Let the Battle Begin!

If ever there was a story title calculated to boil the blood of a guitar player or music lover, it is this: “The Top 50 Guitarists of All Time!” Every one of you who just read that sentence, I guarantee, is already thinking about who will be on that list. No, who had better be on that list!

List stories are fluffy, but somehow intoxicating. As if someone had found a way to soak cotton candy in vodka. (I promise you, somewhere in New York City, an ex-drummer of mine is probably working on that formula as we speak!) Once you dig into a list of this kind, you have to see it through. You have to see if, surely, Gary Moore made the cut. Surely Scotty Moore will make it. Or Yngwie Malmsteen. Surely Buddy Guy ranks higher than Hubert Sumlin. Or vice versa. Surely. Surely! SURELY!

Well, then it should come as no surprise that, right now, in these offices, we are SURELY working on just such a feature. The definitive Top 50 Guitarists of All Time, as voted on by a selection of Gibson artists, writers and editors — and you! Yes, your voice will be heard, as well. Just go to our Lifestyle page to vote on, as we call it, “The Most Important Poll Ever Taken!” At least to every shredder and noodler, both inside these walls and out there in your neck of the woods. If your favorite guitarist doesn’t make the cut, you only have yourselves to blame.

Or you can blame me. Here’s my Top 25. I dare you to knock it down: