Okay, I'm sure you've gotten an argument with your buddies at some point, comparing who you think are the top 10 guitar players of all time. We've all been there, but here's the thing that few realize. Music isn't competition, it's not about who's the best at this or that. Plus, there's a LOT of musical styles, that comparing let's say a metal shredder and a blues master doesn't really work all that well. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

That being said, there's still a few guitarists that most people consider to be real heavies, and every time these types of lists come up, their names are always mentioned. These guitar players are either very skilled at a specific technique, or are the most influential guitarists to other musicians, and that's whey they deserve to be in a top 10 guitar players list.

As for me, this is probably my top 10 list of guitar players...

Whoa! That was some bad note. So naturally, you re-record the part. But are you paying attention to the other mistakes—the ones that involve the recording process itself? The following mistakes can tear your tone in two, so here's a word to the wise: Avoid them.

1. Mixing direct and miked signals without compensating for delay. Here's the deal: Sound travels at about one foot per millisecond, while electrons move a whole lot faster. So the miked signal arrives at your mixer at the speed of sound, while the direct signal arrives at close to the speed of light. If the mic is one foot away from your speaker, zoom in on the tracks and shift the miked signal ahead in time by about a millisecond until they line up (see picture). You'll hear a much fuller, punchier tone. This is particularly important with bass...

1. Maximize Tone and Clarity
Most of us love to have enough gain in our tone to feel “safe,” but it is most likely more gain than we need. Try this: dial in the amount of gain that gets you into the zone, then back it off until it gets uncomfortable to play. At that point add just enough to make it tolerable. Your tone will have more clarity and definition and you will project your sound...

Right now, you are browsing a website for guitarists. This means either you already play and are looking for a little vindication of your obsession, or you’re a beginner looking to find out whether you chose the right instrument. Well, here is every reason you need to quiet that little voice in the back of your head asking, “Why am I doing this?”

 10) Mating
Boys, admit it. Whatever your purportedly purist goals were, you had visions of female affection racing through your mind when you figured out the riff to “Enter Sandman.” After all, it pays off when the fairer sex sees how well you can use your hands. Conversely, girls, though you often don’t get proper recognition as players, you automatically have the rapt attention of every male music-nerd who dreams of dating a guitar heroine...