Who are your Top 5 guitarists of all time

Ok. My first post in this thread, but it won't be last as the tastes change. There will be quite a few honourable mentions.
Honourable mentions:
Janick Gers
Dave Murray
Brian May
Ritchie Blackmore
Jimmy Page
Nuno Bettencourt
Michael Schenker
Tony Iommi
Alex Lifeson
John Petrucci
Steve Vai
Paul Gilbert
Eddie Van Halen
Jimi Hendrix

5. David Gilmour
Incredible touch and feel. I just adore this guy's sense of melody in soloing and arpeggiated chords.

4. Jeff Beck
The chameleon. He can bring his guitar playing in every style of music and make it fit into it. He is one of the few that survived all the musical changes.

3. Joe Satriani
The king of melody. The song Revelation always brings tears in my eyes.

2. Adrian Smith
The eternal H. The man who can introduced me to guitar. Wasted Years riff was the first thing I learned to play.

1. Gary Moore
It's funny I stumbled uppon Gary by reading H's influences and checking them out. There is a live VHS called Live At Stockholm 87, which is for me still the essential live concert for a guitar player. When I saw it, it changed my life and taught me a lot about guitar playing.
 
I'll have to do a couple of Top 10's

Metal Guitarists and Metal Related:

Tony Iommi
Adrian Smith
Randy Rhoades
Dave Murray
Janick Gers
Marty Friedman
Kerry King
Jeff Hanneman
Eddie Van Halen
Glenn Tipton

Honorable Mention:

Zakk Wylde
Ritchie Blackmore
Alex Lifeson
Dimebag Darrel
Alex Skolnick

Other Rock:

Steve Howe
Steve Hackett
David Gilmour
Tommy Shaw
James Young
Eric Clapton
Tom Scholz
George Harrison
John Lennon
Joe Walsh

Honorable Mention:

Trevor Rabin
Neil Young
John Fogerty
Bob Seger
Andy Summers

I have so many favorites so this was a hard one
 
Adrian Smith
Dave Murray
Janick Gers
Ace Frehley
Wolf Hoffmann

... and quite a few honourable mentions.
 
Hmm, off the top of my head I would say:

Buckethead
Adrian Smith
Dave Mustaine
Randy Rhoads
Chuck Schuldiner
 
My current top 5:

John Petrucci
Glenn Tipton
Adrian Smith
Joe Satriani
Eric Johnson

Honourable mentions:

Eddie Van Halen - genius rhythm player
Brian May
Dave Murray
David Gilmour
Andy Timmons
 
Leaving out Maiden's guitarists, and not thinking too deeply about it, just 5 guitarists that spring to mind as being distinctive

Randy Rhoades
Brian Robertson
Michael Schenker
Ritchie Blackmore
Billy Gibbons
 
Can I throw a controversial opinion in here?

For such an iconic, world renowned guitar player, and one who has a list of great riffs the length of your arm, Angus doesn't really have any iconic solos.
 
Can I throw a controversial opinion in here?

For such an iconic, world renowned guitar player, and one who has a list of great riffs the length of your arm, Angus doesn't really have any iconic solos.

''Whole Lotta Rosie'' solo? I think it is iconic and brutally good.
 
''Whole Lotta Rosie'' solo? I think it is iconic and brutally good.

Yeah it's great, especially the long outro live, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap springs to mind too, but they aren't at the level of a Mr Crowley or Tornado of Souls, you know that signature solo a lot of the other greats seem to have.
 
My five favourite guitarists are,

Steve Morse (Deep Purple)
Adrian Smith
Joe Satriani
Steve Rothery (Marillion)
Chris Hayes (Huey Lewis & the News)
 
^ 'cause he sucks. He's technically brilliant, but his songs are...meh.
David Gilmour would kick his ass with one note. Adrian Smith doesn't need any notes to kick Steve Vai's ass.

Dude you don't have a slightest idea of what you're talking about. Steve Vai songs meh?!
 
Janick Gers
Jimmy Page
Steve Rothery
Gary Moore
Rory Gallagher
Michael Schenker
Dave Gilmour

First is fixed, the rest are in no order ...

Honourable mentions:

Julian Bream
Bob Hartman
Eddie Van Halen
Joe Satriani
Jeff Beck
Slash
Glenn Tipton
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
 
On No. 1 - the one and only EVH.

Others, IDK. Well, here's 4 contenders for No. 3 - David Gilmour, John Petrucci, Brian May.

If there are 2 or more guitars in a band, I can't really choose between them. Primarily because sometimes I can't discern who's doing what and also, a lot of them played so along together, their style "rubbed" each other.
Also, I didn’t choose them solely on their technique or style but based on their songwriting skills.
So, these are only from a 1-guitarist bands:

1. Eddie Van Halen

3. David Gilmour
3. John Petrucci
3. Brian May
3. Alex Lifeson
 
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