Was Jimmy Hendrix the best guitarist?

Jimmy Page

Stairway To Heaven Live Solo

im sorry but this isnt even close...

best guitarist in the history of rock and roll is my boy trey anastasio! hands down!

 I miss typed  about MWC's post....

Jeff Beck of course......

Jimmy Page is top #3 easily

I don't think you could possibly just pick one but he was definitely one of the best!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAPVxHNPN6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZOvG5D-x3I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odpliVxBOx0  This song is brilliant from top to bottom, especially when Zappa makes his presence felt around the 5 minute mark.

Zappa.....

Good call on Trey. Not only is he a great guitarist but he's not half bad at orchestrating either.

For pure awesome technique Yngwie J. Malmsteen is of note. Saw him live. Dam. My eyes could not keep up with his fingers. And to whoever said Joe Satriani - yeah, he's in the top 10 in my opinion.

 He may be your fav but you won't find him in anyone's top 10, or even top 50 I would imagine. That's how subjective this can be. I'm a fan of Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, & Robin Trower but I'd bet the same goes for them. I don't think Clapton should ever be put above Jimmy Page but a lot of people do it.

 GUYS, don't forget Chuck Berry, Waylon, & Eric Clapton.

Exhibit A of why I would never consider Page a top guitarist on my list.  Go to the 2:25 to 2:40 minute mark of the song in the link below.  This part sounds like someone playing guitar for 6 months doing a bad solo at the local Guitar Center.  The fact he left this sloppy, mistake filled disaster on the record is even more amazing.  I have thought this is one of the shittiest solos ever recorded for as long as I can remember.

Led Zep - Heartbreaker

 No sweat........I've always wondered about that too. But listen to Steve Miller's solo onj "Space Cowboy" & you'll see the opposite end of the spectrum.
 I got to see Jimmy Page live (granted through binoculars at the KingDome) & the man is amazing.
 Why does eveyone think Clapton is so great? I appreciate the mans work, but don't see it. he is solid but unspectacular.....

I'll show my age here!!  Agree with most, Old Slowhand should not be mentioned with most of these...

1--Hendrix--witnessed it!!  Trust me, truly guys, a class of his own...

2--Robert Fripp

3--Ry Cooder

4--Ritchie Blackmoore

5--Mark Knopfler

jeff beck

stevie ray vaughn

duane allman

clapton

tommy emmanuel 

nuno bettencourt

mark knopfler

jimmy page

Saying who is the greatest guitar player is all personal preference. The best way to start out w/ this discussion is that Hendrix was, is and will always be considered the Babe Ruth of all guitar players. Hendrix made Townshend, Clapton and all of those British guys shit in their pants and the result was that Hendrix actually inspired all of those guys to step up and play better.

To me personally for someone to be considered a top guitarist one must have a balance of the following:

-good sound rhythym playing during a song before and after solo(s) - Ritchie Blackmore has been dissed at times for just plucking on the low e-string for his rhythym playing but he can play that if inspired.
-note choices for the guitar solos
-some ability to play fast - does not have to be chris impelliterri fast
-knows how to bend a note here and there for taste
-most importantly song writing. malmsteen can solo w/ the best of them and is fast as shit but he can't write songs for shit. He does covers real well and writes nice mini-symphonies but his rock tunes they fucking blow.

Most overrated guitar player of all-time: clapton. Most of the best songs he ever played on  were songs written by others and whenever someone that was just hitting his prime would jam with him they would proceed to fucking die just a few years later (allman, srv, hendrix).

my faves based on music type:
metal -poser/thrash
demartini
evh
jake e lee
zakk wylde
gary moore (don't care for his blues shit)
vai
mike shenker (sp)
gilbert
gillis (w/ ozzy)
slash
brian robertson

classic hard rock:
page
blackmore
howe
rabin
srv
clapton
mick taylor
ron wood ('75 & '78)
knopfler
nugent
giraldo
eric johnson (instrumentals only)


ones I don't dig or get:
mayer
anastasio
trower
santana - old or recent shit - way prefer neil schon over him

mark knopfler

Hendrix was amazing but my all time fav is Page...

As a side note,check out Lenny Breau...this guy is a relative unknown but man could he play.Chet Atkins considered him a guitar god among men.
Any serious musician will already know him (IMO) and guitarists will especially appreciate him.
In terms of ability you will find no better...period.

jeff beck is definately the most unique guitarist

 I have to revisit this..............what bullshit......you've obviously never seen Page play live or even in film.  There isn't any R&R guitarist that holds a candle to him.........& I'll bet all R&R guitarist will admit it........Page was doin shit before most bangers were out of diapers......... Page was one of the best ever, if not THE best.

So you're saying that solo is great?  Come on, you know it sucks.  If you notice, I don't say he sucks other than that bad idea of leaving a shitty made solo on a recorded album.  You obviously took what I pointed out as much more than what it was.  I just am not as enamoured with Page as you are is all.

Do you think Van Halen is as great then?  Because he would easily fit what you said about Page, nobody knew what he was doing on the guitar in the late seventies and had a legion of guitarists that emulated him in the 80s through to today (maybe not as much directly today but from emulating guys who emulated VH back in the day).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsCZyZBHGDI&feature=related

As said earlier post, guess I was lucky enough to see him; really a big gap to #2 IMO..watch 'em both..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYuPFxl8_Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5BOf-8vHoY&feature=related

Page admitted that it was a sloppy solo. He only put it in the song because no one at the time ever put in a solo the way he did when the song abruptly stops and then boom - guitar solo!!! Granted it's not a clean solo by any stretch of the imagination but that most likely wasn't the main purpose of the solo.

That's cool Page is not in your top 10. In fact many people would agree w/you and even add on by stating that he's probably the most overrated rock guitarist of all-time. For me personally live or in the studio his solos are some of the best ever, and yes Heartbreaker is not one of them.

I'm surprised no one said PRINCE yet.  This guy is deceptively a God on the guitar. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=madax7-lMvM

This skanky motherfucker creeps into this song and absolutely MURDERS it. 

Think everyone forgets and overlooks him, thinking more of his vocals.  But absolutely right, what he does on this song is just unreal...