50. Charlie Christian - Back when he was big (the 'swing' era of music), Charlie was one of the most experimental soloists. I had first been exposed to him in a music course I took in college; he's an amazing jazz player who used to jam with Benny Goodman - after sucking down a half oz. of weed I'm sure :-) Best Guitar Tunes: Rose Room, Flying Home

49. Ani Difranco - Ok, I had to put a chick on this list, and Ani was the perfect chick. She is absolutely amazing. If you want to talk about someone who puts soul and feeling into their playing, Ani does it quite well. Ani is a percussion type acoustical guitarist who would be more out of place if she played an electric than Strom Thurmond at an inner city public school meeting. Ani doesn't need a drummer, but brings one on most of her tours. She does all the percussion on her own quite well with the snapping and popping of her strings. On one of her albums (Dialate) she added an outstandingly cool low end that would rival what you hear on ghetto rap albums, when she plucks the low E. I respect the hell out of Ani, go get one of her albums and learn to play. Best Guitar Tunes:

48. John Lee Hooker - This man not only lives the blues, he looks like the damn blues. He likes to take one chord and make it so innovative sounding. He kicked most of his ass in the 40's with songs like "Boogie Chillen." I like to play the blues a lot more than I like to listen to them, and I really like playing solos to this guys 1-4-5 stuff...but then again who doesn't? Best Guitar Tunes: Boogie Chillen, Burnin' Hell.

47. Pete Townshend (The Who) - As a person, he's an ass. As a guitarist, he was fair. As someone who broke boundaries, and guitars, he was awesome. Said to have one of the loudest guitar rigs on the planet, Pete Townshend was breaking guitars before Hendrix was, contrary to popular belief. I never really like when guitarists do that. Do you know how many starving young guitarists there are in the crowd who would KILL to have a guitar that nice and expensive, and specifically one their favorite guitarist owned? Anyway, just like with the Stones, Beatles, and other legendary bands, Townshend played his best shit later in his career rather than sooner. He really introduced the power of acoustic guitar to hard (if you consider The Who hard) rock, and it blended in better than his stupid windmill thing. Best Guitar Tunes: Pinball Wizard, Won't Get Fooled Again

46. Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) - Perhaps not the best technically on this list, however Blackmore has written some of the coolest riffs in rock history - not just the one to Smoke on the Water. He has a classical type background and actually played a lot of Mozart influenced solos. Blackmore was considered to be pretty bad ass back in his day, and inspired a lot of the Van Halen's and Yngwie Malsteems of today. Best Guitar Tunes: Highway Star, Smoke on the Water

45. Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) - Along with Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and the rest of the Seattle crew, Soundgarden brought a raw type of sound that made the music industry get dollar signs in its already money-whore, corrupt eyes. A lot is written about his "reintroducing" drop D tuning into rock music, but he really should get a lot of credit for it. This is probably the second heaviest of the Seattle bands (next to Alice), and most of this is due to Kim's drop D, or 1/2 step down tuning style. There is a LOT to that type of sound, and a lot of fucking around you can do to make some incredibly deep sounding, cool riffs. Kim discovered this early on and made millions doing it. Best Guitar tunes: Outshined, Rusty Cage

44. Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers) - Parker Fly guitars are so cool looking, I always wanted to hear what they sound like. The answer is *awesome* when Navarro plays his. Navarro was probably about the worst fit for the Chili Peppers, but its because he's really not a funk guitarist. He has a much more driving, thick, Marshall-like tone. I think they only cool songs he did with the Chili Peppers was "My Friends," and "Warped," but the rest were horrible. He's obviously done his best work with Jane's, and with that band he has rocked. Three Days is one of the best songs he's ever contributed to, and is a classic example of his work. He likes to make a lot of use of his flange/chorus/vibrato pedals, and has a very impressive ability to write solos that don't stand out - they flow very smoothly with the song. Best Guitar Tunes: 3 Days, Had a Dad

43. Mike McCreedy (Pearl Jam) - This guy isn't the most talented in the world, but he's really influential and his riffs are absolutely killer. I really like his style, and what he does with pentatonic scales. If I could write riffs that were as cool as this guy, I'd be paying someone to write this web site, as opposed to writing it myself. I've seen Pearl Jam live a few times, and really like the energy they put out during the show. And just as long as Eddie Vedder doesn't pick up a guitar, they sound pretty damn good :-) Best Guitar Tunes: Yellow Ledbetter, Alive

42. Dave Matthews - Considering that hardly ever incorporates electric guitar into his songs, Dave has carved quite a niche of his own. I like that fact that he's not a "chord strummer" type of acoustic guitarist - he bangs out string bending, percussion based riffs that really drive his tunes. He is really innovative with his song writing, and has one of the best drummers around. Best Guitar Tunes: Satellite, Ants go marching

41. James Hetfield (Metallica) - What the hell happened to this band? I've lost about 110% of the tremendous respect I once had for them. Ok, enough bullshit, just read my rants page on how I feel about them now. Musically, James Hetfield is probably the best rhythm guitarist to ever play the instrument. Not only is his sound clean, cutting and "chuggy," but he is one of the fastest down pickers in the industry. The secret to tough cutting heavy metal guitar is picking with all downstrokes, and James can do this faster and more clean than anyone I've ever heard. Not that this band plays any heavy songs anymore. :-) Best Guitar Tunes: For Whom the Bell Tolls, And Justice for all

40. Muddy Waters - One of Jimi Hendrix's biggest influences, Muddy Waters is synonymous with anything having to do with the blues. He's one of the oldest dudes on this list, as he himself was inspired by some of the first true guitarists ever, such as Robert Johnson (who totally sucked but what do you expect from recordings of the 1930's). He was born in the Delta Blues area, where giant plantations and white racist assholes were a common setting for his acoustically played music. He wasn't an incredibly technical player like the Satriani's and Via's, however his slide guitar and deliberately slow rhythms were influential and soulful - the way them blues were meant to be played! Best Guitar Tunes: Louisiana Blues, Hoochie Coochie Man

39. Warren Di Martini (Ratt) - God I used to love this dude. He was this long haired, skinny "see all the veins in my arms from doing too much speed" kind of rocker, and his solos were killer. It's funny how some of the most talented guitarists of all time came from the 80's hair bands. Those guys might have sung about cars and chicks, but they could play their spandex encased asses off. Warren was no exception - he's responsible for some of the coolest riffs in the 80's (Round n Round, Lay it Down) which were both melodic and cool sounding. I'm waiting for him to show up on VH1's where are they now? Best Guitar Tunes: You're in love, Lay it Down

38. John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - With that classic Fender sound, John Frusciante is a true funk/punk guitarist who has an amazing ability to add color to simple 3 note chords. If you listen to the rhythm guitar section on "Under the Bridge," you will hear exactly what I'm talking about. The verse of the song goes simply E-->B-->G#m7-->G#m-->A, but he turns it into so much more. Like Hendrix, he could take these simple chords and add amazingly melodic pull-offs and hammer-on type fills that truly bring out the character of his playing. Blood Sugar Sex Magic is an example of a Frusciante driven Chili Peppers album - all recorded when he was just 19. Get one of his solo albums if you want to avoid Anthony Kedis' annoying voice. Best Guitar Tunes: Higher Ground, Apache Rose Peacock

37. Angus Young (AC/DC) - Making this list not necessarily because of his talent, but rather the absolute familiarity of his sound and his riffs, Angus young and his brother play off each other incredibly well - which is what you may come to expect from brothers who've played in the same band for over 20 years :-). Most of Young's riffs are in the key of E or A, and are barre chord licks that anyone whos been playing for a year can copy exactly, but there is certainly something to be said for writing stuff like that in the first place. These guys have always had dedicated working class fans who think the band are a bunch of Gods - I just think they're a bunch of guys who would be working in some steel mill in Australia had they not had a hit record. Best Guitar Tunes: Back in Black, Thunderstruck

36. John Lennon (The Beatles) - I am probably one of 6 or 7 people on earth, and probably the only musician who cannot stand the Beatles. I absolutely hate them. I can't, however, deny the amazing influence they have had on rock and the amount they absolutely catapulted music into a different kind of innovative sound - at least during their psychedelic years. There are only one or two Beatles songs I can stand, and they certainly weren't from the "I wanna hold your hand" era. John Lennon and his bandmates loved to throw a 7th note into everything they did, including harmonizing, and I think that's one of the most annoying things ever. But they made it work, and people loved it. Lennon technically wasn't a great guitarist, but he was certainly one of the greatest of all time. Best Guitar Tunes: Dear Prudence, Revolution

35. Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers) - A lot of today's Jam bands can trace at least some of their roots to the Allman Brothers, especially Dickey Betts. He was most often seen playing his PRS (those are the guitars in the guitar store that say "please ask for assistance") on them, and he has established a really cool, thick, soloing type of tone. I really can't stand the "two guitar" type of thing (a la Jessica), but I don't think he was really responsible for that anyway :-) Best Guitar Tunes: Jessica, Revival

34. Vernon Reid (Living Colour) - Known for some of the most insane solos on the planet. During the short, insignificant time this band was together, Vernon Reid made a significant impact on a lot of guitars. He wrote what was arguably one of most recognizable riffs of the 80's (Cult of Personality), and ripped a solo on that song that would almost be nearly impossible to transcribe. He loved to use his floating tremolo as much as possible to reach an amazing range of notes. Living Colour, driven by Vernon Reid's sound pretty much broke the color barrier of heavy metal - and although this isn't as significant as Jackie Robinson playing baseball, it did enable them to get a lot of respect in a 99% white dominated music market. Best Guitar Tunes: Cult of Personality, Love Rears it's Ugly Head

33. Toni Iommi (Black Sabbath) - You can't do one of these lists without this guy (I'll be saying that for a lot of people). Why did I not rank this legend high? Well, he has come up with some of the catchiest riffs in rock history, and he certainly has influenced almost everyone after him - but he never really had any sophistication to his solos or even his writing, period. Could I write shit like he does? No way. Can you? Nope. But can both of us learn to play it in about 30 seconds? Yes. And I guess you don't rate guitarists on how easy their stuff is to learn, but don't get me wrong - Toni is overrated to me. I still respect him and I still recognize him as one of the greatest guitarists ever - the 33rd greatest to be exact :-) Best Guitar Tunes: War Pigs, Planet Caravan

32. Joe Perry (Aerosmith) - I had a chance to work for Aerosmith for a show in Old Orchard Beach Maine once. One of the coolest things in my entire life was standing at the foot of the stage for sound check and Joe Perry, straight from the Porsche he just drove up in, did a sound check on his guitar about 10 feet away from me. I can't stand Aerosmith, but I really respect Joe Perry. In fact, I respected him a lot more until his guitar tech told me he doesn't play his own solos on the records, because he hates the way he sounds. It's too bad because his live soloing is fit for any recording on any album. Best Guitar Tunes: Dream on, Train kept a rollin'

31. Ace Frehley (Kiss) - I cannot stand Kiss, and furthermore Ace Frehley is probably the ugliest Kiss member without makeup. When I saw those dudes in plain clothing, it made me realize why the makeup gimmick was almost always the path they chose in the first place (I apologize for making this Rolling Stone-like commentary, as opposed to making this more music based). I have to say though, Frehley must have single handily boosted the Les Paul sales of the 70's and 80's for all the metal head kids who wanted to sound like their silver faced idol. He has that classic rock sound in all his playing and riffs, and I think hes not much of an original player - but then again, nor am I :-) Best Guitar Tunes: Love Her All I Can, Psycho Circus

30. Jimmy Nolen (James Brown) - If James Brown was the Godfather of soul, then Jimmy Nolen was the Daddy of the 9th chord, (Papa's got a brand new bag, etc). Damn was he funky. He liked to do that 9th chord thing where you extend your pinkie two frets the right and tap the high E and B strings to add extra funk and color (what's that chord called?). Aside from the chords themselves, Jimmy played in a really cool funk kind of rhythm that was very "upstroke-like" and choppy. I think that other than the man himself, Jimmy Nolen was what really gave James Brown his sound and funkiness. Best Guitar Tunes: Cold Sweat, Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

29. Steve Morse (The Dregs) - Steve is fast. Real fast. He is a technical player, and once when I was trying to bring some color to my soloing I rented his instructional video. Now, I can solo pretty well, and I'm kinda fast myself - but I was only able to keep up with the first couple of lessons with old Steve, then he was doing shit that fingers just weren't designed for. So instead of learning the rest of the video, I just watched. And then, shaking my head, I shut off the video and make some waffles. Did he make my list just because he's fast? No. He made it because he has some of the most melodic solos I've ever heard. I've never heard him play a simple pentatonic scale - he's a really modal kind of play which I respect a lot more than "boxy" 5 note scales. Best Guitar tunes: Cruise Control, High Tension Wires

28. Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) - Hands down, the most creative, innovative, unique sounding guitarist on this list. That's because his guitar rarely sounds like one, and each solo he does seems to create a sound more alien-like than the one before it. If it weren't for octaves, Tom would be out of business. About half of his riff's are octave driven, usually starting with the base note, then hitting it's octave quickly after. A simple strategy, but an effective one. Morello is a Harvard graduate who likes to pull his guitars apart, mess with the pickups and other electronics, then put the thing back together after his tinkering has given it a new sound. Many of his guitars are custom with robot-building precision - and he doesn't just limit himself to playing the strings. A few of his solos are a result of unplugging the 1/4 jack on the end of his guitar cable, and generating a distorted electric sound by touching it against the metal reinforcement on the jack of the guitar. Now that is innovative. Best Guitar Tunes: Know Your Enemy, Township Rebellion

27. Pat Metheny - You can't really have a list like this without including one of the jazz greats of all time. Jazz is to rock like calculus is to addition. I don't particularly listen to a lot of jazz, but I respect it perhaps more than any other form of music. After leaving jazz lessons with my guitar teacher, I used to realize how far I had to go music theory wise, and how amazingly deep learning music, chord structure, and certain scale patterns can be. I'm dead serious when I tell you that some of my jazz lessons made me really think about life as a whole, and look at sounds from a completely different angle, like some sort of intense acid trip. Metheny was a legend when it came to jazz. He had a lot of chromatic stuff in his songs, and I am embarrassed to admit I hadn't listened much to him until a friend introduced me about a year ago. Best Guitar Tunes: Letter to a Friend, Missouri Uncompromised

26. Brian May (Queen) - Possessing one of the ugliest guitars in the history of Rock, Brian May has written some beautiful solos that have a really cool climbing/descending feeling to them. I have had the chance to see him play live twice, and he was very impressive. His best stuff however, was in the studio where he was a mastermind. He liked to use 20 tracks or so just for the guitar, and bounce them all together for some amazing sounds. He would often harmonize with himself, play opposite or with himself, or use 3 different tones blended together and panned opposite of each other to come up with one full, crazy ass tone on a particular song. But damn was his guitar ugly :-) Best Guitar Tunes: Bohemian Rhapsody, Keep Yourself Alive

25. Chuck Berry - I've never really liked Chuck Berry's music, but I'd be an ignorant, 20-something year old punk if I didn't realize that he turned the electric guitar into something incredible. By fusing blues with country/western, chuck invented this new form of music called rock n roll. If you've ever learned Johnny B. Goode on your guitar, you'll recognize his string bends and sliding diads (two notes played in succession) appear in so many rock songs today. Chuck Berry has basically been the portal that all other rock guitarists have had to pass through in order to be where they are today. That alone makes Chuck an amazing player. Best Guitar Tunes: Johnny B. Goode, Guitar boogie

24. Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) - One of my favorite guitarists on this list. Many people don't know this, but Jerry Cantrell is pretty much the brains and the sound behind Alice in Chains. This band would be nothing without him. Cantrell writes most of their lyrics, all of their music, and even sings when you don't think he's singing. The reason for that is Jerry and Lane Staley sound so much alike, its hard to tell who's who sometimes (listen to "Would?" and "Don't Follow." Jerry sings the verse on both of those - but you hardcore AIC fans knew that right?). Jerry Cantrell is, in my opinion, the best thing that evolved from the Seattle invasion. Best Guitar Tunes: Rooster, Sunshine

23. Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) - Like Toni Iommi, he was and still is an amazing influence. He's written some of the coolest, catchiest riffs in rock history, but I have to say that he's not the most skilled player ever. I really can't stand his guitar tone; it has that thin, whiny telecaster sound do it. But christ, it's Keith man. He is a true testimonial to the fact that drugs might enhance playing - just not your tone. Best Guitar Tunes: Down in a hole, Give me shelter

22. B.B. King - B.B. was playing a show one night when a bar brawl broke out. The brawl set off a fire, which in turn caused everyone to run out of the bar. King ran back inside to grab his guitar (once during a small fire, the only thing my friend Chris grabbed was his bong). He later found out that the fight was over a chick named "Lucile." Ever since then each one of his guitars has been named Lucile. King is best known, at least visually, for that cool thing he does with his hand to put vibrato on each of the notes he lets ring. He wiggles that damn hand faster than a 15 year old kid jerking off for the first time. There really isn't much doubt that among the blues greats, B.B. King can pretty much show everyone how the blues are played. He's been teaming up lately with Clapton to do some funky stuff, which sounds a bit too "adult contemporary" for me, but they're sellin' records nonetheless. Best Guitar Tunes: Thrill is gone, Sweet Sixteen

21. Slash (Guns 'n Roses) - Appetite for Destruction is one of the coolest guitar albums ever. Talk about someone who can create killer, catchy riffs - Slash was practically a genius on this album. His guitar tone has that classic Les Paul-going-through-a-Marshall-stack kind of sound. Slash has some really incredibly complex solos, that arent just fast or cool sounding - they're amazingly colorful and go all over the neck. His stuff is VERY hard to learn. I've seen GnR live 3 times, and each time Slash was the most impressive person on the stage by far. He played the solos you hear on albums pretty much to a tee which tells me that these solos were written, not just improvised (its so easy to improvise cool soloing - its another thing to write stuff with a concept in mind). Slash was once quoted as saying he knows every single note on the neck - when you see camera shots of him playing up close, you realize that under that huge afro of hair covering his face, his eyes almost always closed when he plays which supports that claim. Best Guitar Tunes: Sweet Child 'o Mine, Estranged

20. Randy Rhodes (Quiet Riot, Ozzy) - Posters of Randy has made its way to into the homes of countless jean jacket wearing metal heads of the 1980's. His riffs are the epitome of metal. He borrowed a lot of his style from Eddie Van Halen, especially a lot of finger tapping stuff. I've read a lot of interviews with him, and he was always a very humble, soft spoken person. But him and his polka dotted flying V guitar rocked, and rocked loud. Ozzy shows of the 80's were said to have been some of the loudest ever. Best Guitar Tunes: Crazy Train, Flying High Again.

19. Jeff Beck (The Yardbirds) - The Yardbirds have been an amazing breeding ground for talented musicians. Jeff Beck, who really doesn't have a lot of effects that he plays with, is a prime example of this. He is another guitarist who tasted a psychedelic type of influence in the 60's, and went on to change his sound to more of a straight rock n' roll. I've never really gotten into his stuff, but when he plays, I always listen; and realize how much further I have to go. Best Guitar Tunes: Freeway Jam, Heart full of soul

18. Marty Friedman (Megadeth) - Talk about a sophisticated, well written column - this guy used to write masterpiece in Guitar World magazine, lending a lot of educational information, as well as showing off his knowledge of music theory. His work for Megadeth has been really cool in my opinion. I guess you could say he is to Dave Mustane the way Kirk Hammet is to James Hetfield, because Mustane (being a former Metallica member himself) has those hard core rhythm guitar qualities. Marty Friedman is a very modal type player who likes to have some crazy time signatures in his solos that compliment Mustane's alcohol driven rhythm. Best Guitar Tunes: Sweating Bullets, Psychotron

17. Carlos Santana - I usually can't stand Latin Music, but Carlos Santana I can handle. The percussion in his songs is almost as cool as his Paul Reed Smith playing - as long as you don't listen to the stupid shit he's done with bands that don't deserve to be in the same arena as him (Matchbox 20 anyone?). Santana love to play the special guest role, and really fits in well when jamming with musicians such as Phish, Dave Matthews Band, and others. Best Guitar Songs: Sampa Pa Ti, Black Magic Woman

16. Kirk Hammet (Metallica) - James Hetfield may be one of the greatest rhythm guitarists ever, but Krik Hammet is the man behind the melodic Metallica solos the 80's. The only gay member of Metallica (hehe), he is responsible for amazing arrangements that use some really colorful scales that can either be slow and balady, or ripping fast. Hammet likes to write a lot of his stuff using modal phrases, in the key of E (or maybe thats the only key that James can sing in), and has an amazing ability utilize frets in succession that very far away from each other. I am an avid fan of his montly column in Guitar World, and recommend anyone who plays guitar read it. Best Guitar Tunes: One, Sanitarium

15. Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) - There are two things in life I'll always regret - 1). Never banging Debbie Vandersea in high school, and 2). Never going to a Dead show. A profound influence on any guitarist who likes to improvise or jam, there's a whole lot you can say about Jerry that won't fit on this web page. I think sometimes that Jerry's obviously dedicated following and amazing aura sometimes overshadowed just how skilled and musically knowledgeable he actually was. Jerry liked to solo in many different variations of the major scale, from simple Ionian patterns, to complex major sounding riffs. The Dead's style of 3 note open chord progressions that fit nicely into a key is a classic and easy type of breeding ground for improvisational type soloing. Jerry took advantage of this better than almost anyone (see Trey Anastasio below - that's right Dead Head's Trey is ranked better!). Best Guitar Tunes: Chinacat Sunflower, Terrapin Station

14. David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) - Probably my favorite guitarist on this list, representing one of my favorite bands on this list. I fucking love David Gilmour. He has been responsible for the increase in delay and flanger pedal sales since 1970. Everyone wants to sound like him, but so few can even come close. While Roger Waters may be the lyrical genius behind Pink Floyd, there is no doubt that Gilmour is Pink Floyd's musical sound. Waters would be absolutely nothing without him, and Gilmour has proven that he can keep that authentic Pink Floyd sound without his former bandmate. His Strat is equipped with very high priced EMG pickups, and he has an impressive rack and floor mount that keeps his guitar tech extremely busy. Gilmour is famous for his incredibly melodic solos, that use an amazing amount of bending up to different notes, as opposed to picking them. Imitating Gilmour solos don't sound right if you simply pick all of the notes - you have to bend just the right amount in just the right places. Putting him on this list was the easy part - picking out just two of his best guitar songs was the hardest. Best Guitar Tunes: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, A Great Day for Freedom

13. Eric Clapton (Cream, The Yardbirds) - Another stratocaster poster boy. Even though he draws from more genres than he'd like to admit, Eric is primarily based in the blues. If you're into blues, and you don't own "from the cradle," you're a moron. Clapton has always seemed so serious when he plays - but I guess you can't be a true blues artist if you're up there laughing and smiling. I was much more into his Brit-Psychedelic phase of his career, but Clapton is one soulful dude in any type of music he plays. Best Guitar Tunes: Layla, Five long years

12. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) - The first time I heard he did not use a pick, I really didn't believe it. But he doesn't. Mark Knopfler is a finger-picking electric guitar playing virtuoso, who has an amazing knack for writing sophisticated little fills, and making his guitar tone crystal clear and mellow at the same time. Sultans of Swing is one of my favorite guitar songs of all time, and is a perfect example of Knopfler's rockabilly influence. He uses a really cool clean/chorus sound on this song that produces a tone unlike anything I've heard before. His licks also are a LOT more complex than they sound in the studio. Try slowing the track down by 50% and play the lick right before the fade out, and you'll know what I mean. Best Guitar Tunes: Sultans of Swing, Money for Nothin'

11. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Stevie plays Jimi better than Jimi plays Jimi. Stevie's version of "Little Wing" by Hendrix is so much more clear than the original (mostly due to the way it was recorded and produced, as well as the advance in recording technology), so much tightly played, so much more of the "man he's going off" factor, that I only wish Jimi was alive for a rebuttal. Stevie had one of the coolest Strat tones I've ever heard, despite the fact that the body of his guitar was a piece of shit. He was able to truly capture the feel of the blues with amazing pentatonic riffs, and soulful repeating phrases whose repetition was passion all on its own. Best Tunes: Pride and Joy, Little Wing

10. John Petrucci (Dream Theater) - This guy is a brilliant musician. I don't like Dream Theater and can't understand those who do, but I respect Petrucci's playing a lot, even with his neon green pickups. Petrucci has always been a great music teacher, as he writes a lot of columns and has a lot of teaching videos and books. He uses the warmest, coolest amp (Mesa Boogie) and his guitar tone is simply sweet. Best Guitar Tunes: Voices, Scarred

9. Trey Anastasio (Phish) - One of my personal favorites on this list. God, or as non-Phish fans refer to him, Trey, has continued to amaze me throughout my fascination with Phish, which has been roughly 8 years. One of the coolest things about him is his diversity in playing - he draws from Latin, Pop, Hard Rock, Acoustic Improv, Blues, Country - just about every genre of music you can think of. I've had the opportunity to see Phish pay over 30 times, and each time I leave the venue completely blown away. Not only is his playing ability way above and beyond talented, his song writing ability is what mostly impresses me. Try listening to a song like Fluffhead, YEM, or My Friend, My Friend and think about how you would even begin to write an epic song like that. Then, play those exact same songs live and make them 20 minutes longer, and have your band follow your lead the entire way without ever sounded like anyone is off the page. This isn't talent folks, this is a sophisticated parallel between human being and the world of music that none of us will ever really achieve. Best Guitar Tunes: You Enjoy Myself, Maze

8. Eric Johnson - Known for his impossibly precise string-skipping solos, Eric Johnson is part of the "mastery" group of guitarists on this list (Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen) that have technical ability beyond what most of us will ever understand. Johnson has played for several artists, including Carol King, but did not make a name for himself until the very early 90's. He likes to experiment with strange modal patterns that blow my music theory mind, and make any guitar lesson a trippy experience. And for you country lovers (god help you), Eric has this passion for playing country twang every once in a while. Best Guitar Tunes: Cliffs of Dover, Trademark

7. Diamond Darrell (Pantera) - Even though he makes the cover of guitar magazines all over the world with consistency, he is one of the most underrated guitarists by non-metal fans. I've had the chance to see these guys 3 times, and meet them in person twice (I was like a girl at a Beatle's concert). Pantera is the loudest band I've ever seen in concert, and Dime is probably the reason why. He has his own signature Randall amps, his own signature Washburn guitars (like 4 of them), and is a walking endorsement because of his amazing playing. He writes the best heavy metal riffs in the business. He writes an amazingly intelligent column for Guitar World magazine. His solos are laced with amazingly impossible speed, clarity, and sophistication. He climbs up and down scales you would never even *think* of to use of his thick, ingenious metal rhythm that really makes every Pantera song sound hard, fresh, and in a class all its own. He's one of my favorite, if not THE favorite on this list. Listen to how well Vulgar Display of Power is written, from a guitar point of view, and you'll respect him too. Best Guitar Tunes: A New Level, This Love

6. Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake) - His Ibanez signature guitar sucks, but the man who it was designed for is better than you and I would be if we played hours a day for years. That's because Steve Vai is one of the most naturally gifted and talented musicians out there. Bands like Korn can thank Vai for his 7 string influence on the music world today. He is my old guitar teacher's idol, and after listened to some of his work, I soon understood why. He is sort of a guitar player for hire, as he has appeared on several albums with many famous producers and musicians, playing many different types of music. Best Guitar Tunes: Yankee Rose, Blue Powder

5. Joe Satriani - One of the reasons why I ranked Joe Satriani higher than Steve Vai and Kirk Hammet is because if it weren't for him, there would be no them. Why is that you ask? Because he taught them. Satriani has had students ranging from Marty Friedman of Megadeath, to Larry Lalonde of Primus. Satriani is not just a great guitarist, he is a very well versed musician who has a very instrumentalist type style. Artists like Satriani and Steve Vai stay away from routine chords/scales in favor of exploring incredibly unique scale patterns and music theory. I get lost when reading interviews with this guy, because he starts going off on some tangent about an arpegiated half minor scale in the relative key of F# or some shit like that. Satriani knows as much about musical composition and theory as members of your local city orchestra - except he sells more records than they do. Best Guitar Tunes: Sach Boogie, Surfing with the Alien

4. Yngwie Malmsteen - Who said Swedes only built good cars? The Phrygian scale king, Yngwie is quoted in Guitar World magazine as saying "I know everything there is to know about music theory." Well, like the old saying goes, "it aint braggin' if you can do it." Well this dude can do it, Swedish God of metal that he is. As far as playing fast, playing "outside the box," and playing with amazing sophistication and flawless technique, I would venture to say that Yngwie is probably the best on this list. Period. Guitar is SO easy for him. He is a master of music theory, a master of innovation, and one of the greatest guitarists ever. His passion is with cheese metal, and it always will be. I'll never put in one of his CD's because I like the song, but rather to listen to his licks and phrases. Best Guitar Tunes: Black Star, I am a Viking

3. Jimi Hendrix - The God damned master. You can say "Jimi" in a music conversation and pretty much everyone knows who you're talking about (Unless it is a Zeppelin conversation). Hendrix was more modest than people think. I remember watching a clip from a talk show he did once (Ed Sullivan??) and he was asked "are you the greatest guitar player in the world?" and Hendrix said, "well I don't know about that," and then the host asked "Well certainly the greatest in this building," and Jimi said, "well how about the greatest sitting right here in this chair." You would never tell he was modest by his arson-provoking guitar (see what I wrote about Pete Townshend for my thoughts on this). Jimi was amazing because he played so incredibly passionate, with such soul, that you could take hours of lessons for the rest of your life and still never sound like him. Obviously he died way before his prime (27), and the music community was robbed of a great master. Best Guitar Tunes: Machine Gun, Voodoo Child

2. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) - Guitar God? Yep. Looked cool on stage? Yep. Scored mad chicks? Yep. Reminds me of myself? - heh. Jimmy Page was the best riff writer in the history of guitar. He had more cool riffs and phrases and catchy licks in his bag of tricks than anyone to ever play "Stairway." He is an absolute genious, and now makes his mark producing as much as playing. Robert Plant may initially be the sound of Zeppelin, but Page was without a doubt, the reason for their huge success. If this were a "greatest rock bands of all time" they would be #1. They have influenced almost EVERYONE after them. In fact, Page's song writing is so good, its almost uncool to like Zeppelin. His shit is so good, its a cliché to play some of his songs (the Stairway scene in Wayne's World comes to mind). Jimmy Page is rock 'n roll - he is guitar, he is music, he personifies it like a God. Had he not been in the most successful band in the history of the world, he would get more credit and notoriety than he already does, which is almost impossible. Think of all the Zeppelin songs you know and love - think of the fact they're played on more classic rock stations than any other band, that every Junior High dance ends with Stairway - think of how many amazing hits they had, how much they've been played after their breakup and how much Whitesnake sucks at trying to be them - It's all because of Page. Best Guitar Tunes (wow, I have to pick just two!): Tangerine, Rock 'n Roll (and about 90-95 others)

1. Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (Van Halen) - I cannot stand Van Halen. I hate David Lee Roth, and Sammy Hagar annoys the fuck outta me. However - If you took a poll of all the guitarists out there, the music teachers, the theory-heads, the 3 chord punk people, the people who went to school for it, the metal heads, the readers and authors of guitar magazines and books around the world - Edward Van Halen would be voted the greatest guitarist of all time. And I agree. Ed managed to design one of the greatest guitars of all time, play a role in his signature 5150 series amps, practically invent and patent two hand finger tapping, reinvent the way guitar is played completely, and inspire every single person on this list who came after him at one point in their career. He pretty much reinvented guitar technology, and was fought over by many guitar production companies for the rights to use his mind to design a guitar. He writes just about all of Van Halen's songs, produces them, and makes them sound unique. He has the best guitar tone you will ever hear. He plays better, faster, and more innovatively amazing than almost anyone on this list. He is synonymous with great guitar playing. He is much, much better than you and I will ever be. He is the most naturally talented musician since the classical era. He is, the greatest guitarist of all time. Best Guitar Tunes: Eruption, Summer Nights