Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Who's the best/your fave guitar player (Friday music poll)?

Mojo, I'll give Eddie Van Halen some slack just because of the timing of his playing. We were immersed in disco ducks and WTF. As a young player at the time it was like a breath of fresh air to an oxygen starved man. I needed it bad.

I'll agree on the Malmsteen and Via thing. Speed does not overrule taste.

Kirwan hit the wall at the same time Green did. There's a pretty famous story about how a cult in Germany took the whole band out in the woods to some sort of royal estate that they had turned into a very bizarre commune. Green and Kirwan were digging it, but the rest of the band knew that something was bizarre and that they had to GTFO of there. Before they could though, Green and Kirwan were both givin booze that was heavily laced with some form of LSD. From that day forward, they both became schizophrenic and had to be put in a mental institution. After many years, Green got somewhat better and he's doing as well you could expect him too. Kirwan wasn't so lucky though. That's a real shame, as he was only about 20 at the time and already a world class guitarist, song writer and a very good singer. I hope he finds peace of mind one day.

Brian.

I think Steve Vai is a musical genius, but I'm not a fan of his music. I envy his talent, but you'll never catch me groving to one of his albums. Same thing for Yngie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani and all those cats.

I've never understood the flack Eddie Van Halen gets. The guy plays pop music, and has never presented himself or his playing as anything very serious. He plays fun music, and he's great at what he does. You can't really expect much more from him.

I love Al Di Meola, but mainly from a technical standpoint - I love how rhythmic his playing is. He's very good at what he does, and I can't fault him for that. I love John McLaughlin for a lot of the same reasons, and he's sort of the origanal over the top shredder.

The only thing that matters is if folks like it - if they do, you're doing something right. BB King is a fairly limited player, but what he does is fantastic and people all over the world (including me) love him. John Lee Hooker's playing was about as basic and primal as it gets, but everybody loves him too. It doesn't matter if you only know two chords - if you can move somebody with it, that's all you need.

Brian.

Greeny's voice was awesome...perfect for his playing...a melded sound that even in this day of advanced instrument augmentation and amplification refinement, remains inimitible and timeless. As always, thanks for the expansive knowledge share Brian...all spot on IMO.

BB King once said that Peter Green was the only guitar player that gave him chills. That pretty much sums it up. Green isn't the fastest or most technical player you will ever find, but he tells the truth. He can play one note and make you know exactly how he feels.



Brian.

My favs in no particular order:
1) Slash
2) Randy Rhodes
3) Kirk Hammett
4) Eric Clapton
5) Brad Paisley
6) Mick Mars

You're right on EVH and his 'pop' music. My main problem with his playing is many of his solos seemed to me to be just a chance to show the latest technique (finger tapping, etc) rather than taking the song somewhere. They just didn't seem to fit the 'flow' of the songs. Of course, it WAS the 80's so he does get some slack being that the whole decade was pretty crappy.

I will reiterate what I said in my OP; I think Eddie was an underrated rhythm player and songwriter. A lot of VH's songs have a killer groove and when you pay attention you realize Eddie had a flair for the rhythm--an often overlooked part of rock 'n roll (ask Malcom Young).

There are some really great names here and noone is a bad choice, as the invitation was for opinion.

I personally like slow lead players as it taxes "feel" and "technique" to the limit.

Have any of you heard Kossof playing "Yime Away". Dead at 25 for the usual reasons, even Clapton sat first row and went backstage to meet him when he played Madison SG. Today, Clapton uses a Lesley speaker system as Kossof did in his on stage speaker mix.

The other thing that is strong with me, is finger technique. Technically, Gary Moore is everthing Clapton is. But, when you watch Moore play White Room with Jack Bruce, The notes and playing are identical right down to the guitar (1960 SG shaped Les Paul with PAF's) into a Marshall Double Stack, but the sound is different solely becuase of the way they each hold a note, and pluck the string, as well as exactly where in relation to the pickups they hit that string.

Guess that the reason why a million bands can use the same gear and sound competely different. I love it.

John

+1 (And I was born on his birthday)

John,

Technique really can make the difference, can't it? Type of pick material, how you hold it and strike the strings, type/gauge of strings, pickups, etc. The permutations are nearly endless. It's also why SRV would still sound like SRV no matter what gear he used (to some extent).

I am a tone-nut and have always held that the amp is 90% of your tone. A really good tube amp is an instrument and will let you change your sound with just the volume knob and pick attack. That's why I'm a huge vintage Fender amp fan, esp. the blackfaces!

Lot's of good ones here. Thought I would mention Adrian Belew. Not too shabby either.

Andy Summers was pretty good too.

almost forgot Neil Young(Southern Man, Down By The River, Cowgirl in The Sand, etc.)

That's a fair point, although finger tapping isn't a latest technique whatsoever. People have been tapping since there have been stringed insturments. Paganini was doing it on a violin in the 1800's, and it's been a staple of classical guitar for almost that long as well. Eddie was just the first really popular guitarist in rock music to exploit it. Billy Gibbons did it here and there (Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers), and IIRC Steve Hackett was doing it around the same time, but Eddie was really the first guy to really bring it to light to the average person. Personally I think it's a cool little technique, and once in a great while I do it myself just for the hell of it. Eddie goes a little overboard with it, but it's all in good fun.

Brian.

Everyone plays differently - it's sort of like your voice. Some people may have a similar voice to yours, and some people might be able to impersonate your voice, but nobody sounds like YOU. It's the same with the guitar. I could swap gear with Clapton and have both of us play the same lick, and neither of us are going to sound like each other. Clapton is still going to sound like Clapton, and I'm still going to sound like me (sadly). When you hear your own tone, you are picking up on all the little details, like your amp settings or your pick attack. You can hear all the little minute differences. But other people don't pick up on that stuff. All you can do is try to make it sound pleasing to you, because that will influence you to play better.

Fender amps are about as good as it gets for "that" tone, and for me they're second to none. But then I'm a real sucker for reverb.

Brian.

A few weeks ago, PBS ran a program that featured Albert King in session with SRV. Other than the drummer and bass player in the background, it was just Albert King and Stevie Ray playing together and trading stories in a studio. That was some of the best music I've seen.

According to the show, Albert King was Stevie's favorite guitar player and biggest influence. I believe the show was shot in 1981, and Albert King was somewhat of the master and Stevie was playing the role of his apprentice - but it was sort of one of those moments when the apprentice outshines the master. I knew that SRV played on a David Bowie album from the 1980s when he was still a session guitarist, but I recently learned that on one of Bowie's songs, he plays a solo taken note-for-note from Albert King.

PBS was hawking the DVD as part of their membership drive. I'd recommend looking for it on your local PBS station or maybe requesting your local PBS station to run it if anyone is interested.

I've been a Zep fan since I was about 12, and so I need to put a plug in for Jimmy Page.

I love it too. How many people have played Les Pauls, and none of them sound a like? Clapton, Green, Beck, Page, Kos, Kirwan, McLaughlin, Bloomfield, and Les Paul himself have all played them, and none of the two sound alike. Same thing with a 335 - Clapton, BB King, Freddie King and Larry Carlton all played them, and none of them sound like each other either.

Brian.

Truer words have never been spoken! I remember Stevie even mentioning that some nights his sound could propel him deeper into the music while other nights he wanted smash his amp to bits. It's something non players can't understand. I remember 'discussions' with our sound guys in the church band when they didn't see what the 'big deal' was when I didn't get the sound I liked. The absolute worst was when he wanted to DI my electric right into the board--man, whoever doesn't think the amp is the majority of your tone needs to try to plug their guitar into a 'hi-fi'!

It's a lonley world for tone hounds. Only fellow obsessives understand. Everyone else (even other musicians and singers) just think you're nuts!

I've had that video for years now - my version is actually somewhat of a bootleg, that was recorded on VHS back when it origanally aired and then transfered to disc. Just great, great stuff. There's a funny story about that show actually. That was the first time Albert and Stevie had seen each other in many years, and in that time Stevie had done that Bowie tune (Let's Dance IIRC) where he played Albert's licks verbatim. Anyway, when they got together for this TV show, Stevie said "you know I borrowed some of your licks for that Bowie tune." Albert just smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I heard that you little chit. I'm gonna get you back for that, you just wait and see."

So they recorded the show, and took a break before doing the last tune. Albert was walking all over the studio asking someone for a nail file. Stevie didn't think anything of it - he just thought Albert had a hang nail or something. So they start on the final song, and when it gets to the solo Albert tells Stevie to go for it. Stevie just tears into it, playing some of the best stuff he ever laid down............while Albert nonchalantly filed his nails in front of him. Stevie said he had to concentrate on not laughing and blowing his solo. LOL

Brian.

Warren Haynes said something very interesting that I'll never forget. He said on a regular basis, he'll go out on stage and play, and then afterwards be totally bummed out because he missed a note or flubbed something really bad. Then a fan will walk up and go "oh man, that's the best I've ever heard you play, and I love how you played that solo differently!" He says this happens almost every show. He said that what a trainwreck is for him might be someone in the audiences highlight of the night. He said that John McLaughlin probably goes through the same thing where he walks off stage and goes "man, that sucked", yet absolutley no one else picked up on it. The player is (and should be) his own worst critic, as it makes you strive to get better.

Brian.