[bong_crosby]

DEANER! It's hard to pick the best, but he can shred!

[BigJilm]

I would have to say Keller Williams. I'm not like a diehard fan of his or nething, but evrytime I hear him i think. "That was fucking Amazing!". John Mayer is a damn good guitarist too, i hate his songs, but i saw him on the crossroads guitar festival (with eric clapton and b.b. king, two other amazing guitarists) and he did this awesome guitar part, but then he started singing, so i fast forwarded it. But the best guitarist in the world is probly some dude weve never heard of whos spent his whole life sitting around his house playing guitar even tho he never made it newhere

[BigJilm]

oh yes and of course Deaner

[ronster]

If you play the insturment and you've seen him play with his band (not the dead) then you gotta put Steve Kimock at the top of the list.
BTW for those who have Kottke on the list, I would say when I first saw him play in 1976 that he would be right up on top of the list. Like kimock you would just stand or sit there with your jaw dropped down in amazement. But he lost that fire a long time ago that made him special. Last 3 or 4 times I've seen him were good but nothing like he was.

[Gratefuldad48]

How about the machine gunner Tony Rice and Mr. Smooth John Pizzarelli

[tigerstrat]

If you play the insturment and you've seen him play with his band (not the dead) then you gotta put Steve Kimock at the top of the list.
BTW for those who have Kottke on the list, I would say when I first saw him play in 1976 that he would be right up on top of the list. Like kimock you would just stand or sit there with your jaw dropped down in amazement. But he lost that fire a long time ago that made him special. Last 3 or 4 times I've seen him were good but nothing like he was.

Sometime in the 80's or circa1990?, Leo actually was forced to abandon certain utlra-extreme right-hand techniques that, while sounding totally bad-ass, were injuring his hand and wrist, gradually threatening his ability to play at all. So yeah, he did have to back off a bit. Despite that, I've seen him play 3 times (both before and after) and have been blown away each time:

'88 at Woodstock Opera House, Woodstock IL (which stood in for Punxatawny,PA in Groundhog Day)
'94 at Milwaukee Zoo, WI
'05 at Horning's Hideout, N. Plains, OR w/ Mike Gordon & Neil Symonette- AWESOME!

[GreatNorthSpecial]

May not be the best but Jon the Barber, oh and KW

[nicolasalk]

For Me, Simply Clapton, but is my opinion

[Phil'sDeadRat]

Steve Kimok is way up there, but I don't think a "best guitar player" exist, everyone is different and amaZing in atheir own ways

[Django]

What an amazing list! And Shaggy coming in with the english guys, John Martyn! Davy Graham.
I would have to go there as well with the guitarist that probably made the biggest impact on me about a decade ago then anybody since - Richard Thompson.

[groovemongrel]

Steve Kimock is also one of todays greats.

[groovemongrel]

Anybody say Warren Haynes yet? He's pretty awesome as well. Clapton is still alive too.

[Django]

After reading through this I was interested enough to stream Keller Williams from nugs.net yesterday and I enjoyed that show from '02. And I too have to mention Warren Haynes. But I'm not a huge slide fan I like his straight playing best.

[bodiddley]

All I can say is that if you get the chance to see Dick Dale the King and Father of surf rock, go and see him. That 70 year old man set my hair on fire last time I saw him and I can't wait to check him out again in a couple of months...More energy than you can believe, he doesn't dissapoint.

[Jake_Straw]

I guess Phil Keaggy would get my vote