Guitarist of the Decade

[Frodebro]

I would put Clapton in the sixties slot. He was the spearhead of the Les Paul into a dimed Marshall movement, which influenced all that followed.

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

1960s = Jimi Hendrix
1970s = Jimmy Page
1980s = Eddie Van Halen
1990s = nobody
2000s = nobody
2010s = nobody
2020s = nobody

FTFY.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Jerry Cantrell probably deserves a nod for the 90s…

And Steve Lukather is realistically probably the true “sound of the 80s”

 

[PLX]

Tom Handsome of Polyfillya for the win

 

[DrewJD82]

Jerry Cantrell probably deserves a nod for the 90s…

And Steve Lukather is realistically probably the true “sound of the 80s”

I was going to mention Cantrell and Dimebag for the 90’s, but felt I was sticking too close to my preferences.

I can definitely thank Cantrell for getting me into heavier music and these days it’s like you can throw a rock and hit someone my age who started playing because of him.

Dimebag definitely gets credit for keeping technical guitar playing/solos in “popular” music throughout the 90’s. Of course you still had EVH/Vai/Satch/Petrucci putting out stuff in the 90’s, but it was still a good decade before Petrucci cemented himself as one of the big guys and Vai/Satch weren’t selling millions of albums in that period.

Head and Munky, too. While they were the antithesis to the above, those dudes got so many kids to pick up a guitar, often times being a 7-string right out of the gate in a time 7’s were still being scoffed at. The kids they got to pick up a guitar didn’t give a shit about anything that came before them but still had great fervor for picking up a guitar.

 

[Los-D]

I was going to mention Cantrell and Dimebag for the 90’s, but felt I was sticking too close to my preferences.

I can definitely thank Cantrell for getting me into heavier music and these days it’s like you can throw a rock and hit someone my age who started playing because of him.

Dimebag definitely gets credit for keeping technical guitar playing/solos in “popular” music throughout the 90’s. Of course you still had EVH/Vai/Satch/Petrucci putting out stuff in the 90’s, but it was still a good decade before Petrucci cemented himself as one of the big guys and Vai/Satch weren’t selling millions of albums in that period.

Head and Munky, too. While they were the antithesis to the above, those dudes got so many kids to pick up a guitar, often times being a 7-string right out of the gate in a time 7’s were still being scoffed at. The kids they got to pick up a guitar didn’t give a shit about anything that came before them but still had great fervor for picking up a guitar.

Tom Morello too.

 

[metropolis_4]

I’m thinking maybe…

40’s = Les Paul
50’s = Chuck Berry

I think a strong argument could be made for Tommy Tedesco for the 60’s

Les Paul was the guitarist of the early 50’s, but he was the old guard while Berry represented more where the instrument was headed.

I could also see an argument for Scotty Moore for the 50’s. Or Muddy Waters since he was hugely responsible for the British blues rock explosion that would happen in the 60’s

 

[dbagchee]

Was going to say Dimebag needs to be in the mix for the 90’s. Probably Mike McCready too.

 

[metropolis_4]

1960s = Jimi Hendrix
1970s = Jimmy Page
1980s = Eddie Van Halen
1990s = Dave Matthews/John Petrucci
2000s = John Mayer
2010s = Ed Sheeran
2020s = Yet to be determined

I hadn’t even thought of Dave Matthews for 1990s but I like that. His guitar playingwas massively influential back then and helped re-popularize both jam band and singer-songwriter music