# Best Guitarists of the 20th and 21st Century **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321 "2002-11-11T21:50:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/63 "2002-11-14T03:41:03Z")
Oh, and my additions to the thread, since my two favorites have already been named: **Jeff Healey** , **Jonny Lang** , and the man who the Grand Ole Opry named the fastest bluegrass picker in the world, **Dennis Agajanian**. None of them is what I’d call a rock guitarist, but they’re all pretty amazing in their own styles. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/64 "2002-11-14T03:59:41Z")
A few years back, a friend and I were discussing who we’d like to see on the next g3 tour. Naturally, Satch is required. He puts it together and is a great guitarist. Vai’s was the second pick. Not only is he a great stunt guitarist, but he’s almost a permanent member of the tour. To round out teh rotating spot, we decided Petrucci would be the perfect fit. He compliemnts the styles of Satch and Vai perfectly and is a top caliber player. A few months later, that very same line-up started their tour in my hometown. It was heaven. Here’s my list of the top guitarists. I’m a young’n, so excuse any slant toward the more recent guitarists: Satch Vai Petrucci Frank Zappa Zakk Wilde Randy Rhodes Eric Clapton Steve Morse Steve Howe Robert Fripp ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/65 "2002-11-14T04:00:57Z")
\*\* Grelby\*\*, I meantioned Mark Knopfler in my first post to this thread. I spelled his last name wrong but I did say that he was the guy in Dire Straights. \*\* unclviny\*\*, [Slight hijack]. A good friend of mine, Dave, who was working on his PHD in music, focus on guitar preformance, once played with DiMeola live. I was there and they played “Racing with the Devil on Spanish Highway” and one other song. I thought it was great. After the show my friend came out all depressed. All Dimeola said to him after the show was “Your picking sucks” and then left. I lost respect for Dimeola after that. [/Slight hijack] Another forgotten guy, Alex Lifeson. Hey, it’s Rush, what else needs to be said? Slee ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/66 "2002-11-14T04:02:37Z")
Has anybody mentioned Robert Johnson yet? ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/67 "2002-11-14T05:27:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*Has anybody mentioned Robert Johnson yet? \*\* Yes. Someone a ways back asked about folk guitarists. I don’t pretend to have the knowledge of many posters in this thread, but I have to throw in Willy Porter, and submit “Road Bone” as evidence. Just a great acoustic picker. I just sit rapt when I see him live. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/68 "2002-11-14T08:42:41Z")
I’ll say **John Mayer** along with a few others before me. He writes his own songs, has a good voice, (good looks), and has nicely played/tributed SRV, Jimi and Bob Marley live. There’s a dearth of Great Guitarists - not only since 2000 - but since 1990 or so. Who does ripping guitar solos anymore? What new guitarist is distinctive? Recently, I was mostly ignoring a Michelle Branch video on MTV till I heard Carlos’ guitar licks. Looked to the TV - and there was Carlos, generously making MB’s song Great. ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/69 "2002-11-14T11:58:36Z")
Damn, I sure hope nobody posted these before me… Frank Zappa Steve Vai Mike Keneally Al DiMeola Course, that’s off the top of my head and I’m not awake quite yet but oh well… ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/70 "2002-11-14T15:05:34Z")
Here are a few more guys that some might consider great, that I don’t remember seeing mentioned as yet: Jan Akkerman Dickie Betts Rick Derringer Peter Frampton J. Giles Jorma Kaukonen Jim Mullen Roger McGuinn Joe Walsh ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/71 "2002-11-14T15:38:59Z")
\>\>\>\>\>\>On the other hand, I’ve read several places (including here: [http://www.xtrememusician.com/info/...ofiles/982.html](http://www.xtrememusician.com/info/...ofiles/982.html) ) that Hendrix said Moving Sidewalks was the best garage band in America, and called Billy Gibbons (currently with ZZ Top) his favorite guitarist. Supposedly the cite for this is the book “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”, but I’ve never read it so I don’t know if it’s true. This is correct ---
**Author:** ![anewkindofpower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@anewkindofpower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anewkindofpower)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/72 "2002-11-14T16:55:55Z")
You all failed to mention to greatest guitarist of all time: **Jandek**. _ducking_ ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/73 "2002-11-14T18:01:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by anewkindofpower \* > \*\*You all failed to mention to greatest guitarist of all time: **Jandek**. > > _ducking_ \*\* Well - obviously a joke, but it must be some kind of insider joke I ain’t aware of - who the heck is “Jandek”? Also: **Diogenes** , I mentioned Robert Johnson in my category of Best Blues players… One of the things about these lists is that they are entirely subjective and everyone can (and should) have their own POV as to who should be mentioned, let alone ranked. I am surprised we haven’t heard from the OP’er - **Qwerty** , are you still out there? Has this met your needs? I find that people can “out-name-drop” each other for days, and if that is what you want, have at it. What I was trying to do was to rough out the basic parameters of “Important Players 101” so you as a starting guitarist could be comfortable knowing you were starting with a good foundation, and understand how many of the other players mentioned might (IMHO) fit into a big picture framework… ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/74 "2002-11-14T18:11:55Z")
anewkindofpower, i was a volunteer at kpft in houston, texas for a long time and we were on the jandek “promo list”, there were piles of those damned records everywhere!, i never listened to them though, i had been warned by people that i trusted not to. unclviny ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/75 "2002-11-14T18:27:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by anewkindofpower \* > \*\*You all failed to mention to greatest guitarist of all time: **Jandek**. > > _ducking_ \*\* That was a guitar? > [@](#): > > \*I find that people can “out-name-drop” each other for days, and if that is what you want, have at it. - That’s exactly what these turn into. I guess we should at least explain why this person is important, what did they do that was so great, and did it have any influence on anyone else. “He rocks” maybe is TLI. Of course, I did none of that in my post… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/76 "2002-11-14T18:37:31Z")
Question to those knowledgable… where does Taj Mahal stand in the realm of guitar players? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/77 "2002-11-14T19:13:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > \*\*Question to those knowledgable… where does Taj Mahal stand in the realm of guitar players? \*\* IMHO, Taj Mahal is a wonderful Country Blues player - by Country Blues, I mean that he tends to play traditional blues tunes in a fingerpicking, bass lines and melody lines all at once sort of style, typically on an acoustic or a metal resonator guitar. I think he is very talented. I don’t know how innovative he is in terms of pushing out the boundaries of the style, but he is very well respected. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/78 "2002-11-14T19:22:04Z")
the jandek story as it was told to me (by chuck steak from the xenophile radio show), paul? jandek lives on the north side of houston, texas and spends all of his spare time/money recording and releasing his own albums (which apparently suck, all 6,418 of them). unclviny ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/79 "2002-11-26T19:07:50Z")
**Corbomite** : > [@](#): > > Recently, I was mostly ignoring a Michelle Branch video on MTV till I heard Carlos’ guitar licks. Looked to the TV - and there was Carlos, generously making MB’s song Great. Actually it was Santana’s song, not Michelle’s. He invited her to sing it (and make it great). I’ve been trying to find out, with no success so far, if she’s playing guitar with him, as it looks like in the video. That would be cool, and would speak well of her. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/80 "2002-11-27T01:31:48Z")
Poor old forgotten Brian Jones, even if only for his slide work. Tonino Baliardo of the Gipsy Kings. If you can grab a video of them live you can watch him make the near impossible look routine. True story about Neil Young (sort of). I was contemplating having guitar lessons just recently, figuring that if I paid for lessons I would be more motivated to practice. I asked my son’s guitar teacher for some kind of guarantee. “If I practice an hour a day I want to be able to play as well as Hendrix in 6 months.” He laughed and said he could guarantee that I’d be able to play as well as Neil Young by then. “Wow, even the lead on _Like a Hurricane_” says I. He laughed again, “No, just his strumming stuff. To play lead like that would take about 12 months.” Since people have actually named Young in a best guitarist thread I’ll have to check whether he was serious. ---
**Author:** ![I\_am\_Sparticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@I\_am\_Sparticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_am_Sparticus)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/81 "2002-11-27T03:18:17Z")
Holy moly! Only one mention for Jerry Garcia? Stevie Ray Vaughn, the most technically gifted guitarist I have ever heard, was once asked what it was like to be the the world’s greatest guitarist: he half jokingly replied: “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Jerry Garcia.” Garcia could play a note an infinite number of ways, and exactly as he wished to, conveying great depth of emotion. I’m shocked that only one person gave him an honorable mention: My list, nobody “greater” than others, but enjoyed differently on different occasions: Hendrix, Clapton, Allman (no Duane Allman people? Damnit, listen to the Layla album again), Muddy Waters, Angre Segovia, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jay Graydon ---
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321/82 "2002-11-27T04:50:59Z")
I like Randy Rhoads and Dickey Betts. I concur with EVH, Eric Clapton, Chet Atkins, Jimi, etc. I’ll throw out Kirk Hammett’s name, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-guitarists-of-the-20th-and-21st-century/136321.md?page=5)