Vai, Malmsteen, Satch, Hendrix, SRV, and Wes Montgomery SUCK!

Now that I got your attention check this out:

I saw a conversation at another guitar site and it was the usual "so and so is the best", so and so sucks, and "Sammy Sixstring rules" type thing. My guitar hero can beat up your guitar hero.

Why do people do this? How can there be "the best" at something as broad and varied as the guitar?

Guitarists do not need to be ranked, there is no best no greatest, no number one.

Each guitarist has something special to offer
and, to paraphrase the person I was reading who was making some sense on the matter, by comparing guitarists (or any musician) we by default close ourselves off to what the other has to offer. This isn't a sport. Each person can win. We too often want to cheer our one favorite player on that we put blinders on that prohibit us from seeing all the really cool stuff that is out there that we will miss by saying "Bobby Rocker is the best." If you really believe that then there is no reason to listen to anything else anymore. Just get that one record and wear it out. That'd be pretty sad. We'd miss out on Vernon Reid. Buckethead. etc.

The most halarious case of this I've seen in a while is on the bucketboard and someone asked who the "top 5 shredders were" so they all paraded out the same old names we always hear but then you had someone say Angus Young!

Shredders? Really? Point is this: we confuse our personal favs and biases for objective reality. And even something as objective as speed, probably the only thing that can be measured, is no proof at all.

empirical reality can't change anyone's mind.

I still hear the same things over and over: Yngwie is the fastest, or PG is the fastest, or ..... you know the rest. In reality, there are players out there that just smoke all the well-known players when it comes down to just that. And I mean leave them in the dust. Of course I'm not saying that speed is all that important but it is something that can be measured. The same things are said for any other dimension of guitar: Lane has the best phrasing! Really? By what criteria? Jimi was the most soulful ( I share this bias) but it is only an opinion and not a fact.

I think they are all great and I'm glad we have all of them. Otherwise the world would be pretty boring.

Shred Like Hell my friends
http://ShredLikeHell.com

I avoid those panels like the plague!
Everybody knows B.B. King is better than Kirk Hammett anyways! he he.

no kidding, I never get involved in that stuff. It is a dead end beating each other up over subjective taste. anyways, it's obvious I'm the fastest guitarist in the world ;-)

lol, Bofatron you sound like you belong at guitar.com's discussion board.

Hey Bof, you also forgot to say that in your million notes per second, that you have more feel to your notes too! he he
Then you can graduate to G.com!

yeah, that g.com place is pretty rough sometimes. I don't care too much for that place.

as for one million soulful notes, ever hear thals' "I can't play the blues" song? ;)

http://ShredLikeHell.com

I totally agree with you Bofatron. With the guitar being such a versatile instrument, there can be no best. Everyone has their own field. I was having the exact same conversation with a friend of mine who is also a member on this sight. We both felt that this is one of the qualities that puts the guitar above most instruments. I also tend to remain neutral in discussions over fastest or best guitarists.

Superfly

To be honest, every aspiring musician at one time or another is looking to impress their peers,:D to rub a certain quality in their face that took them little time to develop.:D obviously, as musicians we feel the need to impress others with what we have learned, but for lasting results within ourselves, (its important for us to explore the many options for ourselves and no one else, otherwise we'll end up relying on what others think for the rest of our lives Its all about what satisfies us when no ones around, and what pushes us to the next level of creativity regardless of what others think...If speed floats your boat, then by all means play as fast as lightning, theres definitely something special to it, that is if we do it for ourselves for the most part...

For alot of musicians, they claim that one note is so much more than 100, but for alot of musicians I think its kind of a defensive reaction. They take a certain qualitiy that they lack, attack it and claim they never wanted it to begin with, (because its makes them feel more comfortable as a musician.) Alot of people ask whats more important learning to be a speed master, or learning how to get the most out of a few notes, if you ask me both qualities are very valuable to add to your arsenal, just a little bit everyday. I think overall, whether we know it or not, We all need just enough space to make us more complete, enough space to figure out what is most important.

-Joseph, :).

It's almost like the Fender vs. Gibson, Epiphones suck, Jackson vs. Jackson and stuff like that that makes the owner of one type of guitar to make themselves feel better.
I like all guitars personally, there is some that don't feel as good as others and tonally aren't my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean they suck.
"Can you feel the Love in this Room?" he he.
If this was G.com there would have been at least three posts calling us gay because this is an intelligent topic.

g.com sounds like Metallica Chat on AIM. hehehehehe.
Too many people have a very hard time distinguishing their favorite from "the best." This is art, not science. Each has their place, but one should never be judged by the other's criteria. I think this extends past musical genres and even instruemts.
I certainly have my opinions (and if you've caught me in Metallica Chat, you've seen me share them), but I try to keep in mind that it's all just opinions.