Top 10 Most Overrated Guitarists of All Time

For those of you saying Slash is overrated, I can 100% see where you're all coming from. I think he's overrated, but he doesn't deserve to be hated on so much. His guitar solos are brilliant, and his rhythm work is great too. Slash was my inspiration to both pick up the guitar and continue from there on out.

I personally don't care about the top hat. I didn't even know he was the guy from Guitar Hero back when I was a kid. I'd be listening to Nightrain, my favorite Guns N' Roses song, while pretending to jam out to it on guitar.

Now, Michael Schenker, Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Marty Friedman, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, James Hetfield, Eddie, Dimebag, Angus, John Petrucci, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, all these guys are also my inspiration. Being 15, I still have plenty of time to learn all of these guys' riffs and solos, but Slash has always been my number 1. His guitar tone and sound may be too high, but that's his signature sound. It makes Nightrain and November Rain sound especially good. He may not play as fast as Dimebag, Eddie, or John Petrucci, but he's one hell of a guitarist. Badass, raw, vicious, the hair, his style, he's got it all.

The phenomenon of accumulating popularity after untimely death has seemed to echo through the ages. The death of JFK quickly gave him the title of 'Best Ever President' to many people who otherwise would have written him off. Edgar Allan Poe's 19th-century poetry was only made more popular due to the mysterious nature of his untimely death.

The same is true of Kurt Cobain, a technically below-par guitarist. Inspired by the Pixies, a band who were by no means technically gifted either, Cobain, with his lack of ability on the instrument, might not have received the praise he has today if it hadn't been for his association with the rise of the grunge movement in the early '90s, and even that headline-snatching early death.

I want to point out that, yes, I love AC/DC. Yet, I do have to agree that after a while, it gets to be all the same. I personally stopped listening to AC/DC after "For Those About to Rock" and came back after "Razor's Edge," when things became more interesting, and promptly left again.

Angus Young is one of the biggest inspirations in my life, and I love his work. His blues rock riffs and solos are just fun to play, but yes, he is really overrated. Though he is an absolutely outstanding showman, and I have to commend him for how long he's been in the business, his work became repetitive and less fun to listen to after Back in Black.

I also have to say that he doesn't suck. He's not a terrible player at all! It's simply the style that he plays with and what he developed and created over his years, but that does not mean he is some kind of guitar-god.

Led Zeppelin ripped off many artists, and Page is way overrated. I saw Zep live back in the day, and between the violin bow, the 20-minute drum solo, and Plant's screeching, I was bored to death. I couldn't wait for the concert to end.

I don't understand what the big deal about Jimmy Page is. Ever since he wrote the guitar solo for Stairway to Heaven, he's been overrated. His other solos aren't that good at all.

Decent dexterity, but very limited in his scope of playing ability. Jimi Hendrix was far more sloppy than Jimmy Page, but Jimmy is a close second.

Good songwriter, good punk/pop singer. He took his inspiration from great bands. His riffing is there to hold it all together and provide a hook - it's functional playing, that's it.

Billie Joe is good at what he does, which is mostly power chords. And that's all he's really going for. He's not trying to be some guitar aficionado. His guitar riffs are made to support the song, and not as a lead instrument. Jason is a much better guitar player than Billie is.

In conclusion: Is Billie overrated? Yes. Is he good? Yes, he's good at what he does, which are simple guitar riffs made to support the song.

Dimebag set guitar tone back decades by taking a solid state Randall amp, cranking the bass and treble to max, then scooping the mids, i.e., the mistake every aspiring metal guitar player makes when they get their first Line 6 Spider or Boss Katana combo amp. Dude ruined songs that had great potential like "Walk" and "Cemetery Gates" by forcing in lead lines and solos that didn't fit the songs at all. There's a reason why he was playing a small club like the Al Rosa Villa after Pantera's breakup.

First of all, I have nothing against Mr. Gates personally. But one question bugs me: "Why is he in almost all the top ten lists on this site anyway? I'm beginning to think that he is actually a member and voting for himself!"

And what in the name of Amplifier Overload is his name doing in the fastest guitarist section? Trust me. I watched him live and even I can play faster than that.

Okay, here is the deal. I think people voting on this site are having favorites, and their decisions are based on how famous this guy is and not on how good he really is. Sorry, but... I'm not impressed. Just not impressed.

His stuff on the Ride the Lightning album is alright, but after that, most of his stuff is just garbage. Listen to the solo on Blackened, for instance. The song is very decent, with good riffing and dual guitar lead stuff, but Kirk's solo is just pathetic.

He's not particularly fast, if speed is what you want. Look at Mustaine, Schuldiner, Van Halen, or Satriani for proper fast. He doesn't play particularly good emotional solos. As I said, the ones on Ride the Lightning are good, such as Fade to Black. I also like Orion's solos. But after that, it's just downhill. For good emotional solos, look at Petrucci, Rhoads, or Schuldiner (Voice of the Soul).

Kirk is ridiculously overrated, in my opinion.

Noise, noise, crap. Terrible guitarist. Awesome showmanship though. I think that's why so many people were influenced by him. If there was a guitarist today that sounded or played that way, no one would take them seriously.

Most anyone who wants to be a "rock star" gets this emotion from showmanship, not ability to play. For this reason, I feel like he is the most overrated guitarist of all time. If we were talking about showmanship, he could definitely be top three.

Jimi was pretty bad. He had some moments, but I really cannot stand the "well, for his time he was amazing" argument. No, he wasn't. The instrument has existed in its current form, although not with amplification and effects, for more than 400 years. We have music from people in the 1600s and 1700s that made this guy sound like a doof with a Tonka truck. It is the same instrument, and it is in complete parity.

Just because somebody electrifies it and adds distortion doesn't mean that all of a sudden you can be garbage in the technique department and get a medal. I like Jimi, but I want to puke when he is number one on every single guitar list forever and all time, because he isn't.

One of the most overrated artists of all time. His guitar playing was nothing special.

Eric is a fine blues guitarist if you like recycled riffs played faster than the originators. I've never found him interesting or original.

The guy just isn't very creative, though I suppose his playing 10-minute guitar solos was innovative at the time. But he's never had anything to say.

First of all, the fact that Slash is at number 1 is ridiculous. I hate Guns N' Roses, and I still admire Slash as a legendary guitar player. Also, why is Kurt Cobain here? He's not overrated as a guitarist because nobody thinks of him primarily as a guitarist. He's mainly known for his vocals.

Also, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix, the two greatest guitarists of all time? Seriously? You guys are just haters who can't appreciate these two gods.

Meanwhile, Eric Clapton actually is overrated. First, a lot of his riffs sound very similar. Apart from his hit songs, there's nothing he's really achieved that was that great. As a soloist, he's great but not at the level of Page, Hendrix, Gilmour, Slash, and many more. I do think that Eric Clapton is a great guitarist, but the fact that people think he's the best is ridiculous.

John Mayer is a joke. I saw an interview where Santana preferred Derek Trucks over John Mayer easily. Mayer is just a knockoff of Stevie Ray Vaughan. He just copied his style and didn't even come up with his own influential style.

Does this guy ever rock? I have yet to hear it. His music is boring. He's not a technique freak at least and can make actual music. I just don't like his style.

Terrible, god-awful guitarist. He's so bad he makes Lil Wayne look like Jimi Hendrix.

His guitar playing is obnoxious. It's extremely repetitive and all sounds the same. The solos are very sloppy and poorly implemented into songs, and the tone of his guitar is painful to listen to.

I'm not a fan of Angus Young's guitar playing, but he can play circles around Van Halen. At least his playing isn't this obnoxious. I'm tired of hearing that he's better than Hendrix. Hendrix destroys this guy. All of Hendrix's complex techniques and diverse, amazing guitar playing have so much variety, and it makes this guy look like Lil Wayne. At least Lil Wayne doesn't focus on guitar playing. He's a poor rapper.

Anyone can play like The Edge. Take away his FX units, and he is playing one note and letting computers do the flash stuff. And a word about Hendrix, compared to modern players, he isn't all that, but remember this and remember it well: he was the first. If it wasn't for Jimi, we wouldn't have a lot of the tricks and likes of today.

He worked with Jim Marshall to develop the Marshall stack and therefore gave the world metal guitar playing. We owe Jimi Hendrix everything.

His playing is monotone, repetitive, and effect-driven. Listen to any other guitarist using echo pedals, and notice how they are able to come up with something more interesting than good old Edge. But my problem is simply that everything I've ever heard him play was two-note, three-note riffs.

If the man actually tried some doublets! Just anything instead of single string 4/4 "down-down-down-down".

I like the guy, would love to have a beer with him. But his music is more generic than Walmart brand aspirin, uninspiring, and simple. I mean, if you can pull a random dude out of a crowd and let him sit in on drums during a concert, you probably aren't pushing many boundaries.

Really just not that good at all. His playing is boring and sloppy.

He was far from the only one to play that musical style, and far from the best. One hundred percent lightning-fast shredding, zero percent emotion. If certain unfortunate circumstances hadn't come about and taken out the other major neo-classical guitarist of the time, he'd be second fiddle.

This is the most dull guitar player I've ever heard. Technique is not nearly as important as making decent music.

He is an insane shredder, but I don't think he could even improvise a blues solo.

Keith Richards sucks. What he did is introduce distortion to the mass and created modern rock with that act. His riffs are simple, and my five-year-old cousin can play them on his child guitar. And I think Hammett is not the fifth most overrated player.

People say that because Mustaine is better than him. Hammett is an excellent player, but not one of the best. Also, Richie Sambora is terribly underrated. I mean, Richie could own all of the guys on this list.

This guy looks like he's wearing a build-a-body outfit. He's so thin he has to wear tons of clothes to make it look like he actually has a body. The Stones are a decent band, but he plays guitar like a twelve-year-old.

As a guitar player myself, I can tell you sliding your hand across the guitar strings over the pickups instead of playing actual musical notes like Slash, Hendrix, Jimmy Page, etc., does not take talent. I strongly agree with Tom being on the list but disagree with most of the others.

On the low key though, I still kind of like Rage Against the Machine and I don't know why.

I can't even consider this guy a guitar player. I saw him on stage with Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Zakk Wylde, John 5, Nuno Bettencourt, and others where they all traded solos. It was obvious from his body language that he didn't feel comfortable playing with actual guitar players. I actually felt bad for him.

Only popular because of "Seven Nation Army." I believe Meg was the one who wrote the riff too. Just look at him. He looks like a rejected Ozzy Osbourne.

Jack White and the Edge both show that you don't have to be good to be famous.

Knows nothing about articulation, yet another noisy and sloppy sucker.

Entertaining guitarist, but every solo sounds the same.

I just saw Zakk Sabbath, and it was great because Black Sabbath were one of my favorite bands.

I can't stand his tone. That terrible blasty sound with tons of gain and then the endless wah. Definitely overrated.

He's definitely lost his sense of creativity in his solos and riffs.

People who can't play always mention him as the best. He's just an elitist who only plays in one key and nothing else. Those liberal-yuppie-know-it-alls always hail him as the best. Unfortunately, his rotten political opinions aside, Carlos is still one of the most boring guitarists you'll ever hear.

He has absolutely no technique (can't shred, duh) or musicality (always the same pentatonic scale and one key playing).

Carlos Santana completely hijacked Peter Green's style when Fleetwood Mac came to America. He even went as far as pawning off "Black Magic Woman" as his own material. Neil Schon was a way better guitarist, but Carlos only let him play rhythm during the Santana III years.

This guy is okay, but let's face it, he's not that great. He's a triumph of style over substance.

Angus Young was on this list, but not this guy?

Just because Pat Metheny is a Jazz player doesn't exempt him from the list. Compared to other top Jazz guitarists like George Benson, or top Fusion players like John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Frank Gambale, Pat Metheny is boring at best.

Pat Metheny is not a bona fide jazz guitarist. Nor are jazz-wannabees John Scofield and Bill Frisell, both of whom should be on this list.

He just plays blues licks over and over again. He seems like a guy who you would see at an open mic night and think, "Oh damn, he's pretty good," but nothing more. He's better than the other guitarists on this list, but I had to put him here because of how many people think he's the greatest ever.