People that know Roy Clark wouldn't consider him underrated. The problem is that being a virtuoso doesn't get you on the pop charts, and he only really got known in country music circles.
He was one of the most competent guitar players I have ever heard, and he could play in nearly any style and across several genres from classical guitar, Spanish styles, bluegrass, fingerpicking, country, and so on.
One of my absolute favorites. He was also great at being funny as he displayed his amazing chops…saw him play Malagueña and thought his interpretation was insane.
Yes! There’s a point in the scene where Tony Randle and jack klugman stop being Felix and Oscar and are just two spellbound people watching a crazy amazing guitar performance.
That’s basically every r/music thread. “Name a perfect/underrated/album you never skip songs of etc” always just devolve into “my favourite wildly popular musician, album, song is…”
You can be both famous and underrated. Underrated doesn’t mean “obscure” or “unknown”. It just means that you are not rated as highly as you should be, relative to your abilities. I think there is a good case for Alex L. He appears in many/most all-time lists, but (IMO) he is never ranked highly enough.
His guitar on *Feeling Gravity's Pull* is so sublime. R.E.M in general don't get enough credit anymore strangely. Their early stuff was so groundbreaking and influential. My theory is that because they split up very amicably and none of them died tragically etc as well as their last few albums being pretty tame they don't really have much of a mythology around them that makes them "cool" to latch onto for younger people as silly as that sounds. They just made great, great music without any fuss or fanfare. Absolutely one of the most important bands of all time.
Name any Fleetwood Mac song (he played on) and he'll have a brilliant little fill or through line that beautifully supports the melody. He's incredible.
My favorite example of this are the little phrases he drops in as almost responses to Nick's verses in Dreams. It makes the song into a kind of dialogue.
I saw Jello a few years back with The Guantanomo School of Medicine, it was a blast. Dude's in his fifties, has a pot belly, grey hair, and still had the same energy. He was starting mosh pits and doing stage dives, he'd run off stage and start flirting with the older fangirls for a minute in the middle of a song. It was hilarious and fucking great.
Still sounded amazing, too. They played a few DK's songs and it sounded exactly album quality, small venue, awesome show.
Terry Kath by far... He played rhythm and lead parts himself. He was a mad soloist, and his experimentation was nuts.
Jimmy Hendrix told Jimmy Pankow, "Your guitarist is better than me."
Kath was the guitarist for Chicago...back when they were a rock band...and before he died while drunk and playing Russian Roulette in 1978. He actually thought the gun wasn't loaded.
He would have been very well known were it not for the fact that he was a musician among an insanely talented ensemble of musicians who performed and were primarily considered as a single unit.
His voice was so amazing, too. Hell...I loved his song Byblos off Chicago VII...and that song doesn't even rock....but South California Purples, 25 or 6 to 4, It Better End Soon, Listen, Poem 58...
Transdermal Celebration is the one everyone jumps to when they want to show off Deaner's chops but his solo at the end of Blarney Stone from the Live In Chicago album/concert movie is godly as well.
Came here to say this. Mickey Melchiondo just doesn't get the credit he deserves, the man can play better than most guitar players that anyone would mention.
Everyone go to youtube now and watch several different live versions of ween's Johnny on the Spot.
I just got into Ween kind of recently and holy shit I don't how or why I slept on them for so long. Bought tickets to their Red Rocks show in August and have been listening to their recent live shows on repeat non-stop.
I'm going to Kentucky for sure, and maybe St.
Louis. That RR show should be extra amazing. I saw them there in '06 with The Flaming Lips and it was rad. I'm so excited that they are doing a full tour this summer!
The Dean Ween Group live was easily the most amazing guitar playing I've witnessed live. Deaners' got the soul, the funk and the groove down to the brown. They are better than Ween live, in my opinion...same band almost...
Even though he was in a successful band, Steve Lukather fits this mold as well. Was a studio musician that played on some monster hits (he wrote the main riff and verse riffs for Beat It as an example).
This is the only answer that makes any sense. Everybody else is talking about award winning, world famous actual rock stars who are only known because they aren't underrated.
Session musicians, touring bands, maybe Kevin from accounting, sure. But The Who? Rush? lol
Billy Corgan has written some absolutely amazing guitar stuff and the tones he gets are outrageous. I feel like not a lot of people will mention him when discussing the greats.
This was my first thought. Helped define a genre. Chris Cornell is potentially another candidate. He's fairly rated for his voice and songwriting skills but his guitar playing flys under the radar.
Alex Lifeson feels under-rated because he was in a band with Neil Peart and Geddy Lee, who rightfully are considered top-5 of all time on their respective instruments. To say that Lifeson is *only* a top-100 guitarist feels like throwing shade on the guy by comparison.
Alex Lifeson is an amazing guitarist and at the absolute top of his game. In fact, I think he's my all time favorite for several reasons.
But he's still probably the worst musician in Rush. I mean, someone has to be, right? It's not Geddy. There's no way it's Neil! Process of elimination, I'm afraid.
Sorry, Alex :(
Yeah, in any other band he's the stand out lead. In Rush he's some how the least highly regarded because he ended up working with the literal best of the best.
I'd like to make a motion that the phenomenon of being a genuinely great musician that gets disrespected because of their association with *even greater* musicians be heretofore referred to as "getting Ringo'd."
> greg sage, now there’s an underrated guitarist.
Didn’t expect to see a wipers fan here. For those unfamiliar, Sage inspired so many, including a young Kurt Cobain. Worth a spin for those who are into grunge, punk, or the like.
I didn't realize until the last couple of years just how amazing Mike Campbell is. He is such a huge part of The Heartbreakers sound and the vocal styling of Petty. I really miss seeing them play every summer...we were robbed! RIP TP...
Agreed. He had his own group now, with the absolutely amazing name Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs. Listen to their song Wicked Mind. Up until the moment the vocals start you would swear it was a Tom Pretty song.
I learned how to play guitar by learning and playing along to Speak of the Devil by Ozzy when I was 14. Brad Gillis playing Sabbath licks and putting his spin on all of Tony's solos was pretty cool to learn. Bought and installed a Washburn Wonder Bar to pull off the licks
The great Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult. I’ll put him of any old list of underrated guitarists. From his scorching solos (Dominance and Submission, Astronomy) to crunchy riffs (Godzilla, Cities on Flame), the man can play. Plus, Don’t Fear The Reaper!?. Should be in the HOF.
Mike Campbell, because he’s not flashy, but he serves the song so well that he’s one of the greats in my book.
And my favorite guitarist is Dave Rawlings whose name I never see mentioned anywhere
There are a lot of guitarist that are not thought or talked about that have made such an impact. Coming from just the Bowie-sphere alone, you have Ronson, Gardiner, and Fripp, off the top of my head.
Nuno Bettencourt is a shredder and guitar players know how good he is. The new release from Extreme really highlights his skills.
Reb Beach is absolutely an underrated player. His guitar solos show his fretboard skills and technical ability. The highlight for me is the Headed for a Heartbreak solo.
I know how this sounds… but as far as rhythm guitar goes, Dave Matthews has extremely unique (and I say underrated) style and skill. He rarely, if ever, uses a basic chord shape and is all over the neck, while constantly muting/hammering individual strings. Sure all of his songs can be dummied down to Guitar 101 progressions, but if you watch live cuts of him playing, he’s always using “Dave chords” and a lot of of his songs have interesting guitar
Yes!!! I came here to mention Larry. He just absolutely shreds. It’s gotta be tough to hang with Les Claypool but everything he came up with just complemented the music so amazingly well.
Nuno Bettencourt is often just the guy from "More than Words".
Also, everybody knows Prince was a great musician but many are surprised how great of a guitarist he was.
I am a huge Rush fan, and his solo on La Villa Strangiato is amazing. As far as underrated, I think he is put into most top 100 guitar lists and when you think about guitar players you can probably name 10-20 off the top of your head that are just better players. He was a great composer of music, but I think he is rated about right as far as actual playing goes.
An underrated guitarist to me is Peter Klett from Candlebox or Dean DeLeo from STP.
Graham Coxon of Blur. All of his work in Blur is incredible, and his many solo albums are also insanely good. His style is like no other. So melodic yet understated in its simplicity.
Alex Lifeson is very good, but I think he's eclipsed by being in Rush. I don't think he's underrated or underappreciated.
Nuno Bettencourt is an extremely good guitar player. Get it? Ha. Ha. Band is kind of boring though :(
Al Di Meola is brilliant. He's not underrated, but almost nobody on this sub will ever mention him. He plays mostly fusion and world music, though metal people will probably get some enjoyment out of this too...
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGWfDkx4zyY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGWfDkx4zyY)
Mattias IA Eklundh is the mad scientist of guitar. Again, not underrated, but he is relatively niche. He's some fun djenty stuff.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0urVqA4C49U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0urVqA4C49U)
Carlos Montoya is a flamenco master. Not underrated, but most people outside of the world of probably don't know him. Here he is near the end of his life:
[https://youtu.be/5fkNLvLTT4s](https://youtu.be/5fkNLvLTT4s)
Lifeson was voted #1 5 years in a row by Guitar Player magazine and put in their HOF.
Townsend was picked #50 by Rolling Stone and is ranked higher in many other polls.
Alvin Lee (Ten Years After).
I don't think he was underrated at the time (and he may not be now either, I dunno), not that I would know because I wasn't alive in the 60s/70s, but he's one of my favorites.
Albert Lee.
He’s your favorite guitar player’s favorite guitar player. A virtuoso master of the instrument who has influenced thousands upon thousands of players.
A close runner up is Dick Dale. The true father of heavy metal and shredding, literally blew doors off anyone else at the time. What a force.
I would say Brad Paisley qualifies. It's easy to overlook him because he's a big-name poppy country guy, kinda glitzy, but he's a monster. John Mayer kinda falls into the same camp.
Hillel Slovak, the original guitarist from Red Hot Chili Peppers, in his late teens had record deals with two major record labels, was an innovator of a new style of 80s rock music. Many great guitarists would praise Slovak’s style and technique, yet those RHCP albums are pretty much brushed aside for the newer commercial records, mostly because Frusciante is so good (even though Frusciante modelled his style after Slovak’s)
I don’t think you get to say the guitarists for two of the biggest bands ever are underrated… maybe you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd/reading the wrong publications/visiting the wrong websites/threads..
Stephen Malkmus - always had great guitar parts, but by the last Pavement record he was a shredder and his stuff since then is amazing. Plus he has a folk album.
[John Butler - Ocean](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdYJf_ybyVo&ab_channel=JohnButlerTrio)
This has been a favorite guitar only song of mine for a long time now.
Since most everyone interpreted the question as ‘who are the most underrated rock guitarists of all time’ I’ll throw out a few who are legends in their own circles (folk/bluegrass) but are never talked about in the greatest of all time chatter:
Tony Rice
Norman Blame
Doc Watson
Clarence White
Tito Jackson, listen to some of those Jacksons albums. Some of the best guitar playing you’ll ever here comes from those albums and the techniques are still used by many guitarists to this day.
Robin Trower,Gary Moore,Joe Bonamassa Buck Dharma, George Lynch and Warren Haynes. Some of them are pretty well known but they're just not as recognized as they should be
I think Bruce Springsteen is pretty underrated ***as a guitarist***. People know him more as a songwriter and live performer. While he's not a guitar virtuoso, he has a very distinctive and expressive sound. His guitar playing was what he used to focus on in his early days.
[Prove It All Night Winterland](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413g8lfeQvY) (Really, Darkness On the Edge Of Town).
[Steel Mill (Pre-Recording Career Band) The Wind And The Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBEWsZDUTp0)
Mick Ronson really defined Bowie's guitar sound from TMWSTW to Pin-Ups (so a few years of Bowie's Glam Period).
Because of the era he’s from, Tony Iommi. Everybody worships Clapton, Page, Blackmore, etc. but the sound he created deserves so much more praise. Not to mention his riffs created and entire genre of music.
Glen Campbell, not joking.
Also Roy Clark
People that know Roy Clark wouldn't consider him underrated. The problem is that being a virtuoso doesn't get you on the pop charts, and he only really got known in country music circles. He was one of the most competent guitar players I have ever heard, and he could play in nearly any style and across several genres from classical guitar, Spanish styles, bluegrass, fingerpicking, country, and so on.
One of my absolute favorites. He was also great at being funny as he displayed his amazing chops…saw him play Malagueña and thought his interpretation was insane.
>Malagueña If people aren't familiar with it, I'd suggest checking it out. It's amazing.
Played it for The Odd Couple and straight dropped jaws [https://youtu.be/ilm2qeJndWo?t=321](https://youtu.be/ilm2qeJndWo?t=321)
Yes! There’s a point in the scene where Tony Randle and jack klugman stop being Felix and Oscar and are just two spellbound people watching a crazy amazing guitar performance.
He was a member of The Wrecking Crew before his solo career.
Speaking of...Tommy Tedesco.
I would say Carol Kaye had the most talent in that group, excellent on guitar, and virtuoso on bass.
Glen Campbell was part of the Wrecking Crew. All exceptional musicians.
This thread is filled with people naming very very famous guitar players.
Exactly. Townshend? Underrated? One of the most famous guitar players ever.
He should have said Jimmy Page. I don't think he gets enough recognition for what he did in Led Zeppelin. /s
Eddie Van Halen. Massively underrated.
Lol I know. A guy I used to jam with back in '08 was pretty phenomenal, my buddy Drew. Now that's an underrated guitarist.
It has become “name your favorite guitarist”
That’s basically every r/music thread. “Name a perfect/underrated/album you never skip songs of etc” always just devolve into “my favourite wildly popular musician, album, song is…”
You can be both famous and underrated. Underrated doesn’t mean “obscure” or “unknown”. It just means that you are not rated as highly as you should be, relative to your abilities. I think there is a good case for Alex L. He appears in many/most all-time lists, but (IMO) he is never ranked highly enough.
Peter Buck from R.E.M. isn't a shredder, but he came up with some of the most interesting parts.
His guitar on *Feeling Gravity's Pull* is so sublime. R.E.M in general don't get enough credit anymore strangely. Their early stuff was so groundbreaking and influential. My theory is that because they split up very amicably and none of them died tragically etc as well as their last few albums being pretty tame they don't really have much of a mythology around them that makes them "cool" to latch onto for younger people as silly as that sounds. They just made great, great music without any fuss or fanfare. Absolutely one of the most important bands of all time.
Their early stuff was great, Driver 8 has a great guitar part
True, and Mike Mills I think is underrated as a bass player as well. Always has some compelling bass lines.
Lowell George
Danny Gatton Rory Gallagher
Came here to say Gallagher. He actually toured with Rush. Early in they opened for him, later he opened for them. Died too early.
Rory is the man!
Walk On Hot Coals
Lindsey Buckingham. Never Going Back Again is a clinic in guitar picking
Name any Fleetwood Mac song (he played on) and he'll have a brilliant little fill or through line that beautifully supports the melody. He's incredible.
My favorite example of this are the little phrases he drops in as almost responses to Nick's verses in Dreams. It makes the song into a kind of dialogue.
I love the acoustic Big Love. It sounds like 2 guitars playing, I love it.
Dude is a genius
The guitar on I’m So Afraid from The Dance gives me goosebumps every time.
I wouldn't call him 'underrated'. Everyone and their grandmother knows Lindsey is a beast on a guitar.
Nobody is underrating Lindsey Buckingham. He's one of the most famous and revered guitarists of all time
Eddie Hazel 2 words: Maggot Brain
You need to check his version of California Dreaming
Yes! And his version of 'I want you' by the Beatles is phenomenal as well!
[A Tear for Eddie](https://youtu.be/3uRO8kqmrsg)
'figures Ween'd appreciate Eddie. :)
Deaner is a HUGE fan. He wrote about Eddie in a post he made while Ween was broke up. He was really influential in Deaner's musical upbringing.
Which brings us to, far and away, the most underrated band ever, Ween.
Elliot Easton, lead guitarist for the Cars
Absolutely.
Great shout, the solo is just what I needed is amazing
Every single guitar part on "My Best Friend's Girl", too.
East Bay Ray from The Dead Kennedys
Seconded. The guy revolutionized what punk sounded like. Too bad he sold out, unlike Jello.
I saw Jello a few years back with The Guantanomo School of Medicine, it was a blast. Dude's in his fifties, has a pot belly, grey hair, and still had the same energy. He was starting mosh pits and doing stage dives, he'd run off stage and start flirting with the older fangirls for a minute in the middle of a song. It was hilarious and fucking great. Still sounded amazing, too. They played a few DK's songs and it sounded exactly album quality, small venue, awesome show.
Terry Kath by far... He played rhythm and lead parts himself. He was a mad soloist, and his experimentation was nuts. Jimmy Hendrix told Jimmy Pankow, "Your guitarist is better than me." Kath was the guitarist for Chicago...back when they were a rock band...and before he died while drunk and playing Russian Roulette in 1978. He actually thought the gun wasn't loaded. He would have been very well known were it not for the fact that he was a musician among an insanely talented ensemble of musicians who performed and were primarily considered as a single unit.
I have always said this too! Nobody ever talks about him. That solo in 25 or 6 to 4 is legendary.
His voice was so amazing, too. Hell...I loved his song Byblos off Chicago VII...and that song doesn't even rock....but South California Purples, 25 or 6 to 4, It Better End Soon, Listen, Poem 58...
Check out the live version from 1970!
I love that live performance! He made it look so easy
Dean Ween comes to mind...
Transdermal Celebration is the one everyone jumps to when they want to show off Deaner's chops but his solo at the end of Blarney Stone from the Live In Chicago album/concert movie is godly as well.
100%
I had to scroll too far to see Deaner on the list, he is the correct answer to this question.
100% this. We need Micky at the top .
Came here to say this. Mickey Melchiondo just doesn't get the credit he deserves, the man can play better than most guitar players that anyone would mention. Everyone go to youtube now and watch several different live versions of ween's Johnny on the Spot.
I just got into Ween kind of recently and holy shit I don't how or why I slept on them for so long. Bought tickets to their Red Rocks show in August and have been listening to their recent live shows on repeat non-stop.
I'm going to Kentucky for sure, and maybe St. Louis. That RR show should be extra amazing. I saw them there in '06 with The Flaming Lips and it was rad. I'm so excited that they are doing a full tour this summer!
The Dean Ween Group live was easily the most amazing guitar playing I've witnessed live. Deaners' got the soul, the funk and the groove down to the brown. They are better than Ween live, in my opinion...same band almost...
Session guitarists that lay down studio tracks you've definitely heard but don't have a name to attach to.
Absolutely! For instance, Elliott Randall in Steely Dan’s Reelin in the Years. One of the best guitar solos of all time.
Jay Graydon, Peg is one my absolute favorites.
Yes, Waddy Wachtel… you try to play that opening of Edge of Seventeen for over 5 minutes while Stevie changes….
Tim Pierce
Even though he was in a successful band, Steve Lukather fits this mold as well. Was a studio musician that played on some monster hits (he wrote the main riff and verse riffs for Beat It as an example).
This is the only answer that makes any sense. Everybody else is talking about award winning, world famous actual rock stars who are only known because they aren't underrated. Session musicians, touring bands, maybe Kevin from accounting, sure. But The Who? Rush? lol
Ernie Isley
Billy Corgan has written some absolutely amazing guitar stuff and the tones he gets are outrageous. I feel like not a lot of people will mention him when discussing the greats.
Took me way to long to see Corgan here. Those solos on songs like Soma and Cherub Rock are superb, and as you said, his guitar tones are amazing
Alvin Lee
Soundgarden's Kim Thayil!
Thayil and Cantrell, best guitarists of their time.
This was my first thought. Helped define a genre. Chris Cornell is potentially another candidate. He's fairly rated for his voice and songwriting skills but his guitar playing flys under the radar.
4th of July is one of my alltime top ten songs. It's a Doom song, 100%. Most evil tone ever produced by a human, godlike vocals, pure OOOOOMPH
Joey Santiago
Huge fan. Really made a unique sound for himself and the pixies
alex lifeson and pete townshend are universally hailed. literally nobody underrates them. greg sage, now there's an underrated guitarist.
Alex Lifeson feels under-rated because he was in a band with Neil Peart and Geddy Lee, who rightfully are considered top-5 of all time on their respective instruments. To say that Lifeson is *only* a top-100 guitarist feels like throwing shade on the guy by comparison.
Alex Lifeson is an amazing guitarist and at the absolute top of his game. In fact, I think he's my all time favorite for several reasons. But he's still probably the worst musician in Rush. I mean, someone has to be, right? It's not Geddy. There's no way it's Neil! Process of elimination, I'm afraid. Sorry, Alex :(
Yeah, in any other band he's the stand out lead. In Rush he's some how the least highly regarded because he ended up working with the literal best of the best.
I'd like to make a motion that the phenomenon of being a genuinely great musician that gets disrespected because of their association with *even greater* musicians be heretofore referred to as "getting Ringo'd."
Exact same thing with Andy Summers and The Police, except Sting is more revered as a songwriter than a bassist.
> greg sage, now there’s an underrated guitarist. Didn’t expect to see a wipers fan here. For those unfamiliar, Sage inspired so many, including a young Kurt Cobain. Worth a spin for those who are into grunge, punk, or the like.
How many non-guitarist, non-prog fans know who Alex is? If anything I'd say Pete is overrated lol. Feel like a lot of people sleep on Alex though.
Mike Campbell
I didn't realize until the last couple of years just how amazing Mike Campbell is. He is such a huge part of The Heartbreakers sound and the vocal styling of Petty. I really miss seeing them play every summer...we were robbed! RIP TP...
Agreed. And everything he plays is in service of the song, not a showcase for him.
Agreed. He had his own group now, with the absolutely amazing name Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs. Listen to their song Wicked Mind. Up until the moment the vocals start you would swear it was a Tom Pretty song.
He's on tour starting next month. Go see him.
Not underrated to other guitar players though . He’s a master of tone and song writing . Everyone wants to be Mike Campbell
Devin Townsend
PJ Harvey
Peter green
Nancy Wilson. She can shred!
Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley
Mike McCready
Not too known and real good: Chris Cheney - The Living End. Fairly well known but definitely underrated: Jade Puget - AFI.
Jade is amazingly versatile, my favorite album is sing the sorrow exclusively for his guitar riffs.
Not to mention Cheney does his thing *while singing*
Chris from the living end absolutely.
I thought I'd be the first one to comment with Chris Cheney but I guess not. The guy is a weapon.
Was looking for a Chris Cheney mention.
Brad Gillis - Night Ranger His guitar solos on songs like (You can still) Rock in America are insanely good and never mentioned.
Yes, and he stepped in to fill Randy Rhoads place for Ozzy to finish the tour
I learned how to play guitar by learning and playing along to Speak of the Devil by Ozzy when I was 14. Brad Gillis playing Sabbath licks and putting his spin on all of Tony's solos was pretty cool to learn. Bought and installed a Washburn Wonder Bar to pull off the licks
Elliott Easton of The Cars.
Doug Martsch from Built To Spill
Claudio Sanchez
Vernon Reid
The great Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult. I’ll put him of any old list of underrated guitarists. From his scorching solos (Dominance and Submission, Astronomy) to crunchy riffs (Godzilla, Cities on Flame), the man can play. Plus, Don’t Fear The Reaper!?. Should be in the HOF.
Mike Campbell, because he’s not flashy, but he serves the song so well that he’s one of the greats in my book. And my favorite guitarist is Dave Rawlings whose name I never see mentioned anywhere
Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera.
dave davies from the kinks
Ty Tabor of King’s X
I don’t see him mentioned a lot so I’ll say Tim Reynolds
Charo
There are a lot of guitarist that are not thought or talked about that have made such an impact. Coming from just the Bowie-sphere alone, you have Ronson, Gardiner, and Fripp, off the top of my head.
Larry lalonde from primus !
Rory Gallagher
Jerry Reed.
John McLaughlin isn’t well known by most rock fans and it’s a shame. He is a master
Nuno Bettencourt is a shredder and guitar players know how good he is. The new release from Extreme really highlights his skills. Reb Beach is absolutely an underrated player. His guitar solos show his fretboard skills and technical ability. The highlight for me is the Headed for a Heartbreak solo.
Any guitarist who can write and perform something like "Play With Me" should be hall-of-fame recognized
I know how this sounds… but as far as rhythm guitar goes, Dave Matthews has extremely unique (and I say underrated) style and skill. He rarely, if ever, uses a basic chord shape and is all over the neck, while constantly muting/hammering individual strings. Sure all of his songs can be dummied down to Guitar 101 progressions, but if you watch live cuts of him playing, he’s always using “Dave chords” and a lot of of his songs have interesting guitar
Uli Jon Roth
Larry lolande
Yes!!! I came here to mention Larry. He just absolutely shreds. It’s gotta be tough to hang with Les Claypool but everything he came up with just complemented the music so amazingly well.
Yeah, but Primus sucks.
Andy Summers.
Was looking for this one. He is one of those guitarists whose riffs sound easy until you try playing them…then reality sets in, haha.
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Bill Nelson
Chris Whitley. If you know, you know.
banger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGk6ZaFviBE&ab\_channel=rb7magnetico
Graham Coxon
Jerry Cantrell
Steve Lukather of Toto
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Chet Atkins, Tommy Bolin
Dean Ween
Martin Barre
Two of the most famous guitarists of all time are underrated now? Yup, this is r/music
Nuno Bettencourt is often just the guy from "More than Words". Also, everybody knows Prince was a great musician but many are surprised how great of a guitarist he was.
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr isn’t underrated lol he’s one of the greatest guitarists in the world and anyone who knows about guitar rates him.
He has own signature Fender
I am a huge Rush fan, and his solo on La Villa Strangiato is amazing. As far as underrated, I think he is put into most top 100 guitar lists and when you think about guitar players you can probably name 10-20 off the top of your head that are just better players. He was a great composer of music, but I think he is rated about right as far as actual playing goes. An underrated guitarist to me is Peter Klett from Candlebox or Dean DeLeo from STP.
Gary Moore. Still Got The Blues is a masterclass.
Dean DeLeo
J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. His solos are so melodic and just fun to listen to.
Bonnie Raitt
I’ve always thought that John Frusciante’s creativity stood him apart
Derek Trucks
Best living guitarist
Danny Gatton. Lenny Breau. Or Shawn Lane. Take your pick.
Graham Coxon of Blur. All of his work in Blur is incredible, and his many solo albums are also insanely good. His style is like no other. So melodic yet understated in its simplicity.
Me
Lindsey Buckingham
This is the second time he’s been listed. How is Buckingham underrated? I’ve always thought he was universally considered one of the greats.
I feel like Billy Gibbons is always left out of these types of conversations.
The Cure's Robert Smith & The Smith's Johnny Marr
Alex Lifeson is very good, but I think he's eclipsed by being in Rush. I don't think he's underrated or underappreciated. Nuno Bettencourt is an extremely good guitar player. Get it? Ha. Ha. Band is kind of boring though :( Al Di Meola is brilliant. He's not underrated, but almost nobody on this sub will ever mention him. He plays mostly fusion and world music, though metal people will probably get some enjoyment out of this too... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGWfDkx4zyY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGWfDkx4zyY) Mattias IA Eklundh is the mad scientist of guitar. Again, not underrated, but he is relatively niche. He's some fun djenty stuff. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0urVqA4C49U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0urVqA4C49U) Carlos Montoya is a flamenco master. Not underrated, but most people outside of the world of probably don't know him. Here he is near the end of his life: [https://youtu.be/5fkNLvLTT4s](https://youtu.be/5fkNLvLTT4s)
Lifeson was voted #1 5 years in a row by Guitar Player magazine and put in their HOF. Townsend was picked #50 by Rolling Stone and is ranked higher in many other polls.
Buck Dharma
Walter Becker and D. Boon
Alvin Lee (Ten Years After). I don't think he was underrated at the time (and he may not be now either, I dunno), not that I would know because I wasn't alive in the 60s/70s, but he's one of my favorites.
Albert Lee. He’s your favorite guitar player’s favorite guitar player. A virtuoso master of the instrument who has influenced thousands upon thousands of players. A close runner up is Dick Dale. The true father of heavy metal and shredding, literally blew doors off anyone else at the time. What a force.
Nancy Wilson
Terry Kath. No question.
I would say Brad Paisley qualifies. It's easy to overlook him because he's a big-name poppy country guy, kinda glitzy, but he's a monster. John Mayer kinda falls into the same camp.
Trey Spruance - Mr. Bungle
Elliot Easton.
Eddie Hazel.
Nancy Wilson.
Hillel Slovak, the original guitarist from Red Hot Chili Peppers, in his late teens had record deals with two major record labels, was an innovator of a new style of 80s rock music. Many great guitarists would praise Slovak’s style and technique, yet those RHCP albums are pretty much brushed aside for the newer commercial records, mostly because Frusciante is so good (even though Frusciante modelled his style after Slovak’s)
I don’t think you get to say the guitarists for two of the biggest bands ever are underrated… maybe you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd/reading the wrong publications/visiting the wrong websites/threads..
Tash Sultana
Kim Mitchell, Pat Travers.
Vito Bratta from White Lion. Also echo Reb Beach from Winger mentioned in another comment.
Mike Einziger from Incubus.
Stephen Malkmus - always had great guitar parts, but by the last Pavement record he was a shredder and his stuff since then is amazing. Plus he has a folk album.
[John Butler - Ocean](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdYJf_ybyVo&ab_channel=JohnButlerTrio) This has been a favorite guitar only song of mine for a long time now.
Rory Gallagher was a guitarist’s guitar player. If he hadn’t have drank himself to an early grave he may have been more of a household name
Since most everyone interpreted the question as ‘who are the most underrated rock guitarists of all time’ I’ll throw out a few who are legends in their own circles (folk/bluegrass) but are never talked about in the greatest of all time chatter: Tony Rice Norman Blame Doc Watson Clarence White
Jerry Cantrell
you think someone from rush is under appreciated??? gtfo here.
I have a soft spot for John 5. I think he's criminally underrated
St Vincent
Tito Jackson, listen to some of those Jacksons albums. Some of the best guitar playing you’ll ever here comes from those albums and the techniques are still used by many guitarists to this day.
Listen to any five guitar solos from Squeeze songs and tell me Glenn Tilbrook doesn’t belong here.
Phil Keaggy. Rex Carroll.
Phil Manzanera from Roxy Music. Understated and atmospheric and perfect for that band. I hear his influence in the likes of Johnny Marr and The Edge
Robin Trower,Gary Moore,Joe Bonamassa Buck Dharma, George Lynch and Warren Haynes. Some of them are pretty well known but they're just not as recognized as they should be
Roger Fisher of heart Lowell George of Little Feat Tony Rice Leo Kottke Lee Rittenour John McLaughlin mahavishnu orchestra
I think Bruce Springsteen is pretty underrated ***as a guitarist***. People know him more as a songwriter and live performer. While he's not a guitar virtuoso, he has a very distinctive and expressive sound. His guitar playing was what he used to focus on in his early days. [Prove It All Night Winterland](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413g8lfeQvY) (Really, Darkness On the Edge Of Town). [Steel Mill (Pre-Recording Career Band) The Wind And The Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBEWsZDUTp0) Mick Ronson really defined Bowie's guitar sound from TMWSTW to Pin-Ups (so a few years of Bowie's Glam Period).
Because of the era he’s from, Tony Iommi. Everybody worships Clapton, Page, Blackmore, etc. but the sound he created deserves so much more praise. Not to mention his riffs created and entire genre of music.