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I've been slinging rock guitar myself for well over 30 years. There are very, very few machine-gun axe slingers that can make a guitar truly emote the way Gilmour can do in a fraction of the pick strokes.

The finest compliment a guitarist can be paid, and I'll hereby publicly give it to David Gilmour: The man has taste.

About the only "flashy" player that can move me in the same way......or even more so than Gilmour, which is saying a lot........is Gary Moore. When Gary is 'on', no one in the world can touch him. Period. Hands down. End of story.

I congratulate and salute the esteemed Mr. Gilmour for such generosity. I wish Hollywood and our own crop of "rock stars" would take note.

There are very, very few machine-gun axe slingers that can make a
guitar truly emote the way Gilmour can do in a fraction of the pick strokes.

I'd drink to that.

As a non-guitarist, I'd also nod my hat to Mark Knofler (sp?) and Robby Krieger;
Knofler for smoothness and Krieger for using the guitar as an accent instrument
(like orchestral use of trumpets in short, but perfectly placed, bursts).

As a longtime owner of a guitar or 2 who is still learning how to play the damn things I have to agree that David Gilmour's playing and his tone (Stratocasters not withstanding cuz I am a Gibson player all the way!!!) have influenced me as much or more than any other player. Many years ago at a jam night in a bar in WV I played the guitar solo from The Delicate Sound of Thunder version of Comfortably Numb and nailed it. I can still remember the chills I felt as I played those runs. Though I now play that solo *my way* when I do get the chance to play it I will always remember that night with great fondness.

Gary Moore can certainly reach me with his playing as can some other European players like Richie Blackmore (Catch the Rainbow, Mistreated still bring tears to my eyes)Micheal Schekner from UFO (Rock Bottom), Ulrich Roth from the early Scorpions (Listen to the whole LP of Tokyo Tapes), and Pete Townsend as well.

Of the great American guitar players Joe Walsh's older solo stuff and his work with the James Gang still moves me and everything Foghat's Rod Price ever played on. I saw then in Johnson City, TN a few years before Lonesome Dave passed away from cancer and they did a 20 minute version of "It Hurts Me Too". I was standing so close to Rod Price's foot pedals I could have easily changed the settings...anyway, the slide guitar solo that man played that night healed me from my own personal frustration with the music biz in general and reminded me why I still write and try to play live whenever I can find a bass player and a drummer who'll stay sober long enough to gig a while.

"God gave rock and roll to you"

Rock on!!!