Who are your guitar heroes?

[Wildtime]

Recently, I revisited the guitar dual from the movie "Crossroads" (not the Britney Spears movie!!!) and it still blows me away. Obviously it was Steve Vai playing the devil's guitarist , but one of my friends suggested it was Joe Satriani playing Ralph Macchio's part (it turns out it was an amalgam of Steve Vai and Ry Cooder).

<div><object width="420" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x20fxm&v3=1&related=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x20fxm&v3=1&related=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x20fxm_steve-vai-full-crossroads-guitar-du_music">Steve Vai - Full CrossRoads Guitar Duel</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/fuzz59">fuzz59</a></i></div>​

Anyways, this got me thinking about how amazing some of these guitarists are. Ry Cooder is the epitome of Blues guitarists, Steve Vai can make his guitar talk ("Yankee Rose"), and Joe Satriani created an incredible musical landscape with "Surfin' with the Alien".

So, who are your favorite guitarists?

 

[drew70]

Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison.

 

[maniactickler]

jimmy page and ritchie blackmore

 

[SamuelKhan]

Page

Iommi

Lifeson

Schenker!

Rhoads!

 

[kered]

Clapton

 

[Bohemianne]

Not in particular order:

Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Jimmy Page, Santana, Robert Fripp, Mikael Akerfeldt, Eric Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Howe, Richard Daniels...

I had seen a video of the legendary old man Les Paul, making his guitar sound like 7 people are playing it simultaneously...I died.

 

[wish2btkld]

Yngwie Malmsteen!!!

Tommy Byrnes!!!

 

[slacker2114]

Frank Zappa, Stevie Ray Vaughn (RIP), David Gilmour (how do people always skip him?), Angus Young, Lindsey Buckingham (another one that is seemingly forgotten) and Ted Nugent. I have many others I like, but those would have to be my top choices.

 

[tcklft]

John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Allan Holdsworth, John Abercrombie, Chris Siebold

 

[Wildtime]

John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Allan Holdsworth, John Abercrombie, Chris Siebold

Not really up on my jazz guitarists, could you name a few songs that would really showcase their talents.

 

[GEORGIATKLER]

Don't Forget The Bluegrass/country Boys

Les Paul For All His Achievements, Used In Some Way Or Another In Practically Every Recording Now Made.( Except For The Tickling Pay-per-view Clips), Segovia, Chet Atkins, Doc Watson And The Late Merle Watson And Last And First In My Book... Clarence White, Flat-picking God.

 

[RobAce]

I CANT NOT BELIEVE ALL OF YOU FORGOT...

ONE OF THE TOP 3 GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME
(according to many music magazines and industry professionals)

CARLOS SANTANA!!!!

Geesh........

Cmon....not one other person mentioned Santana.

Rob

 

[maniactickler]

I CANT NOT BELIEVE ALL OF YOU FORGOT...

ONE OF THE TOP 3 GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME
(according to many music magazines and industry professionals)

CARLOS SANTANA!!!!

Geesh........

Cmon....not one other person mentioned Santana.

Rob

i think bohemianne mentioned him. im not a big fan of santana, but he is great.

 

[subtle_feather]

My favorite of all time is Jimi Hendrix, and I really like a lot of the players others have also already mentioned. I'm kind of surprised--I don't think anyone mentioned Eddie Van Halen, which is interesting because a lot of the players people have been talking about bit a lot of chops from him.

Anyway, some of my favorites that have not been mentioned, in video form:


Django Reinhardt, such a beautiful player.

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B. B. King

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Duane Allman

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Lately these guys are really rocking my socks--Rodrigo y Gabriela:

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And finally, a little shred Super Mario action, just for fun:

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[nostradamas]

Real Guitars are for old people.

Guitar Hero Rocks!!!

Just kidding, that's from South Park.


Al DiMeola and (my fave) Andres Segovia.

No one above is fit to carry their jockstraps in a suitcase.

 

[Viden]

=

Iommi

YES!!! I recently say him live, at Kanacti Harbor by where I live. It's only a few hours from my house if that. Saw Alice Cooper there, live, as well as Dio, and the original Heven & Hell THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!

 

[P[a]pi]

Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield - Metallica

Jerry Cantrell - Alice in Chains

Diamond Darrell - Pantera

Larry Tarnowski, Jon Schaffer - Iced Earth

Marty Friedman, Dave Mustaine - Megadeth

Tom Morello - Rage Against the Machine

Peter Loeffler - Chevelle

 

[PiedPiper]

Kottke

Leo Kottke is the best guitar instrumentalist in the world, now that Chet Adkins has passed on. Rock guitarists don't tend to impress me that much,....

 

[falcon]

you know guys are probably going to think i'm crazy but i'm casting my votes for alex lifeson of rush and adam jones of tool. i've loved adam's style ever since i first heard tool on the radio and have kept up with them all these years. he just has a very unique style that i love and his stuff isn't overly complicated and hard to play. he's just got an all around good and unique sound.

falcon

 

[wanderingpixie2112]

Alex Lifeson
(I'm a hardcore Rush fan - 'nuff said )

The Edge
(U2 fan since childhood)

Dave Gilmour
(He of the Floyd)

Stevie Ray Vaughan
(and I'm not even a blues fan! )

 

[unit5610]

Jimi Hendrix, Tom Scholz, Michael Schenker (good call by SamuelKahn!), Duane Allman and Eric Clapton.

 

[SlaverTickler]

Colin James...

Canada's best kept secret, and the reason why I recently bought a guitar. It's an old 2nd hand one, but it's a start.

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(This one is really cool)
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Need I say more? I didn't thing so. When you can play the blues like him you can play anything.

 

[alchemy]

My influences

These guys: (the 3rd one down was my guitar teacher)

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[falcon]

i need to add John Petrucci from Dream Theater on there as well.

 

[Dave2112]

This one's easy, Alex Lifeson of Rush and not just because they're my favorite band.

Most "Guitar Gods" are that way because of a certain style. Speed, dexterity, blues....whatever. and that's why we always have these kinds of conversations about guitarists, and in the end it all boils down to personal preference.

But, with Alex Lifeson ("Lerxst" to us Rushians) you get so much more than just a particular style. Lerxst has got to be the most prolific "rounded" guitarist, and the most underrated. Listen to the Zep-inspired riffs of "Working Man" and "Anthem" from the early years. Then go over to the prog-genius stuff from "Xanadu" and "The Trees"....follow through to the so-called "Synth Years" where Alex was the master of the "drop-in chord" ( a style I miss SO much from the '80's) and find the irony of an era many fans said found Alex "in the background", but actually contained some of his most ripping solos ("Between the Wheels", "Digital Man", "Analog Kid", "Red Lenses").

Today. Lifeson's just a monster of alternative styles and chords they don't even have names for. In the confines of a three-piece band, he basically invented ways for the guitar to fill a bigger space sonically without restricting what you can do live. Give a real close listen to Tom Sawyer. During the "...what you say about his company...." part, you can here the main guitar line following the rhythm, while there's a ghost of a "picking" thing filling the space. This is not an overdub. This is a fingering pattern that anyone who's tried to play this song the RIGHT way will tell you is genius.

So, my vote is Alex Lifeson. Hands-down.