The Best 5 Guitar Solos Of All Time

Cover of Jimmy PageBy Jim J Ward

In reality the selection procedure of the best guitar solos ever is a very personal thing, which naturally will vary from person to person. Nonetheless, this is my take on it and all carried out with the fullest admiration for any guitar solos which I have overlooked, or didn't consider to be in my best 5 list. So let's begin:

5. Although the track was not necessarily my kind of music, this particular guitar solo gained legendary status. The band was the Carpenters, the power ballad was Goodbye To Love, and the guitarist was Tony Peluso. This specific solo was extremely melodic and constructed brilliantly. Peluso put to use a Gibson 335 with humbucking pickups and created a great 'distorted sound' throughout the solo.

4. At number 4 we have the astonishing Dave Gilmore's dazzling solo on the Pink Floyd track Comfortably Numb. This solo was traditional Gilmore in that it was melodic, tuneful and superbly woven together. This solo possessed Gilmore's trademark Stratocaster sound with echo and reverb all over it. Altogether an outstanding piece of guitar playing.

3. How could I have a best 5 electric guitar solos list but without the inclusion of Jimi Hendrix somewhere. Not every Hendrix song was my cup of tea but Little Wing showcased Hendrix at his very best - the solo was a work of art. Hendrix's guitar playing and also the sound was so much his own that he managed to get a characteristically Hendrix sound whether or not he utilised a Gibson guitar with humbucking pickups, or his standard Strat with single coil pickups.

2. Well I guess this solo needed to be somewhere on the list and for me it is number two. The track is Stairway To Heaven and the guitar player is Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. This was among those superb solos that built and built, with the ideal degree of improvisation around the original melody. This might be just about the most widely known electric guitar solo of all time. It was however, not played on Page's infamous Gibson Les Paul Standard but on a Fender telecaster. When delivering this track live Page consistently used his Gibson SG double neck, allowing for him to cover the 12 string and the six string elements of this track live on stage.

1. Well it was nearly impossible to decide between Page's Stairway To Heaven and the Eagles' Hotel California, but the solo on Hotel California just pips it for me. In reality, this is somewhat unjust as there's more than one guitarist taking part in this, but it is nonetheless an absolute lesson in how to constructa guitar solo. Joe Walsh and Don Felder rebound off of each other brilliantly as this solo develops. It's virtually as if whatever one can do the other one does better, but the truth is they interact in perfect harmony and their two styles and electric guitar sounds mix flawlessly. That unquestionably vintage Les Paul Sound with just the right quantity of drive is all over that specific guitar solo, complete class.

So there you have my best 5 solos. Where may you ask is Lynryd Skynyrd's Free Bird, or what about Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton or Brian May? Like I said, it is a personal thing and if I did the list in two weeks time it may well be totally different. All good fun though.

Jim Ward is a guitar fanatic and often writes about various aspects of the electric guitar. For great information on guitars, guitarists and excellent electric guitar pickups he recommends visiting: TubGuitarPickups.co.uk, and for a first class information on Les Paul guitars he suggests MyLesPaul.com.

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