Favorite guitarists/soloists?

M

Mentat

New member
I know this is almost a prerequisite in any guitar forum and gets very obnoxious after seeing it a million times, but I haven't seen it posted anywhere in the first several pages so without further ado...

-John Petrucci- So Dream Theater is a generic prog-metal group nowadays that sounds more like Symphony X than Symphony X sounds like Dream Theater. Quite laughable. RIDICULOUSLY laughable really. But also sad that the band I saw in "Images & Words" and "Awake" is dead, replaced by cheesy Pantera riffs mashed together with Keith Emerson's bastard son throwing in a fill here and there. But before they stagnated into normative, predictable wank-metal, Petrucci was (still is, but he's either lazy or out of ideas) pretty much my favorite guitar player.
-Eric Johnson- cause he's Eric Johnson- wonderful disjunct lines with a great awareness for melodicism.
-Trey Azagthoth- Death metal may not be the most accessible thing (nor is it meant to be) but this man is probably one of the more passionate players I've heard. He's got great chops, complete command of the instrument, and while a bit sloppy compared to Vai or Malmsteen it makes the soloing all the more frenetic and passionate.
-Mattias Eklundh- Picture Steve Vai but far more tasteful and economical.

And just because I'm getting lazy, I'll add: Al DiMeola, Brian May, Michael Amott, Jason Becker, Chuck Schuldiner (more for his creative compositional skill; his soloing is in my opinion, largely uninteresting.), Alex Lifeson and others I can't come up off the top of my head.
 
ill play

two of my favorite guitarist at this point are Mikael and Peter from Opeth. They don't really fit in the shredder category like most of the guys you listed. I think its their abillity to move between full on metal with death vocals into the haunting acoustic pieces that really gets me.
There are way too many others to even try and list so i won't go any further.
 
Well, Leo Kottke is one, and so is Pat Metheny. Then of course I have to say Ani Difranco. But really, aside from Leo and Pat Metheny, and even with those two to a great extent, it has more to do with enjoying songs and recordings than with having a "favorite" guitar player. I just can't say that anyone is my favorite, because they are all so good. What I am listening to at any moment is really just a reflection of my mood.

If I was pushed, though, I would have to say Vernon Reid, Robin Ford, Tom Morello, Reeves Gabrel, and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, would all be right up there.

Diversity is the key.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Well as a songwriter I tend to like guitarists that can actually come up with a good tune. I believe that the ability to write good songs is far more important than shredding, but that's my opinion and it's debatable. :)

So to name a few:
Chuck Schuldiner (R.I.P.)
Dave Mustaine
Fredrik Thordendal
Zakk Wylde
Anders Bjorler
James Hetfield (Don't laugh, he might not be technical but he wrote songs that will never die. He's the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place)
Ammott brothers
Jimmy Page

I could go on but I'll just stop here :)
 
My top 3 are (in no particular order):

Jimi Hendrix
Pat Metheny
Stevie Ray Vaughan

Anyone who hasn't listened to these three should do so. Quickly.
 
maestro_dmc said:
Phil Keaggy
Click to expand...

I got to see Phil Keaggy at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival last August. He was, by far, one of the best sounding solo guitarists I have heard. I like Leo Kottke's style more, but Phil was quite good. He also did some playing along with himself using a variety of samplers, and other than Robert Fripp using Fripptronics, it was by far the best use of that stuff I have heard. Much better than the guy they had doing that stuff two years ago. It was actually musical. His improvised songs actually had a structure. Imagine that.

One of the other builders there gave him a guitar, which he played for about one song. He then went back to his Olsen. The moral of that story? Don't give a professional guitar player a guitar with out a strap button. Also, if someone is use to a guitar that has been built by someone who has built a thousand guitars, don't think that you are going to compete when you have only built twenty. Experience counts.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
kostein said:
Well as a songwriter I tend to like guitarists that can actually come up with a good tune. I believe that the ability to write good songs is far more important than shredding, but that's my opinion and it's debatable. :)

So to name a few:
Chuck Schuldiner (R.I.P.)
Dave Mustaine
Fredrik Thordendal
Zakk Wylde
Anders Bjorler
James Hetfield (Don't laugh, he might not be technical but he wrote songs that will never die. He's the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place)
Ammott brothers
Jimmy Page

I could go on but I'll just stop here :)
Click to expand...

Chuck is definately one o the best, rest his soul, damn he departed this earth wayyyyyy to early. I really really like Dave Mustaine too, although some of the last ten years worth have left me wanting more. Ritchie Blackmore has to be the most underated guitarests' out there, and one of my favorites for sure.
 
I have some real heroes, to be sure: Hendrix, Van Halen, Vaughan, et al, but I have to say that there isn't anybody that's currently active that is totally knockin' me out (at least the comes to mind straightaway...) with the possible exception of Brian Setzer, who just absolutely rocks.
Maybe it's because I'm more into songs and songwriting than I used to be, and technical guitar playing doesn't impress me like it used to. I dunno... am I getting old?

There are certain aspects of lots of players that I really dig, but no one has the whole package like say, Eddie did. Eric Johnson's tone it something else and plays very cleanly, but he's just too mechanical sounding. Don't like Vai's tone or his eccentricity. Not into NuMetal guys or anything like that. Who am I missing?

Who should my heroes be?

I'm tired of pining for the glory days. Who's playing great guitar now?


got mojo?
www.voodoovibe.com
 
I was fortunate enough to see Randy Rhoads with Ozzy in March of 1982, two weeks before his tragic death. I've never been the same since and never stopped wondering about all the great music we missed out on.
 
Chuck Shuldiner

Great post. I have to chime in with the late great Chuck Shuldiner of the heavy hitting florida metal band DEATH. RIP. I have a video of one of his last performances (Death - Live in L.A.) and he is one of the fastest players Ive yet whitnessed. And sings lead vox too!!! There was a time when Mustaine impressed me but Chuck kicked him to the curb.
 
The guitarists for Dark Tranquility, Trivium, Martyr, Capharnaum, and Quo Vadis

Chet Atkins, Leo Kottke, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmie Hendrix, John Mclaughlin (a god), Paul Gilbert (a god), Andy Timmons, Steve Lukather, Michael Romeo (a god), Frank Gambale, Pat Metheny, Scott Henderson (a god), Pat Martino, Allan Holdsworth (a god), Zakk Wylde, Greg Howe (insane), whoever the guitarist for Ten Years After was (abe something?), whoever the guitarist for Black Oak Arkansas was (insanely good), and of course, Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains
 
musicsdarkangel-

its funny that you should mention Capharnaum. Don't they have one of the former members of Martyr in their band? Martyr's cd Warpzone has some insane guitar work on it. If they had a better vocalist that cd would be in my top list.
 
There are too many to list but some of my personal favorites include:

Satch
Steve Vai
Angus Young
Larry Lalande
Alex Lifeson
Eddie Van Halen
Randy Rhodes
Frank Zappa

There is probably some guy playing in a bar that is better than all these guys that no one will ever get to hear which really sucks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top