re: Greatest Rock Guitarist of All Time?

Hendrix
Alvin Lee
Terry Kath
Knopfler

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Prince

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Many a guitarist has been befuddled over the intro to “When Doves Cry.” Give it a listen if it’s been awhile.

I’ve been a fan of Prince since I was about 12 and I’m primarily a metalhead.

Prince for me, as well.

His performance at the George Harrison tribute was simply the most hair-raising, chills-inducing musical performance I’ve ever seen.

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Jimmy Page

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I like Paige pretty well. Zeppelin is one of my favorite bands ever, but honestly I don't think he belongs on these lists. Most these other guys play circles around him in terms of technical proficiency.

He was certainly very creative though, and he's a much better player than I am. That's for damn sure.

Mark Knopfler is definitely near or at the top for me.
Others in no particular order:
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
Prince
Slash
and to throw a wrench in the works, Chet Atkins.

ETA: Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler: LINK

the problem is the criteria. if you're talking creativity - that's going to be opinion.

if you're talking technical ability, no one's going to top steve vai. you might not like his creativity but, he's technically unsurpassed and he's formally trained.

there were so many "prodigies" in the 80's but, few of them were formally trained. they just practiced by ear over and over until they had something down. great, great guitarists though and i still marvel at many of them.

i guess my point is as much as i enjoy listening to the creativity of page, hendrix, srv, clapton, etc, those guys technical ability was not prodigious (scandalous!). they were largely self taught in one style of music. formally trained musicians are experts in many styles and techniques. take vai for example, there's nothing that srv or hendrix could play that vai couldn't play, technically. now, you might not like the sound or the inflection that vai had but, he could absolutely can match and surpass any of the classic rock/r&b guys. his first music job was to transcribe zappa's arrangements. now that's sick. trying to write down the musical vomit that came out of that guy's savant brain.

I think Prince was brought up in this thread, and in particular that intro solo to When Doves Cry. This is a good example as to what I dislike about heavy metal music. It's all tempo and no soul, IMO. Look at Prince's ability to shred. That pentatonic flourish leading into that song is killer.

But then the rest of the song is soulful.

Metal isn't like that. 90% of the time it's shred, shred, shred. And I guess that's cool if you are an angsty teenager.

You mention Vai,

I counter that Shawn Lane, Steve Morse and Jimmy Herring are/were as technically advanced as Vai. Lane was a freak of nature, but he was a fat guy and we both know that there’s a visual bias. That’s the same reason Johnny Hiland is an impoverished country wizard.

I’d put Petrucci there as well, now that I think about it.

As far as I’m concerned, Vai’s monster accomplishment isn’t his playing, it’s his devotion to the art by creating his label as a home for a ton of deserving artists.

But in the end, tecnique or not, it’s what pleases the senses. Of every fine player mentioned, who will be talked about in a hundred years?

Gilmore.

I don't know if he's the best but John Frusciante is my favorite