The 50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time: Guitar World Readers' Poll Results

How many guitarists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

One to screw it in, and all the others to stand around and say, "I could've screwed it in faster."

It's the perennial argument among guitar players. While some revere the discipline of speed and rapid-fire fretburning with awe, others snub the notion as nothing more than glorified sideshow gimmickry. But even if it is just a trick, it's a pretty neat trick, and some are better at pulling it off than others.

Based on a story about our own choices for the 50 fastest guitar players of all time, we asked you to vote who you think is the fastest player. The results, which are shown in the photo gallery below, represent a mishmash of fleet-fingered shred machines and other players who aren't known for their outrageous BPM-insanity, but rather their deft uptempo rhythm and melody work.

Find out who took home the title of fastest guitar by scrolling through the gallery below. And thanks for voting!

Oh, and let's not forget John Taylor of Colorado, who broke the land-speed record by playing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" at 600 BPM.

For some shredding tips, check out this instructional DVD, which is available at the Guitar World Online Store.

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