Oh hell yeah! He has the most punchy, powerful guitar tone. Do you have any info on his gear? It sounds like a hollow-body guitar with some heavy-ass strings into a Fender Twin or something like that. It's clean with a little bit of grit, but he just hammers every note, I just love it. His work on Tom Waits'
Real Gone is just incredible. "Hoist That Rag" is one of my favorite guitar solos ever.
Seafroggys said:
Just last night I caught Jeff Beck on Palladia HD doing a show with his current band. I had never actually sat and watched him play. Holy shit! Not only is his tone just awesome with his array of Marshall Heads, but his phrasing and touch are just amazing. His use of the tremolo bar along with his fingerpicking style on a Strat is just unparalleled anywhere else in music. I was very, very impressed. I'm not so crazy about the genre in which he operates, the whole jazz fusion thing, but my goodness he can sing through that axe.
How about Derek Trucks?
Derek Trucks was the first guitarist I'd seen in a long time that truly impressed me when I first heard him a few years ago. His expression on his instrument is just amazing. Fingerpicking with a slide on a Gibson SG? Wow, he's another one that can just sing through that guitar. So expressive, so silky smooth.
Or how about Dan Auerbach?
Operating in a two-piece band without a bassist, he gets the entire frequency spectrum to his self and he comes up with some crushing guitar tones! Oh man, almost every song I've heard from the Black Keys sounds like he's pushing his amps to the brink of a fiery explosion. If you ever want to hear hard evidence of the reason why people love tube amps instead of solid state amps, listen to any Black Keys album from start to finish.
And definitely Elliott Smith.
Smith's guitar work is deceptively complex. Sit down with a couple of his songs and try to transcribe the guitar parts. He's all over the place! He follows the chord changes in such interesting ways, it's pretty amazing to break it down.
Oh, and Willie Nelson.
I got to see him do a rather brief set opening for the Dave Matthews Band at Fenway Park in Boston. His improv soloing on "Trigger" is actually really impressive.
