The greatest guitarist who has ever lived is probably not who the world thinks it is. The word "great" could mean anything; in fact, it could mean a combination of things. Many attribute guitar legends like Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Page, or Eric Clapton as the "greatest." However, the word "great" in this sense seems to be a synonym for "legendary." Having a guitar legacy, or being considered a legend, is a valid facet of being a guitarist, but a legend represents only one facet of being a guitarist.
There are all sorts of crucial characteristics that a "great" guitarist needs to have in order to be considered great. The term "great" should not be restricted to one dimension, but should transverse as many reasonable dimensions as possible. A great guitarist should be more skilled than the average player, should have an impressive musical discography, be entertaining, be well-known in the entertainment industry, be an honorable human being in general, and explore paths previously undiscovered in music.
In that spirit, I do think that Buckethead deserves to be highly considered as one of the greatest guitarists of all time if not the greatest. I would like to illustrate my reasoning through providing a list of 101 elements of Buckethead's musical abilities, entertainment, career, music discography, and personality.
Abilities
1. Guitar One voted Buckethead the 8th fastest guitar shredder of all time.
2. Buckethead is commonly included in official lists of the “fastest guitarists” in music.
3. He has an uncommon playing style unique to music and entertainment in general.
4. He is a master of ad-libbing and making up grooves on the spot.
5. He is a natural musician! According to a few timelines, Buckethead mastered the guitar in a matter of only six to seven years.
6. He has popularized guitar playing with kill switches.
7. He excels at playing bass.
8. He’s a monster on banjo.
9. He has blown people away with his acoustic music.
10. He has like a million foot pedals and effects, and he uses all of them!
11. He has mastered a variety of genres, including heavy metal,
12. Easy and hard rock,
13. Ambient lullabies,
14. bluesy/jazzy style music,
15. pop funk,
16. country/blue grass,
17. and experimental music.
18. Though he is usually known as a shredder and lead guitarist, many artists like Freekbass, Batman Bill Laswell, and Maximum Bob consider him a master of rhythm and riff as well.
19. He learned guitar from some of the best teachers the USA had to offer in the 1980’s.
20. He has discovered several new guitar-playing techniques, most notably his finger nubs.
21. He fairly regularly plays his guitar without even looking.
22. According to Travis Dickerson, the solo to the song Jordan, which is like a minute and a half with over 1,000 notes, was played in one complete, uninterrupted pass.
23. He has contributed to the popularization of lots of guitar playing techniques, including sweep picking,
24. multi-finger tapping,
25. atonal compositions,
26. and hybrid picking.
27. He plays guitar so hard that he frequently sweats profusely while playing.
28. Buckethead plays guitar with a mask on his face which can't be comfortable, or easy to play guitar while wearing, yet doesn't seem to be bothered by it.
29. His mask has a film over the eye holes, so he can barely see to begin with, yet still plays guitar perfectly well.
30. Buckethead's body was literally built to play guitar. He is notorious for the size of his hands, fingers, and his "VEIN!"
Entertainment
31. Buckethead knows karate, and frequently demonstrates it in concert.
32. He is a nun chuck master.
33. He dances a pretty convincing robot.
34. He also dances like Michael Jackson very well.
35. He has let a fan (Oscar Lopez) come on stage and play his guitar on two separate occasions.
36. He has Inspired at least four YouTube channels to dedicate some if not all of their content to Buckethead (Buckethead Disciple, NatterNet Buckethead, Drowned Boy Cosplay, House of Masks.)
37. He has inspired dozens of fans to produce all sorts of other Buckethead-inspired art pieces.
38. Buckethead has also inspired cosplay appearances at several public events around the world.
39. Buckethead is known for being a blast to watch play the guitar. He has inspired more reaction YouTube videos than most other guitar players.
40. His shows are among the most entertaining in the music industry. He frequently has super fun elements of his live shows, like reenactments, dancing encores, and guest musicians.
41. Sometimes his live shows have random unplanned activities, like flicking foam fingers at P Sticks, statue kicking, and letting a dummy high-five the audience.
42. When playing live, he plays each solo for every song a little differently each and every time
43. He lets fans in the front row of his shows tap his kill switch
44. He frequently will play his guitar with only one hand while doing something fun with the other like whipping nun chucks, playing with lightsabers, chainsaws, his giant robot doll, or just giving a guy his hat back.
45. He spends 1,000's of dollars per year to purchase toys that he distributes to his audience at each and every show.
Career
46. Buckethead has received significant praise from several of other guitarists including his old teacher Paul Gilbert, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, and even Slash.
47. He has received critical acclaim from writers and editors of several magazines, including Guitar One Magazine, Guitar World, and Guitar Player Magazine.
48. He has had significant international exposure, touring in Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, and all over Canada and Europe.
49. His music is universal. Producing instrumental music allows him to have fans all around the world that can fully appreciate his music no matter what language they speak.
50. He has kept an extremely low profile, and the only photos of his real face are photos that he has allowed to be released.
51. He breaks the mold of the standard-looking guitarist. After all he is a silent, giant robot with a bucket on his head who was raised by chickens!
52. He has been faithful to the Buckethead character for over thirty years.
53. He records music even when recovering from family deaths, back surgeries, and heart surgeries. Most artists would not even think to record music during any kind of dire straits.
54. Despite surgeries and treatment for his heart arrythmia in 2017, he has still gone on three tours since then!
55. He does not seek fortune or money,
56. Nor fame or popularity.
57. He has played guitar for both big-name bands, and scarcely-known groups.
58. He started out by opening for smaller bands and now personally sells out larger venues across the nation.
59. He has his own signature guitar!
60. Buckethead he has played guitar at a live concert over 500 times throughout his career.
Discography
61. Buckethead has released over 300 solo albums to date.
62. In 2015 alone, he recorded 118 albums.
63. He has guest starred on over sixty other albums with dozens of other artists, including keyboardist Bernie Worrell, Viggo Mortensen, Serj Tankian, and Iggy Pop.
64. Just in his solo discography he has recorded over well over 2,000 songs, and has probably contributed to and written thousands more.
65. Buckethead has contributed to several soundtracks for movies,
66. television,
67. video games,
68. and TV commercials as well.
69. He has produced several music videos from his solo discography,
70. and several DVDs worth of video footage.
71. He has appeared on television several times, including PBS Soundstage, a few MTV interviews, and several Music Award functions.
72. He has a music style that is diverse enough to appeal to any audience, whether it be middle-aged women to young kids.
73. Buckethead has an impressive array of heart-warming and tear-inducing works of music. Several Buckethead fans have admitted to breaking down into tears after hearing some of his most emotional songs and albums.
74. He has provided an unlimited supply of Halloween-themed music.
75. Many artists write songs about fairly arbitrary and non-contextual things, or stick to a general theme, but Buckethead song titles vary in complexity and theme, from the environment, to bodies of water, to dreams, to everyday kitchen items, horror media, and amusement parks!
76. He is known to be a shredder, but he can also slow things down if he wants to. He has recorded songs that range from an average of thirteen notes per second to one note per every 1.25 seconds.
77. He also does not let time or disc memory limit his creativity. Sometimes he can express something adequately in just a few seconds, or he can take 45 minutes. He has released a single collection of music with over 92 songs, and others where the whole album is just 1 uninterrupted song.
78. In several cases he plays the bass in his own musical recordings.
79. He frequently sells his pikes for only $2 each, and is more concerned with sharing his music than making a sale (something previously discussed in number 55.)
80. He is not afraid of bringing inspirations from his personal life into his music. He has dedicated several albums and songs to family members, friends, heroes, athletes, artists, and writers.
81. He is fairly cultured for a guitarist, and has written songs about lots of humanities-inspired works.
Personal Life
82. He explores other artistic mediums like drawing and paintings, and has produced and sold hundreds of each.
83. Buckethead allows people close to him from outside of the music industry take part in the recording process. He has let family members do voice work on some of his albums, and his dad even showed up in a music video!
84. He has played a few private gigs for some avid fans, including a wedding!
85. He is somewhat of a political activist, mostly thanks to Bootsy and Viggo Mortensen.
86. He never ever brags about his musical abilities and always says he could be better.
87. He is philanthropic, all proceeds to purchasing the single The Rising Sun went to disaster victims of the Japanese tsunami of 2009.
88. He has gifted several of his guitars.
89. Speaking of kids, he loves kids!
90. He also doesn’t drink,
91. He doesn’t smoke,
92. He doesn’t do drugs,
93. He doesn’t have any tattoos,
94. He doesn’t swear,
95. and he rarely drinks caffeine.
96. He is kind, and only speaks highly of others, and never speaks ill of anyone in the entertainment industry.
97. He is called by many friends, associates, and co-artists the nicest and humblest guy they know.
98. He has an amazing sense of humor.
99. He loves the crap out of his fans. This is best demonstrated through his toy exchanges, interactive shows, selling pikes for a cheap price,
100. He has a deep, sincere, and profound love for his family—especially his parents.
101. Where most guitarists do interviews talking about their music, bragging, or answering fan questions, Buckethead selflessly dedicated his only out-of-character interview to sharing his struggles in life with the whole world, and overcoming his weaknesses through hard work and determination.