Eric Johnson and Mike Stern: Eclectic Guitars

A six-string prodigy as a teenager, Texas guitarist Eric Johnson was deemed a legend as soon as his debut album, Tones, appeared in 1986. That successive albums have often taken years to appear seems only to add to his cult status. If you dig soaring guitar lines in squeaky-clean jazz-rock arrangements, Johnson's your man. Still, we reckon veteran guitar blazer Mike Stern might push things a bit toward the down and dirty.