Scott Miller Guitar

I get this question from students all the time:

*"What's your favorite guitar solo? Favorite guitarist? Favorite band?"*

The truth is, that's almost impossible to answer. Are we talking rock, blues, jazz, fusion, country, or something else entirely?

Still, if I had to choose five guitar solos which have had the biggest impact on me, in no particular order, they would be:

🎸 *Hotel California* — The Eagles

🎸 *Eruption* — Eddie Van Halen

🎸 *Bohemian Rhapsody* — Queen

🎸 *Comfortably Numb* — Pink Floyd

🎸 *Texas Flood* — Stevie Ray Vaughan

Each one shaped the way I think about phrasing, tone, technique, melody, and emotion on the guitar.

Now I'm curious:

**What are your top five guitar solos of all time?**

Drop them in the comments. 👇🔥

Over the years, my guitar tone has taken quite a journey.

I started with the most basic guitars, pedals, amps, and cables. Over time, I worked my way into custom hand-built guitars, boutique pedals, premium strings, high-end cables, and carefully selected accessories. The deeper I went, the more I realized that every part of the signal chain matters. Picks, capos, strings, cables, pedals, and amps all shape the final sound.

For many years, my rig revolved around boutique and modified gear from Keeley, Analog Man, Diamond, Mesa/Boogie, Xotic Effects, and Fulltone.

Some of my favorite tones ever came from a custom Tom Anderson guitar, which I strung with Elixir strings and played with Jazz III picks. I connected it with Mogami cables to Mesa/Boogie tube amps and a pedalboard full of boutique effects. Those sounds are tied to some of my favorite musical memories.

A few years ago, however, I made the leap into the digital world.

What began as a matter of convenience for teaching, recording, streaming, and fly dates gradually became genuine appreciation for what modern modeling technology can do. The consistency, flexibility, and quality are remarkable.

I still remember when Boss released the GT-3 in 1998. At the time, it felt revolutionary. A session guitarist once told me that digital gear already sounded great to the audience and the engineer, but the player could still feel a difference.

Today, I believe that gap has become incredibly small. Modern modelers have come astonishingly close to capturing not only the sound of great tube amps but also much of their response and feel.

So I'm curious:

🎸 Are you still using tube amps?

🎛️ Are you running a pedalboard full of boutique pedals?

💻 Or have you gone fully digital?

I'd love to hear what you're using and where you stand on the analog-versus-digital debate in 2026.

One guitarist recently told me he had just purchased a Trio Band Creator + Looper pedal to help develop his soloing. He loved the ability to program different styles of drums and bass, along with multiple song sections. While his experience with tube amps was limited, he felt that modern digital gear had finally reached a point at which it could compete with many traditional setups.

What has your experience been?