Best electric guitarists of all time

The Police were a new kind of power trio, and Andy Summers was the main reason.

When I saw that I could put words together with music, I remember it feeling like gates opening, this joy. As a guitarist, he drew from all of those sources, then improvised with a furious and genuine delight. He played so aggressively back then that he had to wear a wrist brace, but he quickly grew bored. In the Eighties, Living Colour served as a necessary reminder that Black musicians could rock as hard as anyone, fact that was especially salient when the band became MTV stars. It was coming from somewhere else. In the Nineties, Fahey switched to a spiky minimalism on electric guitar that made him a post-punk icon. As a guitarist, he was even more inventive, mastering country, jazz, and classical styles and perfecting the ability to play chords and melody simultaneously, thanks to his distinctive thumb-and-three-finger picking style.

Best electric guitarists of all time

Contact us at letters time. Jimi Hendrix The greatest of all time? No one merged the blues, rock and psychedelia with as much ease or wielded a guitar with as much charisma. King He doesn't call his guitar Lucille to be cute. With King's emphasis on vibrato, she sounds like a real woman singing the blues. He's also among the most melodic of guitarists, using his solos to move a song along instead of stopping it cold. Michael Ochs Archives Chuck Berry The father of rock-'n'-roll guitar, his staccato influence is still heard on most songs today. But his music has been superseded by his invention: Paul pioneered the design and construction of the modern electric guitar, which made everyone else on this list very rich. David Corio—Getty Images Yngwie Malmsteen The Swede's superfast "neoclassical" style — he credits Bach and Paganini as influences — is a blur of scales and technical precision. It almost makes you forget that the great bulk of his music is so fast that it's unlistenable.

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Six categories and six polls later, we had some results. Read on for the lowdown on all players — you can use the handy navigation bar above to jump between categories. Arise, Sir Brian Harold May, the greatest guitarist of all time, the player most regal, and the one whose pathway to the summit began in the most unorthodox fashion, with a father-and-son woodcraft project converting a fireplace into one of the most inventive electric guitars ever made, the Red Special. This homespun mad scientist sensibility served May well. Just look at how he used the Deacy amp. All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!

Six categories and six polls later, we had some results. Read on for the lowdown on all players — you can use the handy navigation bar above to jump between categories. Arise, Sir Brian Harold May, the greatest guitarist of all time, the player most regal, and the one whose pathway to the summit began in the most unorthodox fashion, with a father-and-son woodcraft project converting a fireplace into one of the most inventive electric guitars ever made, the Red Special. This homespun mad scientist sensibility served May well. Just look at how he used the Deacy amp. As for his playing, it was sheer rock as theater, the fire to match the bombast, and the operatic splendor of a peerless band whose frontman must have been a dream to play alongside.

Best electric guitarists of all time

The Police were a new kind of power trio, and Andy Summers was the main reason. Summers played as sparely as possible, constructing clipped twitches or dubby washes of sound, leaving ample room for Sting and Stewart Copeland. Schooled in flamenco and jazz, Robby Krieger pushed beyond rock at a time when most players were still bound to the blues. I always felt like three players simultaneously. When the Bs played live, Ricky Wilson often seemed to exist happily in the background amidst the manic exuberance of lead singer Fred Schneider and the beehive hair and campy dance moves of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. Wilson often used only four or five strings on his blue Mosrite guitar and odd tunings to get a strange, spartan sound.

Exhibonist

Six categories and six polls later, we had some results. It occurs to me: should we just name a hundred guitarists and rank them; or should we gradually settle every debate and slowly accumulate names? Again, any feedback would be nice. Xtazy Posted May 13, Our thread host may need a little patience to get to the mark, but again, a lot of fun along the way!! The unofficial list so far: 1 - Jimi Hendrix. Source: Ibanez. Go to topic listing. Sub Culture. So here goes the list in raw form. Their twin guitars gave Iron Maiden their cue. Source: The National News. LOL not so much the other chap named

Of course, we know that isn't true. Any feature like this is a rock'n'roll bunfight, and we've inevitably included musicians some readers would never have chosen, and ignored others they believe worthy of a place near the top.

But I still don't feel like I've heard enough of his work to really judge him against the likes of the other three who I listen to at fairly regular intervals. All rights reserved. All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox! Rossington is a nice pick, he and Collens could really get it together. RS Recommends. He wasn't really playin russian roullet, he didnt think there were any bullets in any of the guns. SelfDevouringSnake Posted May 14, Those who approached his canon with an open mind were rewarded with a trip through a singular mind. This list will suck if I'm the only one contributing to it, so please make suggestions, criticisms and whatever else you can. Guitar players are often as iconic as the lead singers for the bands they play in. His was a guitar sound you heard in color. Starting in the late 70's with a homemade guitar, then came up with a new sound after coming behind many of the greatest has to say a lot IMHO.