my list
Clapton is a music encyclopedia and is incredible. His name is synonymous with the electric guitar. BTW, usually plays with 3 fingers of left hand--not 4.
Eric said
Stevie Ray Vaughan was the best in the US and nobody gets more soul out of one note than
Carlos Santana. In England, Eric rated
Jeff Beck as best.
Jimi Hendrix once said that
Terry Kath of Chicago was better than him. Watch the VH1 special on Electric Ladyland Classic Albums and you'll see there never was anybody in the same league with Jimi, though.
John Fogarty is amazing as is that
Junior _____what's his name country music dude that plays that funky guitar built on a stand.
Eric Johnson is too fast to enjoy his mastery as are
Steve Vai &
Engwie.
Joe Walsh is the most entertaining all around
Allen Collins from Skynyrd was a jewel as was
Duane Allman and
Toy Cauldwell from the Marshall Tucker Band--all deceased.
For a guy known as a keyboard player,
Steve Winwood can blow you away on guitar.
So many guitarist use too much distortion and overdrive to where you can't really appreciate the notes struck.
Ritchie Sambora would sound better if he cut some of the distortion and played it cleaner.
However, out of all these masters, the one guy I would forever spend my last dime to watch and listen to is
David Gilmour from Pink Floyd. Instead of the blistering speed of so many on this list, Dave always went for quality over quantity. I have never ever heard a missed note from him while Clapton screws up regularly believe it or not. Gilmour is like a machine playing each note with care, precision and making each one count as much as the whole. His solos are very easy to copy according to every guitar player I've asked but even his own guitar tech admits even playing Dave's own guitar with the exact effects, tuning, and setup, even he cannot replicate the tones Dave creates. There is just something about what he does with a guitar that cannot be duplicated. That and his music is the most relaxing thing to me on this planet.
And no, I don't smoke rope!
