Let's settle this once and for all: Who's the greatest lead guitarist of all time?

I personally find too many blues players go to the well too often. The blues bores me but the greats are great to me. Albert Collins..

I think what you're describing is the "Pentatonic Straight-jacket", it's great to impress your friends and start to sound good; but once you're aware of how trapped you are by it, you hear it in everything.
 
I think what you're describing is the "Pentatonic Straight-jacket", it's great to impress your friends and start to sound good; but once you're aware of how trapped you are by it, you hear it in everything.
I agree, and that's another reason the blues and blues players bore me. It's all they want to play.

I would rather pretty well in many styles than specialize in one and be great at it.
 
Jimi or frank zappa is the goat. But Omar Rodriguez Lopez is my favorite and I find his music very similar to what I hear in my head and he plays a lot of sounds I like.
 


The lead guitar at end of this made Clapton almost quit playing guitar
 
I know this guy (probably) has no business being in this discussion but I love Tom Morello's solo in this song

 
My vote is for Dimebag. His solo and outro on Floods still makes the hair on my arms stand up.
 
I only came in here cause no one mentioned my boy Frank.
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He lacked the attributes of some, but he was very skilled and had an almost scientific attitude towards music and the guitar that I loved.
 
I only came in here cause no one mentioned my boy Frank.
tenor.gif


He lacked the attributes of some, but he was very skilled and had an almost scientific attitude towards music and the guitar that I loved.

My three biggest influences on my guitar playing are Chuck Schuldiner of Death, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and you probably guessed it Frank Zappa.
This is my favorite Frank Zappa song ever and while I never was able to see Frank live since I was 9 when he passed away in 1993 I was able to at least see his son Dweezil Zappa play his dads songs a few years back when he was on his Zappa plays Zappa tour. It was a religious experience and Dweezil comes out and I hear this voiceover "THIS IS THE CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER JOE JUST WORKED HIMSELF INTO AN IMAGINARY FRENZY" and right there and then I knew Dweezil was about to play Watermelon in Easter Hay and that he did in full. I don't give shit what anyone says but i was on the verge of crying upon hearing the song live. It felt as if was channeling himself from beyond the grave through Dweezil. A night I will never forget as long as I live.
 

My three biggest influences on my guitar playing are Chuck Schuldiner of Death, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and you probably guessed it Frank Zappa.
This is my favorite Frank Zappa song ever and while I never was able to see Frank live since I was 9 when he passed away in 1993 I was able to at least see his son Dweezil Zappa play his dads songs a few years back when he was on his Zappa plays Zappa tour. It was a religious experience and Dweezil comes out and I hear this voiceover "THIS IS THE CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER JOE JUST WORKED HIMSELF INTO AN IMAGINARY FRENZY" and right there and then I knew Dweezil was about to play Watermelon in Easter Hay and that he did in full. I don't give shit what anyone says but i was on the verge of crying upon hearing the song live. It felt as if was channeling himself from beyond the grave through Dweezil. A night I will never forget as long as I live.

That's amazing man, I feel he gets written off a little in modern times because a lot of his music comes off as silly, but there's so much meat on those bones. I was going to see Dweezil when he came to Kitchener a few years back, but I ended up having to head north that weekend, I'm hlad you had such a revelatory experience though. Cosmik Debris and My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama are two of my favorites, and the guitar is a huge part of that, but he always had so many sounds going on, he challenged the listener and if they didn't rise to that challenge he didn't care. I'd love to have picked his brain for a day.
 
That's amazing man, I feel he gets written off a little in modern times because a lot of his music comes off as silly, but there's so much meat on those bones. I was going to see Dweezil when he came to Kitchener a few years back, but I ended up having to head north that weekend, I'm hlad you had such a revelatory experience though. Cosmik Debris and My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama are two of my favorites, and the guitar is a huge part of that, but he always had so many sounds going on, he challenged the listener and if they didn't rise to that challenge he didn't care. I'd love to have picked his brain for a day.
You hit the nail on the head in regards to Frank and his body of work. A lot of it came off as silly simply for the subject matter but he was always on point in the instrumental aspects of the songwriting. Like you said Frank never caved to what was popular when he was alive and it shows because some of his records are very hard for the average person to get into and I'd have it no other way. I'd love to pick his brain too and mainly his arrangement skills. The man was legendary in his ability to write such a variety of music from Jazz fusion, orchestral music and everything in-between. Also in my opinion without Frank Zappa nobody would know who Steve Vai is since Frank gave him his big break when Vai was only 18 by putting Vai on salary as a transcriptionist to transcribe his work and then hiring him as a full fledged band member after auditioning for Frank in 1980. Frank had a major eye for talent and some of the greatest musicians recorded with him including Terry Bozzio and his massive drum kit (Which I feel is way overkill).

I've been listening to Eat The Question from the Grand Wazoo a lot lately. The guitar is my first love instrument wise but I also enjoy playing the keyboard/piano and I love that Eat The Question gives me the best of both worlds. Starts out with some amazing keyboard work by George Duke that then morphs into Frank doing what he does best in playing a nice extended guitar solo.
 
Paul Gilbert and Buckethead are beasts too. This is never gonna be settled. To many good dudes and no one will agree on a bonafide #1.



 
Caleb Followill from Kings Of Leon
 
My P4P favorite is Prince. He may not be the technically best guitarist, but he always played with great emotion.

 
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