Since onstage masturbation tends to be frowned upon, guitarists have to resort to the next best thing, usually while making pretty much the same face. Unlike the 70s spectre of interminable drum solos, the guitar solo flourishes into the 21st century, allowing guitarists their moment in the sun when, for once, people aren’t all looking at the damn singer. So, with our foot on the monitor and our tongue waggling in a thinly veiled suggestion of sexual prowess, we salute the solo

Jimi Hendrix on All Along The Watchtower (1968)
While not as flashy as Voodoo Chile or as emotive as Little Wing, Hendrix’s cover of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower remains his most completely realised piece of guitar playing. With each section perfectly embellishing the preceding verse, each note feels carefully and artfully selected and this show of restraint allows Hendrix to distil his considerable talents into perfectly wrapped parcels of creativity. So good Dylan himself now sees the song as ‘a kind of tribute’ to the late genius. (DP)

David Gilmour on Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb (1979)
Coming at a time when he and Roger Waters were barely on speaking terms, David Gilmour’s ability to produce one last moment of genius as the band fell apart around him, makes this solo all the more remarkable. Not simply content with acting as an accompaniment to what has gone before it, Gilmour’s solo is the entire song in a beautiful microcosm. Feelings of melancholy, power, loss and freedom are expertly teased from the fret boards as Gilmour signs off with a fitting obituary for the band. (DP)

Eddie Van Halen on Michael Jackson’s Beat It (1984)
Virtuosity in it’s own right is more or less worthless – technical titillation at best, which is why the likes of Malmsteen and Satriani don’t figure in our list – but when it’s in the hands of someone who can channel it into a coherent climax to an already formidable song, it’s like having an atomic warhead on a space shuttle. Van Halen did the solo in two takes and for free “I did it as a favour. I didn’t want anything.” Even MJ’s regular tour guitarist, the unbelievable Jennifer Batten, couldn’t quite hack it.

Joey Santiago on The Pixies’ Vamos (1987)
Every now and again there comes a band where you just wouldn’t swap any members out. Black Francis perverted yelps, Kim Deal’s unshowybasslines and sweet backing vocals, Dave Lovering’stricksy drums and Joey Santiago’s off the wall six-string creativity. Much of Vamos is just squall and toggle-switch over stomping drums but that’s all it takes. Anyone who has seen the reformed Pixies and experienced Santiago play most the song with the guitar on it’s stand will know he’s a genius. (JK)

Steve Albini on Cath Carroll & Steve Albini’s King Creole (1990)
Mischief making, Peel-favoured inclusion on big name NME-plays-Elvis charity album. With former Factory Records cutie Carroll (Miaow, anyone?) on barely there vocals, guitarwranglerAlbini (fresh out of Big Black) nearly manages a straight boogiewoogie accompaniment. Then Carroll drops the “He don’t stop playin’ ’til his guitar breaks” cue, and Albini proceeds to do just that. High Street purchasers drawn in by the cover art (Macca! Springsteen! Um, Tikaram!) looked at their stereos aghast. (SH)

Jack White on White Stripes’ Ball And Biscuit (2003)
For a man responsible for creating some of the most memorable riffs of modern times, Jack White rarely takes the opportunity to show off his technical skills on record, preferring to let the feral simplicity of his band’s blues to take centre stage. On Ball And Biscuit however, he really cuts loose. Alternating between rhythm and lead in way which seems barely possible on first listen, live performances (especially the VH1 special), showcase White’s virtuosity in all its glory. (DP)

More Six Of The Best: Click Here6best