Raiderstation

This isn’t another “Rolling Stone told me what to think” list.

I built this from the ground up with one goal: to separate actual guitar ability and musical impact from myth, nostalgia, and hype. Those three matter very much for certain guitar players.

A few things I care about that most lists don’t:

Completeness matters more than any one trait
If you can only do one thing—shred, riff, or vibe—you’re not cracking the top tier. The guys at the top can do *everything*: lead, rhythm, acoustic, electric, structure, and tone.

Context matters "Aka the Joe Satriani rule"
It’s one thing to sound great when the guitar *is* the song. It’s another to fit into a band, build a track, and elevate everything around you.

Real-world execution matters "Aka the Rory Gallagher rule"
Strip away the studio tricks. One guitar, one amp, live setting—who do you trust? That’s a huge separator.

Memorability matters "Aka the Ace Frehley rule"
If people can hum your solo, you did something right. If they can’t remember it five minutes later, that tells us something too.

Identity matters "Aka the CC DeVille rule"
Some players aren’t the most technical, but the second you hear them, you know who it is. That counts.

Foundation matters—but it’s not everything. "Aka the Duanne Eddy/Les Paul rule"
Early pioneers are on the list because they made it possible. But they don’t get ranked over players who took the instrument further.

Improvisation matters—but it’s a lane, not the whole highway. "Aka the Jerry Garcia rule"

So when you see rankings you disagree with—Hendrix not #1, Santana not top 10, Rory where he is—that’s why. This isn’t about who’s most famous or who gets the most magazine covers.

It’s about: Who can do the most, across the most situations, at the highest level.

Argue it all you want, that’s half the fun. But my list is consistent with itself all the way through, and that’s what I was aiming for.

Top 100 Guitarists
1 Jimmy Page
2 Eddie Van Halen
3 Eric Clapton
4 Jeff Beck
5 Eric Johnson
6 Ry Cooder
7 Steve Vai
8 Jimi Hendrix
9 Brian May
10 Duane Allman
11 Mark Knopfler
12 Randy Rhoads
13 Buckethead
14 Yngwie Malmsteen
15 David Gilmour
16 Stevie Ray Vaughan
17 Tony Iommi
18 Ritchie Blackmore
19 Tom Scholz
20 Lindsey Buckingham
21 Slash
22 Gary Moore
23 Prince
24 Pete Townshend
25 Rory Gallagher*
26 Vito Bratta
27 Warren DeMartini
28 Neal Schon
29 Gary Richrath
30 Ace Frehley
31 Mike McCready
32 Jerry Cantrell
33 Allan Holdsworth
34 Nuno Bettencourt
35 Joe Satriani
36 Angus Young
37 K. K. Downing & Glenn Tipton
38 Phil Collen
39 Ted Nugent
40 Kenny Wayne Shepherd
41 Dimebag Darrell
42 Kirk Hammett
43 Tom Morello
44 Joe Walsh
45 Derek Trucks
46 Shawn Lane
47 Adrian Smith & Dave Murray
48 Matt Bellamy
49 Vinnie Vincent
50 Billy Gibbons
51 Alex Lifeson
52 Zakk Wylde
53 Mick Mars
54 Mick Jones
55 Mick Taylor
56 Rick Nielsen
57 George Harrison
58 Frank Hannon
59 Jeff Healey
60 Duane Eddy
61 Eddie Cochran
62 C.C. DeVille
63 Robby Krieger
64 Steve Howe
65 Keith Richards
66 Carlos Santana
67 Jake E. Lee
68 Dickey Betts
69 Nancy Wilson
70 Joe Perry
71 Tommy Shaw & James Young
72 Mick Ronson
73 Peter Green
74 The Edge
75 Dick Wagner
76 Les Paul
77 Bo Diddley
78 Jack White
79 Brian Robertson & Scott Gorham
80 Mike Campbell
81 PJ Harvey
82 Chuck Berry
83 Martin Barre
84 Allen Collins
85 Buddy Guy
86 Johnny Marr
87 Jonny Greenwood & Ed O’Brien
88 John Fogerty
89 Nile Rodgers
90 Dave Navarro
91 Kim Thayil
92 Dave Davies
93 Dave Mustaine
94 George Lynch
95 Trey Anastasio
96 Andy Summers
97 Robert Fripp
98 Jerry Garcia
99 Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman
100 Kurt Cobain

* if we go by pure ability? Rory Gallagher could arguably be at #10. And doing it live? Him again.

Well that was certainly a productive comment.

Willmark wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2026 7:52 am Well that was certainly a productive comment.

Please amplify? You don't like my comment so, it isn't valid?
I came back to add a comment about Rory Gallagher, will that qualify?

Just a Strat, a Vox AC30, and a Dallas Rangemaster Treble booster, and the man made MUSIC.

raider_kin wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2026 7:59 am Please amplify? You don't like my comment so, it isn't valid?
I came back to add a comment about Rory Gallagher, will that qualify?

Just a Strat, a Vox AC30, and a Dallas Rangemaster Treble booster, and the man made MUSIC.

Did I say i didn’t like it? I pointed out how productive or lack thereof it was.

So far it’s been a lot of old man “get off my lawn commentary” rather than productive exchanges or “how dare this list not include my favorite guy”

As far as Gallagher I am indeed a fan of his and listening to him as we speak.

I appreciate the amount of work you did making this list. Many of these players Ive never heard of. Gives me a list of things to explore.

raider_kin wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2026 7:41 am Checked for Steve Hackett on the list, and he's not there. What an effing joke.
You blokes do know he invented string tapping, right?
Done with this crap list.
Have fun kids.

I didnt know you were a limey!!!!

My old high school buddy Erik could have made this list one day but cancer took him early. He roomed and was friends with Neal Schon for a while and was playing for Starship when he got sick and died.

Cruisin with Tooz wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2026 8:32 am I appreciate the amount of work you did making this list. Many of these players Ive never heard of. Gives me a list of things to explore.

Many thanks. Throughout I tried to be very consistent with criteria despite a few outliers that don’t neatly fit. Rory Gallagher is the biggest one that breaks the rules. If I can only pick one guy live with no net? It’s him. But compared to the criteria I laid out for the Top 10? Those guys are in another universe.

The tough part was slotting who goes where after settling on a “final list”. I moved a lot of guys up and down. By about 50 on the list it got a bit easier, as then it was are you in or out.

One I fought for hard? Marshall Crenshaw, very minimalist player but at the end of the day he missed the cut.

And I agree there were some new guys I had never heard of. Example is Shawn Lane. Dude is up there with Eric Johnson in terms of perfection of playing. Derek Trucks is another I missed when he first got big, now getting into his material.

And for everyone one last caveat: I did not remove players or totally discount impact culturally I simply minimized it: Hendrix and Cobain have myths/legends to their exploits that does not address how they PLAY.

It’s all good Mr Willmark. Thanks for the thread.

I could start a thread that states Fire is hot, Ice is cold, moon is white and Sky is blue and I’m certain there will be responses saying I’m the dumbest guy on the planet lol.

In paramedic school while learning g EKG interpretations taught by a cardiologist, his introductory joke to the class was

“If you ask 5 cardiologists to identify the same EKG rhythm strip, you will get 10 different answers.”

Its so subjective. Some of Steely Dan's session guys are better than some of those on the list of 100.

Xramfan wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2026 1:26 pm It’s all good Mr Willmark. Thanks for the thread.

I could start a thread that states Fire is hot, Ice is cold, moon is white and Sky is blue and I’m certain there will be responses saying I’m the dumbest guy on the planet lol.

In paramedic school while learning g EKG interpretations taught by a cardiologist, his introductory joke to the class was

“If you ask 5 cardiologists to identify the same EKG rhythm strip, you will get 10 different answers.”

Professional economists have predicted 10 of the last 5 recessions

raider_kin wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2026 7:59 am Please amplify? You don't like my comment so, it isn't valid?
I came back to add a comment about Rory Gallagher, will that qualify?

Just a Strat, a Vox AC30, and a Dallas Rangemaster Treble booster, and the man made MUSIC.

Lots of vids Rory performing live. Always seemed to be totally enjoying himself on stage.
Was a huge Rory fan in the 70s. Going to my Home Town always stuck with me big time.
Never graduated from high school an not doing much except to much drugs & alcohol, but got a huge break in 1979.

Got a job with Ford Aerospace in Thule Greenland.

Got a hair cut, quit drugs and away I went. Couple of close friends from my home town who were also big Rory fans and I laughed about it for years.

BTW nice avatar Owsley.

I did see Rory play like in 1990 ish in a place that could hold 1800 people and their was about less than 100 people there to watch; he put on a great show….heard he was offered a spot on the Rolling Stones around 1974ish to join the band and he declined; want to be his owe man…..

God; where is Alvin Lee on that list; Alvin Lee is the guy that Eddie Van Halen look up to…need to listen to “hear me calling” by Ten Years After

Was glad to see Richrath make the list. While they became a pop ballad band later on, REO was a full on rock band early on and Richrath was a very good guitarist

Richrath tends to get overlooked because of REOs later success I agree.

Another who gets overlooked is Scoltz because of the relatively low output of Boston album wise.

And for a bit of meta commentary: most of the comments are about who is not on the list; less so about who is which is interesting.