Blake Mendenhall

April 11, 2013 at 1:33pm

Where's the best guitar player of all time Phil Keaggy? When Eddie Van Halen was asked how it feels to be the greatest guitarist of all time, his answer was "I don't know, ask Phil Keaggy". If that came out of the mouth of Eddie than I am pretty sure Phil Keaggy is the greatest guitarist of all time.

SamuelBlaak

March 24, 2013 at 5:46am

Why Mark Knopfler at 96????

Antoniy1

February 16, 2013 at 3:41am

There's a no competition !!! All of them are GREIT!!!

Nikki75

February 04, 2013 at 2:29pm

Where is Hank Marvin????

stringdoc

January 22, 2013 at 8:20pm

Who voted in this contest? I'm guessing a bunch of wine snobs or winos. Nobody else would place Brian May above Jimi Hendrix AND Jimmy Page!!! And Alex Lifeson over Tony Iommi? The list goes on . . . Jeff Beck loses to Brian May? Maybe for weirdest hair, but not for best guitarist! Steve Vai conquers Richie Blackmore?

Come on, people, this is like Elvis losing to Pee Wee Herman.

Joseph Picklo

January 22, 2013 at 6:30pm

Is there a master list available? I want to see all the guitarist used in this poll.

jeffvad3r

January 16, 2013 at 10:12am

I reckon Stevie Ray could wipe the floor with pretty much anybody on that list, Hendrix and bloomin' Van Halen included.

Also, Brian Setzer should be in the top 50. After all, he's the coolest guitarist out there!

Finally - perhaps I missed him - but where the hell is Peter Green?

Chaseusrey

January 15, 2013 at 2:30pm

I dislike this list,
My list would have jimi hendrix first, and where is PRINCE!!!!
He's up there in the top ten at least!! Eddie van halen can't do what
Jimi can. Iv seen kids do what halen does but they can't do what jimi can.
It's all opinions but prince deserves this and jimi deserves first place. ( slash over rated)

Chaseusrey

January 15, 2013 at 2:30pm

I dislike this list,
My list would have jimi hendrix first, and where is PRINCE!!!!
He's up there in the top ten at least!! Eddie van halen can't do what
Jimi can. Iv seen kids do what halen does but they can't do what jimi can.
It's all opinions but prince deserves this and jimi deserves first place. ( slash over rated)

Chaseusrey

January 15, 2013 at 2:30pm

I dislike this list,
My list would have jimi hendrix first, and where is PRINCE!!!!
He's up there in the top ten at least!! Eddie van halen can't do what
Jimi can. Iv seen kids do what halen does but they can't do what jimi can.
It's all opinions but prince deserves this and jimi deserves first place. ( slash over rated)

olli666

January 09, 2013 at 10:42am

1. Pat Metheny
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. EVH
4. Steve Morse
5. SRV
6. Alan Holdsworth
7. Clapton
8. Jeff Beck
9. Jason Becker
10. Eric Johnson

davelees

December 31, 2012 at 10:47pm

Brian May ... ppppffftt .... Dave Mustaine? really? and Alex Lifeson at 3? CMON

strat714

December 31, 2012 at 5:52pm

My opinion is better than your opinion because my opinion is my opinion and your opinion is your opinion. FACT!!!!!!!!!!!

Beeze

December 25, 2012 at 2:03pm

I knew this list was bullshit when I saw Derek Trucks at the bottom and guys like Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman ahead of him. Those guys have shown no progression in skill since Seasons in the Abyss. Their new stuff is pitiful! Bill Steer and Michael Amott should have replaced these clowns. I guess it's just a popularity contest.

sashastowers91

December 02, 2012 at 5:18pm

Kieth Richards over Carlos Santana, Seriously?
George Harrison over Eric Clapton, Are you insane?
Joe Satriani over Stevie Ray Vaughn, PURE BLASPHEMY!!, and absolutely no mention on Henry Garza? What has the world come to?

Don't get me wrong all these guitarists definitely know how top play their axes but I'm just saying they totally got the order from 100 to 1 WRONG?

Otherside of in...

November 28, 2012 at 9:30am

I see many frustrated people on here commenting about the selection of the top 10 players on this poll but my friends there is a very clear as day reason for the 10 guitar players selected, what is it ? There is something so very obvious about these guitars players that they ALL have in common...not about chops, speeds, licks....there is one very clear theme amoung them?

ABSOLUTE PERSONAL VOICE!!... Each one of these guitar players have a very immediate recognizable signature to their overall SOUND(isn't it about the HUMAN EAR at the end of the day? Like a Pavlov's Dog when the dog heard that bell he began drooling because he knew it was Dinner time! (lick chops sound insert here;)

....And so it is with the first SCHWAM!! of Eddie Van Halen's first chord on "Eruption" it doesn't take ANY OF US Guitar players more than a NANO SECOND to KNOW EXACTLY WHO THAT IS PLAYING with his detuned E flat guitar back in 1978! Time for Dinner Boys and Girls ;)

....Or Alex Lifeson who has one of the most signature chord voicing styles with his BIG Signature open voiced F# chord...This guy just doesn't want to choke that guitar with crap bar chords because he realized so very early on that he could create such a bigger sound with open voiced chords....These kinds of elements seem to resonate with Guitar players clearly as this is a Guitar World Poll and Justin Beiber fans(for the most part I like to believe;) are NOT participating in a poll like this, so this is what Guitar Players are thinking....Yes there were many unfair matchups early on, like where is Neal Schon? eliminated ?!?...He is a great guitar player but more of song writer/band guitar player overshadowed by one of thee best singers of all time with Steve Perry so I can see he is a afterthought to many....

Overall the theme is clear among the top 10 guitar players..Personal Signature Voice! =)

WONKY

November 20, 2012 at 10:22am

This list is funny.....As some of the previous members have said....Most of these votes must have come in from non guitar players or those that have not seen enough of the more unknown guitarists!!!! In these polls people tend to vote for their favourites rather than the best. There is no way on earth John Lee Hooker could be considerd a better guitarist than Albert King...I love JLH but he is one of the most basic guitarists you will ever hear. No Magic Sam , Guitar Slim , Earl Hooker , Otis Rush , Elmore James , Hollywood Fats......Crazy!!!

WONKY

November 20, 2012 at 10:29am

Eddie Van & Brian May 1st & 2nd??? Really???? Too many cock rockers voting on this one. Also too many pupils ahead of their teachers...

Frank Cajon

November 14, 2012 at 8:57pm

A quick look at list shows a few of the problems with polls like this. Guthrie Govan isn't on the list. Between 47 and 73,we have Rory Gallagher, Al DiMeola, Steve Morse, Johnny Winter, Albert Lee, John McLaughlin, Joe Bonamassa, and Eric Johnson-all for whom a top ten argument could easily be made. In the top ten there are some good players, but I have played for 49 years and written about music for 10 and and will never be able to figure out why Eddie Van Halen would make the top fifty much less top five of a poll like this, and challenge anyone with ears to play 'Led Zeppelin Live at the BBC' and tell me that the sloppy overplaying by Page on it doesn't make them cringe. He wrote and arranged a number of catchy '70s tunes, but a virtuoso guitarist, he is not.
I like the idea proposed that a list by players would read differently. For one thing, Wes Montgomery wouldn't be the anchor man, and while I'm sure SRV would still be in the top 10 with Hendrix, that there would be fewer sweep-picking metal specialists and more players like Lee and Morse who are technique masters.
I would list the top players by genre, and like this:
Jazz: John McLaughlin, George Benson, AlDimeola, Larry Carlton
Blues: Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Bonamassa, BB King
Country, Blues Hybrids: Steve Morse, Albert Lee, Luther Dickinson
Metal/Prog Rock: Guthrie Govan, John Petrucci,Uli John Roth, Steve Vai
Others: Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, Brian May, Alex Lifeson.
That is 21 names, and I think they all belong in the top 25 of any guitar player's list of top guitarists. Many will disagree, but that is what music is all about.

RattandRoll

November 09, 2012 at 2:13am

Yngwie Malmsteen, George Lynch, Eliot Easton, Don Felder, Jake E Lee, John Sykes, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Chuck Berry, Steve Stevens, John Norum, Keith Richards, Andy Taylor, Nile Rodgers, Warren De Martini. This is my list of personal favorite guitar players of all time.

MetalSkull

November 07, 2012 at 1:44pm

1. Hendrix
2. Jimmy Page
3. Iommi
4. Blackmore
5. Eddie Van halen

I think without the first 4, no van halen, no satriani, no nothing...

Stay Tune

Priest-The-Beast

November 03, 2012 at 8:06pm

Although I have my personal ranking list based on my understanding of guitar-playing as a guitarist, yet I'm not gonna comment on this list or some other one, as far as the ranking from the 2nd to the 100th is concerned.

But not ranking Jimi Hendrix at number 1 is a blatant foul.

ozzyrr

November 01, 2012 at 1:46pm

RANDY RHOADS might be the best after reading this list i believe he is the most underrated not in the top 10 that is bogus

redstrat8

October 30, 2012 at 8:19am

DOES ANY ONE PLAY CHORDS ANY MORE GEEZ.HA HA

meguitarman

October 26, 2012 at 12:56pm

An issue of Guitar World Magazine cost $2.00 back in 1983 and now, $7.99 :D

GreenBird

October 22, 2012 at 3:56pm

I am going to break it down for you ladies one more time.
I think this final list was very disappointing, but it was fun to count them down. In the end I do not think people who really play guitar dictated the outcome of this poll. It was fan bases and active PR on the part of some guitarist. If this poll had been put together by people who actually played guitar it would look very very different. I think even the people at GW would agree with that! In the end that is what it comes down too, who voted was it guitarist or simply fans who do not really know much about playing guitar. In this poll it was fans and fanboys who probably could not tell you the difference between a scale and chord. So take this entire poll with a grain of salt it tells you nothing in regards to playing but a lot in regards to who still has an active fan base.

linkonhayes

October 22, 2012 at 1:40pm

To all of those people who voted for Eddie Van Halen I guess you never saw the backstage video from the '69 Stones tour where Hendrix was jamming with Mick Taylor using Taylors Right handed Les Paul Strung for a right handed player & Hendrix played the guitar left handed with Taylor till his jaw dropped because they had never seen anyone ever do it then or not that I know of since. I don't think Eddie could do that before now or ever. To me that is the greatist guitarist who ever lived.

furto1981

October 18, 2012 at 2:19am

Polls are polls but....I am a rush geek. 20 straight years listening to Moving Pictures. And, obviously, I always thought of Alex as one of the most underrated guitar players of the rock era....More important than Jimi? Never ever...Van Halen? That "Alex" deserve respect and admiration for his skills and technique. But is not quite as important in rock music and guitar playing as Jimi Hendrix... (English is not my main language. I apologize in advance for my grammar and spelling errors)

jefffos

October 13, 2012 at 10:50am

If you let guitarists vote on this poll it would've looked a lot different. And there were a lot of players that may seem weird ahead of others because of the way the matchups were set. For example, Hubert Sumlin. Hubert's first round match up was against Robert Johnson (who should have at least been in the top 5, as should Les Paul. Hubert didn't have a chance. This was a great poll until Brian May's people ruined the entire competition. I've been a Queen fan for over 25yrs, but I have to admit that I can't look at May the same way. Prostituting one's self to garner votes is pathetic in my mind and it was done for May. "Brian isn't the one who controls his social media", that's what May's fans have said. Well, it's his name and likeness, as well as that of Queen's. He should control it. Having said that, EVH is absurdly overrated and hasn't done anything remotely relevant since the early 80's...

Franckirk

October 13, 2012 at 12:06am

Well, first: Eddie Van Halen? you are crazy? we all know that Jimi Hendrix was the best ... is a genius! like Albert Einstein, but in music!
and SHIT like Paul Gilbert and Steve Vay in the top 25? My god! Clapton, BB King and Angus Young are much better than them! are light years apart.
You are saying: a monkey is better than a human!!!

treblecleff

October 12, 2012 at 6:37pm

I have read a lot of comments here about how this should have been called a popularity contest instead of using the word "greatest." To be completely fair though, shouldn't popularity be at least considered as a determining factor in greatness? I'm not saying it should be the only factor, but it does come off as being a bit elitist to try to insinuate that popularity implies a lack of validity. This type of thinking leads to smaller and smaller inner circles of obscurity who feel compelled to convince the majority of players as to why their tastes in music are inferior.

What is the alternative, having a few elite musicians decide for us who we should ultimately value as guitarists? I am sure there are plenty of technically proficient players who were beaten in the poll by less advanced musicians, but so what. Is it the fault of better known musicians that they write music that touches a greater audience?

Don't get me wrong, I have my share of problems with the validity of the poll results as well, but popularity is not one of them. If the mark of greatness had less to do with popularity then nobody would care except for a few people in Juiliard that nobody has ever heard of.

Any poll will be subjective. A poll based on other things like just technique would obviously yield different results, but would be no more valid than one that factors in popularity. I don't mind reading about what snobs have to say and learning from it, but at the same time I try to stay down to Earth and not devalue the music I enjoy the most because it sounds less sophisticated when I am trying to impress someone.

Dominique F Barbour

October 12, 2012 at 2:58pm

How in world some of them get so high on this list and even get on the top 100. Need move some up. Missing some also.

picman1

October 12, 2012 at 2:14pm

Brian May making the finals destroys any and all credibility in this poll.That said, Eddie Van Halen first is not a poor choice although it isn't my first choice. Nice to see recognition for Alex Lifeson of RUSH with third place finish.

trussett

October 12, 2012 at 1:37pm

Last time I checked this was a popularity contest based on subjective opinion, so why get worked up over who won? Can one player be 'better' than another - technically yes, there are probably thousands of 'technically' better players out there than some of these players on the list, hell I've been playing 30+ years and probably have better 'technique' than some of these guys. Does that make me a better guitarist than the guy who came up with Gimme Shelter or some technically simple guitar part, not a freaking chance. If you are all guitar players, you should know this is all subjective and no one will ever agree.

Mike_mccready

October 11, 2012 at 9:54pm

James hetfield in the top twenty? In front of Jeff beck, bb king, angus young, etc., and even his own lead guitarist?
And where's mike mccready?

Franckirk

October 11, 2012 at 7:12pm

Well, first: Eddie Van Halen? we all know that Jimi Hendrix was the best ... is a genius! like Albert Einstein, but in music!!
and shit like Paul Gilbert and Steve Vay in the top 25? My god! Clapton, B.B King and Angus Young are better than them!

icecell

October 11, 2012 at 4:29pm

Please stop putting Hendrix in these lists, Isle of Wight video is hysterical. He could write a song, just could never play it again.
Shouldn't be 'greatest' guitarist, it should be 'best' guitarist

These guys are masters of their craft.

-EVH
-Satriani
-Mustaine
-Yngwie
-Vai
-Murray
-SRV
-Gilmour
-Rhodes
-Paige
-Buckethead
-Bettencort

These are the best, they can produce anything that any other guitarist you mention can produce as well if not better. This is just a statement of fact.
Who is the best? None and all

tbrillian

October 11, 2012 at 4:14pm

The list shouldn't be titled 100 greatest, it should be 100 most popular, which is what it was, there is no possible way to get an accurate list of 100 greatest, I suppose the best way would be to have the all the guitar players who are in this countdown and still alive to vote on it, but even then, it comes down to preference.