Opinions of most underrated or overrated guitarist of all time

Thanks, Stu.

Max

And since nobody seems to be interested in mentioning him, I gladly vote for an underrated Ian Bairnson - his phrasing, his legato, his taste in melodies and his wonderful use of sustain made me want to study when I wanted to be a guitar player.

Overrated I wouldn't know. Too many.

Isn't he playing a nearly perfect solo in Ringo's rendition of Honey Don't, in the Concert for George? And with smiling nonchalanche?

Hi

Never been that keen on the Beatles but have seen other references to George being a top guitarist.

What can you recommend that showcases his talent as I don't really want to trawl through the Beatles back catalogue.

Cheers

DJL 

Never thought of George as anything but an average guitarist personally.

"All things must pass" is a good start (although it might present George more like a talented musician rather than only guitarist)

The late Mickey Jones of Man was an extremely good guitarist

A good introduction to his work is the album:

Be good to yourself at least once a day

For another aural treat, check out the work of Randy California, of the American band Spirit. He traded licks with Hendrix as a teenage boy and it was all uphill from there. The double album Spirit of 76 should do the trick, there's some great youtube clips as well, Hey Joe and the Night of the Guitars in particular. He's also rightly credited for being one of first pioneers of sampling, hear Future Games (shot through with American TV adverts and film clips), but is not responsible for the large-scale abuse of the technique since!

Cheers

John

I am a Beatlemaniac, but that said, George was just a decent guitarist - the Beatles are much greater than the sum of their parts; it was about the groundbreaking ideas, sounds, production, and songwriting,

I think Bert Jansch (rip) was a great guitar player. And I love his records too.

There are many great guitar players out there.

Richie Blackmore, Steve Hackett, Richard Thompson and Neil Young.

GABOR SZABO

Overrated:

Eric Clapton (except for a brief period - but he's been coasting on his reputation since about '74!)

Joe Satriani

Yngwie Malmsteen

Underrated:

Vini Reilly

Michael Karoli

Davy Graham

Scott Gorham

Jerry Garcia

Adrian, that is a disgrace! Fat Dave is not fast nor is he a fretwanker but IMNSHO no living guitarist can beat him for "feel". Also, his sound is unique and instantly recognisable. Top 3 for me also, along with Page and Hendrix.

Did some great work with SB&Q.

I'm going to cause some controversy here but as much as I recognise his influence and impact I think Hendrix is overrated - too much reliance on effects for me - whereas Kossoff is underrated - beautiful clean lines but immense power and feel - although I will admit a little one dimensional maybe.