better how? i can only guess hendrix because he was a great influence on british and american rock in the 60's and 70's, whereas stevie ray vaughan is a somewhat known guitarist with a low profile career

how about jimi vs devin townsend?

Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitarist who ever lived. No-one could, or still can, do the things with a guitar that he did. Thre are many very good and indeed brilliant guitarists, but I think that if you asked hem, they'd concur that Hendrix is the man that they all look up to.

seriously, the man did things with guitars that even now look impossible. he could play it backwards, upside down, with his teeth and feet, and yet produce amazingly complex chords and effects by himself, no modulation other than an amp. Watch the films and listen to the records for a while and you'll see.

I think that the dispute is null and void. Each person has thier own taste in music, which stems from thier history and personality. What may sound 'good' to one person may sound horrible to another (Thus removing the objective portion of this argument)

On the other hand, you CAN dispute how skilled an artist is an performing a perticular style of music, as Taw has aptly done. however, how 'good' an artist is depends on how the listener views the music, which varys from person to person. (Except for those really bad artists that everyone hates. Thats an exeption, because veryone agrees)

JMHO

Hendrix hands down, not even a doubt.

i think hendrix would be awe struck to see how fast guitarists play now - there was no such thing as thrash/melodic/speed/etc back then, just jamming

imo hendrix may set the standard for every guitarist, but he's not the benchmark of a truly great guitarist anymore - his skills have been surpassed but that doesn't lessen his accomplishment. and i think arania has a valid point about taste - if you had a concert of hendrix/vaughan with 50/50 rabid fans in the audience deciding which is best you would naturally have a deadlocked decision - now, maybe you could get a bunch of dispassionate music students and have them decide on technical merit, but in the real world people just like what they like regardless of whatever praise they heap on technicality or style

To me, it may not have been his playing after all. He was a drug user, and they (the drugs) effect people and what they do. It would have been interesting to see what he could do stone cold sober, no drugs.

Personally, I prefer accustic guitar players, Don Fransisco, John Denver, Jono Manson.

lol - are you implying LSD and pot make for poor music? allow me to refute that:

this is the beatles sober:
she loves you yeaah yeahh yeeeeaah!(yeah yeah yeah yeah) yeah yeah yeah yeah

and this is the beatles under the influence:
picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies
somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly..
a girl with kaleidoscope eyes

P.S. Jimi played the blues with BB King, though i doubt either was entirely sober its probably as close to john denver as he got

i like accoustic too - nothing wrong with that, there is some really good accoustic music i like, but with less 'country boy' hehe
the Wall
Led Zepplin
Jane's Addiction
Nirvana
even GWAR uses accoustic guitars occasionally!

Jimi Hendrix...did...drugs...No way!

There is no doubt in my mind that Hendrix was the best guitarist of all time, however cliche that may sound (there is a reason its a cliche). Like Taw said, Hendrix could do things with a guitar that noone to this day can do at his level. He always was able to find a good balance in his songs. Listen to songs like Crosstown Traffic and you will see what I mean. The guitar is never overwhelming nor forgettable at any point in the song, though his pacing changes frequently throughout the song. The guitar in Castles Made of Sand is arguably the best performance I've ever heard in any song. He also played guitar while singing, which only a limited number of guitarists are able to do well. It is a pity he died at just 27 (Like Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain...coincidence?), there is no saying what he would've achieved had he lived a full life like other great guitarists such as Clapton and Santana.

While my opinion (like all of yours) won't change, I still believe that there is room for comparison and debate...here are some other guitarists I think rank up at the top of the list.

in no specific order...
Nick Drake
Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth)
Trey Anastasio (Phish...whether you like them or not )
Tom Verlaine (Television)
George Harrison (Beatles...of course)
Bob Dylan...People say I'm crazy, but I won't change my mind on Mr. Zimmerman. He wrote the most coordinated music of all time, imho.
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
Chuck Berry
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine)
Johnny Marr (The Smiths)

My list could go on all day...But...

Dylan's an odd choice, my wabbit-hunting friend; whilst I can't deny the originality or import of his music, I'd have to say, based on the experience of having seen the feller live on several occasions, his guitar proficiency is adequate but not particlularly accomplished by any means. That's my recollection anyway, although it's been many years since I last saw him in concert (1980-something) I am old enough (just) to remember the shock waves that went through Bob Dylan fans when he moved from acoustic to electric. Didn't bother me much, it was more that he ceased to be as relevant and ascerbic as he had been, and I don't think he's ever got that back.

I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Brian May yet. He's certainly not to my tastes, but his abilities with the instrument are without doubt highly polished. Perhaps a little bit too polished, and perhaps that's why I'm not a fan. No denying his talent, though. Mrs Taw reckons he's shacked up with Anita Dobson (Angie off Eastenders) which i didn't know till yesterday; oh well, their hairstyles match anyway

CV - very valid point there, colleague, re: the Beatles. Nicely done.

Edited by - Tawakalna Qubt-ut Allah on 8/27/2006 3:14:56 PM

Taw, I agree with you that Dylan doesn't rank in the raw talent category (though I think that overall as a musician, he is in the top 5 easily), but it's his writing ability and genuine love of music that pushed him into that list.

Though I'm not much into his music, I must say that Hendrix is the clear victor, since a city not far from me designed a horrifying building that's somehow supposed to vaguely relate to him:

here's a little pie-de-crow for all the hendrix defenders:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ4cDigFx5U

and lots of people cover jimi, usually not so well but most high school's have had his star spangled banner rendered adequately in talent shows at least once

i'm not attacking hendrix as a demi god, but i just want to point out (as a fellow guitarist) that his genius was creating a new sound, not just introducing new ways of playing guitar, and that to say he's unbeatable on a technical level is just hero worship

I think Stevie > Hendrix because I personally I cant stand any of hendrix's stuff.

My list of great guitarists are:

Stevie Ray Vaughan
Jimmy Page
David Gilmour
Eric Johnson
Randy Rhoads
Eric Clapton

My favorite guitarist is Jimmy Page but I still think Hendrix is amazing.