Kind of a pointless argument, To a point its like arguing apples and oranges. Are you gonna judge on sheer technical ability or songwriting?
I mean Paul Gilbert can rip like no ones business, but hes not the songwriter that say Neil Young is. That being said Neil couldnt play what Gilbert does as his warm up exercises.Anyways here the list of guys that get me inspired:
Hendrix
Randy Rhoads
Eddie
Paul Gilbert
Vai
Gary Moore
Andres Segovia
Joe Bonamassa
Dimebag
Duane Allman
Synester yess someone else... Jack White is 13 i think but what about Jack Black i mean u gotta admit the dude can rip
iante RHCP has to be mentioned
and does any1 else agree that Cobain should def not be in the top 20 no disrespect but hes just not on par w/ the elite
Hendrix has to be at the top of my list. Also up there, Stevie Ray, Jeff Beck, Page, Clapton (although IMO he is less versatile than many others), and who can forget the man that inspired Hendrix, Stevie etc, Buddy Guy?
Many mentioned (like Lennon) shouldn't be on a list o top guitarists. Sure, Lennon wrote some great songs and could rock the guitar, but couldn't rip off a jaw-dropping solo.
I saw Joe Satriani with Chickenfoot several months ago, he is awesome (and yes, my jaw dropped multiple times)
These are some that make my ears bleed...
john 5 (rob zombie)
robert cray (if you like blues)
kirk hammet(metallica)
david gilmore(pink floyd)
im tryin to figure out a way 2 organize this but its not possible