Hey guys - what is your top three best guitar tones in history?

Maybe best to try to be specific, like naming particular tracks by players rather than just naming the player.

I'm still thinking what my answers might be.... :huh:

I no particular order.

Early Yngwie, Far Beyond the Sun, Black Star, Trilogy Suite.

Paul Gilbert's on the first Racer X Album: Frenzy YRO etc

Vinnie Moore First 2 albums, Shadows of Yesterday, Hero without Honour, Race with Destiny, The Tempest etc

'80's shred tone for me. :)

Early Yngwie stuff as ID says. Far Beyond The Sun etc

Dave Mustaine, Rust in Peace Era. So songs like Holy Wars, Take No Prisoners.

I also agree with ID about the Vinnie Moore stuff.

Possibly, even probably (but not absolutely) Guthrie Govan's on tracks like Fives and Wonderful Slippery Thing. There are loads of great tones, but Guthrie's is one that comes to mind instantly - and I'm really not a huge fan of metal tones.

One that just came to mind is Stevie Ray Vaughan's. He had the absolute blues tone!

Well players have different tones through all their albums but I'll give my shot.

1- Petrucci - clean tones
2- Petrucci - heavy rhythm guitars in all albums but expecially in Scenes from a memory
3- Derek Friggo, Andy Timmons and Vai - lead sound

I love mesa tones.I hate marshall tones with a lot of pedals.Everybody who uses marshalls use a lot of pedals cause marshalls are so weak in so many levels.I never saw somebody playing only with a Marshall and having a great tone but I saw so many including myself playing only with a boogie.Once you play mesas and marshalls in a studio you realize you can have any tone you want from mesas from clean to trash but with a marshall,even for cleans you need pedals or plugins in the computer. B)

Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn (unbelievable tone in Altitudes)

And two more could be:
Jeff Loomis - Zero Order Phase
Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force

I would say Marty Friedman
He had a great distortion and epic clean tone.

Jason Becker also had a great tone. funny thing is in perpetual burn he used a super overdrive pedal and marshall amps that's it.

Django Reinhardt, playing basically anything.

Steve Vai. Passion and Warfare and Alien Love Secrets are good examples.

George Lynch in the 80s/early 90s. Really, really great tone, nice and full. Don't believe me?

Allan Holdsworth. For the legato, of course.

Chuck Schuldiner on the Human album. Love it.

John McLaughlin had an interesting tone with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

And, of course, the obligatory mentions of Shawn Lane and Frank Zappa.

EDIT: Add Guthrie Govan to that list. Acousolysis has a point.

Yngwie Malmsteen first 3 cd's and Alcatrazz.
Vinnie Moore's first 2 albums.
Tony MacAlpine's first 2 albums.
Steve Vai's tone.
Satriani's tone.
George Lynch's tone.
Allan Holdsworth's tone.

Not a neo-classicist but Peter Green had/has the sweetest tone. He was also a complete nutter.

Yep Peter Green, a great bluesy guitarist. Big into his acid by all accounts and did go off the rails on it.

Oh yeah, Steve Vai has a great tone also Frank Zappa.

Vai, Holdsworth and Wes Montgomery :)

Oh, I forgot one.

Mine.

:D

After Peter Green's initial success and whilst he working as a gravedigger, his accountant tried to give him some royalties and Green tried to shoot him with a shotgun. He took too much acid and went the same way as Syd Barrett. But unlike Barrett, he made a comeback years' later - but didn't quite have the same tone as he used to.

1.Tony Macalpine - Maximum Security
2.Y.Malmsteen-Rising Force
3.Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn
4. Satch tone

Does anyone know excatly which amp Becker used on Perpetual Burn? I'm currently looking at getting a "Metal Muff w/ top boost" and the SD1 overdrive pedal.