Best Instrumental Guitarists

Unexcelled master of musical electricity.

One of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, maybe the one on the very top. He doesn't even play the guitar, the guitar plays him.

Absolutely he is the best well-known instrumental guitarist.

All the guitarists in this list are great, but (in my opinion) the best are Joe Satriani, MAB, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Buckethead, Jason Becker, John Petrucci and Paul Gilbert - rock2metal

His breadth and abilities with the guitar are unmatched.

Vai puts SO much of himself into what he does with the guitar...some would say too much if you've ever seen him live. That is whats so great though...he'd be selling himself and us short if he didn't. I'm a product of the 80's and my introduction to Vai happened at 2 times in same day...I saw the Yankee Rose and Going Crazy videos back to back and then that same night my dad took me to see Crossroads with Ralph Machio and I got to see him play Jack Butler...I've been hooked ever since. Vai is my Hendrix.

Steve vai is a master of guitar he is so expressive and powerful in many of his songs

The guitarist with the most soul. His guitar weeps with pain, screams with joy, and produces sonic eargasms that can only be rivaled by few.

JOE SATRIANI TAUGHT STEVIE VAI AND MANY OTHERS YOU NON PLAYING IMBICILE!

Buckethead is bucket and shoulders above all others. I've been a instrumental guitar fanatic for most of my 56 yrs and have never experienced a more diverse talent than the bucket-master. Bucket takes all guitar styles to another dimension like no other. Recently saw him in Detroit, king crab sized hands feverishly dancing on the fret board. Truly amazing artist.

Played the most difficult thing, and plays slow to show his writing and melodic skills. He has the most raw talent, so he wins. - maggot-104

Yeah I have heard steve vai, paul gilbert and joe satriani and many. But Buckethead is really different from all of them.

Great guitarist. He has done almost 300 album! He has an incredible talent, creativity, skill and feel.

Cliffs of Dover is a whole lot harder to play than Surfing with the Alien, because even though it's based around the same area of notes, the fluidity of Johnson's playing style is pretty damn near impossible to pull of with ease.

Eric Johnson took the melodic flow of Hendrix and turned the tempo up. Like way way up!

What can I say. number 1 is like Jesus. Greatest of All time. Respect Sir

Great guitarist, but he isn't that much instrumental. - zxm

I love Petrucci but he's not an Instrumental Guitarist.

Got to meet Paul in Centerville, Ohio at a guitar clinic and he was AWESOME! Humble and down to earth...NO EGO!

My list is:
1. Paul Gilbert
2. Buckethead
3. Yngwie Malmsteen
VIKING KONG LIVE EDITION IS THE BEST!

He is no less than satriani or others, he's just not that popular

I think he is the most skilled guitarist alive

Not the most skilled but one of the most known

Jason is a legendary composer. He hit all of the little nuances, from simple vibrato, to a variety of different tonal ranges. I can listen to Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, and mostly understand what they are doing the first few listens, but with Jason it takes much more focus to get all of the subtle nuance. It is Becker number 1 for me and Guthrie Govan probably 2.

Listen altitudes, images, air, mables fatal fable, opus pocus... and then decide to whom you should vote!

Jeff Beck is the god of Instrumental Classic Rock... He is No.5 on The Rolling Stones 100 Guitarists. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Keith Richards are all not instrumental. So Jeff Beck should be Number 1.

Can't believe there is no Guthrie Govan! Like seriously I expected him to be in the top 10. He is a true maestro of guitar. haven't heard of him? Check him out

This guy is literally light years away from just your standard shredder!