:2 cents: Berry may not have been the best technically but he invented a rock style (along with Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis) which is still being played and riffed on worldwide. So that gives him cred for top 10 ROCK guitarist list.

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Jimmy Page and Jerry Garcia are my favorites.

Re: the Rolling Stone picks - This article says alot, especially with the leading photo-
http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/amplifi...181042395.html

Absolutely way to high on the list, should be in the top ten easily.

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Honestly, I don't know...

well Steve Vai, Frank Zappa, Jan Akkerman, Django Reinhardt and so on and so on should have made the top 10 list IMHO

everyone is good, it's just a matter of whom do you prefer. :)

In terms of influential players, they most certainly are at the top of any such list.

Steve Vai and John Petrucci are technically amazing players, I love them both, but I'd wager Chuck Berry and Keith Richards have inspired more guys to pick up a guitar, and probably were some inspiration for Vai and Petrucci.

I think you'd have to break the list down by "top technically great players" and "top influential players" to be fair. Then break it down by music genre.

not for everyone's taste... but when it comes to pure jamming you just cant beat trey anastasio

met buddy guy numerous times at concerts and his own club, cool dude :thumbsup

if accoustic guitar counts, add Andy McKee to that list.

As others have stated....... this is obviously a list of the the top 10 most influential rock guitarists. It obviously does not represent the top 10 guitarists of all time.

This list seems to give a lot to the "historical contribution" to rock music.

However I always prefer guitarists with feeling that focus on making memorable songs instead of exhibition.

Interesting quote in your sig ...

Angus Young should have been on that list as well. Damn them!!! Hahaha

http://images1.mypixhost.com/33t/tn_1_32872_912.jpg
https://youtube.com/watch?v=RukUetw0hAM&ob=av2n
If I only knew how to embed the video. Grrrr!!!

technically perfect but soulless wankers don`t belong on that list.

my list would be:

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. John Petrucci
3. David Gilmour
4. Slash
5. Stevie Ray Vaughn
6. Zakk Wylde
7. Buckethead
8. Mark Knopfler
9. Carlos Santana
10. Eric Clapton

Google: (U2) With or Without You - Sungha Jung

come on man, that guy all but invented the art form of rock and roll guitar.. he did it so well others stole his shit.


and as long as we are talking influences i'm pretty sure muddy waters belongs on there... nobody plays eddie van halen shit anymore, and never will again... but muddy's influences are everywhere.

I'm sorry, but no list could be taken seriously if Shawn Lane isn't in it. This guy could play anything, was showing Paul Gilbert tricks when he was only 13 and had the most mind-boggling technique ever seen, while having the capacity to make people cry with 4 notes.
I've teached guitar for 10 years and it took me like 2 years to nail SOME of his licks, I'm not even talking about whole songs...

What stopped him for recognition was that he died BEFORE getting to the legend level. I really encourage you to check out youtube. his best takes are improvised in concerts, and he played with the bests.

My Uncle Nick was better than all of these guys, he was missing 2 fingers -- on his fret hand.

Keith Richards in fourth place... do not make me laugh..

if nobody has heard of them or their music? They really aren't that good... I can walk into the music store around the corner from here grab a few guys in there that can do some impressive, highly technical and fast shit that sounds impressive for 5 minutes maybe even a day or two, but the music that most of those people on that list made is in our heads forever and will continue to inspire forever--there is no arguing that.

music is bigger than being the most technically sound, or playing the fastest.

My picks would be:

Al Di Meola
Joe Satriani
Kenny Wayne Sheppard
Jimmy Page
Steve Morris
Ry Cooder
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Robert Johnson
Jimmy Hendrix
And lets not forget the father of it all Chuck Berry

IMHO, Keith Richards does not belong on this list. Eric Clapton has had some good stuff but overall, his song writing is what makes him, not his technical guitar skills. If I could play like any of them, I would have to say it would be Joe Satriani or Jimmy Page.

This is a question for guitarists only. "Best" can actually be quantified, based on exercises and standard that haven't even been put in place yet, and probably never will. Some people think music is a competition, but they're won't be any special Olympics for these guys.

As For Rolling Stones, it's a quest of popularity. And popularity can be quantified on sources that already exist.

That's a great list of influential guitarists from Rolling Stone mag.
It's not about technical proficiency and fireworks.

Hell, there's ALWAYS somebody out there who can wiggle his fingers a little faster on a piece of wood with 6 strings attached. But a Chuck Berry comes around once in a lifetime.

That's why he's on this list. As Bob Seger once sang: "All of Chuck's children are out there playing his licks" And any guitar player who has ever played two strings at the same time on a lead break or bent a string is one of "chuck's children"

If you want to see the craziest most technically awe-inspiring guitar playing...then just go down to your local Guitar Center. I'm sure there is some 12 year old kid down there playing sweep technique guitar that will blow your mind.

But that same kid with all that speed and proficiency isn't a pimple on Jimi Hendrix's ass in the big picture.

I don't think you can come up with a best list that would be accurate, since your age and the music you like would make it bias.

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Thread over. :2 cents:

yeah!

BS

But Steve Vai in top 10? Sure! I personally miss mr Gilmour.

Vai and Gilmour to top 10! Fuck R.Stones

M:)

Good videos in this thread !

Everybody's taste in guitar players is personal, but there is no denying the influence these men had on music.

I got into a very brief argument with some John Maher fans over his version of Little Wing. I though it was a laughable attempt at looking like a real guitar player, but his fans seem to think he's the second coming of Hendrix.

Literally.