who's a better guitarist? - Page 4

zephed · #31 05-31-2006, 04:07 AM

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whats with the lack of recognition of Framptons skillz

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All I know is the songs "do you feel like I do" and "show me the way". TELL ME MORE! <font color="white">lol</font>

wacki · #32 05-31-2006, 04:12 AM

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Dude, tell me that's not your top four. Satriani and Vai masturbate in 5/8 time. Van Halen is great but never did that much for me, I can see why people like him though. SRV is legit.

You can't really put Satriani or Vai ahead of Hendrix, Clapton, et al. In fifty years nobody will care what they did. It's like putting Schoenberg ahead of Mozart.

NT

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Hendrix was a great song writer and performer. I really doubt he has the technical skill to match Vai and Satriani. As far as people who had songs that topped the charts, SRV and van halen are the only two artists that have a song I can't play. I don't think you can truly respect Vai or Satriani unless you seriously study guitar.

Eric Clapton shouldn't be anywhere near the list. His songs are not hard to play and most of his hits were written by other people. Change the category to great performer and then you have an argument. Then again Nirvana can make that list too and he only knows three chords!

Dilznoofus · #33 05-31-2006, 04:51 AM

How many of you actually play guitar? I do, and these lists drive me crazy. Not because my favorite guitar players aren't on the list (Page doesn't get enough credit around here), but because I have to listen to people say things like "Jimi isn't as technically skilled as Satriani or Vai" or "Clapton's songs are easy to play."

That's all BS, not because it isn't true but because it doesn't matter. I've heard guys playing for tips in Nashville bars who can play circles around Frampton, Clapton, Santana, etc., at least in terms of technical skill. They're not famous because they aren't originators.

Guys like Clapton, Hendrix and Page changed the way rock guitar was played. That's what makes them great. Attempting to name a best guitar player based on some kind of skill criteria is really pointless because the shredders from later decades learned how to play from these guys (Steve Vai has said his favorite solo was Page's on "Heartbreaker."

Of course we can agree that Kurt Cobain was not as good as, say, Randy Rhoads, but once you move toward rock's top tier ranking players is very tricky business. You can either judge by the influence the player had on his respective genre (my preference) or you can talk about whose style is fastest, most intricate, etc., in which case NONE of the rock and roll greats of the sixties or seventies would make the list.

Also I love SRV but his intensity is what makes him great. His chops are not that special as far as technical difficulty is concerned, nor was his a groundbreaking style, unless you consider it pioneering to play the blues with heavy gauge strings through an Ibanez Tubescreamer.

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Eric Clapton shouldn't be anywhere near the list. His songs are not hard to play and most of his hits were written by other people. Change the category to great performer and then you have an argument. Then again Nirvana can make that list too and he only knows three chords!

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Aren't we talking about who plays guitar best? The fact that Clapton didn't write many of his big hits is almost entirely irrelevant. How can anyone listen to Cream's "Crossroads" and still not include Clapton as one of the greatest of all time?

wacki · #34 05-31-2006, 05:01 AM

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I've heard guys playing for tips in Nashville bars who can play circles around Frampton, Clapton, Santana, etc., at least in terms of technical skill. They're not famous because they aren't originators.

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The fact that Clapton didn't write many of his big hits is almost entirely irrelevant.

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lol

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How can anyone listen to Cream's "Crossroads" and still not include Clapton as one of the greatest of all time?

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As a guitarist, I have more respect for Robert Johnson, the guy that wrote that song.

Dilznoofus · #35 05-31-2006, 05:03 AM

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SRV and van halen are the only two artists that have a song I can't play

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I missed this somehow. So Hendrix isn't that great because you can play his songs?

wacki · #36 05-31-2006, 05:07 AM

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SRV and van halen are the only two artists that have a song I can't play

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I missed this somehow. So Hendrix isn't that great because you can play his songs?

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You need to take what I was saying in context and read the whole paragraph. Hendrix isn't super duper technically challenging. That has nothing to do with songwriting and performing.

Dilznoofus · #37 05-31-2006, 05:16 AM

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I've heard guys playing for tips in Nashville bars who can play circles around Frampton, Clapton, Santana, etc., at least in terms of technical skill. They're not famous because they aren't originators.

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The fact that Clapton didn't write many of his big hits is almost entirely irrelevant.

lol

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We're talking about two different things. This thread is about great guitar players, right? Not necessarily great songwriters. One can be an original, a pioneer and a masterful player without personally writing the songs that serve as the vehicle for showcasing one's talent. Clapton didn't write "Crossroads," but he changed rock and roll when he and Cream recorded that version because NOBODY had ever played it that way before. Clapton's guitar playing was fresh and raw and groundbreaking. The fact that he didn't write the song really doesn't matter. SRV is considered a great and at least half of his hit songs were covers.

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How can anyone listen to Cream's "Crossroads" and still not include Clapton as one of the greatest of all time?

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As a guitarist, I have more respect for Robert Johnson, the guy that wrote that song.

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That's fine. I'm not going to say it's wrong to rank Robert Johnson above Clapton. But in doing this you're using the method I advocate, which is placing priority on the player's influence on later generations and his place as a shaper of rock and roll history.

Dilznoofus · #38 05-31-2006, 05:29 AM

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SRV and van halen are the only two artists that have a song I can't play

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I missed this somehow. So Hendrix isn't that great because you can play his songs?

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You need to take what I was saying in context and read the whole paragraph. Hendrix isn't super duper technically challenging. That has nothing to do with songwriting and performing.

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We have fairly divergent ideas of how one should rank the best guitar players. For me the fact that Hendrix's guitar playing isn't super duper challenging detracts in no way from his greatness. For you it does. With all due respect, I believe you don't give enough consideration to historical context if you would hold this against Hendrix.

Hendrix's style, while not that difficult compared to so many of today's guitar players, was absolutely unheard of when he broke on the scene in the late '60s. Comparing the technical difficulty of Hendrix's soloes with Steve Vai's or Joe Satriani's is a mistake similar to comparing the P-51 Mustang to an F-18 and saying the Mustang isn't that great a plane.

wacki · #39 05-31-2006, 05:38 AM

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Clapton didn't write "Crossroads," but he changed rock and roll when he and Cream recorded that version because NOBODY had ever played it that way before. Clapton's guitar playing was fresh and raw and groundbreaking. The fact that he didn't write the song really doesn't matter.

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Look, you seem to understand guitar pretty well. But back when I was obsessed with guitar and I studied everything and anything about the 6 string I remember being shocked at how much of Eric Claptons stuff was written by someone else or sounded like something else. I really don't feel like going through a dozen boxes of tapes, cds, and magazines just to prove a point but I think you are seriously overestimating the originality of what made Eric Clapton famous. Eric Clapton got famous by being a coverband with a twist, and I feel very uncomfortable saying that twist originated with him.

That being said, I think he's one hell of a performer.

.... now I sleep.

wacki · #40 05-31-2006, 05:44 AM

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We have fairly divergent ideas of how one should rank the best guitar players. For me the fact that Hendrix's guitar playing isn't super duper challenging detracts in no way from his greatness. For you it does. With all due respect, I believe you don't give enough consideration to historical context if you would hold this against Hendrix.

Hendrix's style, while not that difficult compared to so many of today's guitar players, was absolutely unheard of when he broke on the scene in the late '60s. Comparing the technical difficulty of Hendrix's soloes with Steve Vai's or Joe Satriani's is a mistake similar to comparing the P-51 Mustang to an F-18 and saying the Mustang isn't that great a plane.

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Holy crap, I never said Hendrix wasn't great.