Neil Young - Guitarist

Agree about Gatton and Thompson, onhwy61. The difference between them and Vai is a question of taste, which is of course highly subjective. I find Danny and Richard's playing to be cool, Vai's corny. But that's just me.

bdp24
aalenik's post begs the important question: Is technical ability what distinguishes one as a superior guitarist---or singer, or drummer, or whatever? Or is it something some elusive, more abstract, more, dare I say it, artistic?

The answer is "yes".
If you're not technically accomplished, you can't be fully creative or artistic. Technique is a toolbox. The more tools you have, the more stuff you can create. But just because you have a lot of tools doesn't mean you will use them to create art. That can be done with fewer tools. But your art will be limited.

B.B. King was an artist with a very limited toolbox. Steve Vai is an artist with a massive toolbox and knows how to use it. I don't think there's any doubt 95 out of 100 guitarists would rather have Steve Vai's skills even if they don't play his type of music. Therefore, Vai is the better "guitarist". Vai could duplicate what B.B. King or Neil Young play. B.B. King and Neil Young cannot duplicate what Vai plays. 

You might be surprised to learn (or not, after all it does consist of people) that the guitar world is as rife with myth as the audio world. Such as "tone is in the fingers". No, it isn't. Tone is in the technique and the equipment. There's no magic to it. You learn the technique, you learn the tone. Even intermediate players can learn Neil Young's tone.

In the end, ranking players is subjective by how much you value technique versus your (subjective) view of art, and therefore pretty much meaningless. For me, that ratio comes out at Buckethead, who is a stunning technician and a prolific artist. But when I'm in the mood to change that ratio to make art my primary listening experience I might switch to SRV.

This is awesome! I appreciate all the comments. Is Neil the most technical guitarist....heck no, but he certainly knows how to coax emotion from a guitar. As the father of a wonderful daughter who is quite musical btw, one of my favorites has always been "I am a child". I saw Neil live during his left turn with the Shocking Pinks. During that show I sat front row. Neil did a short set of his older tunes just he and his guitar. As he moved to stage left he looked right at me and we held that gaze for a few brief moments. It was one of the best concert experiences I ever had. Someone mentioned Mark Knopfler as the greatest guitarist alive today. Hard to argue with that and I tend to agree. Someone also mentioned Mr. Steve Howe who has always been one of my favorites. Howe is technically and musically gifted and certainly willing to pass along his skills to other musicians.