Who's the best guitarist of this era? And the best guitarist ever?

Question

This era:
My vote is 4 Paul Gilbert.

Ever:
Paul Gilbert, again!

I love Jimmy Page... but u outta listen 2 Paul Gilbert's "Get out of my yard"... he's a real phenom.

Answer 1

This era Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen are a few.

Ever, Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Frank Zappa, Peter Townshend, and Tony Iommi.

Answer 2

meh...you guys. Why Jimmy Page?! He is not good at all. He plays the guitar like a foreign language. Being a musician is about speaking through your instrument where Jimmy Page sounds like he would be stuttering, no fluency. Break out of your classic rock surrounding listen to some different things, some Prog...Jazz Fusion...LIsten to guitarists like John Petrucci, Both guitarists from Umphrey's Mcgee, Fripp's cool and King Crimson is amazing..plenty of people

Answer 3

guitarists should be noted for their style playing, entertaining people, creating masterpieces, and not popularity..
though many have different styles, but to me, a metal guitarist should be among the best, they're taking skills to the extreme.. im not saying others are not good, they're very good too, but in a different kind of way..

notables [in no particular order] :

john petrucci
fredrik thordendal
marten hagstrom
alexi laiho
roope latvala
alexander kuoppala [ex-COB]
jesper stromblad [he prefers rhythm than solos]
bjorn gelotte
jon donais
matt bachand
mark morton
willie adler
matt heafy
corey beaulieu
steve holt
mark tremonti
michael amott
christopher amott
stephen 'stef' carpenter
doc coyle
dallas coyle
joel stroetzel
adam dutkiewicz
greg tribbett
mikael akerfeldt
peter lindgren
jeff loomis
steve smyth
clint lowery
mike mushok
buz mcgrath
ken susi

all of the above are probably new to the scene, but they sound among the legends, just taken it to the very extreme, and that's great.

most of the people here dont listen metal, so some players in this long list here is probably new to them, and they maybe dont know their true skills.. paul is a great player too, i agree, his ibanez signatures are neat..

Answer 4

This era...it's hard to say. Paul Gilbert may be great, but so is Steve Vai, Dweezil Zappa, and alot of others. But best one ever has to go to Jimi Hendrix. If it wasn't for him. most of today's guitar gods wouldn't have even picked up a guitar. he revolutionized the way it's played.

Answer 5

well, that's very hard to say because in order to get a BEST player, you need to go into more than just the rock genre' and delve into jazz, blues, and even country. Most of the working players in Nashville could smoke any rock player out there right now.

Brad Paisley comes to mind; even though his genre doesn't call for lots of smokin riffs, when given the chance he can rip. Kieth Urban is another one. Then you need to look at Al DiMeola, Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana, Buddy Guy, et al.

For all time, Jimi Hendrix, not for his technical prowess, becasue he couldn't even read sheet music, BUT for what he did by bringing the electric guitar into another realm of music. He could "feel" the place that he wanted his song to go.

Answer 6

best guitarist legend...Eric Clapton World's top rated speed player is J. Randall Casey....to make a long story short Jimmi Hendrix is 1 on the top ten list--tremonti of slash is best solo player of this era if not the best player.

Answer 7

Space Ace Frehley

Answer 8

ok one thing...i like A LOT of guitarists but i have to say Slash is my man, he was my "role model" when i started playing and still is and for the best one ever id say Jimi Hendrix and second would be Dimebag Darrell

Answer 9

I second the vote for Jimi and Slash

Answer 10

Now,Brian May from Queen.
Best of all time Jimi Hendrix.