I've made this list separate from the one for the 70s, 80s, and 90s because I feel there is a bit of a dividing line between early rock (the first decade and a half) and the proto-punk/punk/post-punk era and after. Neither group is superior, but I do feel their approaches to the guitar are quite different. These earlier guitarists, often working-class, usually served their apprenticeships on long tours and revues, and played with an energetic skill honed from performing show after show. Jimi Hendrix took the guitar a step forward, playing with an astounding mastery and emotion, but unfortunately his breakthroughs would come to be abused by the "guitar gods" of the seventies and eighties. That's where my second list comes in; those guitarists rebelled against the cold, technical players celebrated by the mainstream and attempted to infuse emotion and vitality back into the form.
I've made this list separate from the one for the 70s, 80s, and 90s because I feel there is a bit of a dividing line between early rock (the first decade and a half) and the proto-punk/punk/post-punk era and after. Neither group is superior, but I do feel their approaches to the guitar are quite different. These earlier guitarists, often working-class, usually served their apprenticeships on long tours and revues, and played with an energetic skill honed from performing show after show. Jimi Hendrix took the guitar a step forward, playing with an astounding mastery and emotion, but unfortunately his breakthroughs would come to be abused by the "guitar gods" of the seventies and eighties. That's where my second list comes in; those guitarists rebelled against the cold, technical players celebrated by the mainstream and attempted to infuse emotion and vitality back into the form.