Six of the Best & Three of the Rest......Rock Guitarists

[Laurent]

I’d also put Stevie Ray Vaughn over Eric Clapton

 

[Elric]

I probably should have included Joe Satriani somewhere as well.

 

[kg.legat0]

These six come to mind at the moment:

Derek Trucks
John Petrucci
Eddie Van Halen
Steve Vai
Scott Henderson
David Gilmour

However, my favorite players are Allan Holdsworth and Eric Johnson ...notable mentions to Warren Haynes, John Scofield, Wayne Krantz, and Pat Martino, too

 

[JOHN72]

I see a fantastic list of you, which I love. But Gary Moore, makes my hair stand on end. I also have some Joe Satriani, Santana, John Lee Hooker and also Mark Knopfler, of course you can't miss him, he's wonderful...........

 

[WVOldFart]

I am so glad I lived in the age of the guitar hero. There were so many fine musicians in the 60's and 70's. All with different styles.
My 6 would be:

Martin Barre
Steve Howe
Eric Clapton
David Gilmour
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Mark Knopfler

3 Honorable mention:
Jimmie Page
Carlos Santana
Jimmie Hendrix

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I never pay any attention to complexity of guitar work in music. Really, complexity is way less noticed by me than just overall affect.

I love Mark Knopfler’s work, but more of his word play.

But, I do really like the way Willie Nelson plays. His style seems to be to play each note at almost the last microsecond it can be played and still follow the rest of the band…. Which gives his picking a sound like drips of water falling down a fog covered window.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"But Gary Moore, makes my hair stand on end"

Yikes!.....I missed the late great Gary Moore off my list

Hair shirt for a week

Regards,

Jay.

 

[eslavs]

Best:

David Gilmour
Jimi Hendrix
James Hetfield
Eddie Van Halen
Jimmy Page
Duane Allman

The Rest:

Dave Matthews
The Edge
Tom Morello

I always think of the greats as those who were pioneers, influencers for later guitarists, and those who are instantly recognizable.

 

[briarbuck]

Here are my Six of the Best in no particular order...

David Gilmore
Joe Bonamassa
Carlos Santana
Mark Knopfler
Jimmy Page
Billy Gibbons

...and my Three of the Rest in no particular order...

Stevie Ray Vaughan
Alex Lifeson
Lindsey Buckingham

This took me a while to compile as there are so many great guys (and girls....thinking of Nancy Wilson here) to chose from, so guys, who would you chose for your 6 and your 3 rock guitarists?

Regards,

Jay.

Stopped reading when I saw that Hendrix did not make you list.

 

[paulfg]

"Martin Lancelot Barre."

Paul, I'm a huge fan of Tull. Barre's guitar playing on 'A Little Light Music' really blows me away.

As for Richard Thompson, you lost me there chum.

Regards,

Jay.

Tull are probably my all time favourites,have seen them over 50 times between 1975-2004

Richard Thompson (musician) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Founding member of Fairport Convention and since the early 70s playing/writing Folk/ Rock both acoustic and electric.
regarded as one of Englands best

 

[LotusEater]

I always think of the big three as being
Hendrix
Clapton
SRV

I also really like Robert Cray - perhaps not list worth but pretty amazing.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Prince

Dude! He was such a good guitarist. I watched him with industry gods and he definitely did more than hold his own. ?️

 

[RobNYC]

Jimi Hendrix
David Gilmour
Keith Richards
Pete Townshend
Brian May
Chuck Schuldiner

 

[edger]

Hendrix said it was all a matter of the three kings, "BB, Albert, Freddie".
Albert King of course also a known pipe smoker.

edit - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Steve Marriott

While I can enjoy Vaughn, he is a clone of Albert, not withstanding the tendency for all blues guitarists to appropriate riffs and lines from each other. I sat about 10 feet from Albert’s amp (turned toward the wall) at Lou and Lester’s Golden Palace in St Louis in 1970. This was a very small neighborhood club that he had played at before he became a 60’s blues legend, and he played with the local house band. He was very protective of our table of 4 naive white college students who were probably in the “wrong” neighborhood that night. The entire night was an unforgettable experience.

 

[kcghost]

These guys are okay as far as rock music goes but I prefer Chet or Doc or Billy when I want to hear some music.

 

[elessar]

Let's add in someone newer, Nita Strauss.

 

[mso489]

Not rock, but a remarkable and singular guitarist is the Reverend Gary Davis, who sounds like three guitarists playing together incomparably well. I guess his category is blues, but he does some gospel and other genres. He's blind, is also a clergyman, as the name suggests, and also seems to be a bit of a rogue. Another musician was driving with him and a group and Davis was playing his rendition of "Candy Man," and the driver finally got weary of the repeated tune and turned around to tell him to stop, and Davis was asleep; he'd left the driver with that ear worm.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Hendrix
Keith Richards
Eric Clapton
Steve Jones
Kurt Cobain
Jimmy Page

 

[STP]

Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
Jimmy Page
Jeff Beck
Randy Rhoads
David Gilmour

Les Paul
Eddie Van Halen
Tom Morello

This is hard because I’d also add Ace Frehley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian May, Bo Diddley, Tony Iommi, Kurt Cobain, Angus Young, Buddy Guy, Adam Jones, etc. ?

 

[Bowlsmoker67]

And Duane Allman . Master of the slide