Best Guitarist Ever

[teddy ballgame]

My personal favorite to listen to is Slash.

[Old_Style]

it's gotta be Stevie Ray for me

[BitterDodgerFan]

sorry to revive such an old thread but i also would've picked SRV here until recently when i found out about tommy emmanuel, an amazing australian guitarist who has mastered the acoustic guitar like nobody i've seen before. what i can't believe is that i never heard of this guy until recently when i was surfing youtube. now i know that acoustic guitar isn't everyone's thing, but check this guy out. he's known for the fingerstyle/hybrid picking and as he says he plays the "bass, rhythm, and lead" all at the same time. he plays a wide variety of stuff, his own arrangement of old tunes to his amazing original compositions and his stage persona is incredible. just listening to him doesn't do him justice, you gotta watch him perform. here are some clips i picked out from youtube, there's tons more there if you want to check him out.

classical gas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBEbYXa6Cik
guitar boogie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNZL7GkqeRI
day tripper/lady madonna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYzajpeAWuA
just an old fashioned love song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3QNJ0bZ4Qw
blue moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN_w0UoYG_0
somewhere over the rainbow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZNJf-h7F8s

originals-
angelina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhR04kmcSXU
mombasa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKwF-Axp4vw
that's the spirit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo86O4NYbtY
initiation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4thgrYhEG0s

[Mugrila]

TE is great. If you like him you might want to check out Don Ross and Andy McKee if you haven't already.

[Mugrila]

Also, a couple of my favorites: SRV, David Gilmour, and Page.

Some incredible players: Guthrie Govan (clip showing his playing diversity), Paul Gilbert, and Derek Trucks (well worth watching this one.)

[Neato Torpedo]

Tom Morello. Hands down. Disagree? Get out.

[The Artful Dodger]

My all-time favorite is Dimebag Darrell (Pantera), but I also think Mustaine-Friedman (Megadeth), Hannemann-King (Slayer), Alex Skolnick/Eric Peterson (Testament), Hammett/Hetfield (Metallica), Fast Eddie Clarke (Motorhead), and Chuck Schuldiner (Death) have to be right up there. A lot of metal guitarists to note, but those are the most notable for me.

[jfg]

There are guitarists I like a lot but I understand they are not the best. I guess I have to like the music to appreciate the guitarist so that takes away a lot of jam band guitarists and blues based rockers.

But here are some favorite guitarists off the top of my head:

Matthew Sweet
Jimi Hendrix
Joe Pass
Jeff Beck
Johnny Marr (Screw Morrissey, Johnny Marr was the Smiths)
Tom Verlaine (Television)
Stephen Malkmus (Pavement, solo)
Andy Gill (Gang of Four)
Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney)

[Another Blown Save]

I have so many

Al Di Meola
Andy Latimer
Jan Akkerman
Frank Zappa
Steve Hackett
Efrim Menuck
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
John McLaughlin
Mike Oldfield
Joey Santiago
Steven Wilson
Jonny Greenwood
Alex Lifeson
Jón Þór Birgisson
Steve Howe

[ayebatter]

Ya'll have mentioned a bunch of great players, but the only guy I could listen to all day is Neil Young.