20 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time

2. Jimmy Hendrix (4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7alzhFMVqE The beacon of light that was Jimi Hendrix burned briefly in the late €˜60€™s. If you€™ve read from the beginning you may recall that I mentioned that I allowed the Guitar World Readers€™ Poll from €™12 to guide the rankings of my 20 favourite guitarists. Would I personally rank Hendrix below Eddie Van Halen? No, but I€™ve made the rules and now have to live with them. Hendrix surpassed so much of what was being done in rock guitar at the time and was a true innovator with his use of feedback and distortion. Hendrix€™s penultimate tune is, perhaps, €œAll Along The Watchtower€, an instant classic that raised the bar in for so many players at the time.

1. Eddie Van Halen (1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_lwocmL9dQ I€™m sure that EVH will lose little sleep over me disputing his position at # 1 and I would certainly include him in any discussion of the top four or five guitarists of all time. As a guitar album, Van Halen€™s debut in 1978 stands as one of the best ever and as a guitarist EVH never quite achieved the heights, at least in studio, of that album. Van Halen€™s releases during the David Lee Roth era established the guitarist€™s legend but that was later tarnished, at least musically, by a sudden early €˜80€™s infatuation with keyboards and the devolution of Van Halen into a bad hair metal band during the Sammy Hagar era. A comeback album with original singer DLR was released about a year ago to generally favourable reviews. I wasn€™t impressed. Thanks for considering these ramblings and pondering them amongst your own. Disagree with my choices or methodology? Feel free use the comment section below to let me know.