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Greg_L
Banned
I think all three are total boring shit.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
But that's 'cuz you don't really care for leads/solos and you hate jamming...right?
...or do you have some other favorite lead guitar player in mind instead of those three?
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Greg_L
Banned
It's not really that. Partially, but its' mostly because of the way they play and what they play. These are just my opinions, so don't everyone freak the fuck out. Clapton is typical boring blues based shit to the extreme. Why he's famous, I'll never know. Jeff Beck, to me, is probably technically the best of the three, but his music is unlistenable wankery and very dated. I certainly don't get his "genius". Definitely not my era or thing. Jimmy Page is stupid and sloppy, like Ace Frehley sloppy, but I'd have to put him at the top of these three because at least he went on to do Led Zep, which was a cool band. I guess that's the kicker for me. Page was at least part of a band that I can listen to, and the other two aren't/weren't.But that's 'cuz you don't really care for leads/solos and you hate jamming...right?
Yup, several. But you've never heard of most of them and wouldn't get it anyway.
Armistice
Son of Yoda
It always should be about the songs. Clapton hasn't written a decent one in about 30 years, so I don't really care if he's a great player. Beck doesn't bother, but is technically the best and can do stuff that's amazing, but the only thing of his I really like is Scatterbrain - Page wrote some of the great songs / riffs of the 70s so he'd get the nod from me if I had to choose one - also his use of alternative tunings / acoustics gave him more dimensions, to me, than the others - but has he done anything since 1980 apart from remaster LZ albums? Probably, but not much...
I like the people who keep going and who write good songs.
Lol at me answering an 8 year old thread...
I like the people who keep going and who write good songs.
Lol at me answering an 8 year old thread...
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
I agree for the most part. Clapton has bored me to death since the mid-early '70s...after the Dominos and maybe a couple of years later he got into the real boring country flavored blues twang and IMHO, lost all his fire. Yeah, he still plays well, but he's sounded so totally canned for the last 35 year, just going through the motions on most stuff.
Beck has masterful technique, but I honestly can't stand his guitar tone 90% of the time. It's just so thin and wanky, and he does go off on some bizarre directions that some people call genius...but I just don't much care to listen to.
For that kind of "bizarre-ish" playing, I would rather listen to someone like Adrian Belew who makes it way more interesting and entertaining...IMHO.
Page...yeah, he is sloppy, but I've always loved his tone and his intent when playing, and to me, that is always more crucial to great guitar playing than technique. He plays with passion, and even when he gets sloppy...it just works for what he is doing.
I get Page, how he plays and what he is playing, and can listen to his stuff with more enjoyment than Clapton or Beck.
I do like clean technique too and precision playing, but if it ain't got soulful tone and deep passion, it's boring, which is why I tend to not like too many technical shredders. They play like machines, and most are about as exciting to listen to as blender set to "whip".
Yup, several. But you've never heard of most of them and wouldn't get it anyway.
Try me. Unless they are totally local players...I might have heard of one or two, or if not me, maybe someone else here has heard of them.
I'm just trying to get a sense of who you think is really good and that you like to listen to...since you don't care for any of these three.
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Greg_L
Banned
Right. I can agree with that about Jimmy Page. His tone was awesome and his style fit the band perfectly. I can listen to Zep any day, I can't ever listen to Clapton or Beck.
I have my own guitar heroes, but they're not technically good by any means. Not what any of you would consider good anyway, and that's what makes them awesome. Here's a short list. Remember, you asked for it:
Johnny Ramone (Ramones), obviously, because of his buzzsawing downstroke style. No leads at all. Fast barre-chords that sounded like a jet engine or a chainsaw, and then he'd go into these super harmonic rich palm mutes. Very cool to me, and a big influence on my own playing. Yeah, he's very basic, but his technique gives him and the Ramones a guitar sound that's instantly recognizable and very hard to duplicate. Believe it or not, he's probably one of the most influential guitarists since punk rock. Everyone from Green Day to Metallica owe some debt to Johnny Ramone.
Johnny Thunders (New York Dolls & Heartbreakers) - Very sloppy, whacked out on heroin, LP Jr into a Fender Twin maxxed out. Cool tone, marginal at best skill, but fuck his shit is awesome. Big influence on me.
East Bay Ray (Dead Kennedys) - Shrill, delayed, reverby, piercing tone and a very surfy feel to his playing. He says he's not influenced by surf music at all, but I think that's a lie. Youtube "Moon Over Marin" or "Police Truck" for an example.
Ace Frehley/Angus Young - Both of these guys are important to me as lead players because they're accessible. I can play their stuff. I don't need to practice for ten hours a day or even know anything about music to play their style of leads, and that's just fine with me. I'm not a fan of wanky guitar solos, but I like em a little, so these guys do it just right for me. They also don't use mega cheesey metal tones. Gibsons and Marshalls. The perfect rock combo. I can rip off their licks and sound and it fits into my own music.
The Ventures/Dick Dale - Pure surf, and I love it. Easy and fun to play, but you sound awesome if you do it right.
Eddie Cochran/Link Wray/Gene Vincent/Duane Eddy - Big, twangy, trem'd out rockabilly stuff. I'll give an honorable mention to Brian Setzer, but fuck, he's too good. I can't relate to him at all.
So, as you can see, it's mostly pretty simple stuff from pretty simple players. It has to be accessible to me. I have to "get it". I have to like the music first and foremost. If I don't like what you're playing, I don't give a fuck how good you are.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Hell yeah...Angus Young, I'm a fan.
Always loved the Ramones.
I also dig the Dale, Cochran, Eddy bunch too. They were lead players before "lead guitar" became such a hyped position in a band.
Always loved the Ramones.
I also dig the Dale, Cochran, Eddy bunch too. They were lead players before "lead guitar" became such a hyped position in a band.
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Greg_L
Banned
Yes, exactly. They played leads within the scope of the song. Not as an afterthought or on top of the song.
arcadeko
Illuminatius Overlordious
All you got to do is listen to Jet Boy and it's obvious that Johnny Thunders is fucking awesome.
arcadeko
Illuminatius Overlordious
More Awesome Guitar:
Gang Green just had the most kick ass guitar sound:
Gang Green just had the most kick ass guitar sound:
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Greg_L
Banned
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Greg_L
Banned
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Greg_L
Banned
Lol @ Johnny Thunders in a Beck/Clapton/Page thread and the furious rage building in pompous guitar snobs everywhere. 
Armistice
Son of Yoda
So let me throw Verlaine and Television into the mix.... any takers? No-one before or after quite like him... I don't know that I'd ever want, or try, to play like that, but I love Marquee Moon and Adventure to death...
But again, it's the song, and the context, that makes the thing special, if it is special, that is... honestlly, all this "who's the best guitarist?" crap is like judging who's the best at hammering in nails.... interesting if you're a nail-hammerer perhaps, but most people are interested more in the house.
I know what whoever it was meant about Beck's tone. I'm just fundamentally not a Tele guy, and I think that's what he plays mainly, although I don't read "Guitarist XXXXX" magazine, so possibly I'm several decades out of the loop...
But again, it's the song, and the context, that makes the thing special, if it is special, that is... honestlly, all this "who's the best guitarist?" crap is like judging who's the best at hammering in nails.... interesting if you're a nail-hammerer perhaps, but most people are interested more in the house.
I know what whoever it was meant about Beck's tone. I'm just fundamentally not a Tele guy, and I think that's what he plays mainly, although I don't read "Guitarist XXXXX" magazine, so possibly I'm several decades out of the loop...
rayc
retroreprobate
Clapton peaked AND began his decline in Derek & the Dominoes (he's not bad on the Concert for Bangladesh given how not there he was).
Beck I saw last with Jan Hammer & whilst his playing was exhilirating the songs weren't & he's only ON every decade or so.
Page hasn't written a good tune since Presence, he plays sloppily but that's OK since it's only RnR.
I'd say each one has a big part in RnR HISTORY - not the present.
Alvin Lee, over & under rated.
Pete Townsend - great chords, shocking solos.
Then we get into John Maclaughlin, Carlos Santana & those who just went on & on.
Maybe I should bite the bullet & just call in Ted Nugent!
Sterling Morrison was great but lived in the shadow of an enormous ego.
For me though Tom Verlain, Richard Lloyd and Robert Quinne
are the ultimate post 75 serious lead solo rock guitarist types.
Greg, I've the LAMF revisted, redone 77 lost mixes 2 CD jobbie - it's great!
Beck I saw last with Jan Hammer & whilst his playing was exhilirating the songs weren't & he's only ON every decade or so.
Page hasn't written a good tune since Presence, he plays sloppily but that's OK since it's only RnR.
I'd say each one has a big part in RnR HISTORY - not the present.
Alvin Lee, over & under rated.
Pete Townsend - great chords, shocking solos.
Then we get into John Maclaughlin, Carlos Santana & those who just went on & on.
Maybe I should bite the bullet & just call in Ted Nugent!
Sterling Morrison was great but lived in the shadow of an enormous ego.
For me though Tom Verlain, Richard Lloyd and Robert Quinne
are the ultimate post 75 serious lead solo rock guitarist types.
Greg, I've the LAMF revisted, redone 77 lost mixes 2 CD jobbie - it's great!
Armistice
Son of Yoda
I forgot Richard Lloyd... they worked well together and were never as good on their own, I reckon...
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Bob F.
New member
Eric Clapton has some good taste. In clothing.
Jimmy Page is cool.
Jeff Beck can school either one of them on guitar. Both at once, in fact.
Jimmy Page is cool.
Jeff Beck can school either one of them on guitar. Both at once, in fact.
Armistice
Son of Yoda
I don't think anyone would deny that, but he's the least successful in most accepted ways of judging it.... because unless you play music, rather than guitar, no-one's interested, unless you're another guitarist wanting to be just like Page / Clapton / Beck that is...
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Bob F.
New member
I think those other guys were/are just better at being famous. They play styles of music that the public could digest more easily, and attracted a bigger audience. Not that they're bad at what they do--that's just not the case at all. I was fortunate enough to see all of them on stage at once. Clapton was OK. Page seemed to be the most popular with the audience. And Beck, well, he schooled them both. I had never seen him play before, and it was awesome to watch how he played the WHOLE guitar.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
And that's really it, ain't it.
That's why he's on top of the list....he's popular.
I don't mean popular like a high school cheerleader. I mean popular in that his playing and his music reaches people. It's accessible and understandable.
That's why bands like the Ramones and Dolls can roll with the technical wizards, and often come out on top with the crowd.
There IS something to be said for being a master of your instrument, but if you can't reach people...you might as well play alone in your room.
To add another "non-master" to the mix --- Neil Young is also a sloppy, often out of tune guitar player, but IMO, he can still hit the right notes in a way that connects with huge audiences and that makes him a good player.