Top 25 Favorite Guitarists countdown thread! (Top 2 featured!!)

[KevShmev]

Alright, because I knew many were wanting this following the critical success of the favorite singers countdown last fall , let's do a countdown for favorite guitarists*.

*Note that I am obviously not talking about bass guitarists, for anyone who wants to get cute about it.

I will count down the 25 guitarists in order, and they will be taken from lists of anyone who wants to send me theirs via PM. Do not post them on the forum here. Send them to me via PM.  I will take all of the lists and come up with the cumulative list and do the countdown from 25 to 1.

The rules:
-Guitarists must be listed from 25 to 1 in order (in reverse order), with no ties.  No having three guitarists at number 12 or anything like that.  DO NOT list your guitarists with the points total. List them in your order (I will figure out the points on my end).
-Any list submitted with the guitarists not numbered will be ignored.
-Anyone wanting to submit a list must do so by the end of day, Saturday, April 15th.  I will then begin the countdown shortly thereafter.
-The list will be tallied numerically in a simple way. On each list, whatever guitarist is at number 1 gets 25 points, number 2 gets 24 points, number 3 gets 23 points, etc.
-List each guitarist by their stage name (first and last name or just one name if it's someone who goes by just one name like The Edge or Slash; do not send acronyms or just first or last names assuming I will know who you mean).
-PROOFREAD YOUR LISTS BEFORE SENDING THEM.  Any list with the same guitarist mentioned twice will be not be counted.

Feel free to post in this thread as well that you have PM'd me, if for no other reason than to bump this back up for others who may want to participate who may not have seen the thread yet.

This ranking engine link below works great if you have too much difficulty making one on your own. You can input all of the guitarists you want, and then you pick your favorite of every 1-on-1 matchup and then it spits out your list.

https://www.pubmeeple.com/ranking-engine

25 Stevie Ray Vaughan
24 Chris DeGarmo
23 Michael Schenker
22 Dave Mustaine
21 Jim Matheos
20 Glenn Tipton
18 (t) Mark Knopfler
18 (t) Ritchie Blackmore
17 Slash
16 Dave Murray
15 Steve Howe
14 Jimi Hendrix
13 Guthrie Govan
12 Adrian Smith
11 Brian May
10 Randy Rhoads
09 Joe Satriani
08 Steve Vai
07 Tony Iommi
06 Jimmy Page
05 James Hetfield
04 David Gilmour
03 Alex Lifeson
02 Eddie Van Halen
01 John Petrucci

[LithoJazzoSphere]

This will be a lot of fun, and a lot of misery trying to make and rank it at the same time.   

[HOF]

Awesome! This will probably be a little less definitive for me than the vocalists, but should be lots of fun.

[Adami]

Working on it. Actually having a hard time! Turns out I like a lot of bands and their guitarists but not necessarily their guitarists alone.

I like Jinjer a lot, but I would never list that guitarist as a favorite of mine, despite loving what he does in the band because he's just a great part of a bigger machine. I also like famous guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Clapton but I am not particularly moved or impacted by their playing despite their legendary status (Sorry Stads). So finding guitarists who I really connect with or that their playing specifically stands out to me isn't as easy as I thought.

[lonestar]

Working on it. Actually having a hard time! Turns out I like a lot of bands and their guitarists but not necessarily their guitarists alone.

I like Jinjer a lot, but I would never list that guitarist as a favorite of mine, despite loving what he does in the band because he's just a great part of a bigger machine. I also like famous guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Clapton but I am not particularly moved or impacted by their playing despite their legendary status (Sorry Stads). So finding guitarists who I really connect with or that their playing specifically stands out to me isn't as easy as I thought.

I hear what you're saying...I doubt my list will have a legend like Clapton, but personal connections will definitely play into my list.

This is going to be very, very tough.

[Dave_Manchester]

The only countdown so far where my #1 requires not a single moment's thought. In fact the entire top 10 has just taken all of a minute to fall into place in my mind. 11-25 will need some consideration. 

[TAC]

I'm having trouble coming up with 25 honestly. I have a handful of favorites, but after that I've never really thought about it.

[lonestar]

The only countdown so far where my #1 requires not a single moment's thought. In fact the entire top 10 has just taken all of a minute to fall into place in my mind. 11-25 will need some consideration.

Yeah, top ten were a piece of cake... 11-20 a bit harder. Had to stretch for the last 5 though

[KevShmev]

Wow, seriously?  Hell, I could probably go 75 deep pretty easily off the top of my head when it comes to guitar players.

[DragonAttack]

Submitted

[TAC]

Submitted

You cannot list the same guy 25 times.

[HOF]

I went through my music on my computer and put together a list 45 deep. Have a pretty firm top 15 and a rough top 25 that looks about right. I’ll give it a few days to marinate though.

[The Realm]

The only countdown so far where my #1 requires not a single moment's thought. In fact the entire top 10 has just taken all of a minute to fall into place in my mind. 11-25 will need some consideration.

Mark Knopfler?

[DragonAttack]

Submitted

You cannot list the same guy 25 times.

I only listed Brian May 24 times.  I did manage to squeeze Gary Moore into that one other slot.

[Dave_Manchester]

The only countdown so far where my #1 requires not a single moment's thought. In fact the entire top 10 has just taken all of a minute to fall into place in my mind. 11-25 will need some consideration.

Mark Knopfler?

Yup. Literally not a day goes by I don't listen to something of his.

[Evermind]

I know my Top 3, gets a bit difficult after that, but I'm sure I can come up with 25! Excited to finally participate in one of these.

[DTwwbwMP]

Sent

[nobloodyname]

I found myself agreeing with much of Adami's post, so I'm seriously impressed by those who can do this.

I don't think I could even list a top 15 favourite guitarists because I just don't think of them in that way. And I play guitar (Albeit poorly!)

That said, will follow along, of course.

[wolfking]

I'm not sure I can do this.

[Zydar]

I'll sit this one out (I'm more capable of doing the song countdowns instead of individual musicians), but I'll follow along.

[Mladen]

Oh wow! I will actually attempt to do this. Hopefully I don't give up on it the way I gave up the singers one. 

[Fonzie]

List submitted.
There can only be one king, but the next 5 or 6 could be interchangeable on any given day

[KevShmev]

Quick reminder to please DO NOT send lists with guitarists listed by acronyms (as was said in the rules).  Even if you think it is obvious who you mean, list them by name. 

[lonestar]

I got a preliminary list, but I'm gonna let it marinate a bit before sending

[twosuitsluke]

I'm definitely going to do this but there's so many ways to approach it.

Like, my first thought is just favourite lead guitarist, with focus on how I much I love their studio output. But then, it's like what about those who can write incredible riffs, play great rhythm, kill it live, or are just incredible songwriters?

There's no right or wrong answer I know, but I feel that many on my list will not make the final cut. My favourite bands are my favourites because of the music they have written, so how can their guitarist(s) not make my list? You know what I mean?

[Adami]

I'm definitely going to do this but there's so many ways to approach it.

Like, my first thought is just favourite lead guitarist, with focus on how I much I love their studio output. But then, it's like what about those who can write incredible riffs, play great rhythm, kill it live, or are just incredible songwriters?

There's no right or wrong answer I know, but I feel that many on my list will not make the final cut. My favourite bands are my favourites because of the music they have written, so how can their guitarist(s) not make my list? You know what I mean?

I think, for my list at least, a majority of my choices are rhythm guitarists because that's just what speaks to me more. There's a few that are based on their leads moreso, but I've seen SO many youtube videos of dudes (or ladies) running up and down the neck and doing the most complicated things in the world, that it no longer does a ton for me.

[jingle.boy]

I could probably come up with 25 over the next 2 weeks.

[Lonk]

Oh boy, I'll get a list ready but I'm sure most of my favorite ones won't be on the list  I expect my top 5 to be though.

[Adami]

Oh boy, I'll get a least ready but I'm sure most of my favorite ones won't be on the list  I expect my top 5 to be though.

I assume a huge bulk of the list will be classic prog or classic rock guitarists. A few of which are on mine, but most of mine won't make the group list. I assume, anyway, though I was pleasantly surprised by the Metallica list, so who knows?

[hefdaddy42]

Is this limited by genre to rock/prog/metal?  Or is it open season?

[KevShmev]

Is this limited by genre to rock/prog/metal?  Or is it open season?

Open season. 

[El Barto]

Will it screw up your scoring if I submit a list of only 10 or 15?

[Dave_Manchester]

Will it screw up your scoring if I submit a list of only 10 or 15?

I actually wanted to suggest this as a way of encouraging more participation in these countdowns. Have it be, for example,  "up to 25", with a minimum requirement of, say, 15. But as you suggested, I've no idea if that would screw up Kev's system.

[KevShmev]

I mean, I guess I could lower it to 15 if enough people insist, but I am stunned that most cannot easily get to 25.

[El Barto]

I wouldn't officially lower anything. Twenty five is perfectly reasonable. In my case I just don't have the bandwidth to try and figure out 22 vs 24 on a list. I'd rather just send however many guys I know rank among my favorites. Leaving spots blank doesn't seem much different than if I just listed 15 guys who nobody else would ever vote for, creating a bunch of pointless 1-pt guitarists on your list.