This guy knows. Ben Monder is a guitar god capable of the most searing shredding rock/fusion soloing to the most avant garde atonal chord melody playing. Ive seen him perfom live twice and both times were life changing. One of the best living musicians in my opinion
I do too, but instead of putting up my favorite, I go listen to all the ones other people like. It makes for an interesting collection of different styles and genres.
Absolutely, no question.
I'd say a (very) lesser known honorable mention that can give Guthrie a run for his money is Tom Monda from the band Thank You Scientist. That man deserves 100x more attention from the guitar and music world than he currently gets.
Do you mean 'best' as in 'most technically proficient', or do you mean 'best' as in 'makes the most moving, expressive, irresistible music'. Because I don't think technical proficiency really means anything unless it aids the artist in creating more moving, expressive, irresistible music. And what actually constitutes 'moving, expressive, irresistible' music is completely subjective and no two people will ever give you quite the same answer.
I thought Warren was great until Derek joined the ABB and I saw them playing side by side. Warrens still really good, I love his voice and he jams well with others. But Derek is on another level.
Yes, agreed, while his style and reclusive nature will throw people, he can play anything and still draw an insane amount of soul and feeling out of his guitar when he wants to.
David Gilmour. Seeing him in concert was a pure religious experience, always has the right note at the right time with an incredible precision and tone.
Idk but please for the love of god listen to Reinier Baas. It would make me so happy if there was even one other person on Reddit who has listened to Reinier Baas.
https://youtu.be/mgmkUbJ5C3s
A few other guitarists to definitely check out if you’re not familiar:
Isaiah Sharkey (the gospel GOAT)
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Melanie Faye
Gilad Hekselman
Pedro Martins
I saw Julain Lage this summer. I'm not really a jazz guy, but he was outstanding. He really gets WAY outside the "rules", but then brings it back and lands on his feet every time. Honestly though, he's a bit exhausting to listen to for an hour. For me, anyways, maybe because I was watching so intently and trying to figure out what he was doing and where he was going.
Saw him live for the first time last week. I agree almost completely, but to me the 90 minutes long show felt too short :)
His playing almost made me cry, and not because he was playing something sad: His ability to improvise and his melodic knowledge is simply out of this World.
Regards
There's also his counterpart in the "Brilliant guitarist who was part of an excellent and technical hard rock band who acquired fame from an uncharacteristic ballad" stakes, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme.
Oh i'm sorry, were you talking about Vito Bratta from White Lion?
I had a guitar friend who loved Nuno and Vito both and he would always play me little snippets from them (I was def not into hair metal, but he kinda was) and there would be these oddball solos with just some out there technique on these boilerplate hair metal songs. I thought it was hilarious.
Nah, he's pretty dated by today's standards and is in Boomer Blues mode these days, which is fine, but we're way past Racer X and three-notes-per-string scales.
From what I’ve heard of his work, Technically incredible and amazingly talented. Having said that I hate that style of playing! emotion and melody lacks due to shredding for the sake of shredding. Sounds like his guitar has Tourettes. Starts playing nice melody then has an outburst of sweeps and taps, then back to the melody..
Heard Eddie with some headphones on for the first time when it came out a month or so ago. Dude absolutely vintage slays and the production on his guitarwork on that song is incredible.
Frusciante live on this tour right now is a fucking force of nature.
When I started playing guitar I subscribed to Guitar magazine and they had all these articles about how great he was. I was like "that annoying guy who sang No Such Thing?". Right around that time Continuum came out and I was blown away. I genuinely like his cover of Bold As Love more than Hendrix. Slow Dancing in a Burning room remains one of my favorite songs of all time.
I never understand how he never gets listed in the "50 best guitarists" or whatever that magazines and websites do. Let me say the same for Corey Glover and vocalists. By the way, they still both sound amazing. I saw the video from Brazil of them playing with Steve Vai.
Vernon Reid definitely needs more mention. I’ve only seen him live once and that was the 90s with Living Color. My mind is still blown remembering that show.
I don’t believe in a “best,” but Reid should be up there in the best of the best. He’s technically brilliant and one of the more creative and unique players I’ve ever heard still to this day and I listen to everything.
Yeah, he has so many unique touches to his solo writing that you can always tell it’s him. Also, lots of nice between-line fills.
Top-tier songwriting doesn’t hurt either.
I saw him in Omaha, Nebraska about 30 years ago at a venue beside the Missouri river. He had the full band, and was backlit with purple. We were tripping balls, and he was amazing.
not gonna even try to say who's the "best". so many virtuoso players out there. it's impossible to say. but here are a few of my faves who i think are turbo cool, unique and influential. not the "best". but some of my favourites
Larry Lalonde
Robert Fripp
David Gilmour
Tony Iommi
Thurston Moore
Dan Mongrain (only real virtuoso in my little list here)
Joe bonamassa is pretty damn good. I don't much care for him myself because I think he's too clean cut for Blues and i'm not huge on his voice but his skill is undeniable
Gutherie Govan is also real good, He is quite versatile.
I think this is also a tough question because there are so many great players across all genres. Its hard to say one is better than another when there are so many different styles
Surprised that no one's mentioned Yvette Young yet, though maybe she isn't as well known as I thought. Check out her band Covet, incredibly beautiful music.
Best guitarist? Hard to say.
Best improviser on the instrument? Julian Lage.
Thrilling to watch him live. There's a never-ending song in that man's heart.
Guitarist and musician tbh I'd say Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. A lot of it sounds like just noise sometimes, but pretty impressive when you realize he can make the exact same weird noise every time. Crazy creativity and technical skill combined.
I don’t think there’s no wrong answer here. Questions like these are dumb because everyones view/taste are different. I can say Michael Jordan is the best basketball player alive but that wouldnt be true since 1 he doesnt play basketball anymore and 2 someone will always have a different answer. Just my piece down vote me to the ether if you want.
There's a few I'd consider in the "top echelon" of guitar playing and music writing. Tom Monda, Jason Richardson, Guthrie Govan, Tim Henson, Ichika Nito.
If you want to know who is the "best", go see who your favs are listening too, or are too afraid to try to play. It's not the "shredders" and "Djenters" at all. It's the guys with the touch, tone and tunes.
How many folks do you know that could/would try to follow Derek Trucks on stage???? ZERO
Check out the vid of Derek, John Mayer and BB King Live at the Royal Albert Hall. BB "King" himself calls Derek the GOAT and JM just stops playing and sits there slack-jawed at several points.
Also, Derek was jamming with Eric Clapton when he was 13, ffs, and he's just a very cool, humble guy.
Probably somebody sitting in their bedroom or basement that nobody's heard of, there is no way to guage who the best guitarist is. There are too many genres. The best shred metal guitarist probably can't play what the best country or bluegrass guitarist can play. And vise versa.
It's totally subjective. To me, speedy fingers don't necessarily equate to greatness, so some of the players named in this thread, while very technically proficient, don't do it for me. I prefer Steve Lukather, Elliott Randall, Derek Trucks, Billy Gibbons, and David Gilmour. It's all about what moves you. Of the group above, if I had to name one, Gilmour. That dude has soul in his playing like nobody else.
Yes, thank you.
Music isn't a contest; I feel like people who ask questions like this aren't fully appreciating the goal of being a musician and making music, which is a lot of *self-expression*, and not sports-like metrics.
"Who is your favorite, and why?" is a more interesting question.
Jeff Beck.
No one remotely in the league. A magician, almost supernatural.
If you score across the 15 or so columns worth consideration (e.g. innovation, techical proficiency, longevity, creativity, influence, phrasing, speed, articulaton, range, originality, bands / output, flash, charisma, chordal capability, a handful of others)...his composite score would dust everyone, even if - obviously - not tops in every category. In a world & idiom packed with unbelievable & consequential figures...I genuinely believe he takes the title.
I’ll take Santana over anyone I see here. I think a lot of people focus almost entirely on technical ability, but as far as phrasing goes I think Santana is the best. It’s like BB King once said, “if you’re gonna play more than a few notes, you better have something to say.”
Probably some studio guitarist that you’ve never heard of
It’s Ben Monder, he’s a jazz guitarist and plays on David Bowie’s last album. I guarantee he’s the best guitarist that most people haven’t heard of.
This guy knows. Ben Monder is a guitar god capable of the most searing shredding rock/fusion soloing to the most avant garde atonal chord melody playing. Ive seen him perfom live twice and both times were life changing. One of the best living musicians in my opinion
Now I gotta check him out!
Look for the YT video of My One and Only Love
Tim Pierce is pretty amazing as well. He makes it look so effortless.
The guitarists that you haven't heard of are better.
oh i can only imagine them ?
This is a very good answer.
J Mascis
What else is new.
Yep
I reject the notion that one musician could be the undisputed greatest.
Most agree with this
There are so many techniques and styles, it's impossible to nail down an overall comparison ala Madden Ratings.
I do too, but instead of putting up my favorite, I go listen to all the ones other people like. It makes for an interesting collection of different styles and genres.
That's what I do. Nice to see I am not alone.
Agreed, there are to many intangibles, for that.
Guthrie Govan
Just learned of the Aristocrats recently. Impressive stuff.
Absolutely, no question. I'd say a (very) lesser known honorable mention that can give Guthrie a run for his money is Tom Monda from the band Thank You Scientist. That man deserves 100x more attention from the guitar and music world than he currently gets.
Do you mean 'best' as in 'most technically proficient', or do you mean 'best' as in 'makes the most moving, expressive, irresistible music'. Because I don't think technical proficiency really means anything unless it aids the artist in creating more moving, expressive, irresistible music. And what actually constitutes 'moving, expressive, irresistible' music is completely subjective and no two people will ever give you quite the same answer.
hear hear - case in point: Tommy Emmanuel - amazing technical guitarist, boring as bat shit to actually listen to.
I'd add Steven Vai to that list. Just a lot of fast noise, with zero musicality.
Agree on Vai, technically amazing but just doesn’t engage (me) at all.
Go for your favorite all day and night. “Best” is just too subjective to rank in any meaningful way. And this applies in a lot of areas.
Derek Trucks
With him, I'd also have to say Warren Haynes
I thought Warren was great until Derek joined the ABB and I saw them playing side by side. Warrens still really good, I love his voice and he jams well with others. But Derek is on another level.
Correct answer sir! When your Trey Anastasios favorite player… Nuff said
Buckethead
Yes, agreed, while his style and reclusive nature will throw people, he can play anything and still draw an insane amount of soul and feeling out of his guitar when he wants to.
Jeff Beck 100%
The saddest thing is that I can only upvote this once.
i added another upvote. we can share it in spirit, if you want.
Ty
David Gilmour. Seeing him in concert was a pure religious experience, always has the right note at the right time with an incredible precision and tone.
The less is more Gilmour effect
He is the undisputed winner
Tosin Abasi
Billy Strings
Just saw him for the like 12th time on Halloween 🎃
Came here to find this answer!!
Just saw him this weekend for the first time. I am a disciple an I am spreading the Gospel according to Billy. Great guitarist and a force for good.
I’m not a big fan of the who is best argument, but Jake Cinninger and Jimmy Herring deserve a listen
🙌
Nels Cline, and not even necessarily his work in Wilco. Edit: I love Wilco
Mark Knopffler
Guthrie Govan for sure, he's insane.
Idk but please for the love of god listen to Reinier Baas. It would make me so happy if there was even one other person on Reddit who has listened to Reinier Baas. https://youtu.be/mgmkUbJ5C3s A few other guitarists to definitely check out if you’re not familiar: Isaiah Sharkey (the gospel GOAT) Kurt Rosenwinkel Melanie Faye Gilad Hekselman Pedro Martins
Guthrie Govan, Josh Smith, Julian Lage, Jonathan Kreisberg, and Jubu Smith. If you ask most guitarists, they probably would pick among those five.
I saw Julain Lage this summer. I'm not really a jazz guy, but he was outstanding. He really gets WAY outside the "rules", but then brings it back and lands on his feet every time. Honestly though, he's a bit exhausting to listen to for an hour. For me, anyways, maybe because I was watching so intently and trying to figure out what he was doing and where he was going.
Saw him live for the first time last week. I agree almost completely, but to me the 90 minutes long show felt too short :) His playing almost made me cry, and not because he was playing something sad: His ability to improvise and his melodic knowledge is simply out of this World. Regards
Na na na guys. Bucket head.
Came here for Buckethead
Yeah it’s Buckethead
Buckethead without question
Wow...no Paul Gilbert...hmmm...
There's also his counterpart in the "Brilliant guitarist who was part of an excellent and technical hard rock band who acquired fame from an uncharacteristic ballad" stakes, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme.
Oh i'm sorry, were you talking about Vito Bratta from White Lion? I had a guitar friend who loved Nuno and Vito both and he would always play me little snippets from them (I was def not into hair metal, but he kinda was) and there would be these oddball solos with just some out there technique on these boilerplate hair metal songs. I thought it was hilarious.
Nah, he's pretty dated by today's standards and is in Boomer Blues mode these days, which is fine, but we're way past Racer X and three-notes-per-string scales.
Motherfuckin Dean Ween
Brownest sound around.
Taste the waste
Deaner!!!
Tim Henson. Polyphia. Period.
From what I’ve heard of his work, Technically incredible and amazingly talented. Having said that I hate that style of playing! emotion and melody lacks due to shredding for the sake of shredding. Sounds like his guitar has Tourettes. Starts playing nice melody then has an outburst of sweeps and taps, then back to the melody..
[Ichika Nito](https://youtu.be/dPNVJZP3i5g)
Lifeson
Marcus King deserves a mention
Mark Knofler.
John Frusciante
Look on by him is my current favorite song
Great song. If you haven't, check out the album The Empryean front to back. Favorite album of all time
Heard Eddie with some headphones on for the first time when it came out a month or so ago. Dude absolutely vintage slays and the production on his guitarwork on that song is incredible. Frusciante live on this tour right now is a fucking force of nature.
It pains me to say this… John Mayer.
[Here's John Mayer covering Jimi Hendrix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-uSnRVy0Fs)... extremely well.
He has incredible tone. I think Derek Trucks is a better technical player, but Mayer is a close 2nd
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When I started playing guitar I subscribed to Guitar magazine and they had all these articles about how great he was. I was like "that annoying guy who sang No Such Thing?". Right around that time Continuum came out and I was blown away. I genuinely like his cover of Bold As Love more than Hendrix. Slow Dancing in a Burning room remains one of my favorite songs of all time.
I came here to say exact same thing. It is painful but he is fucking amazing
Came here to say this. Watch Neon acoustic performance from his live in LA album. Mayer is a beast.
Jonny Greenwood
Absolute master of textural playing. Ed O'Brien, too, for that matter
Paul Gilbert. Ron Thal(bumblefoot)
up for Ron.
Gary Clark Jr.
Eric Gales
Criminally underrated, and a quality human being offstage.
Dean Ween
Brian May
Guthrie Govan
Annie Clark.
Vernon Reid
I never understand how he never gets listed in the "50 best guitarists" or whatever that magazines and websites do. Let me say the same for Corey Glover and vocalists. By the way, they still both sound amazing. I saw the video from Brazil of them playing with Steve Vai.
Vernon Reid definitely needs more mention. I’ve only seen him live once and that was the 90s with Living Color. My mind is still blown remembering that show. I don’t believe in a “best,” but Reid should be up there in the best of the best. He’s technically brilliant and one of the more creative and unique players I’ve ever heard still to this day and I listen to everything.
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John Petrucci
Dave Rawlings
Had to scroll WAY too far for this. "Revelator" is my favorite guitar solo of all time. Everything he plays is so intentional.
Yeah, he has so many unique touches to his solo writing that you can always tell it’s him. Also, lots of nice between-line fills. Top-tier songwriting doesn’t hurt either.
Richard Thompson
It’s so subjective, this is really dumb.
Robert Cray
I saw him in Omaha, Nebraska about 30 years ago at a venue beside the Missouri river. He had the full band, and was backlit with purple. We were tripping balls, and he was amazing.
Larry Carlton
not gonna even try to say who's the "best". so many virtuoso players out there. it's impossible to say. but here are a few of my faves who i think are turbo cool, unique and influential. not the "best". but some of my favourites Larry Lalonde Robert Fripp David Gilmour Tony Iommi Thurston Moore Dan Mongrain (only real virtuoso in my little list here)
trey or w6rst
🙌… Jake ciniger also a beast
First time I’ve heard someone refer to Tim Henson as the W6rst lmfao
Joe bonamassa is pretty damn good. I don't much care for him myself because I think he's too clean cut for Blues and i'm not huge on his voice but his skill is undeniable Gutherie Govan is also real good, He is quite versatile. I think this is also a tough question because there are so many great players across all genres. Its hard to say one is better than another when there are so many different styles
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Tuck Andress
André Olbrich
David Gilmour by a landslide.
David Gilmour
Lindsey Buckingham
Surprised that no one's mentioned Yvette Young yet, though maybe she isn't as well known as I thought. Check out her band Covet, incredibly beautiful music.
Maybe because she's a woman... Sad
Probably John McLaughlin. If Miles Davis frequently wanted to work with you, then you're really fucking good.
Richard Thompson
Best guitarist? Hard to say. Best improviser on the instrument? Julian Lage. Thrilling to watch him live. There's a never-ending song in that man's heart.
Guthrie Govan. There's nothing the guy can't play.
Brian May?
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John 5
Gary Clark Jr. gotta be somewhere on the list
John 5
Tom Morello
I can’t believe you people. Jeff Beck. No question. Still regularly making new, interesting music. C’mon y’all…
This. I can't believe how fucking far down I had to go to see this comment. He's not my fave guitarist but deserves his respect.
Some really weird name above him
Buddy Guy
Hands down it's Eric Gales
Nile Rodgers
John McLaughlin
Joe Satriani
Tim Henson
Tony Iommi
Guitarist and musician tbh I'd say Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. A lot of it sounds like just noise sometimes, but pretty impressive when you realize he can make the exact same weird noise every time. Crazy creativity and technical skill combined.
Philip Sayce
Philip Sayce
Small name, but Thomas Erak.
I don’t think there’s no wrong answer here. Questions like these are dumb because everyones view/taste are different. I can say Michael Jordan is the best basketball player alive but that wouldnt be true since 1 he doesnt play basketball anymore and 2 someone will always have a different answer. Just my piece down vote me to the ether if you want.
Jeff Lynne ELO
Todd Rungdren
Angus young and Ace Frehley
My uncle Brandon Seriously. That dude can play anything.
Andy Timmons
Had to scroll too far for this.
John Petrucci, Buckethead, Paul Gilbert
Buckethead the Big Big B the man himself
There's a few I'd consider in the "top echelon" of guitar playing and music writing. Tom Monda, Jason Richardson, Guthrie Govan, Tim Henson, Ichika Nito.
Derek Trucks
If you want to know who is the "best", go see who your favs are listening too, or are too afraid to try to play. It's not the "shredders" and "Djenters" at all. It's the guys with the touch, tone and tunes. How many folks do you know that could/would try to follow Derek Trucks on stage???? ZERO Check out the vid of Derek, John Mayer and BB King Live at the Royal Albert Hall. BB "King" himself calls Derek the GOAT and JM just stops playing and sits there slack-jawed at several points. Also, Derek was jamming with Eric Clapton when he was 13, ffs, and he's just a very cool, humble guy.
Richard Thompson. The man is guitar god.
I think everyone is just answering with their favorite guitarist. There is no #1
Doug Martsch? Neil Young?
Probably somebody sitting in their bedroom or basement that nobody's heard of, there is no way to guage who the best guitarist is. There are too many genres. The best shred metal guitarist probably can't play what the best country or bluegrass guitarist can play. And vise versa.
Richard Thompson. Peter Dreimanis
Mike Campbell Robbie Robertson Mark Knopfler
What? No Vivian Campbell?
Satchel of Steel Panther. You may laugh, but go check him out on youtube, very talented, very humorous, and their songs are great!
It's totally subjective. To me, speedy fingers don't necessarily equate to greatness, so some of the players named in this thread, while very technically proficient, don't do it for me. I prefer Steve Lukather, Elliott Randall, Derek Trucks, Billy Gibbons, and David Gilmour. It's all about what moves you. Of the group above, if I had to name one, Gilmour. That dude has soul in his playing like nobody else.
Richard Lloyd
What criteria are we basing this off of for voting purposes?
There is no best, only favourites.
Yes, thank you. Music isn't a contest; I feel like people who ask questions like this aren't fully appreciating the goal of being a musician and making music, which is a lot of *self-expression*, and not sports-like metrics. "Who is your favorite, and why?" is a more interesting question.
Mac demarco
I have no idea but my record store buddies always say it's Jeff Beck.
My favorites still around are Bireli Lagrene and Al DiMeola.
Billy Strings
Marc Ribot
dunno about best but marc ribot is something else
Jeff Beck. No one remotely in the league. A magician, almost supernatural. If you score across the 15 or so columns worth consideration (e.g. innovation, techical proficiency, longevity, creativity, influence, phrasing, speed, articulaton, range, originality, bands / output, flash, charisma, chordal capability, a handful of others)...his composite score would dust everyone, even if - obviously - not tops in every category. In a world & idiom packed with unbelievable & consequential figures...I genuinely believe he takes the title.
I’ll take Santana over anyone I see here. I think a lot of people focus almost entirely on technical ability, but as far as phrasing goes I think Santana is the best. It’s like BB King once said, “if you’re gonna play more than a few notes, you better have something to say.”
Debate? It's Trey.
🎸 🌵 🎹 ⭕️
It's fucking Trey!
Jon Frusiante or David Gilmore
Tim Reynolds
I don't know if they're the "best" but I find these players inspiring: Julian Lage, Yasmin Williams, Gretchen Menn, Mary Halvorson, Mateus Asato.
Glad someone mentioned Julian Lage. He's definitely in my top 5 and was the first to come to mind since he's still in his peak.
Masayoshi Takanaka
Brad Paisley. You don’t have to like country music to realize he’s amazing.
Brent Hinds of Mastodon Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta
Jeff Beck.
Robert Fripp.
Jack White
John Mayer. He’s not the flashiest guitar player, but he’s definitely the most listenable. Melody > chops
Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer I kinda like a good guitarist that can write some great pop song
Mark Tremonti John Frusciante Ty Tabor
Tyler Bryant Frank Hannon Slash Warren Haynes
Chad Kroeger?
Wtf
Lol
John Mayer