greatest guitarist in past 15 years

Johnny Dowed & Dave Hinkle!

there i said it

(not to mention he was already mentioned 3 times on the first page)

ditto Stevie Ray and Eric Johnson. Add Mark Antoine and Pat Metheny.

yeah, I agree. I don't get it. The guy was an OK blues guitarist but hardly the best, hardly a genius. Above average maybe.

Listen to his solo efforts and you'll be a believer. Eddie Van Halen is the greatest!

No Eddie Van Halen nomination yet?

ORDUDE, we were thinking the same thing at the same time LOL

Eddie VH #1, and a close second to Steve Vai.

Both Master axe men.

DeadRNER wrote:

Eric Johnson

Damn right. If you're cool enough to dig Eric Johnson you probably know about Steve Morse also. Thank God nobody threw out Eddie Van Hagar er, Van Halen (yet).

Hey Canadians, here's one for you. A big thanks for giving us Rik Emmitt with and without Triumph.

Damn, there was the Van Halen thing. I should have read the whole thread before posting. For those throwing out the standards, the thread did say "past 15 years." Silly point, so if you're throwing out Clapton and the like where's Jeff Beck.

Is there a more mellow, cool guitar disc than #2 from Frampton Comes Alive?

I would say Michael Hedges was one of the greatest guitarist in the last 15 years. Prolly not too many people have heard of him, but he was great.

Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys

are you joking me? any jazz guitarist would tear any of these people up, well maybe not steve vai or eric johnson. wes montegomery, joe pass, Django Reinhardt and thousands of others. not only is their musical knowledge colossal compared to these bums( jimi hendrix?? he didnt even know what notes were), but every aspect of their playing is superior to any pop-hair-mainstream guitarist.

The best guitar player of the past fifteen years is probably Tom Morello simply because of his ability to take the music that he heard and merge that with his own unique style and take the music further. Listen to that first Rage album and realize that those sounds were created entirely by a four piece band with out a DJ. A lot of the bands that are popular today are simply using a DJ to recreate the sounds that Tom creates on his guitar.

My honorable mentions would have to be Stanley Jordan, Eric Johnson and SRV. Stanley Jordan has taken a very specialized method of playing a guitar and made it his own. See him live if you get a chance. It is amazing. If you think Van Halen when you think of two-hand tapping, buy "Magic Touch" and think again. Unfortunately, his best work (Magic Touch) was done prior to 1988, so he doesn't fit the past 15 years criteria.

Eric Johnson is also amazing, but he hasn't been as revolutionary as Morello or Jordan. It hurts me to not put him first because "Cliffs of Dover" was the reason I picked up the guitar and "East Wes" is the reason I started listening to Wes Montgomery.

SRV is the man, but I feel like a lot of his best work was pre-1988. That said, his sober sessions are gutwrenching. "Life by the Drop" and "Little Wing" bring tears to my eyes every time.

IN general, if you want to hear someone who is still going strong, check out John Scofield. Listen to "Bump" or "A Go Go" and you'll find a man who can squeeze some crazy sounds out of his guitar. He's been going for a long time and he's still churning out some hits.

I give an incredible amount of respect to Wes, Django and Joe Pass, but their contributions over the past 15 years are somewhat minimal. Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Van Halen, same story....

As for who do I listen to before a race? Slash & Izzy every time...

I agree - SRV's "Little Wing" is the first song that comes to my mind when I think of breathtaking guitar work.

oh yeah my bad, i forgot about the 15 year thing, oh well jazz guitarists still dominate any punk who plays off of tabs.

I'm voting for Carlos Santana!

I also like Slash.

Jeff Healey. SRV said so.

watch stevie ray vaughn on austin city limits...its absolutely incredible

...and greenwood from radiohead