David Gilmour Vs The Edge
Two guitarists not known for blazing speed in their solos, instead, they weave their souls into their music. There’s something to be said for both these players – each has only been in one band as a national act. They have defined their respective band’s sound, and there is no way you can imagine Pink Floyd without Gilmour, and no way to hear U2 without the riffs from the Edge.
Both are masters of sustain and special effects layered in delay and chorus. Each brings a style that is almost never duplicated – the reason? It’s impossible to steal someone’s soul.
Who’s the master of his craft?
David Gilmour
The Edge
C.C. DeVille Vs George Lynch
Interesting match here. With perhaps the biggest “Glam Band” from the 80′s in Poison and their guitarist, C.C. DeVille up against the more critically acclaimed George Lynch of Dokken and Lynch Mob.
Both have sinister chops that can shred through multiple layers of sound. But of these two, which one delivered more memorable performances?
C.C.DeVille
George Lynch
Dimebag Darrell Vs Zakk Wylde
admin 
Duels 
Black Label Society, Damageplan, Dimebag Darrell, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Zakk Wylde
Extremely tough match for yours truly here. Both of these guitarists are two of my personal favorites. With Dimebag’s early passing, he has an advantage of being immortalized in time and all of his work can be reviewed with that thought dancing in the back of your mind.
Compared to Zakk, where he’s still performing and can still continue to amaze us with some new licks that we may not have had the chance to before.
Either way, it’s a tough choice.
Dimebag Darrell:
Zakk Wylde
Joe Bonamassa Vs Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Recently, Guitar World readers voted Joe Bonamassa the best Blues guitarist over Kenny Wayne Shepherd. So, I had to investigate to see why. After listening to a few albums, I don’t know why Joe is classified as a Blues artist. As Frankie pointed out, it seems to be more like fusion instead.
But whatever.
While I like both, I have to say that I am biased towards KWS, being that Frankie and I just caught him playing in Pittsburgh recently – and it’s been announced that Joe Bonamassa is arriving to the Burgh soon as well.
I don’t don’t the talent, I just question the labeling. Regardless, from what I have seen and heard so far, Kenny still gets my vote.
What say you?
Joe Bonamassa
Frankie: Joe Bonamassa – He is getting a really killer tone out of that Les Paul. Wonder how. Very good tune, go to about the 3:55 mark to see the smoke start flying. He uses a lot of virtuoso in his solo to get the tone I think, and then when he switches to a rhythm section still has that low end crunch you get with a Gibson to sell the rhythm.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Stu Hamm Vs Les Claypool
This match is the first time two bass guitars go at it here on GuitarDuels. Stu arrives from the likes of playing with Steve Vai, and more notably, Joe Satriani. Les is the founding member of Primus and has done many offshoot gigs including perhaps his most famous one, as the theme song for South Park.
Both are un-conventional players in their own right. Where Stu brings a finesse and fusion style to his playing, Les is more of a groove/funk/weird type of sound. And yes, he has a friggin WHAMMY BAR on his bass!
Regardless, both bring some unique elements to the table. Which one would you want for your band? Which one do you think is more influential? Which one do you like best?
Stu Hamm:
Les Claypool:
Slash Vs Kirk Hammett
Another great battle between two of the most successful guitarists of the last 20 years. While Kirk has remained in Metallica for the entire stint, Slash started with GNR, and due to Axl being a complete phucktard, has moved on to solo projects.
At one point in time, these two bands toured together, and I was fortunate enough to see them play. I’ve seen Metallica many times more than Slash, and from a performance perspective, Kirk certainly has had more chops to play.
While they have both brought their style to their music, which one do you think has been more influential? Which one do you think is the flat-out better player? Which one would you want to party with? Which one do you think could deliver a knock-out solo on the spot?
Slash:
Kirk Hammett:
Steve Vai Vs John Petrucci
Here are two masters of their craft facing each other to see who can claim the title of the most soulful shredder. Each have placed their signature on Rock guitar history – and continue to do so today.
Both are amazing in their own right – of the two, who do you think is best?
Steve Vai:
John Petrucci:
Kim Thayil Vs Mike McCready
Here we have two of the more famous Seattle bands of the Grunge era facing off against each other with their respective axe men. McCready has always been a player who knew when to unleash the wails during a song and in the solos. Kim, on the other hand seemed to construct every song as it’s own solo in regards to that while there were certainly the same tone for most songs, each song had it’s own signature lick…
So, who do you think is the better guitarist?
Kim Thayil:
Mike McCready:
Kirk Hammett Vs Synyster Gates
So here we have the heavy metal juggernaut of Metallica’s Kirk Hammett up against the thrashing and blazing speed of Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold.
While Kirk has a bigger body of work to review, the influence of each onto the genre can’t be underestimated. Where Hammett has been clearly established for quite some time, Gates represents the new generation of potential Guitar God whose playing delivers a nod of respect to the past players while also forging his own style into his solos.
Who is the better guitarist?
Who is more influential?
Kirk Hammett:
Jump to the 3:17 mark to hear his version of “Little Wing”
Synyster Gates:
Randy Rhoads Vs Zakk Wylde
While there is no doubt that these two are the best shredders to play for Ozzy, there is still the old debate on who is better. Rhoads has the advantage of being first and leaving a nearly impossible path to follow. Zakk has played the longest for Ozzy in his solo career, and has distinguished himself by his style and relentless output of material.
Both are clearly cemented in the Osbourne legacy – but who is the better guitarist?
Randy Rhoads:
Zakk Wylde:
Follow us on Twitter!