(PART 2) Take the time out of your breakneck pace to rank these 5 (five) guitarists (PART2)

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Take the time out of your breakneck pace to rank these 5 (five) guitarists​

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The general consensus is that Clapton and Richards are at the bottom of the barrel. Soooo.....I'm replacing them with two other guitar gods and see how they fare with the top three of the original thread.

Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Page
Billy Gibbons
Rory Gallagher
Jeff Beck

I'm not trying to be tedious but please for the love of all things profane, participate...pretty please
 
The top three won't change...

Billy G
Jimmy P
Jimi H
Jeff
Rory

I don't mean to undersell the bottom 2...if Keith and EC were still on the list both Jeff and Rory would be above them...
 
Jimmy Page
Jeff Beck
Billy Gibbons
Rory Gallagher
Jimi Hendrix

I’d probably rank them differently had Jimi and Rory lived longer and more of a chance to evolve as musicians.
Rory did that, I think, but he was never really on my radar until recently.
Jimi was impactful but in hindsight, it seems like he was just getting started with he WANTED to do.

So, I rammed them in order of “What would I listen to most of I was sitting in a chair with a remote to access all of their catalogues.”
 
Beck and RG are both good players, but both are playing guitar for guitar players. They'd be better matched against G3 type players than your original 5, who were all major mainstream pop contenders at one time or another.
 
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Billy Gibbons
Jeff Beck
Rory Gallagher

I don’t agree that Clapton and Keef are bottom of the barrel. Keef has written some killer songs. So, has Clapton, mainly in Derek and the Dominoes and Cream.
 
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Like Chicken Man said, Rory and Jeff Beck were playing for guitarists. They were both incredible players, but I am going to continue to judge this top 5 based on my earlier criteria: 'do I ever play their tunes when I'm trying to dial in or try toans?'

Jimmy Page (quite regularly when sorting out a crunch tone)
Jimi Hendrix (I'll often play 'Bold as Love', 'Little Wing', 'Wind Cries Mary' and that kind of thing when I'm dialing in a clean-ish tone.)
Keef (if a guitar is in open G I'll always play some Keef stuff. And If I ever try a nasty fuzz I like to blast out the 'Sympathy for the Devil' solo.)
Jeff Beck (I was going to say 'never', and then I remembered I play the Yardbirds 'Over Under Sideways Down' whenever I try a gnarly sixties sounding fuzz. So kinda in the same circumstances as the "Sympathy' solo.)
Rory Gallagher (Never. And I do like Rory, but I don't think I ever play any of his tunes on guitar).
 
Hendrix
Page
Beck
Gibbons
Gallagher

Beck is great, but not someone I listen to much. Gibbons is great at the thing he does. I never 'got' Rory Gallagher, then or now.
 
Based on time spent listening to each, I guess it's easily:

Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Jeff Beck
Rory Gallagher
Billy Gibbons
 
Looks like I'm the only one putting Jeff on top.

Beck
Hendrix
Page
Gibbons
Gallagher

Had Jimi lived longer and had a chance to expand his music, I suspect he would have been on top. Sadly, he is limited by the size of his catalog.
 
shoeless said:
Looks like I'm the only one putting Jeff on top.

Beck
Hendrix
Page
Gibbons
Gallagher

Had Jimi lived longer and had a chance to expand his music, I suspect he would have been on top. Sadly, he is limited by the size of his catalog.
Click to expand...

Nope. You're not alone. Jimi was groundbreaking but he could only take it so far at the time. Jeff took it way further.
The other 3 didn't do much for me really. Page #3 mostly because of his studio prowess. The last 2, while great players, weren't really that great imo. Some really cool music, but blues rock bores me to death. Fun to play, but can't stand listening to it.
 
Dexter Inferno said:
Nope. You're not alone. Jimi was groundbreaking but he could only take it so far at the time. Jeff took it way further.
The other 3 didn't do much for me really. Page #3 mostly because of his studio prowess. The last 2, while great players, weren't really that great imo. Some really cool music, but blues rock bores me to death. Fun to play, but can't stand listening to it.
Click to expand...
Pretty much my thoughts exactly. Jeff and Jimi were innovators when it came to how to play the guitar. Like Eddie (who is oddly missing from this list), they did things that hadn't been done before, and did it in a very musical way. Jimmy's real talent was (as you said) in the studio and crafting great songs. As a pure guitar player, he fit the band's needs very well, but he didn't set any standards in terms of playing, IMO.

That being said, I like all 5 of those guys quite a bit.
 
Going by the 'lowest ranked get ditched' criteria, Rory Gallagher is straight out of the running. Looks like Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons are neck-in-neck holding onto 4th place. Somebody break this stalemate!
 
jelloman said:
The top three won't change...

Billy G
Jimmy P
Jimi H
Jeff
Rory

I don't mean to undersell the bottom 2...if Keith and EC were still on the list both Jeff and Rory would be above them...
Click to expand...
1) The Rev Billy G. Always sounds great, great grooves. Tone I would most like to emulate. First 6-7 albums I never tire of.
2) ????? Depends on time period for Jeff love his Yardbirds, JBG, and some of his later stuff, esp Loud Hailer. Jimmy or Jimi about equal.
3) Rory, but some albums were underwhelming. Love the first one, Live in Europe and most of all Jinx.

Keef will probably always be # 1.
 
Disagree that Jeff was playing for guitar players. I think he was just playing what he felt and wanted. The guitar became his melodic vehicle and it's easy to hear why. From my highly subjective notion of being the best guitar player/musician, I'd go:

Beck
Jimi
BFG/Page tie

I don't feel right judging Rory as I don't remember anything from the handful of times I heard/listened to him/his music. From everything I've read and heard other folks say about him, he was a great player, but the music isn't something that stood out to me (willing to and prolly will revisit).

From a listening perspective, I definitely spent the most time listening to Page, followed by Jimi. But with Zeppelin, it was the overall songs and that band. I like his playing, but it's not as interesting out of context. With Jimi it was the band, the songs, and his playing. ZZ Top has been and remains one of the most joyful bands to create music. They never took themselves nor music so seriously as to project any notion of superiority or changing the world (of music or in general). Top got a bit way over produced for a bit, but generally maintained a level fun missing from the vast majority of music in the world.
 
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