best guitar player ... if we dare go here

Django Reinhardt

 

Junior Brown and his double-necked guit-steel.

Listen to his "Surf Medley" -- how he varies his style from bar to bar -- even from note to note. It blows me away.

And certainly not the best, but worth mentioning, is someone who played with Brown on one of his songs -- "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" -- Little Jimmy Dickens. Proves you don't have to go 100 miles an hour to be good.

Good call on Jorma Kaukonen, too. And Doc Watson. But don't forget Merle Watson. Peter White is pretty damn good, too, especially some of the acoustic work he did with Al Stewart.

FOS ;D

But the greatest of all? Johnny B. Goode, of course.

 

I remember a commercial (and I don't remember what the commercial was for, which is the sign a commercial is unsuccessful no matter how artistic or funny it might be) where a young guitarist is with an old guy, and the old guy asks to see the guitar. The old guy starts doing some stuff on the guitar which impresses the young pup, and the young guy asks how the old guy could do that. The guy points at the guitar and says something like "that's my name". The old guy was Les Paul.

 

In no particular order:

Angus Young
Dimebag Darryl
Eddie Van Halen (during the David Lee Roth era)
Randy Rhodes
Keith Richards

 

A vastly underrated current guitarist is Matt Bellamy from Muse. Kind of like Morello from Rage in that he does things I've never heard before.

 

Pat Metheny

 

The #1 shredder in the world right now, I give you... MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO

 

He's not "The Best" but Alex Lifeson's recent work has been incredible. Listen to the latest CD or see him live nowadays...he seems to get better with age.

 

Eric Clapton is in a class by himself.

I'd put Ritchie Blackmore No. 2. Can't believe he hasn't been mentioned yet.

 

I forgot to mention Leo Kotke.

 

Dimebag!!! Absolutely SGuy

 

Joe Bonamassa and Derek Trucks. These will be your guitar heroes soon if not already.