Most under-rate/under-exposed guitarist...

I think guys like Young and Springsteen are singer/song writers that happen to play guitar. They both play genres that don't rely on guitar gymnastics to work. That's why they don't get the recognition, it's because the guitar playing is beside the point.

Every time I've seen Young solo, it's been out of tune. (or at least tragically disonant)
 
Last edited:
A couple of guys I haven't seen mentioned yet:
Sonny Landreth
Robert Randolph
Lowell George
Paul Barrere
Fred Tackett
Robben Ford
Grant Green
Oscar Aleman
Denny Dias
James McMurtry
Eric Lindell

Just my opinion, of course.

Bill L
 
Classical guitarist: Kazuhito Yamashita.

He gets recognized from all who know him, but he isn't nearly as popular as John Williams/Parkening/Segovia/Bareuco etc.

Yamashita is insanely talented IMO. Dude plays pictures at an exhibition on solo guitar and actually pulls it off. His first performance in North America made jaws drop at a guitar symposium that had some of the best guitarists in the world.
 
i like some of the ones ive seen posted already, particularly Niel Zaza and Randy Jacobs who are both fantastic. I would throw Eric Mongrain onto that mix. hes a little less traditional than many of the guys ive seen on here, but watch the video for "Air Tap" and tell me he doesnt have talent both as a guitar player and songwriter.

Also, even though he gets a good deal of exposure and is wierd as hell, id say Buckethead deserves more recognition than hes gotten. not many non-musicians are even aware he exists anymore. Its no secret hes one of the most talented and quick ever, and if you'd like to argue hes a poor songwriter, id tell you to listen to Soothsayer first and still you still think so.
 
Anthony Glise.
Adjunct music professor at Missouri Western State University.
Founder/director of the Saint Joseph (Missouri) International Guitar Festival.
 
CalebMcC said:
i like some of the ones ive seen posted already, particularly Niel Zaza and Randy Jacobs who are both fantastic. I would throw Eric Mongrain onto that mix. hes a little less traditional than many of the guys ive seen on here, but watch the video for "Air Tap" and tell me he doesnt have talent both as a guitar player and songwriter.

Also, even though he gets a good deal of exposure and is wierd as hell, id say Buckethead deserves more recognition than hes gotten. not many non-musicians are even aware he exists anymore. Its no secret hes one of the most talented and quick ever, and if you'd like to argue hes a poor songwriter, id tell you to listen to Soothsayer first and still you still think so.
Click to expand...

If Jacobs or Mongrain are anything like Zaza, I need to give them a listen. :)

Buckethead... Some of his "normal" stuff is a little out there for me, but his "Colma" is one of the few "guitar" albums I never hesitate to play in front of non-guitarists. A guitar buddy of mine turned me on to that disc by sending me a mp3 of the opener, "Whitewash." Within, oh, 4 listens I was surfing over to Amazon.com. It's such a gorgeous album... I don't know if we can call him "underrated" anymore after Jordan appeared on Guitar Hero II, but I think he's a hell of a songwriter when he wants to go for melody...
 
Guitarer said:
Mark Engles of Dredg.
Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree.
John Wesley.
Click to expand...

Steven Wilson Fanboi here - honestly, he's a competent guitarist, but the guitar isn't why I listen to Porcupine Tree.

And it kills me that John Wesley has that gig. I'm so jealous. :p
 
I'll probably catch shit for adding him . . . . but John Mayer doesn't get much credit as a guitarist. No, he's not breaking new ground (that's for sure.) But his blues/rock is really good stuff. His solo on "gravity" from the "Where the light is" album/dvd was very nice (IMHO.)

Let the lashings begin. . .
 
nate_dennis said:
I'll probably catch shit for adding him . . . . but John Mayer doesn't get much credit as a guitarist. No, he's not breaking new ground (that's for sure.) But his blues/rock is really good stuff. His solo on "gravity" from the "Where the light is" album/dvd was very nice (IMHO.)

Let the lashings begin. . .
Click to expand...

I'll give him this much: he specs out one hell of a custom Martin acoustic signature model. Best-sounding orchestra model I've played.

I will hand it to him though that he has some good chops, good phrasing, and generally good tone. If he just didn't insist on playing in the out-of-phase middle pickup position on his Strat so much. And I just don't like his music in general. But I can't disrespect him, he's a helluva lot more famous than I am!
 
Nate, I actually agree with you. I love JM live...his studio work is really nothing very special, but Every time I see him live, he blows me away.
 
solaris1982 said:
Nate, I actually agree with you. I love JM live...his studio work is really nothing very special, but Every time I see him live, he blows me away.
Click to expand...

I saw him YEARS ago in a small club in Northampton, MA. This was a while before his debut came out, but after some acoustic recordings of his had been circulating on the college scene from some time - probably around 2000 or so. A friend of my brother's had an extra ticket so since I wasn't doing anything else that night, I figured I might as well.

He blew my mind. I knew some of his music, but I never listened that closely, and just watching the guy play it was pretty apparent he'd spent some time studying jazz harmony (as it turns out he's Berklee educated). He was playing solo electric on this crazy fanned-fret Novax, but the kicker for me was between songs he sort of wandered into what became the best cover of SRV's "Lenny" I'd ever heard.

When I finally heard his album, I was completely bummed out - these songs that were just awesome solo tunes were recorded with light, poppy, upbeat bass and drums, and something like "Your Body Is a Wonderland" which was a great, moody, wistful ballad when performed alone got this stupid upbeat double time drum part. He then went on to sell a couple million albums, which I guess just goes to show I shouldn't produce pop. :p

Anyway, Mayer can play, no questions. I just wish he'd do it more. :/
 
Rocky: Suicidal Tendencies......that guy was a complete playing monster!!!

+1 to John Mayer.....you tube some of his shit live ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhYwZePFY7o *about 2:42 in...f'n awesome) and listen to him solo, just don't watch his ugly guitar playing faces lol.

Adam Jones: Tool

Trey Spruance: Mr. Bungle and played on Faith No More's "King for a Day" album

Tim Mahoney: 311

Tom Morello: Rage/Audioslave......if he'd quit making stupid noises and get back to playing badass solos, the world would be a better place.

Robert DeLeo: STP....that guy is amazing
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
No, actually, but I'm predisposed to hate it because he's in Porcupine Tree and I'm not. :(

Does he sing? Somehow he manages to sing HIGHER than Wilson with PT, which blows my mind.
Click to expand...

Yeah and he's a great singer. If you listen to his stuff it's no wonder Wilson wanted him.

His voice fits perfectly with Wilson's, but I wouldn't say his pitch is mind blowing. My brother and I cover a lot of PT and I don't have any problems hitting the harmonies.
 
...

my pick for guitarist is Kenny Vaughn, the lead guitarist for Marty Stuart. he is amazing.


but like someone on here said, Hendrix is not, he could make an aweful noise, but music? dont think so....BUT, then again. he got rich and famous didnt he? good for him.

also, like someone else said, judging who's the best is almost impossible, i mean Johnny Cash's guitarist Luther Perkins used 3 strings and created a legendary sound. who here can play on more than 3 strings? does that mean we are better guitarists? no.

each person has his/her own style. they fit that style perfect, might sounds amazing, then change bands and sound like they are just learning.

the way i judge guitarists is to hear them playing "clean" guitar. take away the distortion from some of these so called guitarists and what do they sound like? crap.

not underrated or unexposed, but Stevie Ray Vaughan is what i call, a guitar God. lol
 
Kevin Allen said:
the way i judge guitarists is to hear them playing "clean" guitar. take away the distortion from some of these so called guitarists and what do they sound like? crap.
Click to expand...

That's a slippery slope, though.

For perspective, I hear that argument espoused a lot by guys arguing classical players are so much better guitarists than rock guys, so this probably isn't what you had in mind, but it's still worth thinking about. The argument usually goes, If you hand such-and-such a rock player a nylon string, he'd be lost - all the legato and trilling and whatnot he normally would do just wouldn't translate and they'd sound sloppy as all the little imprecisions hid by distortion came to light. Thus, classical players are "better."

What usually gets neglected though is the flip side is true - that while it takes a special skillset to play clean or acoustic, it ALSO takes a special skillset to play with a fair amount of distortion. Give an accomplished classical player Slash's rig, and he's going to sound a mess - he'll have no concept of how to mute a guitar with that kind of gain and saturation, he won't know how to use or control feedback musically, and his attack, honed to achieve a nice, warm sound on an intimate acoustic, will just turn to mush on a Les Paul into a cranked up Marshall.

So, I guess I'm arguing that while that's true, it's only true to a point - a truly well rounded guitarist isn't one who can pick up a clean guitar and sound good, but one who can pick up a clean OR distorted guitar and be just as at home on either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top