Johnny Ramone
Steve Jones
Malcolm Young
Pete Townshend
I’ll nominate** Steve Hackett** of Genesis. Sublime solos and voicings. Not a shredder. More interesting than most shredder gods.
They were big names back in the day, but are overlooked now: Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, as well as solo work.
Buck Dharma
Ted Turner and Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash
Definitely agreed.
Bloomfield was proficient but unfortunately didn’t understand that the spaces between the notes are just as important as the notes themselves…
A strong third on Steve Hackett. To me there are great Genesis albums and ones that he didn’t play on, no overlap.
Steve Howe is a good choice, he is one of the greatest and rarely gets mentioned by lists.
I agree, but Johnny Ramone, Wordman? Really? I mean, I get tone and all that maybe only one guy can cop, but could that guy really PLAY anything other than pop/punk that went beyond a few chords?
What about John McLaughlin?
Several are mentioned already that I would have, and understanding that while people like Vai, Satriani and Steve Morse may not be as well known or celebrated by the general public, they are absolutely revered by their fans and those that recognize their skill, so I’m not sure they are underappreciated…hardly, I’ve seen the first two multiple times and Morse only once, and I can tell you the people in attendance at all of those shows appreciated their talent…freakin’ Satriani is amazing…
I’ll throw out two…one, Frank Zappa…yes, we all know him from Yellow Snow, but his depth of work, his eclectic nature, the fact that he used absurd lyrics above intricate and complex musical compositions that spanned decades, and as recognized as his was as a musician, he was an incredibly accomplished guitarist…the mention of a mudshark take me back…I love Phish and they do a great “Peaches En Regalia”, but Frank was the man…
Funny little interlude that Zappa fans may enjoy…
My second would be Bob Weir, rhythm guitarist for the Grateful Dead...now, I am biased as having seen them over 100 times starting in 1976, and yes, I still listen to them to this day, but I was always struck by how Weir weaved his way through songs, at times driving the band, playing really intricate jazz chords that completely complimented Garcia and allowed Garcia to be the focal point of an amazing band...and, yes, I know, that is my humble opinion alone...I’ve been waiting for this thread for years.
Guitarists I never hear mentioned when people talk about the best:
Eric Johnson
Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac.
Joe Satriani. His rendition of “Sleepwalk” makes me weak in the knees
Tommy Shaw gets dismissed because people dismiss Styx as bubble gum, but they were serious rock and roll musicians.
I’m surprised. Satriani comes up all the time. He’s like one of the iconic “guitar heroes,” I thought (but I’m not a guitarist.) Eric Johnson used to get talked about a lot – he’s the “Cliffs of Dover” guy, right? But, yeah, you don’t hear much about him anymore, do you? Lindsey Buckingham is a good one. Definitely one of the greats.
I was hoping Wordman would show up. I learn so much in threads like these, reading and getting to pick the brains of experts.
I don’t know about underappreciated, and he’s certainly not under-remunerated, but I had heard that John Mayer is actually a really damned good guitarist.
I’ll throw Dave Murray out there, if he hasn’t been mentioned yet. Add more metal guitarists.
I doubt Mark Knopfler’s underappreciated, but he’s still amazing.
EDIT: Oh, FGIE, speaking of the Edge, if you haven’t seen it already, you need to see, “It Might Get Loud.” Great documentary about three musicians sharing what makes their sound, theirs.
Helios Creed, who got his start with Chrome.
Sonny Sharrock (one of my guitar heroes; he would have understood my goal)
Andy Gill from Gang of Four; to this day still the angriest guitar I have ever heard- even when he plays chords it’s like they’re made out of shards of glass. I’m totally in awe of his rhythmic sense & commitment and in his approach to guitar; another GH.
I’ll round it off at 5 with Buckethead because are you fucking kidding me?? It’s godddammned Buckethead, ffs.
ETA: Big thumbs up to Johnny Ramone, Buck Dharma and Tom Verlaine.
That’s exactly who I was going to mention. I’ve never heard anybody say he’s a bad player, but I don’t often hear him mentioned among the elite, top-tier, great guitarists, either. So he’s a bit underappreciated in my book.
Are you guys kidding? I thought it was a given that Mr. Howe was Universally known as the World’s Best Living Guitarist. 
For underappreciated, I’d nominate …
… had to look his name up on a CD liner…
… and he’s listed as** The Unknown John Clark**. 
Phil Manzanera
Clarence White
One of those that influenced the early cross between country and rock, a long-time member of the Byrd and a friend of Gram Parsons…another who died tragically too young…