So, who is your fav guitarist. And why?

[SoundMaster]

Mine is Richie Blackmore of Deep Purple/Rainbow/Blackmore's Night.
In my view, he can do it all! Great heavy riffs, beautiful melodies, awesome work on an acoustic, AND kick ass, melodic solos! The solo in Rainbow's "Temple of the King" is gorgeous!

After that, I'd say Jimmy Page simply for the number of awesome songs he composed! And that is enough for me!

 

[JonnyD]

Criss Oliva! Hes the best Guitar player I'v ever heard I cant explain it lol

 

[Wyvern]

Damn hard to pin point one, but my top faves are: Ritchie Blackmore and Tony Iommi. The music they created are masterpieces for all eternity.

The rest of my list (which is long) contain people like: Vai, Satriani, MacAlpine, Malmsteen, Murphy...

 

[delize]

2 more greats:

Ron Jarzombek & Michael Schenker.

 

[carnut]

Steve Vai stands out a bit for me, but I like others too...I allways liked his style and sound of playing, he can make a guitar talk and scream like no other.

 

[tedvanfrehley]

Man, there are so many. But I'll go with my 3 faves:
TED NUGENT - balls to the wall. sometimes sloppy...a mess...but always attitude
EDWARD VAN HALEN - come on! The guy is more than just Eruption! He sounds like he's cracking jokes with his guitar sometimes! His personality shines through his playing.
ACE FREHLEY - made me want to play - made me love music at a tender age. The smoke bombs didn't hurt, either!

ALSO, here are a couple other favs from different genres:
PETE ANDERSON - Dwight Yoakam's guitarist- the current king of twang
Luther Perkins - R.i.p. Johnny Cash
I also really like Ricky Skaggs as a picker...especially on "Country Boy"

 

[sixxswine]

I have three:
Billy Gibbons-He has come up some of the best riffs in classic radio & from the opening note you know who is playing on that particular track.
Michael Schenker-Misunderstood, the Mad Axe Man, his stuff from the 70's through the mid 80's is king. Just dig up Scorpions, UFO, MSG records & take another listen.
Stevie Ray Vaughan-A Legend & an innovator. Probably a reincarnated soul from the Mississippi Delta. I can't say enough about this guy, he's much like Gibbons, where he had this mad tone that no one was able to nail down. The closest has been Kenny Wayne Shepherd, but since he's not playing blues, SRV still Reigns!
Honerable mentions:
Blackmore, Iommi, Jon Schaffer, Marty Friedman & K.K. Downing/Glenn Tipton.
What a fucking list eh?!

 

[Igor_Cavalera]

Randy Rhoads!!
God of both Metal and Classical guitar. God of both rhythm and lead guitar.
One of the most original and creative guitarists ever.
Inspired countless others.
Wrote some of the greatest riffs and played some of the greatest solos ever.
Mastered mixing creativity, speed, use of metal and classical guitar and perfectly fitting lead work.

Honerable mentions:
Tony Iommi
Joe Satriani
Adrian Smith
Dave Murray
Zakk Wylde
Jake E. Lee
Andreas Kisser
Michael Romeo
Dimebag Darrell
Alexi Laiho

 

[HailIron]

Randy Rhoads is definetly my favorite and I think the best because he was so ahead of his time. I just love both the solos on Mr. Crowley, I think that is his best work.

Also I like to mention these other guitarist that I think our among the best

Alexi Laiho
Jimmi Hendrix
Chuck Schuldiner
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
Steve Vai
Eddie Van Halen
Toni Iommi
Vinnie Moore

 

[SickBoy]

Mine is Richie Blackmore of Deep Purple/Rainbow/Blackmore's Night.
In my view, he can do it all! Great heavy riffs, beautiful melodies, awesome work on an acoustic, AND kick ass, melodic solos!

I'd place my vote for him too!
I learned guitar by playing his riffs and solos, same goes for Murray/Smith duo of Iron Maiden. As far as Ritchie is concerned, many are better technically, many are less egomaniacal, but he has his sound that's so recognizable as well as his style and that's what I like about him the most.

These guys deserve accolades too:
Gary Moore
Mark Reale/Mike Flyntz
Nuno Bettencourt
Brian May
Andre Olbrich
Andy LaRocque

 

[Seth'Peth]

That's always a real hard question. Most of the ones mentioned are great picks...being a prog fan, I'd like to add Jim Matheos(Fates Warning), John Petrucci(Dream Theater)...and a couple of my new favorites, Mikael Akerfeldt(sp?) and Peter Lindgren of Opeth.

For the classic greats...Tony Iommi, Page, and one that's rarely mentioned and very underrated...Alex Lifeson from Rush.

Seth

 

[zeppelin]

Favouritte Guitarist: Jimmy Page
Why: Cause he fuckin' rocks

In close second place I'd say Glen Tipton

PS: All you Blackmore fans, what do you guys think of Blackmore's Night, totaly off the rail if you ask me.

 

[EVERLOSTINDEADETERNITY]

Blackmore is awesome. Even his work with Blackmores night rocks. Ren Faire has got some beautiful acoustic stuff.

Actually my favorite for a long time was KAI HANSEN of Helloween . It was when I was really geting into metal and he was doing Primal fear, Blind guardian, gamma ray, iron savior stuff. There was just so much of his work that I came to love all of it, but now that Im a little older I dont know if I really have a favorite anymore. if I like it then i like it , thats a bout it.

 

[EVERLOSTINDEADETERNITY]

Favouritte Guitarist: Jimmy Page
Why: Cause he fuckin' rocks

In close second place I'd say Glen Tipton

PS: All you Blackmore fans, what do you guys think of Blackmore's Night, totaly off the rail if you ask me.

I love blackmores night. I love going to Medievel faires and shit though.

 

[Ayeka]

PS: All you Blackmore fans, what do you guys think of Blackmore's Night, totaly off the rail if you ask me.

I've only listened to one of their albums once but I do remember enjoying it.

In all honesty I'd probably have to say my favourite guitarist is Glen Tipton. He tends to play most of my favourite Priest solos and everything he does is perfect, in terms of how a guitarist should look and act onstage. I used to put on my Electric Eye DVD and try and copy the moves while playing guitar

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I have three guitarists that stand above the rest, for me personally. Unfortunately, two of the three are long dead.

#1 Randy Rhoads for his technical ability
#2 Criss Oliva for his pure emotion
#3 Michael Schenker, for his pure emotion and technical ability.

Of course, there is a ton of others who could easily find themselves on my list: Ritchie Blackmore, Gary Moore, Matthias Jabs, Eric Johnson, Ronnie Montrose, Fast Eddie Clarke, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc. etc.

I prefer the guitarists that are strong on melody and emotions.

 

[MURAI]

Randy Rhoads!!
God of both Metal and Classical guitar. God of both rhythm and lead guitar.
One of the most original and creative guitarists ever.
Inspired countless others.
Wrote some of the greatest riffs and played some of the greatest solos ever.
Mastered mixing creativity, speed, use of metal and classical guitar and perfectly fitting lead work.

Honerable mentions:
Tony Iommi
Joe Satriani
Adrian Smith
Dave Murray
Zakk Wylde
Jake E. Lee
Andreas Kisser
Michael Romeo
Dimebag Darrell
Alexi Laiho

I agree to most of that except maybe Alexi Laiho.

Also, Kerry King for the early Slayer work.

 

[Break Zero]

Jim Matheos - Can play intricate and complex stuff, yet not come off as flashy. Also, even though Fates Warning has changed alot over the years, he still has always managed to pen some amazing tunes.

Dave Mustaine - Probably one of the top reasons I've wanted to thrash out on guitar. Made me want to play fast, yet technical.

Tony Iommi - The father of all things heavy on guitar. And writer of some greaty Doomy/Sludge riffs.

Jeff Loomis - Probably my favorite modern guitarist. This can shred and plays soem killer riffs. I think he'll be one of those Guitar Heros we look back on in some 10 or 20 years.

Others:
Chris Poland
Andreas Kisser
Jake E. Lee
Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing
Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel (from their Vio-lence days)
Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton

 

[IcedMadness]

My favorite guitarist is James Hetfield. He is the one that made me want to learn to play guitar. I just saw them live last Saturday and they still rock. It's because of Metallica and James that made me want to rock harder than anything else.

 

[Seth'Peth]

Jim Matheos - Can play intricate and complex stuff, yet not come off as flashy. Also, even though Fates Warning has changed alot over the years, he still has always managed to pen some amazing tunes.

Dave Mustaine - Probably one of the top reasons I've wanted to thrash out on guitar. Made me want to play fast, yet technical.

Tony Iommi - The father of all things heavy on guitar. And writer of some greaty Doomy/Sludge riffs.

Yeah, agree especially about Matheos. Dude is a great songwriter.

Seth