beanbean said:

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Frank Marino

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Yep. He is another one that was doing the two-handed tapping thing before EVH.

I'll submit Rory Gallahger.

Off the top of my head…

Brian Setzer
Tony Macalpine
Phil Collen
Vernon Reid

GrapevineAg said:

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Off the top of my head…

Brian Setzer
Tony Macalpine
Phil Collen
Vernon Reid

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Phil Collen is a great call and I think an excellent example for the thread.

All guitar players know the guys listed. I had no idea Collen was a badass until he suddenly ended up on the G3 tour with Satriani and Petrucci. Obviously pros knew about his chops. I bet most bedroom rockers didn't know he could fly.

Funky Winkerbean said:

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Christopher Cross

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He did surprise me.

Funky Winkerbean said:

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Christopher Cross

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Fun fact: Eric Johnson plays the guitar solo on "Minstrel Gigolo" off his first album. it's pretty obvious who's playing when you hear it.

Other fun fact.

Christopher Cross let his drummer go after that first big tour. He became Eric Johnson's drummer for a long stretch.

iLLy RiLLy said:

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Vince Gill

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This is the correct answer.

This thread is bonkers

Ernie Isley has to be on of the most underrated ever. Jimi Hendrix first started with The Isley Brothers.

Aldo Nova

You can't talk about underrated guitarists without mentioning a few jazz guys -- famous in their genre but almost unknown outside of it. Guys like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carleton and Hiram Bullock crossed over a lot as studio musicians, recording with rock/pop artists as well as jazz.

When you see their list of contributions, they read like a "Who's Who" of recording artists over the past five decades. But the general public doesn't know them at all.

EclipseAg said:

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You can't talk about underrated guitarists without mentioning a few jazz guys -- famous in their genre but almost unknown outside of it. Guys like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carleton and Hiram Bullock crossed over a lot as studio musicians, recording with rock/pop artists as well as jazz.

When you see their list of contributions, they read like a "Who's Who" of recording artists over the past five decades. But the general public doesn't know them at all.

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I loved Hiram Bullock when he was with Paul Schaefer on the Letterman show back in the day.

Rex Racer said:

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Aldo Nova

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Really good answer.

SlackerAg said:

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John Mayer. He can really jam, but doesn't in his pop songs.

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Most people wouldn't guess, but John Mayer was the kid in high school that sat in his basement playing guitar every day after school. Stevie Ray Vaughan was an inspiration to him. He is phenomenal on the guitar.

Eddie Hazel - Maggot Brain

Not Prince
Agreed on Elliott Easton

EclipseAg said:

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You can't talk about underrated guitarists without mentioning a few jazz guys -- famous in their genre but almost unknown outside of it. Guys like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carleton and Hiram Bullock crossed over a lot as studio musicians, recording with rock/pop artists as well as jazz.

When you see their list of contributions, they read like a "Who's Who" of recording artists over the past five decades. But the general public doesn't know them at all.

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I wouldn't call Larry Carlton underrated - he's credited for playing one of the top rated solos in contemporary music on "Kid Charlemagne"

gggmann said:

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EclipseAg said:

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You can't talk about underrated guitarists without mentioning a few jazz guys -- famous in their genre but almost unknown outside of it. Guys like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carleton and Hiram Bullock crossed over a lot as studio musicians, recording with rock/pop artists as well as jazz.

When you see their list of contributions, they read like a "Who's Who" of recording artists over the past five decades. But the general public doesn't know them at all.

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I wouldn't call Larry Carlton underrated - he's credited for playing one of the top rated solos in contemporary music on "Kid Charlemagne"

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And he's got his own line of Sire guitars. And is known as "Mr. 335"

gggmann said:

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EclipseAg said:

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You can't talk about underrated guitarists without mentioning a few jazz guys -- famous in their genre but almost unknown outside of it. Guys like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carleton and Hiram Bullock crossed over a lot as studio musicians, recording with rock/pop artists as well as jazz.

When you see their list of contributions, they read like a "Who's Who" of recording artists over the past five decades. But the general public doesn't know them at all.

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I wouldn't call Larry Carlton underrated - he's credited for playing one of the top rated solos in contemporary music on "Kid Charlemagne"

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Maybe underrated isn't the right word. But like a lot of studio greats, certainly not well known to casual fans.

gggmann said:

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EclipseAg said:

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You can't talk about underrated guitarists without mentioning a few jazz guys -- famous in their genre but almost unknown outside of it. Guys like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carleton and Hiram Bullock crossed over a lot as studio musicians, recording with rock/pop artists as well as jazz.

When you see their list of contributions, they read like a "Who's Who" of recording artists over the past five decades. But the general public doesn't know them at all.

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I wouldn't call Larry Carlton underrated - he's credited for playing one of the top rated solos in contemporary music on "Kid Charlemagne"

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That and his sterling work on four separate Partridge Family albums.

Kirk Hammett

Bernie Torme - was Ozzy's guitarist after Randy Rhodes died. I got to see him at a small club in London in 1982. Dude could play.

Joe Walsh - easy to get lost with all the fame surrounding the Eagles.

Suzi Quatro, although she's a bassist.

Billy Gibbons deserves a lot more mentions

TwoTimeAg said:

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Billy Gibbons deserves a lot more mentions

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Can he be considered "underrated?" He's a bad ass.

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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SlackerAg said:

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John Mayer. He can really jam, but doesn't in his pop songs.

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Most people wouldn't guess, but John Mayer was the kid in high school that sat in his basement playing guitar every day after school. Stevie Ray Vaughan was an inspiration to him. He is phenomenal on the guitar.

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I remember going to an Eric Clapton concert back in the mid 2000s. This was back when Mayer's first album was really popular, and he was only known for stuff like, "Your Body Is A Wonderland." Anyways, Clapton brought Mayer out to play with him, and I thought, "This is a weird pairing..." Mayer when toe to toe with Clapton. It was incredible. They probably went for an hour playing various blues songs. One of the coolest experiences I've been to.

An underrated player from an underrated band: Ryan Newell from Sister Hazel. Amazing slide work especially.

Another underrated is Steve Gaines, but I think that's just because of the very limited catalog. He joined Lynyrd Skynyrd a couple months before they recorded "One More From The Road." So he was only on that and "Street Survivors."

Listen to Skynyrd's cover of Merle Haggard's "Honky Toni Nighttime Man." You'll hear Steve at his absolute best. Ronnie Van Zant actually says, "sounds like Roy!" referring to Roy Clark.

Austin Clark is a complete badass on the dobro.

Now THAT's someone who is underrated.

He was the dobro player for Sons of Sylvia, also known as the Clark Brothers Band.