Shredding has a loose definition, but it can include sweep-picked arpeggios, finger tapping and wailing whammy bar action. Ultimately, is has to kick ass.Hundreds of you nominated, and the results have been counted. Thanks for taking part.Here's your official UG top 10 guitar shredders. Enjoy!
10. Al Di Meola
The bespectacled jazz player favours Spanish guitars and latin rhythms. Be sure to check out his amazing duet with Paco De Lucia too.
9. Joe Satriani
Joe is one of the best known guitarists in the world for a good reason, namely his ability to make guitars sound like alien spaceships. He currently plays guitar in Chickenfoot.
8. Guthrie Govan
The mild mannered English man can shred in any genre (though there's no record of him nailing down dubstep, yet).
7. Dimebag Darrell
This stunning micro-shred is one of many reasons why the late Pantera guitarist is sorely missed.
6. Steve Vai
Steve started out working with Frank Zappa, and went on to win Grammy awards for his solo work. Because he's rad.
5. Jeff Loomis
The former Nevermore guitarist has a series of instructional videos on YouTube called "Super Shred". No sh-t.
4. Jason Becker
So good that he can fling a yo-yo while melting the faces of the first five rows in the audience. Tragically, a degenerative disease means Jason can only communicate with his eyes now, but continues composing music using a computer.
3. Marty Friedman
The former Megadeth guitarist apparently has an unorthodox picking technique, where he often uses upstrokes which can make it harder to emulate his techniques.
2. John Petrucci
One of the best known prog guitarists of all time, thanks to his role in Dream Theater which has been rocking since 1985. You thought he'd come first, didn't you?
1. Paul Gilbert
Even by the age of 15, Paul was impressing label folk like Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records when he asked to join Ozzy Osbourne's band. Paul frequently appears on lists of the best guitar shredders of all time, but today he's your favorite.
Thanks for your votes! If you can find better videos of these guitarists in action, be sure to share them in the comments.
This one time I had a total nostalgia overload when watching a video of Shredder from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. It was overwhelmingly awesome. Seeing this video again reminded me of that feeling.
I saw Guthrie Govan and it didn't mention Herman Li. I almost screamed when I was at number 2 and still didn't see Li. I was like "NO WAY IS HE NUMBER 1."
Yeah, I can't believe Tosin is not on this list. He is, in my opinion, the most creative, talented shredder around right now and even Steve Vai agrees.
Haha, when i seen his pic before clicking the post I freaked like omg ug, did you guys take some joke too far? Who even likes Herman Li's playing except dungeons and dragons enthusiasts. Even my right hand is faster than his and I didn't start playing until I was 22.
The whole problem with Li is that they play too fast, and sacrifice the quality and depth of what they're creating. Congratulations, you have compounded their error.
Lists will ALWAYS be subjective on this site. Shawn Lane is an absolute must , I mean if Paul Gilbert think his stuff is intense than it is plain impossible for a mere mortal.
I couldn't quite get into him. Maybe I'll just have to give him another shot. Paul Gilbert just had to win this anyway. He is the guitarist's guitarist. The biggest exemption on this list was Tosin Abasi, but I'm pretty content with the list otherwise.
That Friedman video is exactly why I love his playing so much. His style is just so exotic and stylish while still sounding completely badass. If I could one day play with one tenth of his creativity I'll be satisfied with my guitar playing journey.
I hate you, I already feel very "small" and "semi-disabled" with my playing with the shredders that I already know and watch, Did you really need to make things considerably worse -.-
Well Buckethead should be at number 1, that's for sure. Buckethead is the greatest guitarist who ever lived, and I doubt anybody who didn't vote for him has ever been to a concert of his. One show, and your life is changed forever.
I don't know any songs by any of these guys except for Marty Friedman's Megadeth stuff. I know one song by Satch and one by Dream Theater. Maybe I should get out more.
Where's The Great Kat?! She shreds so fast, you never have to watch her online videos for more then fifteen seconds. Not that she HAS any videos online longer than fifteen seconds.
Jimi Hendrix was one of the main influences (maybe not for shredding but for starting to play the guitar). But I don't see Randy Rhoads as an influence for anybody on this list. He's good but not as influential guitarist as Eddie Van Halen. Almost all of the guys mention Jimi Hendrix and that kind of classic rock guitarists but nobody mentions Randy as their influence. And if you want to have Randy on the list, why didn't you vote for him. I mean, there's no point in bitching about things when the list is about what people have voted here in UG. Randy isn't there because people in UG didn't vote for him. This is UG's opinion. You can of course disagree with it.
To me that sounds like noise. A true guitar player doesn't need all these effects to make him sound good. Give me a SRV, Randy Rhoades, Slash, or even Jimi Hendrix
I noticed a few of these guys using what would otherwise be described as "bad technique". Loomis anchors his picking pinky and Friedman curls his fretting pinky up when he's not using it. These are discouraged by the regulars in the Technique Forum, but these guys do it anyway and still nail everything.
IT WAS A GREAT IDEA TO ALLOW EMBEDDING IN THE FORUMS, BUT IN THE NEWS ARTICLES, IT IS A NIGHTMARE TO READ THROUGH COMMENTS WITH EVERYONE SPAMMING VIDEOS IN EVERY ARTICLE.
IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU COULD MAKE IT A RULE NOT TO POST VIDEOS IN NEWS ARTICLES COMMENTS SECTION!
Thank you. I also forgot to add, it makes people not want to even scroll down to read more comments because it takes a lot longer to load because of the videos being spammed.
I was worried for a second when I saw that Herman Li was the cover picture. I'm extremely glad he isn't, because he has no talent whatsoever. I also really think Malmsteen deserved to be on here, but hey, that's just my opinion.
metalcore gets a bad name because its full of terrible bands, BUT there are a few shining jems that came out of it (As I Lay Dying, ABR, Texas In July for example) but Jb is by no means a shredder. hes a good guitarist, but NOT worthy of being on the top 10 shredder list for this site. and thats coming from a huge ABR fan.
Come on... he could have said worse... like Durst or Snoop Dog (or whatever idiot who tried to play the guitar on a music video). Don't ask me, but there are worse.
instead of complaining who is and who isn't on the list, i must say that Guthrie's video was absolutely incredible. I was unaware you could cum through your ears
I would. His solos are much more shred than Zakk's, let alone Kirk's. Though Dime isn't that kind of shredder as Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and that kind of G3 guitarists.
I'm pleasantly surprised at the lack of Petrucci hate. His solos with LTE (particularly in When the Water Breaks and Kindred Spirits) had a huge impact on my playing.
Maybe not top 10 material, but mention should be given to Chris Poland and James Murphy. Specifically the work on their solo albums.
I'm very happy PG is first, I am also very upset Malmsteen isn't on this list at all. More upset that hardly anybody in the comments section is questioning it.
I think Buckethead and Yngwie make the list too, and I'm talking about shredding, not being a beautiful and melodic player like Jimi Hendrix or nothing
Jason Becker and Jeff Loomis make this list good enough for me. Malmsteen should be there though, considering at least half the guitarists in the list have cited him as an influence. Also, while we're at Al Di Meola, I would have added the first known shredder in history: Paco de Lucia.
No MAB and no Buckethead. This list is invalid. And honestly Dimebag shouldn't be on here. He's not much of a shredder just awesome. At least Paul Gilbert is #1.
Idk, I think more guitarists from actual bands should have been on here. Trey Azagthoth and Chuck Schuldiner, for example, are pretty damn good while also playing at fast/odd time signatures with maximum shredd, at least as much as some of those here.
Joe Satriani is the best guitarist alive. Maybe not the best shredder, but as a live performer and an overall musician, he's eons above the rest of these guys.
Friedman and Gilbert voted as faster than Becker, this I find nonsense. They have better phrasing, and Marty wrote most of Cacophony's stuff, sure, but the speed that Jason sweeps the Serrana Arpeggios are legendary.
But seriously, where's Shawn Lane? Even Gilbert and Becker looked up to the man.
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, don't slag them off because they have a different point of view. The reason why they weren't on their was because they weren't the popular choice of shredders listed. If people are asking 'where's this guy...?' either they were ignored (seems like Shawn Lane was missed out because those who said his name has got thumbs up) or because they aren't popular with the people.
I don't like it how people 'slam' (I'm not used to the term. Last time I used it, I got so many dislikes...) other people's opinions. In answer to Paramore Fans, they weren't chosen or not enough people said their names. That's life....
I was just saying, I don't want to start an argument. It's true that there are people on the list which are good shredders (for a fact), but this is the people's choice. It's hard to keep everyone happy.
I'm not saying you're wrong, far from it, I just don't like it when people get shot down for suggesting something against the norm (like saying 'I hate Metllica'. Personally I don't but I'm sure many people would be annoyed by that).
Listen, if you want, email me if you want to carry this on. It's a bit tedious scrolling down in order to find the comments.
I'm starting to think that some people don't understand that these top 10s are created from users votes. Don't blame UG for certain guitarists not being on the list.
Glad to see Paul Gilbert at number 1. Not a shred fan but I rather like his stuff and he always comes across as the nicest guy.
Finally a fantastic list here on UG, good job guys. I don't understand how so many people whine about Yngwie, sure he's got skill, but I think the whole myth about shredding lacking emotion originated from his music.
Also thank heavens Dime made it (pun not intended). Absolutely deserved it, just as PG deserved the #1.
nice to see govan up there on the list. now that I think about it, it was UG that introduced me to his music: if I remember correctly, he was the first on a top 10 list of underrated guitarists. I started to listen to the video on the page and I was stunned. so, a big thank you UG
Listen to Nottingham Lace and tell me Buckethead doesn't deserve to be on this list. Can't complain with Paul being number 1 tho, he is a beast and more importantly his shreds have amazing feeling to them. Probably why Yngwie isn't on this list.
Honestly John Petrucci love is going too far. He is boring, with a non outstanding tone, boring technique, generic solos. He is a really good guitarist, do not get me wrong. But not once have I heard something of his and actually been moved in any way, or even though...wow what an insane solo.
I would have really liked to see Chuck Schuldiner on there. List like these are so hard to make because metal has been blessed (depending how you feel) with having so many sub genres and niches. Heck, Marty Friedman is absolutely a top shredder and an incredible guitarist in everything he has done, but I imagine a large part of his placement has to do with Megadeth, and personally Chris Poland and his mutant finger had the most resonance with me. Its all opinion and everyone is disappointed because the best thing about metal is that it has so many awesome guitarists for people to connect to.
I agree within the demographic of people that care to comment on this article because generally people that comment are going to be metal fans who really keep up with the genre, but TBH I hardly ever hear of Marty Friedman's name in a context outside of Megadeth. Heck, even in this very article it even brings up Megadeth but none of his other work.
It's a shame. His skill as a shredder shone in the first Cacophony album. His talent as a composer was mind-blowing in his solo albums... especially Scenes.
Pretty good list.
My only complaint: Friedman in front of Becker.
Marty Friedman would be the first person to tell you that Jason was superior. He was a child prodigy for God's sake.
shredding is lame. i had the unfortunate experience of seeing satriani open for deep purple. after 20 minutes of hearing that noise i had a headache and needed like 100 beers to make it go away.
and of course another list that neglects to mention the amazing musicianship of protest the hero and i dont know how the hell tosin abasi isnt on here. You guys should reserve 2 spots for satch and vai on every single list, cause theyre GONNA be on there everytime, no matter what. or better yet have a separate list of REAL guitarists and have a list for all the fan boys so they can keep saying their favorite guitarist is the best guitarist. There is some really crazy talented mother****ers out there and its not fair that they have to live under the shadow of guitarists who peaked in popularity 25-30 years ago.
The fact that Dimebag, Marty Friedman, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani made it to this list proves the fact 95% of the ppl on ultimate GUITAR dont know shit about guitar. All these guitarists wrote solos which were melody oriented and not speed oriented. This is just another top ten influential guitarists list with the exception of Jeff Loomis and Jason Becker, not to mention that a shredders' list without Malmsteen and Michael Angelo Batio is like talking about physics without mentioning Newton and Einstein (and i feel really sorry for Malmsteen for not getting mentioned here because shredding is the only thing he excels at). Guitarists like Muhammed Suiçmez from Necrophagist and Buckethead should have been here.
Good to see Al Di Meola on the list with little or no blog friction...nothing says shredding can't be meolodic and supersonic...though it has to be supersonic...thus the appeal...great list...although someone always seems to be left off, you have to draw a line at some point...
Ok listen if we are talking about "Shredders" EVH is the definitive....he was one of the first to pioneer playing extremely fast. None of these guitarist would exist without his influence. Yngwie malmsteen is also another that deserves to be on this list. And say what you will about slash but he can shred, just watch his "Godfather solo" live made in stoke. Buckethead, Randy Rhoads, and Zakk Wylde deserve to be on this list
. There are still some big names missing but overally it's ok. However change the article pic ._. ...
