so if you could absolutely nail down one player's technique/tone...

Being painfully aware that this smacks of "poserism" at it's worst, I'm still gonna put it out there...

If you could perfectly mimic the tone and style of ONE player who would you pick? If you are in a place where your style makes this question absurd or facetious my hat is off to you and thanks for looking.

I am at 3 right now but have not been able to winnow it further down... yet.

I love George Lynch, especially his less widdly moments - check this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7fX27vqnvU. i love the pecussiveness and vibrato, dead cool. Love the guitar too.

An great tone on this too

I think I have Alex Lifeson down already. Lately I have been really working on Trevor Rabin's bending style which IMO is his trademark. I'm getting close -even on an acoustic. He uses 9's on his and I use 11's but with work has been working out. I'm nowhere as good as he is, but I think I can fake his stuff fairly well. For him it is all about bending up to the next note instead of fretting up the next note. Unusual that more players don;t use that thought, but once you start doing it, it can become second nature. Probably something you need to hear to appreciate

Also lots of compression and on the acoustic, low action , or very hard picking to get a bit of buzz

Why, Ritchie, of course, for electric posing 'cause he is the complete package; chops, tricks, taste and presence! Or perhaps Ian Moss from Cold Chisel; great player; real high energy stuff, unusual progressions up and down the neck.... Oh, I dunno... Too hard!

Acoustic, hmmmmm..... I really like what Lawrence Juber was doing with Al Stewart....

ONE player, gentlemen... ONE!


Sheesh




Hold the phone... Lionel Ritchie plays the guitar???

Tone wise i'd have to go with Stevie Ray - no question.

hobster wrote:Tone wise i'd have to go with Stevie Ray - no question.

Sweet. Be ready to string up with the heaviest gauge you can lay your hands on. His fingers were freakishly strong...

Les Claypool, hands down. If I could match his technique, I'd be set for life. Also, is it really that uncommon to bend up to the next note? I do that sometimes.

Iceman wrote:

hobster wrote:Tone wise i'd have to go with Stevie Ray - no question.

Sweet. Be ready to string up with the heaviest gauge you can lay your hands on. His fingers were freakishly strong...

Yeah, he used 13's and that had something to do with it but man did he have an amazing tone!! Sounds so thick and powerful, he was one of a kind. David Gilmore is right up there also, like i've said before, i'm a strat guy.

Johnny Allen Hendrix.....on acid..

Iceman wrote:Hold the phone... Lionel Ritchie plays the guitar???

You're funny.

I might be tricking my way out of this one, but technique and tone are two very different things.

So, for the technique, my choice goes to Nuno Bettencourt. Technically, he has it all. But so do many others (Jason Becker, Yngwie, Paul Gilbert) who all have reached technical perfection. Nuno just has a versatility that the others don't, which is why he sticks out.

Now for tone, the answer is very easy: Brian May.

corsair wrote:

Iceman wrote:Hold the phone... Lionel Ritchie plays the guitar???

You're funny.

...I know you are, but what am I?

Now that you blokes have given me license to ignore my own caveat as I originally stated it. Thanks guys, I really did not want to mention just one anyway.

It is the recognized technique (style) that makes it difficult to choose between my top 3. The genre however you wish to define it would be blues no matter how you define it.

2nd place for me is too close to call, but right there are both Mike Bloomfield and Gary Moore. Words will escape me at times attempting to quantify either of them.

But it is the overall package that includes the tone and phrasing that tilts the honor to the Right Reverend William F. Gibbons for me. I suppose it would be the easier choice to say Jimi, or Stevie, or John Mayall or Jeff Beck.

But... what can you do??

Technique wise, howz about some Steve Vai. He is one of the most creative and technically proficient guitarists out there and one of my personal favorites. Passion and Warfare is one of the best guitar albums ever made. Besides, he was discovered by Frank Zappa (rocks greatest genious ever) who hired him as a teenager, need i say more?

Robben Ford....... 's whiskers

Duane Allman is my choice and was also from my hometown.

Tone? I think I'm fine with what I've got. I want Claypool's technique, but I'll tweak my own sound.

hobster wrote:Technique wise, howz about some Steve Vai. He is one of the most creative and technically proficient guitarists out there and one of my personal favorites. Passion and Warfare is one of the best guitar albums ever made. Besides, he was discovered by Frank Zappa (rocks greatest genious ever) who hired him as a teenager, need i say more?

Well, he did go on to ruin every band he ever played in: whitesnake, alcatrazz... Those guys used to rock before Vai arrived! :joker:

Ya know Beavis, looking at you avatar got me thinking about my comment on John's choice. I was just kidding around with the Lionel Ritchie jab there John.

So do you enjoy Ritchie's In and Out of Love early style or the later Wanted: Dead or Alive phase of his career?

beavis wrote:

hobster wrote:Technique wise, howz about some Steve Vai. He is one of the most creative and technically proficient guitarists out there and one of my personal favorites. Passion and Warfare is one of the best guitar albums ever made. Besides, he was discovered by Frank Zappa (rocks greatest genious ever) who hired him as a teenager, need i say more?

Well, he did go on to ruin every band he ever played in: whitesnake, alcatrazz... Those guys used to rock before Vai arrived! :joker:

Ouch. He didn't even write anything on the Vaisnake album, Coverdale was a jerk and fired the whole band after the album was written and hired a supergroup to record it. You could just as well say Vandenberg ruined Whitesnake. As for Alcatrazz, i knew Yngwie was with them but i never listened to them much. How about Eat em and smile, thats an amazing album with Billy Sheenan and Vai ripping it up. I'm glad he has gone solo since, he is too good to not do his own thing anyway.

hobster wrote:

beavis wrote:

hobster wrote:Technique wise, howz about some Steve Vai. He is one of the most creative and technically proficient guitarists out there and one of my personal favorites. Passion and Warfare is one of the best guitar albums ever made. Besides, he was discovered by Frank Zappa (rocks greatest genious ever) who hired him as a teenager, need i say more?

Well, he did go on to ruin every band he ever played in: whitesnake, alcatrazz... Those guys used to rock before Vai arrived! :joker:

Ouch. He didn't even write anything on the Vaisnake album, Coverdale was a jerk and fired the whole band after the album was written and hired a supergroup to record it. You could just as well say Vandenberg ruined Whitesnake. As for Alcatrazz, i knew Yngwie was with them but i never listened to them much. How about Eat em and smile, thats an amazing album with Billy Sheenan and Vai ripping it up. I'm glad he has gone solo since, he is too good to not do his own thing anyway.

OIY That's my boy Adrian you're talkin' 'bout there, pal.

Vai is admittedly pretty good as they go. If you are talking pure technical pyrotechnics I gotta go with Yngwie though. Technical fusion/theory goes to Vai's mentor Satch in my book as well.

Who am I kidding.... they are all players par excellance, miles ahead...

Hey i'm a big Adrian fan, lived in Holland 4 years and saw him open for Dio in Rotterdam in 84, just making a statement. Yngwie is technically amazing but to me he seems repetitive and stuck in one style. I've always loved Satch but Vai is so much more creative musically and explores many more angles. Maybe its the Zappa "wierdness" he was influenced by. Flexable is a great first solo album and really OUT THERE! I used to love to experiment with, well shall we say mind altering substances, back in the day and listen to the early Vai albums. I'm sure that has nothing to do with my opinion.

hobster wrote:

beavis wrote:

hobster wrote:Technique wise, howz about some Steve Vai. He is one of the most creative and technically proficient guitarists out there and one of my personal favorites. Passion and Warfare is one of the best guitar albums ever made. Besides, he was discovered by Frank Zappa (rocks greatest genious ever) who hired him as a teenager, need i say more?

Well, he did go on to ruin every band he ever played in: whitesnake, alcatrazz... Those guys used to rock before Vai arrived! :joker:

Ouch. He didn't even write anything on the Vaisnake album, Coverdale was a jerk and fired the whole band after the album was written and hired a supergroup to record it. You could just as well say Vandenberg ruined Whitesnake. As for Alcatrazz, i knew Yngwie was with them but i never listened to them much. How about Eat em and smile, thats an amazing album with Billy Sheenan and Vai ripping it up. I'm glad he has gone solo since, he is too good to not do his own thing anyway.

Wasn't saying he had written anything. I just think his playing didn't fit in. But I agree with you and am glad he has gone solo. And there is no questioning his skills. :bball:

Iceman wrote:Ya know Beavis, looking at you avatar got me thinking about my comment on John's choice. I was just kidding around with the Lionel Ritchie jab there John.

So do you enjoy Ritchie's In and Out of Love early style or the later Wanted: Dead or Alive phase of his career?

You're right, one Ritchie can hide another as they say in France.

You blokes are wittering on and on about Vai, Satch, Gilbert and all the other über shredders and yet, there's Blackmore who's the most versatile guitarist on the damn planet; the man can do everything from burning those triplets with the Purps, to renaissance folk with Blackmore's Night and everything in between; I like his stylistic imprint on everything he's done, and his tone rocks my world, by and large!!

The man has TASTE.


... and he's just a little weird into the bargain; top marks from this reviewer!!

True story for John:
About 5-7 years ago a friend of mine named Brandon was playing his homemade lute at our local Renaissance Faire when a man approached him about his playing style. They talked a bit while my friend was playing, and the man ended up invited my friend to go on tour with them. Startled and beginning to recognize who the man as, Brandon asked him for his name... the man was none other than Ritchie freakin' Blackmore!!! Seriously. My friend actually DECLINED, due to responsibilities at home, but wow, what a story! If you'd see my buddy Brandon you'd understand, he looks like Blackmore's Night personified! Sounds like them too.

To the topic at hand: Regarding tone, I love Gilmour's tone. Style wise, it's all over the board.

Gilmour always got great tone.
Beavis, looking at your avatar, when youve finished with the chub on the left send me a pm.
Vai and those other technical masters dont do it for me, the feeling got lost. Chemical Brothers have brought it back into balance.

beavis wrote:...technique and tone are two very different things...

Mmm yes, I think so. But it is difficult to separate the two eh? There are many beautiful players 'out there' and it's difficult to settle on one, or two, or...

But, in the jazz world I guess I'm "old school" (quelle surprise!). So it's guys like Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery.
In the pop world, several have already been mentioned with whom I agree but I would also add, Mark Knopfler.
Acoustically? Really hard to say...I've always loved James Taylor's sound, and Neil Young is hard to beat for musical "hooks" although, not strictly speaking, a tone thing.

wes Montgomery - yeah. Many of my first guitar lessons were based on his stuff - Jaguar, Tequilla, etc. Not my normal tone or style - but what a way to learn at 14 yrs old.

corsair wrote:....there's Blackmore

Ohhhhhh, that Ritchie...

Seriously now John, he's obviously a great, great musician. I saw him in concert back some 20 years ago and was pleasantly surprised by how tasteful and cerebral his soloing was.

I believe we have all proved the point I was thinking about when I began this thread. It is almost impossible to just name one. Just too many damn talented players to narrow it down.

I mean, what about Uli Jon Roth, Joe Pass, James Burton, Alvin Lee (never mind Albert Lee), Skunk Baxter, Alex Skolnick, Steve Morse, Chet Atkins, Allan Holdsworth, Buckethead for cryin'out loud........ well, you know.

Thank goodness no one's mention Clapton or those dreaded initials EVH...

Maybe a better thread is who can you cop?

I have a few that I can nail down easily, some I never will, and some I am working on.

But that me be a totally different thread

For Example:
Alex Lifeson - any period - I got it nailed
Stevie ray Vaughn - As hard as I try, I can't get his sound perfect
Trevor Rabin - in progress and doing pretty good

It's a bit of a cliche, but Clapton's woman-tone takes some beating.

And Gary Moore when he played from the heart. "Still got the Blues" or "Walkways."

Alex Skolnick - haven't heard that name in a while. God i loved his playing with Testament back in the day. I think i saw them like 5 times. He is very talented in jazz as well. There are SO MANY great guitarists out there and throughout history, but i'll stick with SRV and Gilmore when it comes to tone. How about Danny Gatton? He had that tele tone down!

I've a Purps story too.... 1974 and DP Mk 2 are touring behind Machine Head and are in NZ, which in 1974 is just a little .... quiet!!
I have a cousin by marriage who is about 10 years older than I and he was at the Auckland gig after which he went back to his flat to enjoy some more medicinal herbiage when there's a knock on the door. Answering it, there's one of the road crew - these are the days when you picked up your touring crew in the country you were touring - who knows Lance. He says he has some mates with him who'd like to "party", Lance says "Cool, truck 'em in!!" and in walk the Purps....

Apparently, a really good time was had by all.... I saw the gig in Christchurch - I was 14 - but didn't get to party down with the guys!!

It was that gig hat made me really want to be a guitar player; Ritchie had it all on show that tour; tricks, tone and just bloody fabulous playing.... I mean Machine Head live; how could it not be epic?!

And try as I might, I cannot truly get his tone, and cannot even roughly approach his technique.... I'm just not that good.

hobster wrote:..... How about Danny Gatton? He had that tele tone down!

Also known as The Humbler. Too bad he didn't make more records before checking out.

Truly a great talent whose troubles could not be overcome apparently.

Iceman wrote:

hobster wrote:..... How about Danny Gatton? He had that tele tone down!

Also known as The Humbler. Too bad he didn't make more records before checking out.

Truly a great talent whose troubles could not be overcome apparently.

Yeah, it was a real shame. I'm from Virginia originally so he was kinda the hometown hero. I was shocked to hear about his suicide, such a waste of talent. I'll drink one tonight for Danny!

I'll bend an elbow along with 'ya for Danny. May he rest in peace.

another native of Washington DC here, and a huge fan of Danny Gatton.
there are barely words to describe his seemingly limitless talent and good humor on stage, which made his suicide all the more puzzling to his many fans. he was one of the greatest.

in the studio he was an unrestrained perfectionist. my favorite quote from his engineer, "I've probably erased more great guitar licks than most engineers ever get to record."
and then Danny would say.... "one more time from the top boys!"
Ed has 100's of hours of Danny recorded in the studio, most of it will probably never be heard, unfortunately.

Danny Gatton gets that amazing telecaster tone from custom made pickups by Joe Barden, and a collection of classic amps that are specially set up for him.

here is Danny doing some boogie woogie and some real life roadwear on his tele....watch and be amazed.....
https://youtu.be/GQ2Q2D3G6Rs

Quite a talent there! Loved the little rockabilly section in particular.
'Course I've been known to play with a towel before...but not quite like that.

Since we are on the Gatton theme - and I love Gatton, my favorite was his Beer Bottle Slide.

Watch this and think either it is a waste of beer, or that was a beer well worth it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfBF4rr7FiA

You beat me to it Sarc. I've seen him do that neat little feat a couple of times and was searching the tube looking for an example to post.

Bags ( upon bags upon bags ) of skill, talent, creativity. What a Greek tragedy how it all ended for him.

Been a fan of his since I saw that on PBS years ago and thought "I want to waste a beer like that" although I never tried it live as I was never a good slide guy anyway. But that is what introduced me to how cool a tele player could be - and why I have a tele today. not that I could play like him at all now - but there is no substitution for a tele for some things

This thread motivated me to listen to some ol Danny. There is a great show he released from the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA (saw the Flecktones there) that i have and a coupe of his cds. Man he really ROCKED when he wanted to. Incredible high energy licks that include so many styles. He is missed.

Seems Joe Bonamassa has nailed everyone's style. Very good plecker though.

ANGUS!

caucajun wrote: ANGUS!

Beef??

hobster wrote:

caucajun wrote: ANGUS!

Beef??

EXACTLY!!

As in "where's the....??"