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Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 30th, 2017, 2:53 am
by Retrology
Favorite guitarists?

I'm not a huge classic rock guy, but there's going to be plenty of old school 60s and 70s guitarists on here.

Here's my list.

Tom Morello: Less of a guitarist and more of a six string DJ. Used a boatload of unconventional guitar techniques to imitate hip hop and electronic sounds (see his solo on Bulls on Parade), and it's awesome as hell.

Adam Jones-A hint of progressive taste with mind warping metal.

Billy Corgan-Say what you want about his ego but he could pull off amazing guitar riffs and soloing.

Jerry Cantrell-Sabbath riffs with hints of soul. Also a master of both electric and acoustic guitar playing (Heaven Beside You). Also, the sliding drone riff that plays twice in "Rain when I Die" is NUTS.

Peter Buck-Really appreciate the mileage he gets out of riffing without resorting to guitar solos. Favorite guitar work has to be Losing My Religion

Jeff Buckley-I mean really? The intro riff to The song "Grace" is the perfect example of this guy's talent.

Tom Scholz-Really overlooked because people think Boston was a "corporate rock band." Guitar work is masterful.

Steve Carpenter: The perfect combination of Meshuggah esque heavy riffs and the texture of My Bloody Valentine to give the perfect combination of heaviness and atmosphere that helps define the vintage Deftones sound.

Bradley Nowell: Incredible talent at guitar with many eclectic styles.

John Frusciante: I mean, duh.

Larry LaLonde: Sure, you could say his guitar work is basically atonal texturing for Les Claypool's bass work, but it's awesome texturing nonetheless.

Ezra Koenig: A modern one! Yeah, I dig his guitar work, it helps define the Vampire Weekend sound.

Jonny Greenwood: Can't be a list without the guitarist from my favorite band.


Thoughts? Let's hear your favorite guitarists.

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 30th, 2017, 2:31 pm
by Robotrek
I'm just going to do a top 5.

5.) Tom Morello. As the only real reason I liked Rage (I hated 90's alternative), he had a unique sound, and the "wah wah" effects he put on his playing were just mind blowing

4.) Brian Forsythe. Nobody ever gives him credit, but he's got some of the smoothest playing you've ever heard. Complimented by Ronnie Younkins, he certainly has the tone, and his lead work on songs like Hotwire definitely stick out.

3.) Eddie Van Halen. From Van Halen 1 all the way to A Different Kind of Truth, his playing never failed.

2.) Carlos Santana. Do I even have to say ANYTHING here? Seriously, do yourself a favor and go see this man! It's an experience!

1.) George Lynch. The absolute best metal guitarist of all time. When people hold Kirk Hammet and Dave Mustaine in high regard, I scoff, and remind them that Lynch is king. Nobody will ever beat this mans licks. EVER.

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 30th, 2017, 10:27 pm
by Stalvern
Players: Django Reinhardt, Sonny Sharrock

Riffers: Keith Richards, Rick Nielsen

Soloists: Mike Oldfield, Carlos Santana

Jerkoffs: Frank Zappa, Buckethead

All-around: Jimi Hendrix, Alex Lifeson

Honorable Mentions: Eddie Hazel, Ralph Towner

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 10:54 am
by velcrozombie
Lots of guitar players I like have been mentioned already: Morello, Van Halen, Corgan, LaLonde (seeing Primus with Clutch in July), Adam Jones, Cantrell, Greenwood, basically everyone on Stalvern's list.

It's hard to separate songwriting and guitar-playing for me, so I either tried to pick either excellent technical players and/or people with a distinctive style:

Tommy Iommi (Black Sabbath)
Page Hamilton (Helmet)
Vernon Reid (Living Colour)
Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth)
Buzz Osbourne (The Melvins)
Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine)
Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth and solo)
Johnny Winters
Brian Setzer (Stray Cats, Brian Setzer Orchestra)
Keith Rowe
Mickey Melchiondo, aka Dean Ween (Ween, Moistboyz, the Dean Ween Group)
Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Faith No More)
Mark Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Lounge Lizards, solo, etc.)
Prince
Trey Azagthoth (Morbid Angel)

EDIT: Just had to add:
Jimmy Page: More for his songwriting/arranging/producing, but seriously - basically every rock band in existence owes Led Zeppelin something. Cool sloppy solos as well
Robert Fripp (King Crimson, David Bowie, Brian Eno)
Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, etc.)
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (Voivod)
Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah)
Tom Verlaine/Robert Quine (Television)
Kim Thayil (Soundgarden)

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 12:34 pm
by Stalvern
velcrozombie wrote:Buzz Osbourne (The Melvins)

D'oh! Pretend I had a third honorable mention!

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 5:57 pm
by lynchie137
Larry LaLonde: Sure, you could say his guitar work is basically atonal texturing for Les Claypool's bass work, but it's awesome texturing nonetheless.


You want to know what I find amazing about Larry LaLonde? Before he joined Primus he played in Possessed, a death metal band. And in Blind Illusion, which was a technical thrash band. And to make it even more amazing, Les Claypool was also in Blind Illusion for a while as well.

Small world, eh? And that just shows how versatile the man is as a player. Definitely does not get the credit he's due imho.

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 6:03 pm
by rockofhysteria
1-Stevie Ray Vaughan

2-Richie Sambora

3-Neal Schon

4-Mick Jones(Foreigner)

5-Nuno Bettancourt

6-Bruce Kulick

7-Michael Sweet

8-Jeff Healey

9-Vivian Cambel

10-George Lynch

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 6:50 pm
by lynchie137
There's far too many guitar players to mention here. But here are a few of my faves that have given me years of enjoyment from listening to them do their thing on the good ol' six string:

Metal
1) James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett
2) Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman
3) Dimebag Darrell
4) Gary Holt
5) Zakk Wylde
6) Tony Iommi
7) Glenn Tipton and K.K Downing
8) Dave Mustaine
9) Randy Rhoads

Rock
1) Slash
2) Angus and Malcolm Young
3) Ted Nugent
4) Jerry Cantrell
5) Jimmy Page
6) David Gilmour
7) Jimi Hendrix
8) Eddie Van Halen

Blues/Jazz/Other
1) Stevie Ray Vaughn
2) Justin Johnson

Well, so much for lilmiting myself haha. But there's just so many great players out there. It's really hard for me to list only a few of them . And even so, I definitely left out a few guys and gals off this list as well.

I just love hearing great guitar playing. And with the players I listed above, I don't think I will ever get tired of listening to them.

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: June 1st, 2017, 8:51 pm
by Steve
Michael Schenker (UFO/Scorpions/solo) – Not only an amazing amount of speed and technical ability but also quite a bit of melody for a “hard rock/heavy metal” guitarist. My favorite guitar solo of all time would be Rock Bottom from Strangers in the Night.

Steve Hackett (Genesis/solo) – Way too many songs to pick a favorite. While not my personal favorite, most fans pick Firth of Fifth by Genesis.

Robert Fripp (King Crimson)– Probably the most skilled guitarist overall. His performance on Sartori in Tangier (live) is just amazing (and slightly amusing). Interestingly enough, Adrain Belew on drums allowing Robert Fripp to shine throughout.

Adrian Belew (King Crimson/others/solo)– By far, the most innovative guitarist on this list. I’m unable to pick his best performance. There is a video online of the song Indiscipline live in 1982. It’s probably hard to sit through unless you are a big King Crimson fan but the guitar playing is impressive.

Gary Moore (Solo/Thin Lizzy) – A phenomenal blues player but probably better known for his hard rock years. I think his best solo is from Killer on Cozy Powell’s Over the Top

David Gilmour – Too many songs to demonstrate his skill but for something to watch, I really enjoy his performance on Echoes (Live at Pompeii version)

Andy Latimer(Camel) – Criminally underrated. While the song The Hour Candle may not demonstrate his technical skills, his performance on this song is among the most emotional I’ve ever seen or heard

Allan Holdsworth (UK, Bruford, solo) – His solo work is consistently some of the greatest jazz-rock I’ve ever heard but from his only studio album with UK, I would say Nevermore is my favorite

Ronnie Montrose (Montrose/Gamma) – Probably best known for the group (and album Montrose) with Sammy Hagar, his guitar playing was very impressive and underrated in my opinion. Instead of picking just one song, I would pick a whole album here and that would be Open Fire. Songs like Mandolinia and No Beginning/No End are just great. Just to throw in something about video games, he did the soundtrack for the Sega Saturn game Mr. Bones.

Robin Trower – again, plenty of incredible playing throughout his career but my personal favorite and probably not well known is Benny Dancer from Back It Up

*I wanted to keep my list to 10 but I also have to say that Terry Kath from Chicago deserves some recognition. His skills really didn’t come through in the top 40 hits Chicago had. In addition to Andy Latimer, he is probably one of the most underrated guitar players of all time although supposedly Jimi Hendrix was a big fan.

Re: Favorite Guitarists?

Posted: June 2nd, 2017, 12:28 am
by FusekiGames
In no particular order-

Paul Gilbert (Racer X, Mr. Big, solo)
Bill Steer (Carcass, Napalm Death, Firebird, Gentleman's Pistols)
Gaz Jennings (Cathedral, Lucifer, Death Penalty)
Mitch Harris (Napalm Death, Meathook Seed, Malice)
Frank Zappa
Alex Lifeson (Rush)
Mike Slamer (Streets, Seventh Key, City Boy)
Peter Green (original Fleetwood Mac)
Steve Howe (Yes, Asia)
Allan Holdsworth (R.I.P.)
Kerry Livgren (Kansas, A.D.)
Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Blackmore's Night)
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)
Les Paul (R.I.P. the original shredder)
Paul Kossoff (R.I.P. Free)
Warren Haynes (Allman Bros, Gov't Mule)
Duane Allman (R.I.P.)
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd, solo)
John Sykes (Thin Lizzy, Blue Murder, Sykes, and the guy who wrote most of and played on Whitesnake's 1987 smash album, then was fired)

Many more could go here, but these are the ones that come to mind immediately. I've been listening to less rock/metal and more jazz and eclectic stuff these days...

EDIT: I forgot the man who made me pick up a guitar in the first place- Ace Frehley.