Top 10 Best Effects Guitarists

1. Tom Morello

   

   Thomas Morello is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and political activist. He's best known for his tenure with the band Rage Against the Machine and later with Audioslave. Morello's also known for his innovative guitar style and his solo project, The Nightwatchman.... read more

   This is a man who knows his stuff. He doesn't just play a pentatonic scale for every solo or riff he does. He experiments and uses what he calls the happy accidents that occur during rehearsal and practice.

   If Morello is ever overtaken, then this list should be deleted. Bellamy is good, but Muse wouldn't even be around if it wasn't for Rage or Morello. Best guitarist ever, in my opinion!

   Just plain godly. He and Tim can do some seriously wild stuff.

2. Matt Bellamy

   

   Matthew James "Matt" Bellamy is an English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Muse. Bellamy's dynamic guitar work, falsetto vocals, and classically influenced piano compositions... read more

   Bellamy pushes effects to a whole new level. Muse conveys so much power, energy, and emotion each time they perform a riff or a solo live, even one that they've played a thousand times before.

   That's why Bellamy is my favorite guitarist - he figuratively (and sometimes literally) throws his guitar over the top of the barrier of what a guitar is supposed to sound like.

   The funny thing is, his favorite guitarist as a child was, in fact, Tom Morello. Obviously, the knowledge has rubbed off on him, with solos in the songs Supermassive Black Hole and Thoughts of a Dying Atheist.

3. David Gilmour

   

   David Jon Gilmour (born March 6, 1946) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He joined Pink Floyd as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in late 1967 after the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. His arrival helped solidify the band's signature sound.... read more

   For David Gilmour, it was a test - a test to see how many pedals he could fit into one effects unit. When he plays, it's a trip to the dark side of the moon for us.

   Dude can make any effect work - with the vibrato bar, using pedals, or without any kind of pedals. He has very good control over the pitch.

4. Jimi Hendrix

   

   Jimi Hendrix was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Though his mainstream career lasted only about four years from 1966 to 1970, he's widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in popular music.... read more

   Just remember that this is about the best effects guitarists, not just guitarists. This man was a pro of pyrotechnics and full-on sonic freakouts. Just listen to his rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.

   He was using pedaling effects more than anybody else in his time.

5. Joe Satriani

   

   Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956) is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, including Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie... read more

   Like lilbullet111 wrote, just listen to his masterpiece "Surfing with the Alien." If you hear it and still don't think he deserves the top spot, go and listen to many of his other songs - he uses really good effects!

   By the way, I respect that Tom Morello is in first place because he always makes strange and awesome effects while playing.

   Including Surfing with the Alien, his song Searching also has awesome uses of the whammy pedal. I often see people get mad for pedal effects after listening to Joe Satriani's songs.

6. Jeff Beck

   

   Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck was an English rock guitarist. He was one of the three notable guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds, alongside Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. Beck also formed The Jeff Beck Group and the power trio Beck, Bogert and Appice.

   Sure, he doesn't use that many effects, but I'm going to include him here for his expert use of the whammy bar. The amazing thing is, he could maneuver it fantastically, and it seemed that his guitar didn't even go out of tune!

7. Kirk Hammett

   

   Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. In addition to playing guitar, he contributes as a songwriter for the band.

   Prior to joining Metallica, Hammett co-founded the thrash metal band Exodus... read more

   WAAH! WAH! Yeah, this guy can do a lot of good solos without the wah pedal, but with it, he can do awesome things like Enter Sandman or Don't Tread on Me!

   Not a fan of his, but I admire his use of the Wah pedal.

8. Jimmy Page

   

   James Patrick Page is an English musician, songwriter, and record producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of Led Zeppelin. He's widely regarded for his innovative guitar techniques, production work, and influence across rock music genres. After Led Zeppelin disbanded... read more

9. The Edge

   

   David Howell Evans, better known by his stage name the Edge, is an Irish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the rock band U2. The Edge is recognized for his signature sound characterized by delay effects and minimalistic style.

   The man behind the music of one of the most influential bands of all time, The Edge can play. Best known for his echo effects, this guitarist is pretty awesome.

   Never uses the same effect twice.

10. Eddie Van Halen

    

    Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen (January 26, 1955 - October 6, 2020) was a Dutch-American musician, songwriter, producer, and inventor. He was best known as the lead guitarist, occasional keyboardist, and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. He is widely recognized for pioneering guitar techniques... read more

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Peter Lennodo

    

    Peter Lennodo is a British musician. He is also a composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the vocalist, lead guitarist and main songwriter of the rock band The Arcana.

12. ?

    Omar Rodríguez-López

    
The Contenders

13. Jack White

    

    John Anthony "Jack" White is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo The White Stripes. He has also achieved success with other bands, including The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, as well as in his solo career.

    King of distortion, in my opinion. This man knows how to mix crazy, heavy sounds with blues and feel. His great use of octave pedals for Seven Nation Army just makes him known worldwide.

14. Thurston Moore

    

    He's done things on guitar that no one else ever thought about, starting in the early '80s! Take that, Tom Morello! (I do respect both guitarists, though.)

    Tom Morello seems to have taken tons of the noises Thurston made at least a year before he did. Thurston ROCKS. If you don't think he's the best, then you obviously don't know who started it all. (It's Thurston!)

    Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore brings the word sonic to a whole new level. It's truly amazing how far you can take technical abilities these days. And man, he knows how to make a guitar scream.

15. John Frusciante

    

    John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, producer, and composer. He is best known for his work with the funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frusciante has also been a member of The Mars Volta, Swahili Blonde, Ataxia, and several other musical projects.

16. Jonny Greenwood

    

    Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, professionally known as Jonny Greenwood, is an English musician and composer. He is mostly known for his role as one of the lead guitarists and the main keyboardist of the English alternative rock band Radiohead. Beyond his work with the band, he has composed the scores... read more

    Tom Morello and Jimi Hendrix definitely deserve high places on this list, but where is Jonny? Seriously, this guy puts so much psychedelic emotion and touch into his melody with the nuances of his effects.

    Listen to the guitars on Paranoid Android and Subterranean Homesick Alien, to name a few!

17. Kurt Cobain

    

    Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 - April 5, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the frontman of the grunge band Nirvana. Founded in 1987, Nirvana achieved global success in the early 1990s, reshaping rock music with albums like Bleach, Nevermind, and In Utero. Cobain died... read more

    I'd say that this legend is the king of the quiet-loud contrast, notable in songs like Smells Like Teen Spirit and Lithium.

18. Buckethead

    

    Brian Patrick Carroll, known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist who has released over 300 studio albums. He is recognized for his unique style and stage persona, which includes wearing a KFC bucket on his head and a white mask. Buckethead has worked across... read more

19. Mike Einziger

    

20. Synyster Gates

    

    Brian Elwin Haner, Jr., better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the band Avenged Sevenfold. He joined the band in 2001 and has since become recognized for his technical skill and melodic solos. Gates... read more

    Pure, clean picking, and all the notes are touched. The slides, pull-offs, and everything else are just awesome.

21. Brian Welch

    

    Brian Philip Welch, better known by the stage name Head, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is one of the guitarists and founding members of the nu metal band Korn. Welch also leads the Christian metal band Love and Death, which he formed during his hiatus from Korn.

22. Michael Angelo Batio

    

    Michael Angelo Batio, also known as Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. He is renowned for his technical skill and for inventing the double guitar. Batio has released several solo albums and has been featured in numerous guitar magazines.

    He often uses a pedal to control his guitar solos, especially during double guitar solos.