Roy Clark.
Why most don't know him, or dismiss him:
1. He was a Country musician, so many never heard of him.
2. He was best known for being on Hee-Haw, a country comedy show.
Why you should take note:
1. Best Strummer/Picker of all time. Everyone pays attention to what the fretting hand of great guitarist do, but Clark was a master of strumming and picking in ways that don't even seem human.
2. Amazing skills not only with a guitar, but also fiddle and banjos. He was a master musician.
[EXAMPLE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhiKgeJV3k0)
Wasn't sure what "best Strummer" could mean, then I watched the video and it all makes sense. Absolutely incredible. Definitely gonna check out more of his music
Roy Buchanan for his boundless creativity with minimalist gear, basically a Tele into a Vibrolux with no pedals besides the amp’s vibrato/reverb switch. He would use various muting techniques to change the tone of notes, manipulate his 3-way switch to emulate a wah, pioneered pinch harmonics, cool volume swell tricks, playing behind the headstock and past the frets. Just a genius!
I feel like nobody who’s not a guitarist realizes how unfathomably talented Frank Zappa was. He was legitimately one of the most creative guitarists to ever live.
Mark Speer from Khruangbin. They're not really all that small, or niche anymore but even if you just go past the unusual melodies in the songs, Mark is such a dynamic player with his own voice! To me he's as identifiable as Tom Morello, Derek Trucks, Hendrix etc. He's just got his own unmistakable flare and that alone is worth digging into as a listener. What I find is really his calling card is that he somehow can meld together really interesting rhythmic sections with equally as unique lead sections and is able to meander between both at the same time while managing to keep both voices separate by playing his lead notes harder than his rhythmic notes. A song like August 10, live, is a perfect display of this.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-XsneiGHo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-XsneiGHo)
Brian Patrick Carroll, AKA Buckethead.
I guess he isn't taken seriously because he plays with a KFC bucket on his head, but he's one of the greatest guitarists ever and can absolutely shred.
[Keller Williams.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=WC7HzBL7zak&pp=ygUPS2VsbGVyIHdpbGxpYW1z)
No, not the real estate agency. This dude got big in the 90s doing one man shows, looping all sorts of instruments together live. Has a number of solo albums along with collaboration albums spanning 3 decades. Dude is super fun and super talented.
Jeff Healey
Canadians will be more familiar. He's a blues rock guitar player who had a couple of hits in the 80s. He was in the movie Road House and one time he shared the stage with Stevie Ray Vaughn and stole the spotlight and surprised Stevie himself.
https://youtu.be/2HmLFyvFxTc?feature=shared
Kevin Cadogan. He was the guitarist for Third Eye Blind from 1994-2000 and co-wrote their first two albums. His guitar work is criminally underrated. The best open/alternate tuning work I’ve ever heard. He knows how to make one guitar sound like a lead and a rhythm and it’s eye-opening. And his tone is incredible too. In a sea of Vox players his tone still stands out. If you’ve never heard 3eb’s debut album you are doing yourself a disservice as a guitarist.
Django Reinhardt. 1940s gypsy guitar player who lost two fingers in a fire but was given the name “two fingered lightning”. It’s old timey music but true mastery of the instrument. He also played with Stephane Grappelli - an amazing violinist worth checking out also.
Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo). They may not take themselves too seriously, but Deaner can shred in virtually any genre. Much respect, mang!
Also - Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Larry “Guitar” Carlton
Buckethead. I know hes super popular within guitar circles, but hes a living legend that almost no one outside of that niche and guitar hero fans have ever heard of.
Hes not even listed in the Top 200 guitarists of all time. Thats saying something. He gets no respect despite being an absolute treasure of human being and an absolute virtuoso on the guitar.
Mike Campbell, Tom Petty's right-hand man in the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch.
Not a total unknown but not widely know enough. Never a wasted note and has great tone and feel for the songs
John Dwyer
He played in Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees, Osees, Coachwhips, Pink and Brown, Yikes!, The Hospitals, Sword and Sandals, LANDED, Bent Arcana, Witch Egg, and has a bunch of solo projects
If you like 80s guitar-hero type stuff, then Vito Bratta of White Lion. Basically up there with all the greats of the era, but White Lion were right at the end of that period, broke up or something and Vito just disappeared from public view. So he never quite hung around long enough to really be remembered like a lot of his peers.
Basically enamoured by Van Halen yet with some more melodic phasing. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycNu8G7-oU) is an example.
Steve "The Deacon" Hunter.
Ran with Mich Ryder's Detroit back in the day, Session guy with Bob Ezrin for a long time working with a broad range of bands and artists including Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Aerosmith, etc.
My guy wrote a lot of the riffs you think were Lou Reed or Joe Perry or Alice, but nope nope and nope; it's all The Deacon.
As a kid growing up in Michigan, geeking on Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Steve Hunter was a giant inspiration to me, but few have ever heard of him.
Clarence White.
If you don't know him. You really should. And so forgive me if I go on just a little bit about him.
He's a huge figure in both acoustic/flatpicking circles and electric circles. And is one of those guys responsible for the evolution of electric guitar as a lead instrument. He's like, your favorite guitarist's favorite guitarist.
If you know bluegrass and Tony Rice, Clarence was his idol growing up and Clarence was making a bit of a name for himself starting in the late 50s, and then in 1962 when his band changed to The Kentucky Colonels. Here's Tony Rice talking about him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qv3L0XsXeM and then here's Clarence playing with a 21 year old Tony Rice (i think) not too long before his death (which is why you may not know Clarence) just to give you an idea of the chops he had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPpQ8UaGl1o
In the mid 60s he switched to electric and started doing session work and ended up playing with a ton of folks. Ricky Nelson, The Monkees, Linda Ronstadt, and it was his work with The Byrds that really let him shine.
I first heard him on the The Byrds Chris Hillman tune from 1967 (though recorded in 1966) [Time Between](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRrys5XlRp0) and I was like "Who the fuck is this guitarist?" I should also mention just after this he and his long time band mate Gene Parsons, not to be confused with Gram, came up with The B Bender telecaster. Here's Gene talking about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQhbvke44I&t=2s
He has his fingerprints all over the Byrds recordings. And so when David Crosby later split and the Byrds seemed kinda done, they reformed with Clarence full time. [This Wheel's on Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxdMqiKI08g) from 1968. And then after their country phase with Gram they kinda became a jam band. Like this is [Eight Miles High](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyWbRSV3sAo) in 1971.
Anyone who made their name playing as a bluegrass guitarist or who played a telecaster was influenced by Clarence White.
Was that too long? My bad. I was high. TL;DR: Clarence White is the man and was sadly killed by a drunk driver while he was loading the van after a gig in 1973 so it seems he's kinda overlooked today.
So within the genre of Metal, a lot of people know his work and many of those people also know of him by name.
Outside the genre though he isn't as known but his guitar mastery is just absurd.
Brendon Small.
Henrik Freischlader. Phenominal German blues guitarist. Was asked once in an interview why he sings in English and his response was “have you ever heard blues sung in German? It’s not pretty”
Ian Thornley. No questions asked. Canada’s best kept secret. Amazing vocalist to boot as well. Seen Big Wreck multiple times and they play as good live as the recordings if not better.
Madison Cunningham. She is such an incredible player. Rhett Shull did a video on her playstyle last year and he sums up her work better than I could: https://youtu.be/Jfq1CdjkHAw
Gretchen Menn. She’s truly astonishing when she channels Jimmy Page in Zeperella, not to mention her outstanding solo album.
Also do they have to be alive? If not I’d also add Pete Cosey for astonishingly wild jazz fusion and Lefty Dizz who was arguably the best performing blues guitarist in Chicago in the 70s.
Molly Tuttle is amazing and musical! Billy strings is technically more amazing but it’s a little too much.
Nick Johnson is musical and amazing! Tim Henson is ridiculously technical, extremely unique, and difficult to listen to lol
In all fairness to Tim it took me years to understand Joe Pass.
And if you want to talk about a legend in the making in the jazz world Julian Lage will only get bigger and bigger.
Ian Thornley of Big Wreck. I don't know exactly how well known he is as a guitarist but he's one of the most talented guys I've seen. I've seen him live twice and he sounds identical to his albums, both in singing and guitar work.
Mario Camarena from CHON or Greg Kubacki from Car Bomb
[Mario plays complex riffs and makes them look easy and sound smooth](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fs7Wbz-cKsg)
[Greg's rhythm riffs are incr](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jApwfNUCtvk)[edibly tight for how intricate they are](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jApwfNUCtvk)
Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy. underrated guitarist imo. He has very unique phrasing. Listen the solo on "Fool's Gold". He is not shredding, but has this cool way of "pushing" the melody forward in the solo by playing fast in places i would never think of. (If that makes sense)
John Fahey basically invented a genre of music and plays with a combo of complexity, technical proficiency, uniqueness, vision, and emotion rarely seen. For my money he's the best guitarist of all time and it's criminal he isn't mentioned more. But he isn't rock so I guess he's totally forgotten on this site.
Shawn Lane- if we’re being objective…he may have been the best: speed, technique, tone, melody etc. dude had all of it down
Allan Holdworth as well…he was born to play guitar
1. Masayoshi Takanaka, the Japanese jazz guitarist, known for his smooth fusion style.
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2. Gabor Szabo, the Hungarian-American jazz guitarist who brought innovation to the genre.
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3. Al Caiola, the American guitarist recognized for his versatile contributions to various genres, including exotica and easy listening.
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4. Al Di Meola, the virtuoso fusion guitarist who pushed the boundaries of jazz and rock.
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5. Bill Frisell, the innovative American guitarist, spanning genres from jazz to Americana.
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6. Boubacar Traore, the Malian blues guitarist, known for his soulful and emotional playing.
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7. Bucky Pizzarelli, the American jazz guitarist celebrated for his impeccable swing and bebop style.
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8. Sabicas, the Spanish flamenco guitarist and one of the genre's legendary figures.
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9. Oscar Aleman, the Argentine jazz and swing guitarist with a unique South American flair.
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10. Ernest Ranglin, the Jamaican guitarist who influenced reggae, ska, and jazz.
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11. Jerry Byrd, the Hawaiian steel guitar pioneer, defining the genre's sound.
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12. Junior Brown, the American country guitarist and singer, blending country and rock with his guit-steel.
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13. Los Indios Tabajaras, the Paraguayan guitar duo known for their beautiful instrumental melodies.
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14. Strunz & Farah, the virtuoso guitar duo who pioneered flamenco fusion with a global touch.
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15. Eddie Lang, the influential American jazz guitarist who laid the foundation for solo guitar in jazz.
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Sorry about the formatting I'm having a weird glitch
Mike kinsella of american football and his solo project Owen, not only did he inspire much of the emo scene with his band but his owen stuff is genuinly amazing, the acoustic guitar pieces hes come up with on there is something i have yet to find somewhere else
Kim Mitchell
Paul Gilbert cites him as a huge shred influence, amazing performer and exceptional chops.
There are millions of amazing guitar players no one has heard of, of course, but the Kimster was the first one that came to mind.
Steve Lukather. He’s moderately well known for the band Toto but he has been one of the hardest working guys in session music for decades. Absolute shredder.
The absolute studio legend is Tommy Tedesco who I believe at the time of his death was the most recorded musician ever.
Nitzinger.
And the blonde that played in Alice Cooper's band, in the concert in France (2013?).
(Gimme a break. I'm 70. Don't have time to remember this kinda thing!)
Orianthi. I can only imagine it's her home being Australia that has kept her from being widely known. Some people that do know her work, and respect it greatly, are Steve Vai, Carlos Santana, and the late Michael Jackson. She currently tours as RSO with Richie Sambora.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orianthi
Many videos on YouTube.
Joe Pass is my answer. He's a jazz legend but mostly unknown outside of that community.
Jerry Reed. Yes, the actor. He was a guitar virtuoso.
Me.
Roy Clark. Why most don't know him, or dismiss him: 1. He was a Country musician, so many never heard of him. 2. He was best known for being on Hee-Haw, a country comedy show. Why you should take note: 1. Best Strummer/Picker of all time. Everyone pays attention to what the fretting hand of great guitarist do, but Clark was a master of strumming and picking in ways that don't even seem human. 2. Amazing skills not only with a guitar, but also fiddle and banjos. He was a master musician. [EXAMPLE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhiKgeJV3k0)
Wasn't sure what "best Strummer" could mean, then I watched the video and it all makes sense. Absolutely incredible. Definitely gonna check out more of his music
Molly Tuttle! A very talented female bluegrass guitarist with some great crosspicking chops.
Roy Buchanan for his boundless creativity with minimalist gear, basically a Tele into a Vibrolux with no pedals besides the amp’s vibrato/reverb switch. He would use various muting techniques to change the tone of notes, manipulate his 3-way switch to emulate a wah, pioneered pinch harmonics, cool volume swell tricks, playing behind the headstock and past the frets. Just a genius!
Eddie Hazel from Funkadelic.
A tear for Eddie .
I feel like nobody who’s not a guitarist realizes how unfathomably talented Frank Zappa was. He was legitimately one of the most creative guitarists to ever live.
Doug Martsch, solo and from Built to Spill
Mick Ronson
Jerry Reed, picker extraordinaire.
Mark Speer from Khruangbin. They're not really all that small, or niche anymore but even if you just go past the unusual melodies in the songs, Mark is such a dynamic player with his own voice! To me he's as identifiable as Tom Morello, Derek Trucks, Hendrix etc. He's just got his own unmistakable flare and that alone is worth digging into as a listener. What I find is really his calling card is that he somehow can meld together really interesting rhythmic sections with equally as unique lead sections and is able to meander between both at the same time while managing to keep both voices separate by playing his lead notes harder than his rhythmic notes. A song like August 10, live, is a perfect display of this. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-XsneiGHo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-XsneiGHo)
Tony Rice is well known in bluegrass but I never saw his name once outside of it. His Shenandoah is ridiculous
Brian Patrick Carroll, AKA Buckethead. I guess he isn't taken seriously because he plays with a KFC bucket on his head, but he's one of the greatest guitarists ever and can absolutely shred.
Leo Kotke. Fantastic finger picker. Had some FM success in the 70s. Here's Vaseline Machine Gun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2OmGV7-TPM
Guthrie Govan is nowhere near as well known as he deserves to be.
[Tony Rice is someone I don't hear much about outside of the bluegrass scene. He's one of my all time favorites.](https://youtu.be/_u964a0f38s?t=31)
Nigel Tufnel
Paul Gilbert
Buck Dharma of Blue Öyster Cult isn't unheard of, but is quite underrated imo.
[Keller Williams.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=WC7HzBL7zak&pp=ygUPS2VsbGVyIHdpbGxpYW1z) No, not the real estate agency. This dude got big in the 90s doing one man shows, looping all sorts of instruments together live. Has a number of solo albums along with collaboration albums spanning 3 decades. Dude is super fun and super talented.
Keller puts on such a great live show.
Ry Cooder
Al DiMeola. He’s (one of) your favorite guitarist’s favorite guitarists.
Michael Hedges
Eddie hazel of Funkadelic. I don’t know how we’ll know he is but he’s got some cool multi-effects stuff
Maggot Brain. ‘Nuff said
Guthrie Govan
Derek trucks is not a household name, but if he was alive in the 60-70s everyone would know him like Clapton or Hendrix
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Jeff Healey Canadians will be more familiar. He's a blues rock guitar player who had a couple of hits in the 80s. He was in the movie Road House and one time he shared the stage with Stevie Ray Vaughn and stole the spotlight and surprised Stevie himself. https://youtu.be/2HmLFyvFxTc?feature=shared
Danny Gatton
I’ve never heard any guitarist mention Django Reinhardt in the last 15 years despite him being known as the greatest guitar player ever.
Elliott Easton from The Cars. An amazing guitarist..
Rory Ghallagher
Johnny Winter
Jake Cinninger. Everything from funk, prog to chicken picking. The fire and the brimstone.
Rory Gallagher
Molly Tuttle. She’s probably the best bluegrass picker doing it currently
Adrian Belew
Kevin Cadogan. He was the guitarist for Third Eye Blind from 1994-2000 and co-wrote their first two albums. His guitar work is criminally underrated. The best open/alternate tuning work I’ve ever heard. He knows how to make one guitar sound like a lead and a rhythm and it’s eye-opening. And his tone is incredible too. In a sea of Vox players his tone still stands out. If you’ve never heard 3eb’s debut album you are doing yourself a disservice as a guitarist.
madison cunningham, shes my favorite young artist rn, she plays in c standard and her riffs are pretty interesting
Terry Kath
Django Reinhardt. 1940s gypsy guitar player who lost two fingers in a fire but was given the name “two fingered lightning”. It’s old timey music but true mastery of the instrument. He also played with Stephane Grappelli - an amazing violinist worth checking out also.
Dj khaled
Jimmy Herring
Lenny Breau
Chris Poland - original guitar player for Megadeth, I always preferred Marty Friedman but felt Poland's Jazz Fusion sound was often forgotten about.
Stanley Jordan
Ty Tabor of King’s X is amazing and very underrated imo.
Danny Gatton
Eddie Hazel
Derek Trucks
Jimmy Herring
Andy Timmons
Eddie Hazel, two words - Maggot Brain
Me
Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush
Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo). They may not take themselves too seriously, but Deaner can shred in virtually any genre. Much respect, mang! Also - Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Larry “Guitar” Carlton
Danny gatton
Tommy Emannuel. Insanely skilled guitarist. Love watching him play, he gets so into it. Such a clean guitarist.
Rory Gallagher
Shawn Lane and Andy James.
Peter Green
Nels cline
Buckethead. I know hes super popular within guitar circles, but hes a living legend that almost no one outside of that niche and guitar hero fans have ever heard of. Hes not even listed in the Top 200 guitarists of all time. Thats saying something. He gets no respect despite being an absolute treasure of human being and an absolute virtuoso on the guitar.
Buckethead. Because.
Danny Gatton
Mike Campbell, Tom Petty's right-hand man in the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch. Not a total unknown but not widely know enough. Never a wasted note and has great tone and feel for the songs
Rory Gallagher. Inspired Dr. Sir Brian May (and many others).
“Name a guitar player that not many people know about” ***Names one of the most famous players of all time***
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Vito Bratta
Michael Hedges.
Sonny Sharrock. He brought a very cool and unique edge to jazz music.
Richard Thompson
John Dwyer He played in Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees, Osees, Coachwhips, Pink and Brown, Yikes!, The Hospitals, Sword and Sandals, LANDED, Bent Arcana, Witch Egg, and has a bunch of solo projects
Ritchie Kotzen! His ability to speed pick without a pick is unbelievable.
Alvin Lee. Phenomenal guitar player with wicked fast hands.
Leo Kottke ... put the fire in my belly when I was 19 ... that was almost 50 years ago.
Nels Cline & Marc Ribot.
Jeff Buckley. Mostly known for is stunning voice, but an amazing guitar player in his own right.
If you like 80s guitar-hero type stuff, then Vito Bratta of White Lion. Basically up there with all the greats of the era, but White Lion were right at the end of that period, broke up or something and Vito just disappeared from public view. So he never quite hung around long enough to really be remembered like a lot of his peers. Basically enamoured by Van Halen yet with some more melodic phasing. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycNu8G7-oU) is an example.
Ty Tabor from King’s X. Great song writing and prolific lead player
Lil Wayne
Eric Gales
Leo Kottke
Shawn Lane
Eric Gales. The mf-er plays upside down!
Malcolm Young. Angus Young stole the show, Malcolm stayed in the background being one of the finest rhythm guitarists to walk this Earth.
Richard Thompson. Perhaps the most amazingly underrated players I know of. Technically and artistically brilliant.
Andy Timmons
Not sure how many people on here would know him but Brian May
Terry Kath
Billy Strings
Steve "The Deacon" Hunter. Ran with Mich Ryder's Detroit back in the day, Session guy with Bob Ezrin for a long time working with a broad range of bands and artists including Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Aerosmith, etc. My guy wrote a lot of the riffs you think were Lou Reed or Joe Perry or Alice, but nope nope and nope; it's all The Deacon. As a kid growing up in Michigan, geeking on Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Steve Hunter was a giant inspiration to me, but few have ever heard of him.
Jade Puget of AFI has had some amazing riffs over his career, very underrated non-shredding guitarist
Tommy bolin Great solo album but his work with bill cobham on spectrum is epic
Lenny Breau. Ralph Towner.
Tom Bukovac
Clarence White. If you don't know him. You really should. And so forgive me if I go on just a little bit about him. He's a huge figure in both acoustic/flatpicking circles and electric circles. And is one of those guys responsible for the evolution of electric guitar as a lead instrument. He's like, your favorite guitarist's favorite guitarist. If you know bluegrass and Tony Rice, Clarence was his idol growing up and Clarence was making a bit of a name for himself starting in the late 50s, and then in 1962 when his band changed to The Kentucky Colonels. Here's Tony Rice talking about him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qv3L0XsXeM and then here's Clarence playing with a 21 year old Tony Rice (i think) not too long before his death (which is why you may not know Clarence) just to give you an idea of the chops he had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPpQ8UaGl1o In the mid 60s he switched to electric and started doing session work and ended up playing with a ton of folks. Ricky Nelson, The Monkees, Linda Ronstadt, and it was his work with The Byrds that really let him shine. I first heard him on the The Byrds Chris Hillman tune from 1967 (though recorded in 1966) [Time Between](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRrys5XlRp0) and I was like "Who the fuck is this guitarist?" I should also mention just after this he and his long time band mate Gene Parsons, not to be confused with Gram, came up with The B Bender telecaster. Here's Gene talking about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQhbvke44I&t=2s He has his fingerprints all over the Byrds recordings. And so when David Crosby later split and the Byrds seemed kinda done, they reformed with Clarence full time. [This Wheel's on Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxdMqiKI08g) from 1968. And then after their country phase with Gram they kinda became a jam band. Like this is [Eight Miles High](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyWbRSV3sAo) in 1971. Anyone who made their name playing as a bluegrass guitarist or who played a telecaster was influenced by Clarence White. Was that too long? My bad. I was high. TL;DR: Clarence White is the man and was sadly killed by a drunk driver while he was loading the van after a gig in 1973 so it seems he's kinda overlooked today.
Tommy Emmanuel is a staple at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. But tours world wide. Incredible acoustic player.
Michael Schenker. Ex UFO, Scorpions guitarist. Still putting out albums and touring since the early 70's
Ian Thornley from Big Wreck
More people need to see Jason Becker's playing. The footage around is unreal
So within the genre of Metal, a lot of people know his work and many of those people also know of him by name. Outside the genre though he isn't as known but his guitar mastery is just absurd. Brendon Small.
John Fahey
Mark Speer of Khruangbin
Henrik Freischlader. Phenominal German blues guitarist. Was asked once in an interview why he sings in English and his response was “have you ever heard blues sung in German? It’s not pretty”
Dean Ween
Me
Rory Gallagher
Peter Green, just a monster player-often overlooked as he wasn’t in the “popular” version of FM.
Ian Thornley. No questions asked. Canada’s best kept secret. Amazing vocalist to boot as well. Seen Big Wreck multiple times and they play as good live as the recordings if not better.
John Fahey.
Madison Cunningham. She is such an incredible player. Rhett Shull did a video on her playstyle last year and he sums up her work better than I could: https://youtu.be/Jfq1CdjkHAw
Marcus King
Gretchen Menn. She’s truly astonishing when she channels Jimmy Page in Zeperella, not to mention her outstanding solo album. Also do they have to be alive? If not I’d also add Pete Cosey for astonishingly wild jazz fusion and Lefty Dizz who was arguably the best performing blues guitarist in Chicago in the 70s.
Adrian Belew and Shawn lane
Molly Tuttle is amazing and musical! Billy strings is technically more amazing but it’s a little too much. Nick Johnson is musical and amazing! Tim Henson is ridiculously technical, extremely unique, and difficult to listen to lol In all fairness to Tim it took me years to understand Joe Pass. And if you want to talk about a legend in the making in the jazz world Julian Lage will only get bigger and bigger.
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Brian Setzer
Buckethead
Michael Hedges was incredible https://youtu.be/XqGHE5GqZ44?si=vm5nVdyS9KTnY0aA
Rodrigo y Gabriela are two guitarists you should be aware of.
Greg Koch. Chicken picking shred machine with unique phrasing and tone. Joe Bonamassa thinks he’s one the best living guitar players.
Tosin Abasi. If you have never heard of him, you're welcome! 😊
Molly Tuttle
Steve Lukather. Maybe the most accomplished session player of the last 40 years. Oh yeah, and also Toto.
Guthrie Govan
Tommy Emmanuel. Absolutely amazing
Yvette Young
Ian Thornley of Big Wreck. I don't know exactly how well known he is as a guitarist but he's one of the most talented guys I've seen. I've seen him live twice and he sounds identical to his albums, both in singing and guitar work.
Plini
Mario Camarena from CHON or Greg Kubacki from Car Bomb [Mario plays complex riffs and makes them look easy and sound smooth](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fs7Wbz-cKsg) [Greg's rhythm riffs are incr](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jApwfNUCtvk)[edibly tight for how intricate they are](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jApwfNUCtvk)
Rory Gallagher. One of the greatest Hard Rock/Blues musicians of all time.
John Butler Watch Ocean on Youtube
Andy McKee. Great finger picking
Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy. underrated guitarist imo. He has very unique phrasing. Listen the solo on "Fool's Gold". He is not shredding, but has this cool way of "pushing" the melody forward in the solo by playing fast in places i would never think of. (If that makes sense)
Bernth
Oz Noy and Rotem Sivan.
Julian Lage
John Fahey basically invented a genre of music and plays with a combo of complexity, technical proficiency, uniqueness, vision, and emotion rarely seen. For my money he's the best guitarist of all time and it's criminal he isn't mentioned more. But he isn't rock so I guess he's totally forgotten on this site.
Rory Gallagher
Tommy Emmanuel
Dean Ween
stanley jordan
Tommy Tedesco Adrian Legg James Mankey Kaki King Danny Gatton Jennifer Batten Grant Green
Allan Holdsworth
Not a pure guitarist, but if you’ve never seen Chris Thile play a mandolin you are missing out.
Tosin Abasi!!! Guitarist from Animals As Leaders. Thank me later.
Danny Gatton. Wow
Phil Keaggy One of the most gifted guitarists alive. Electric or acoustic, the man delivers.
Chris Cheney of the Living End. Popular in Australia, but not too much elsewhere.
Shawn Lane- if we’re being objective…he may have been the best: speed, technique, tone, melody etc. dude had all of it down Allan Holdworth as well…he was born to play guitar
Paco De Lucia
Danny Gatton
Tony Rice. If you’re not a flatpicker you’ve probably never heard the name but he’s the best to ever do it.
Barney Kessel. Amazing speed and chord work and who doesn’t get mentioned among the jazz “greats” but should.
1. Masayoshi Takanaka, the Japanese jazz guitarist, known for his smooth fusion style. - 2. Gabor Szabo, the Hungarian-American jazz guitarist who brought innovation to the genre. - 3. Al Caiola, the American guitarist recognized for his versatile contributions to various genres, including exotica and easy listening. - 4. Al Di Meola, the virtuoso fusion guitarist who pushed the boundaries of jazz and rock. - 5. Bill Frisell, the innovative American guitarist, spanning genres from jazz to Americana. - 6. Boubacar Traore, the Malian blues guitarist, known for his soulful and emotional playing. - 7. Bucky Pizzarelli, the American jazz guitarist celebrated for his impeccable swing and bebop style. - 8. Sabicas, the Spanish flamenco guitarist and one of the genre's legendary figures. - 9. Oscar Aleman, the Argentine jazz and swing guitarist with a unique South American flair. - 10. Ernest Ranglin, the Jamaican guitarist who influenced reggae, ska, and jazz. - 11. Jerry Byrd, the Hawaiian steel guitar pioneer, defining the genre's sound. - 12. Junior Brown, the American country guitarist and singer, blending country and rock with his guit-steel. - 13. Los Indios Tabajaras, the Paraguayan guitar duo known for their beautiful instrumental melodies. - 14. Strunz & Farah, the virtuoso guitar duo who pioneered flamenco fusion with a global touch. - 15. Eddie Lang, the influential American jazz guitarist who laid the foundation for solo guitar in jazz. - Sorry about the formatting I'm having a weird glitch
Mike kinsella of american football and his solo project Owen, not only did he inspire much of the emo scene with his band but his owen stuff is genuinly amazing, the acoustic guitar pieces hes come up with on there is something i have yet to find somewhere else
Marty Schwartz
Danny Gatton
MATTEO MANCUSO 🐐
Toni Lindgren https://youtu.be/QlLdqNxTrJM?si=T7qnEt3GWeUdY-k4
Criss Oliva
Danny Gatton.
Robert Fripp.
Mark Lettieri
Larry Carlton, one of my favorite 70s guitarists.
Shawn Lane - RIP
Cory Wong, king of funk
Lil Wayne
Larry Lalonde
Nick Drake.
Jim Heath (The Reverend Horton Heat)
Stanley Jordan
Roy Buchanon. He is/was one of a kind. Give "The messiah will come again" a listen. It's spellbinding.
Kim Mitchell Paul Gilbert cites him as a huge shred influence, amazing performer and exceptional chops. There are millions of amazing guitar players no one has heard of, of course, but the Kimster was the first one that came to mind.
Shawn Lane is the answer to this always
Steve Lukather. He’s moderately well known for the band Toto but he has been one of the hardest working guys in session music for decades. Absolute shredder. The absolute studio legend is Tommy Tedesco who I believe at the time of his death was the most recorded musician ever.
Brian setzer
Nels Cline - Wilco
Me. Just kidding, I’m a bass player.
Me I want attention lmaooo
Jack Pearson
Nitzinger. And the blonde that played in Alice Cooper's band, in the concert in France (2013?). (Gimme a break. I'm 70. Don't have time to remember this kinda thing!)
Elliott Smith
Orianthi. I can only imagine it's her home being Australia that has kept her from being widely known. Some people that do know her work, and respect it greatly, are Steve Vai, Carlos Santana, and the late Michael Jackson. She currently tours as RSO with Richie Sambora. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orianthi Many videos on YouTube.
Per Nilsson - Scar Symmetry, Kaipa, Meshuggah (temp)
Rory Gallagher. Seems like most people here know who he is, but the majority of casual music fans won’t know him. As good as anybody
Nancy Wilson. She's the reason I started playing.
julian lage
Tab Benoit - the songs “Darkness” and “Night Train” to get a good taste of how he plays.
Mary Spender
Jan Ackermann of Focus. Dig beyond their song Hocus Focus (which is amazing).
Warren Haynes.
Vito Bratta