$310

Everyone has a Spinal Tap story.

Jeff Beck - A1 Superbad Mofo. From funk,jazz to metal noise, JB has always caught my ear. His recent foray into the world of electronica suits him as well as any stop off he's made in his career.

Ronnie Montrose - Power Chords as big as your house and a lead tone dripping with presence and multi head delay.

Adam Jones - Great player and uses GK guitar amps.... Like me!

Robin Finck - A great side man for GnR and NIN. Needs to step out on his own. Also needs to not let Trent Reznor cut his hair.

Speaking of Jeff Beck, I have to put in a plug for his current bassist, Tal Wilkenfeld. She's in her mid-20s but looks much younger. What a player! www.talwilkenfeld.com

Not to mention her career when she was just a teenager and turning 20 with none other than Chick Corea. Good luck transcribing that stuff. Even the guys who write bass player magazine have had trouble with it. TOO good.

Don Felder - In my opinion the best lead player I ever heard. Not a fancy shredder. Nothing but Smooth. Tasteful. Class. I saw the eagles a few years ago and Felder was no longer with them. The lead player they had new all the leads verbatim but was lacking some major feel.

Leo Kottke - Fingerstyle twelve string grovin. I have seen him in concert and have never been more impressed. He is a one man show with only a guitar and a mic. There was nothing to hide behind and he didn't need to do any hiding.

John Mayer - I know some of you will poo poo on this but I will say it anyway. I was not a John Mayer fan until I saw him live. He is a tone freak and a very tasteful player. Also a fantastic songwriter.

Lindsey Buckingham - I think Lindsey of Fleetwood Mac is one of the most under-rated guitar players ever. Songs like Never Going Back Again and The Chain are incredible. A very intricate guitar piece and on top of that he sings.

Brad Paisley - Not a huge country fan but wound up seeing him play at a festival in Colorado and was completely blown away. Incredible flat picker.

Andy Mckee- If you haven't heard of Andy, do yourself a favor and look him up on youtube (where he got famous). You will not be disappointed.

I could go on....

I have to bump this one for Andy McKee, and for one of his biggest influences (and I think his teacher for a time) Michael Hedges. I still can't get over his work with Michael Manring (definitely in my top 5 bassists, personally).

And John Mayer is no slouch on guitar either. After seeing him live and not only holding his own with John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra composer and solo jazz/fusion MONSTER) but push the guitar player to new extremes, I have nothing but respect for his playing. A fantastic instrumentalist.

I think something needs to be said as well for Adam Jones of TOOL, whose career was made just the way Jimmy Page describes his, "from making mistakes." I think he even sounds a little like Page from time to time with his '76 Les Paul. And he has a way of sounding like nobody else on the guitar. A fantastic player and composer. I also highly recommend checking out his art and the music videos he did for TOOL. A fantastic artist who has really formed his own sound and used it successfully.