The best British Guitarist?

meltedbuzzbox

fftc said:

Could of been Green if his career had continued as it started, but since it didn't it has to be Gilmour.

The reason it's Dave and not any of the other very talented guitarists IMHO is about contribution to the songs over such a prolonged period. Beck might be more innovative or technically gifted but he's never written a decent song, with help or otherwise.

Superstition?

ICBM

Best - probably Julian Bream.

Most influential - Tony Iommi.

EricTheWeary

Bert Weedon. If we interpret Best as Most Influential there’s a strong case for Bert.

soma1975 said:

fftc said:

Could of been Green if his career had continued as it started, but since it didn't it has to be Gilmour.

The reason it's Dave and not any of the other very talented guitarists IMHO is about contribution to the songs over such a prolonged period. Beck might be more innovative or technically gifted but he's never written a decent song, with help or otherwise.

Clapton was still having number 1 bestselling guitar-based albums in the 80s and 90s even if they weren't fire breathing Bluesbreaker type albums. 

Beck co-wrote Superstition. 

Although the story is that he was involved playing drums on the original jam that lead to the writing of Superstition he isn’t actually credited with having co-written it. 

HarrySeven

Sassafras said:

You shouldn't discount Richie Blackmore in the best hat stakes:

No, that^ pic is of the Twat in the Hat.

AlexC

I agree that ‘the best’ doesn’t exist. It all comes down to personal taste and then influence - which is a different subject. There’s load of influential players who I can’t abide. Also - can you compare a metal player to a blues player to a jazz player to a country picker fairly?
most of my favourite guitarists have already been mentioned, but some great British guitarists that I don’t think are on here yet -
Andy Summers
Graham Coxon
KK Downing and Glenn Tipton
Nick Drake
David Rhodes
George Harrison
Albert Lee
Mike Oldfield
John McGeogh

And lest we forget that Mr Hank Marvin influenced an entire generation.

thomasross20

Slash. Then Brian May.

Bridgehouse

thomasross20 said:

Slash. Then Brian May.

Then Brian may what?

crunchman

soma1975 said:

fftc said:

Could of been Green if his career had continued as it started, but since it didn't it has to be Gilmour.

The reason it's Dave and not any of the other very talented guitarists IMHO is about contribution to the songs over such a prolonged period. Beck might be more innovative or technically gifted but he's never written a decent song, with help or otherwise.

Clapton was still having number 1 bestselling guitar-based albums in the 80s and 90s even if they weren't fire breathing Bluesbreaker type albums. 

Beck co-wrote Superstition. 

The Spice Girls had number 1 bestselling albums in the 90's.  Not sure if best selling albums are really important to being the best guitarist.

merciful-evans

Not sure...

Bert Jansch?

Derek Bailey maybe?

Dominic

I didn't even know the Spice Girls played guitar

soma1975

crunchman said:

soma1975 said:

fftc said:

Could of been Green if his career had continued as it started, but since it didn't it has to be Gilmour.

The reason it's Dave and not any of the other very talented guitarists IMHO is about contribution to the songs over such a prolonged period. Beck might be more innovative or technically gifted but he's never written a decent song, with help or otherwise.

Clapton was still having number 1 bestselling guitar-based albums in the 80s and 90s even if they weren't fire breathing Bluesbreaker type albums. 

Beck co-wrote Superstition. 

The Spice Girls had number 1 bestselling albums in the 90's.  Not sure if best selling albums are really important to being the best guitarist.

It was in response to talking about Gilmour's longevity. Discounting Clapton as 1996-1971 and nothing else of note is absurb when the likes of August and Journeyman were huge and Unplugged had a mahusive impact on acoustic guitar playing at the time.

The Spice Girls released some absolute bangers to be fair. 

EDIT: Absolutely would have Harrison, Jansch, Drake and Coxon in my top 20 as well. Blackmore would have to be in there despite me not liking anything he has done. 

matt1973

Lesgrandepotato said:

For me it’s Squire. Groove, Rock and a swagger all without being over the top. 

@Lesgrandepotato - Nice to see some love for Mr Squire. He's alway been a massive influence on me.

merciful-evans

or Chris Spedding?

Must have been hell playing in that Wombles suit.

Nerine

No mention of Tony Iommi either... 

Someone has just mentioned Guthrie Govan, but I was going to do the same. 
In terms of technical proficiency and mastery of the instrument, I'm not sure there is anyone in England that comes close. 
To be honest, I'm not sure anyone in the world can touch him. 

prowla

guitars4you said:

Sorry guys but I don't buy into this the 'best' - Not measurable in any way shape or form

Great that we can be influenced by so many and have our favourite hero's - And GB + Ireland have provided many fine players that are influential around the world - From many different styles

Don't want to put a damper on your OP (yet I have) 

Many have influenced me in different ways but if I had to pick 2 favourites then I'd say Gary and Rory from the emerald isle

I agree -"best" is just a personal popularity contest based on the posters you had on your bedroom wall as a teenager.

MattFGBI

Without Hank Marvin we would have nothing. 

ionian

Greatape said:

If we consider players that forged a new path in music, playing at the very highest level - more than once -and truly transcended the limitations of the instrument, it's John McLaughlin. Hands down. 

I fully intended to go with the obvious answer of "it depends and it's impossible to answer" but actually I think this is as close to an answer I could give. I love listening to loads of the names mentioned in this thread but McLaughlin just blows me away. Birds of Fire is one of my go-to albums, has been for years.

fftc

soma1975 said:

crunchman said:

soma1975 said:

fftc said:

Could of been Green if his career had continued as it started, but since it didn't it has to be Gilmour.

The reason it's Dave and not any of the other very talented guitarists IMHO is about contribution to the songs over such a prolonged period. Beck might be more innovative or technically gifted but he's never written a decent song, with help or otherwise.

Clapton was still having number 1 bestselling guitar-based albums in the 80s and 90s even if they weren't fire breathing Bluesbreaker type albums. 

Beck co-wrote Superstition. 

The Spice Girls had number 1 bestselling albums in the 90's.  Not sure if best selling albums are really important to being the best guitarist.

It was in response to talking about Gilmour's longevity. Discounting Clapton as 1996-1971 and nothing else of note is absurb when the likes of August and Journeyman were huge and Unplugged had a mahusive impact on acoustic guitar playing at the time.

Who said anything about Claptons career longevity? I only mentioned Greens.
I like Clapton, but there are far too many middling to poor releases in his history for him to be the best in my opinion. And I also think Peter Green was the better of the two if we are comparing them as ex Bluesbreakers guitarists. I'm in good company 'cos apparently BB King thought so too!

dindude

Jeff Beck for the guitarist guitarists stuff.
Townsend for the visceral electric guitar as a weapon stuff

Fenderfan90

For me the real sad thing is we are all talking about guys who have had their day so to speak. It says a lot about the state of British Guitar  music when there hasn’t been a real guitar hero since the 90’s! When I say hero I mean someone who inspires young people to go out and buy an electric guitar and knock hell out of it! There are some great singer songwriters in the mainstream but no real guitarists or bands. Oasis were probably that last true British rock and roll band. American is still producing the goods with the likes of Gary Clarke Jr, Black Keys ect so why are we not?