retards just don’t read… Sheeeesh!
Thank you, I get annoyed by all these people that cant read,lol. I never say “The 10 best”, the other thing that gets me is people bringing up dead musicians when all the lists I do say “current”. I’m glad there are people like you that can read and do get it.
What about Jonas Kjellren or Per Nilsson from Scar Symmetry?
Or Synester Gates from Avenged Sevenfold?
Just some suggestions, would like to hear feedback
@cebo: I totally agree, lets add Orianthi
I guess, ShortAttention would also agree to make it 21 of best
May I ask where the hell Pat Metheny is?