HOW IT WORKS
We chose 128 of music’s greatest-ever guitar players. (The number might seem strange, but we had to have a multiple of eight.) We looked at all genres and all generations, then seeded them randomly and blindly in the first round of the bracket we drew up. In each round, the duels were judged on a single criterion. Round One, for example, is judged on Chops. Round Two is based on Tone, then Originality, Versatility, Influence, Body of Work, and, in the finals, something called the “X” Factor. In each category, the grades went from 1 (low) to 5 (high). Assembled in our dark and chilly chamber, also known as “the bar,” the editorial staff of G1 dueled it out for hours. Well, actually, we voted on each and every player blindly (that is, not being aware of their opponents), rating the strength of each in the aforementioned categories, then referring back to the bracket to fill the scores in. Whoever had a higher cumulative score advanced to the next round.

Hold on! Before you run from the room clutching your cranium in confusion, we’d like you to understand that our approach is indubitably unscientific. We really put this together for our own (and, hopefully, your) admittedly juvenile fun. Still, by the looks of our finalists, we’d pit our unscientific results against all comers. And, oh, don’t forget to check out the Finals. You can play a role in this whole thing, too!

So, to avoid further complicated explanation, let us pull the curtain up on our first Battle of the Axes!