Most overpaid and underskilled guitarists....

[dafduc]

define "overpaid".
define "underskilled".

most of those guys you listed are known for their songwriting and ability to work WITH a band, rather than their ability to shred.

give me 100 steve vais writing 203984750982436 songs that don't move me, and i'll give you a handful of "poor" guitarists that write songs who do. i'm willing to take the latter anyday.

guitar as a refined trade skill is great, but brilliant, beautiful songwriting lasts forever.

how many vai/johnson/satriani songs change people's lives? i mean people who love music, not just people who specifically love tech in any form. the first group is much larger and sometimes the second group can dig the first ideal. i am strongly in the first camp, being a songwriter and no shredder, but i repect both. it's just the first that makes life worth living in my opinion.

I agree, to a point. The world needs both Paganinis AND Berliozes, both Theloniuses AND Gadds, both Lennons AND Malmsteens.

For the vote here to be meaningful, it really needs to be about guitarists whose principal fame is as a guitarist. I think, for example, Steve Winwood is a shitty guitarist too, but guitar is 4th or 5th on his skill set list.

My vote is still Gary Richrath. He is a talentless hack.

Daf

 

[acorec]

You obviously need to listen to more Beatles. George Harrison is possibly the most underrated guitarist in rock.

I hate to tell you this, most great Beatles guitar solos were done by Paul.

 

[scottboyher]

Everyone except EVH and Brent Mason.

 

[acorec]

quote:
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Originally posted by MegaDrummer
My latest band I love to hate is The White Stripes. Give me a break! Anyone else think they suck? The dude plays out of tune guitar half the time and the skanky chick drums like a retard.

The Stripes were on Conan every night a few weeks back. They really have little to offer in the way of talent. I never thought there was such a thing as bad three chord punk rock. I stand corrected!

They seem to be the hot thing at the moment (flavor of the month), perhaps in protest to the over produced music of the last twenty years. Any idiot can go to Guitar Center and buy gear and effects that can make them sound like anyone or any band ever. Even with very limited talent.

I dunno, maybe it's just me. But I take my music seriously. If the dude got rid of the retarded girl drummer and added a bass and guitar, it might sound better. But the novelty would be gone.

The dude in The White Stripes plays sloppy guitar with no technique and heavily depends on a massive array of digital effects. He butchers his own three cord songs. While what really pisses me off is the lil'bitch trying to play one drum in time. After years of developing my style of "John Bonham meets Neil Peart" it just kills me to think that the noise they make is called music.


Mark my words... The White Stripes will be no big whoop in a year.

http://www.kittensinunderpants.com/images/white_stripes.jpg
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Put me on the list. The White Stripes have no songs, no talent and no future. But, they make the dough for now...........

 

[Speeddemon]

I agree with the list, also agree on "The Edge" (take away his delays, and what do you have? A three year old with knowledge of one grip and maybe 3 barré chords... )
but I have to agree with C7sus as well.

Vai/Satch/Johnson... YUCK!
1) They mostly write songs just to showcase their technique
2) They NEED to play loud live to satisfy their ego's
3) They create their sound by a shitload of effects

IMO, You need to become a keyboardplayer if you have to rely on 20 something stompboxes... I mean, 7 or 8 max, o.k., but beyond that...
Take a guy like Angus Young (AC/DC). No effects. Just Gibson SG into Marshall JCM800. And one helluva SOUND!

Clapton the same: Strat into treble booster into Vox AC30.

Gimme Richie Sambora/George Lynch/Warren de Martini over those Satch/Vai wannabe's ANYDAY!

 

[AlChuck]

6. Clapton
7. Pete Townshend

Well, one might argue that Clapton doesn't play with quite the fire that he had as a youth, but he's as skilled as he needs to be to play what he plays, which when he was in Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominoes, approached perfection far closer than almost anyone else around.

Vai, Satch, and Johnson would all agree -- Cream-era recorded Clapton has accounted for creating more rock guitar players than anyone except arguably Hendrix.

And Townshend might not be the most facile lead player around, but he plays -- and always has -- damn-near perfect rhythm guitar. Perfect in sound, perfect in execution, powerful and magnificent.

I think, for example, Steve Winwood is a shitty guitarist too, but guitar is 4th or 5th on his skill set list.

I don't think Winwood is a shitty guitarist at all.

 

[freshmattyp]

I hate to tell you this, most great Beatles guitar solos were done by Paul.

Who said I was talking only about leads? There's much more to being a great guitar player than just solos. Have another listen to "Ticket to Ride". Brilliant.

 

[bedbug]

My latest band I love to hate is The White Stripes. They seem to be the hot thing at the moment (flavor of the month), [/IMG]

It's just that people were told that they were blues-ey, so they think they have to appreciate it or something. You can take a turd and call it blues, but it doesn't mean it's good.

As far as anyone being underskilled - I think it says a lot when a guitar player does what's best for a song and the band overall, rather than playing to satisfy his own ego. You don't need a guitar to jack off.

 

[Henri Devill]

Steve Miller!! His whole career is a mistery!Can't play,can't sing and can't write.. he has taken being shitty to a new level



Don

 

[getuhgrip]

No no, Henri...you're thinking of Eddie Money!

Steve Miller is that guy who's "Lookin' really hard and he's tryin' to find a job"!

 

[Henri Devill]

Spose you could be right...
Ya "its gettin' tuffer every day"


Don

 

[MegaDrummer]

Well, glad to see that Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Neil Young didn't make this thread.

Although I'm sure someone will disagree eventually.

 

[Fusion2]

gawd, you all sound like a bunch of o'l ladies hashing this crap over, nothing better to do? please...

go practice/jam or something peace...

 

[cavedog101]

......AMEN......!








its a good thing that no one here makes a penny doin this cause then you'd all be on this list....................






...what I'm sayin is this...have ANY of you ever sat in a room with any of these 'no-talent' players with just a couple of guitars and jammed?.......I didnt think so........most of you have NO IDEA what these guys know about playing.....most of your exposure is through commercial recordings ...maybe a concert...and these guys are doin their job.......workin for livin......playin guitar in some band setting......for money......but what do they personally like to play or what level is their knowledge? ...you dont know and neither do I ...........so this is useless drivel to compare them to this guy and that guy........GO RECORD...GO PRACTICE....GET A JOB

 

[MegaDrummer]

I still stand by my vote.

The guy from The White Stripes IS an overpaid and underskilled guitarist!

Lucky a**hole....

 

[Unsprung]

I'll have to agree that some on your list are orerpaid and underskilled, but you have to admit for someone to have been around for as long as Clapton or Santana, they have to be doing something right. The ones I wonder about are some heavy metal guitarists who use so much distortion that no matter what they do, it sounds the same. At least now I know why I never made much money with guitar, I spent too much time becoming overskilled, OK I bragged on myself a little.

When I got my Line 6 POD, it opened up a whole world of songs I didn't even know I could play...never mind that I'm finding that a LOT of what I'm picking up mostly makes use of Barre chords. When watching one of my Hendrix DVD's, recently, I noticed that EVEN "Purple Haze" is mostly Barre chords. So, when it was over, I fired up my POD, and got to work on "Purple Haze."

I still suck at guitar...not so much as with bass...but I'll readily admit my shortcomings. As I've discussed at the POD Talk web site, I'm finding out that a lot of the "great guitar songs" are more about tone, than ability or skill...so it seems. I figure if I actually took the time to learn chords, other than Barre chords, I could be a "furly dangerous guitar player." At least that's the joke that I like to use.

Who knows, maybe my future recordings of my "banging around" will become widely popular, and I'll join the ranks of overpaid, underskilled axe wielders...but, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Wrangler]

So how come Neil Young didn't make this thread??

Though I think he wrote some beautiful songs, as a guitarist.......
Holy Christ!!

I never really got that whole Bruce phenomona, either.

Remember - we're talking the dollar to skill ratio.

 

[mocharock]

My opinion goes to any band that is out that depends on haveing a DJ on the stage and in the studio. Come on what the Hell is that!

 

[Drummerbones]

"Well, glad to see that Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Neil Young didn't make this thread.

Although I'm sure someone will disagree eventually."


YEP!! I was just thinking to myself Jimmy Page and *bam*....there's your post. I give him and Zepplin all the credit in the world for being ground-breakers and major influences on ALL rock music that followed them. Wonderful songwriters. Brilliant....

However, if someone tells me that Page was a great player and Plant was a great singer......sorry bro, you've "smoked yourself retarded". Page had style, but IMO his live work is some of the sloppiest playing I've ever heard from a "professional". And Plant had style too, but his live vocals were as far off key as you could get without singing the wrong song! Disagree all you want, then put on a record and tell me I'm wrong!

**Note: This is America, and I'm entitled to my opinion. You may or may not agree. Any or all Zepplin fans can rip me all they want....I don't give a sh*t. Thank you and good night!!

 

[Dethska]

The point of the White Stripes is to sound like crap, play like crap, and record like crap, and still have it be catchy and poppy. It is a complete response to the over produced filth that everyone else is playing. It's a new form of "raw" or "punk" or whatever.
It took me a year to "get" the White Stripes, but I now think that the "talent" of that band now exceeds anything done by the Foo Fighters, or Creed, or Matchbox 20, or any of the other bland run of the mill bands.
I would not be surprised if the guy in the White Stripes could pull off sick shit like Vai if he really needed to, but that would defeat the whole purpose of his band.

Talent lies in performing the right part for the right song and not fucking the song up with your ego.

But that's just my opinion. YMMV