fritzo

October 23, 2011 at 2:14pm

Little web design tip for ya: If you're going to have a top 50 list, but the "next" buttons at the bottom AND the top. I'm not going to scroll down to the bottom of the screen to hit next and view all 50 pages.

Damage Inc.

September 28, 2011 at 6:24pm

I think Buckethead fits right into SlipKnoT.
Not just because of his appearance...

Sycrensia

September 20, 2011 at 3:53am

Josh Middleton - Sylosis
Alexi Laiho - Children of Bodom

mart1018

September 18, 2011 at 12:09am

Dick Dale???

tspaz44

September 17, 2011 at 9:44pm

All this and no mention of Gary Moore??????????? Seriously??????

Kainslasher

September 17, 2011 at 1:42pm

I find it interesting that Synyster Gates was added to this list on one of Avenged Sevenfold's EARLIEST albums...

Synyster Gates, or Brian Haner Jr. to some, has always been a favorite of mine because of the intricacy of his playing style. Yes, I do concede that Malmsteen is a fantastic and incredibly fast guitarist, but listen to his recordings. 90 percent of the noise you hear comes from the effects and echos he uses. Alot of these guitarists are what I like to call "tappers" using the form of tapping to create a faster speed lick or riff. I like the use of the technique, but it doesnt contribute to your picking speed at all. Any beginner guitarist can tap out a fast solo, but it takes years of practice, effort and skill to sweep pick a solo that isn't just a simple chord progression.

I believe Synyster Belongs at the top of the list because his speed has only increased since "Eternal Rest", his skills have far improved since then, and his technique is mind blowing. Say what you like, but He truly does belong on this list.

Don't believe me? Check this video out and tell me otherwise. This is LIVE material, just think of what he does in the studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kljVpskteDc

XGC Polaris

September 17, 2011 at 11:34am

Chris Broderick and Michael Lee Firkins should be on this list. After seeing Michael Lee Firkins at a guitar clinic in the 90's, I am a life-long fan. Between his speed and odd technique of using his whammy bar to mimic the sounds of a slide, one thing that still stands out is his great song writing. As far as Chris Broderick, just do a search on YouTube and watch!

paradox343

September 15, 2011 at 11:18pm

Buckethead's the best!!!

alockout

September 15, 2011 at 10:11am

Yeah I agree about putting young Mr. Gates on the list-he is good-but not comparable to the people who should dominate here. There are quite a few really great guitarist on here that just don't come to mind when the word speed is mentioned. Like EVH for example one of the greats and he is definitley no sloth but it's not the same speed category as say Malmsteem or Buckethead. It's kinda like comparing the speed of a Corvette to that of a Top Fuel Dragster-The Corvette will do 198 mph which is very fast but the dragster gets to 330mph. Another big difference is the dragster only goes straight ahead while the Corvette can go anywhere. When you say EVH then you must admit that there are a slew of guys who followed his lead and can play just as fast but also aren't on the list like DeMartini or Lynch. All fast and all good but again not like Malmsteem, Buckethead, or Batio. Heck what about Gillis and Watson? So I mean it's one thing to ask a question like "who is the best" and then anybody can make the list but speed and accuracy is more of a measurable subject. That's my little bitch hahaha. Oh and while I'm bitching I also feel the need to mention that I am going through listening to the guitarists I haven't heard before and I got stopped at Mick Barr and the blurb about him. Question: How can you say, "lack of repetition prove that he’s working on another level altogether"? For 3 minutes he (literally) repeats the same lick-that's called repetition-but I will agree, he is working on another level hahaha. I can't tell how fast he's going but I can tell you I'd much rather hear Ty Tabor play at 80bpm than this. BTW don't get me wrong cuz I do love the superfast guitar players too but I just prefer some melody, some soul, some purpose other than speed alone. I guess I just don't get it.

Seven64

September 14, 2011 at 1:42pm

Michael Keene deserves to be on this list much more than a majority of the list. Same with Ryan Knight.

p.s. I voted for Rusty Cooley

dr7rule

September 14, 2011 at 1:17am

Synyster Gates is leading the pack, what a joke. He should not have even been mentioned on this list. Rusty, Vai, John, Macalpine, Morse all besides a few others on the list will blow him away.

FreddyB2011

September 14, 2011 at 12:08am

Just a quick thought, on the 85 fastest guitarists in my opinion, I think those 15 (no particular order) are the fastest, and remarkable. I think Rusty Cooley's solo on Book of Reflections, I. Phoenix, should be noted...just a personal comment :
Rusty Cooley 1
Stéphan Forté
Alex Beyrodt
Alex Masi
Francesco Artusato
Oli Herbert
Johan Reinholdz
Andy Timmons
Roger Staffelbach
Kiko Loureiro 2
Hughes Lefebvre
Henrik Fevre
Tore Ostby
Katsu Ohta 3
Ryan Knight
Olaf Lenk
Alex Skolnick
Mike Lerner
Chris Bradley
Zakk Wylde (phenomenal hybrid picking) 4
Dave Nassie
Blues Saraceno
Lars Eric Mattsson
Brian Maillard
Bumblefoot
Tony Macalpine
Joe Satriani
Alex Laiho
Mats Haugen
Byorn Eliasson
Norifumi Shima
Patrick Reyes
Markus Sigfridsson
Wacław Kiełtyka
Herman Li 5
John Petrucci 6
Nuno Bettencourt
Gus G
Mattias Eklundh
George Bellas
Greg Howe
Guthrie Govan 7
Chris Impellitteri
Chris Broderick
Marco Sfogli
Jason Becker
Joey Taffola
Buckethead 8
Marcel Coenen 9
Luca Turilli
Rob Johnson
Marco Rizzo
Marty Friedman
Martin Buus
Michael Angelo Batio
Michael Romeo 10
Jarkko Kokko
Paul Guilbert 11
Dan Bage
Sami Raatikainen
Christian Muenzner
Rob Milley
Jeff Loomis
Daniel Freyberg
Patrick Rondat
Matteo Di Bon
Richie Kotzen
Per Nilsson
Torben Enevoldsen
Gary Wehrkamp
Jonathan Donais
Jani Liimatainen
Steve Morse 12
Steve Vai 13
Matias Kupiainen
Timo Tolkki
Josh Middleton
Takayoshi Ohmura
John Kempainen
Omar Rodriguez
Stephan Lill
Vinnie Moore
Reb Beach
Jari Maenpaa 14
Y. J. Malmsteen 15

tonyfrombalt

September 13, 2011 at 10:20pm

Yngwie didn't make the list? That is absurd. I remember hearing him on some syndicated metal show back in maybe '85. They played "Evil Eye". I was floored. Untill then, the fastest guitar player I was aware of was Alvin Lee (10 Yrs After) or maybe Ed VH. But Yngwie was mind blowing with his speed. Especially back then. Being fast is one thing, but being fast AND accurate is another thing all together. YJM was the first guy to be super fast and super clean about it, that I ever heard back then.

metalk76

September 13, 2011 at 3:23pm

Where's Jake E Lee! Might not be the fastest but he's darn good!!!!

WMB0117

September 13, 2011 at 2:48pm

Kirk Hammett? I think he should at least be in the honorable mentions. He used to shred when he was younger, just listen to the song Hit the Lights, that's some serious shredding!

Panzer-917-30

September 13, 2011 at 6:53am

Irregardless of who is or isnt on the list ... what is up with so many commentors inability to understand the concept of Alphabetical..... Yngwie and McLaughlin are both under M.

Ps. I really would have loved to have seen Andy LeRoche(King Diamond) and Steve Hackett( Genesis..etc)

Tarkess

September 13, 2011 at 4:32am

Uh.. ..Chris Broderick?

mansonfan999

March 31, 2011 at 3:55pm

WHERE THE CRAP IS YNGWIE

merio

January 24, 2011 at 3:20pm

Ok nice choice, but I think you forgot John Petrucci or you don't even know him? he should be ne of the top 10 at least.

lovestoshred666

October 22, 2010 at 8:37pm

wheres Chris Broderick or Rusty Cooley? sure they haven't accomplished as much as some of the people on this list but that's not the point of the article, it's about who's the fastest and both of those guys need to be on there, there segments in "betcha can't play this" speak for themselves.

shredlordstump

May 05, 2010 at 6:48am

Vinnie Moore, Uli Jon Roth, Paco de Lucia, Al di Meola, Greg Howe, Alex Skolnick, Buckethead, John 5, Chris Broderick, Matt Heafy, Corey Beaulieu, Joe Stump, Paul Gilbert, Chris Impellitteri, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Stephan Forte, Oli Herbert, James Malone, Rusty Cooley, Ron Jarzombek, Robert Marcello, Michael Amott, Christopher Amott, Christian Muenzner, Muhammed Suicmez, Luca Turilli, Alexi Laiho, Gus G., Chuck Schuldiner, Shannon Hamm, Tony MacAlpine, Michael Romeo, Michael Angelo Batio, Eric Peterson, Jonas Kjellgren, Per Nilsson, Shawn Lane, Theodore Ziras, Chris Storey, Luke Jaeger, Karl Logan, Fredrik Thordendal, LORI LINSTRUTH <3, Lars Eric Mattson, Jeffrey Ryan Smoots, Glen Drover, Chris Poland, Al Pitrelli, etc. That's 51. Mostly all metal, but with a guy who plays Flamenco, and some that lean more towards rock/jazz, and then there's Al di Meola. I could easily write for Guitar World, but you probably wouldn't let me because I call bullshit when I see it. Synyster Gates being on this list is the epitome of bullshit. He's just Vinnie Moore with half the accuracy, half the articulation, half the speed, half the complexity, half the technicality, half the originality, half the innovation, half the technique, etc. I prefer to hear the REAL thing, not a cheap imitation. Syn is sloppy, and his stuff is really rather simple. :) Vinnie Moore recorded Mind's Eye in such a short time that he didn't even get to name one of his songs(N.N.Y. stands for No Name Yet). Played clean as a whistle even though he had to think up a lot of the improvisation basically one the spot! He was 21-years-old at the time. 1986, man. Didn't miss a note in shreds over five-minutes-long. Then you got Syn fucking up Second Heartbeat Live In The LBC. Like 40 seconds long? Seriously! 0_0 Him on the list = a joke. And as funny as it is, all jokes get old after a while. Then they get annoying. It's like a fly buzzing around, and sadly, I am without a flyswatter...

ipod13dude

March 27, 2010 at 6:38pm

Why isn't he even on honorable mentions???

billbrown

February 25, 2010 at 2:08pm

Not sure why John McLaughlin didn't make the top 50? Just listen to Mahavishnu Orchestra - Vital Transformation.

hurricane_9312

January 04, 2010 at 1:13am

All my favorite shredders are on this list! Synyster gates is the best and fastest shredder of my time! Hence I'm 19!!!!! All the old school guys kick ass to though!

shredlordstump

November 08, 2009 at 3:15pm

No Berklee/Shredlord on this list? Joe Stump. Listen to Prophecy by HolyHell. He's at least twice as fast as Synyster Gates. Yngwie Malmsteen paved the way for guys like Jason Becker. Yet Becker makes the list and Malmsteen doesn't? Malmsteen is better, faster. Stephan Forte from Adagio. Seven string LAG guitar wit 28 frets. He's the fastest guitarist there is, he can do six and seven string sweeps like they're cake.

ric3142

October 27, 2009 at 4:28pm

Irishmen Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore would have made my list and probably Australia's Tommy Emmanual too. Then again, I haven't heard of a number of the guitarists on your top 50. Hey, what about Adrian Curtis/Gurvitz on Gun's 'Race with the Devil'? That was pretty damn fast back in 1968!

lestrum

October 26, 2009 at 4:17pm

While I respect the abilities of many of the guitar players listed leaving off Mclaughlin is absurd. Without his ground breaking work half of the players mentioned wouldn't even have a job. And they would be the first to tell you that.

Whoever wrote this article is misguided.

nasrimehat

April 29, 2009 at 9:38pm

Malmsteen not in the list..what a crap!!! I am not a big fan of him, but speedwise he is definitely among the fastest if not the fastest.

phgold

March 12, 2009 at 4:09pm

OK, so it's hard to calssify this artist to a genre, and your list has a dearth of artixts from any of the genre's one might use to classify this true virtuoso that ioncororates bluegrass, blues, jazz and folk:
LEO KOTTKEE!!!!!!!!

aerosmith1

March 08, 2009 at 4:39pm

What about yngwie malmsteen, Ritchie Blackmore, and Tony Iommi. This list is horrible!

thomasa

March 01, 2009 at 7:21pm

I love Guitar World Magazine and have learned much over the years. It has come in handy even when I prepare to teach lessons of my own. When it comes to technique which is an important tool to musicianship (I don't care how others feel about this) your magazine refuses to acknowledge anyone from the world of classical guitar beyond the occasional mention of Andres Segovia. A message to your readers who are "turned on" by speed and amazing technique please familiarize yourselves with Kazuhito Yamashita (Japan) and Eliot Fisk (USA) and Pavel Steidl (Czech Republic)as GREATS !!!!

tskl2

February 23, 2009 at 7:33pm

Have any of you ever heard of the album Birds of Fire by John McLaughlin Now thats a fast guitar player.I would also have to say Jeff Beck,Carlos Santana And Jimmy Page.

panterrasports

December 08, 2008 at 11:12am

These lists are risky business. There are so many great players out there. How do you evaluate 'speed'. To me, I would look at how a player's efforts have impacted guitar music and estimate their importance 20 or 50 years from now. There are kids in their basement that can play faster than half your list, but they will never make a mark...and possibly for good reason. It still has to be music, no matter how fast.

Here are a few true pioneers you missed:

John McLaughlin
Petrucci
Yngwie
Greg Howe
Steve Morse
Chris Poland
Michael Schenker
Eric Johnson
Chet Atkins

I realize some of these guys haven't done much in a while and some have become parodies of themselves but you can't deny their impact on how the guitar is played today.

I'm also a fan of Warren DeMartini though I don't know that I'd consider him a pioneer. Same with Adrian Vandenberg, Chris Broderick, John Sykes, Gary Moore, Emil Werstler (Daath), Joe Stump, James Murphy and Vito Bratta.

I also think it's important to make mention of some great rhythm players. Hammering out superfast riffs can be every bit as technical as great leads. If you're talking about speed/accuracy of rhythm playing, it's hard to overlook:
Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman
Willie Adler & Mark Morton
Scott Ian
Hetfield
Mustaine

I can't help but wonder whether leaving Kirk Hammett off the list was oversight or insight...?

May (real) shred never die

acdc_acca_dacca

December 04, 2008 at 11:45am

you guys r dumb as fuck u left out two of the best ever angus yung and chuck barry so fuck you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!