OT: Guitar / Guitarist Appreciation Thread

[AZBlues]

Cool thread...

My guitars are an Ovation Acoustic-Electric, a Yamaha acoustic 12 string, an Ovation UKII solid body electric (my first electric), and a Fender Strat Plus. Amps are a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (tube), a Fender Princeton Chorus, and my first amp, a Peavey Pacer.

I lean slightly toward blues and toward various rhythmic guitar styles, but I admire many guitarists and love a wide variety of electric and acoustic guitar music, especially if it's recorded well with excellent audio quality, and the guitar work isn't drowned out by the overproduction and overemphasis of other aspects of the recording. I especially like the warm sound of a tube amp, and the sound of guitar played with fingers.... All time favorites include, but are not limited to: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Magic Sam and a few other blues guitarists, Mark Knopfler, Jorma Kaukonen, various acoustic solo guitarists, especially Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke, and others..... I also like country/folk/bluegrass flatpickers like Norman Blake, especially their up tempo instrumentals.

 

[RW90]

I have too many guitars, and lots of favorite players, many already listed so I'll add some I have not seen:
SRV
Django Reihardt
Rev Gary Davis
Jason Isbell
George Benson
Peter Buck
Scotty Moore
Brian Setzer

This could go on and on.

Good call on Brian Setzer. Very underrated and often forgotten.

 

[NewJerseyGuy]

Good call on Brian Setzer. Very underrated and often forgotten.

 

[wisr01]

I’m a huge fan of Joe Satriani

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My favorite by Satriani. Like Joe I have to sit down when I jam to this.

 

[wisr01]

Been playing 44 years. Over the course of time there were moments when hearing something changed me as a musician. Here are a few of them in somewhat chronological order:

 

[29PAS]

I'd be interested in hearing why you're leaning toward Orange. I've never played one, don't know much about them other than they're always popping up on my various Sweetwater ads.

FWIW, I don't have a stack, yet. I have 2 combo amps; a Fender Mustang LT25 and a 15 watt Marshall. My plan right now is to sit on the gear that I have until I feel like I'm good enough to "deserve an upgrade", at which point I'll probably get a Custom Shop Les Paul and some kind of nice tube amp, either a Twin Reverb or Champion.

How do you like the LT-25? I've been looking at them since I knocked over my VOX Mini3 with jacks plugged in - messed up all the inputs and now I have to fuss with them so that they work. Do you use many of the multiple presets for amp models? My only concern so far is it's a little big for my situation.

 

[RUaMoose]

I’m a big Glenn Tipton fan

 

[RUGuitarMan]

For those who think Clapton can’t play. A cover of Freddie King’s (does anyone remember Freddie King?), Hideaway.

 

[LotusAggressor]

That last statement is one of the reasons I really like the session guys. Most people who bought a Linda Ronstadt album during the height of her career would go the rest of their lives without knowing the name "Waddy Wachtel". But his work on her version of "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" is nothing short of masterful. How many people know who Denny Dias is? Everybody knows his work, though.

Denny Dias is a monster player. One of the many that played on Steely Dan classics.

 

[keav8447]

Love this thread. Can watch musicians all day.

I started playing guitar in 2000 when I was 30 years old. I played harmonica and sang with a couple of pretty talented guitar players but life and wives and kids put an end to our playing together.
Probably not shocking, but playing harmonica by yourself is not that fun- kind of a prison yard vibe…so I taught myself guitar and it has been the best decision ever,
Mostly play acoustic, starter was a Washburn, since have added a Breedlove Pursuit and my love of almost 30 years my Gibson SJ-200. Also have an Epiphone Alleycat electric that I noodle around with a Crate digital amp.

 

[Bababooey_Class'80]

Playing for 55 years. Started guitar lessons at age 8 when Dad, unbeknownst to us, signed my two younger brothers and I up for an introductory Christmas special - acoustic guitar + 10 lessons for $35 at the Piano House on Route 22 in Greenbrook (became Ethan Allen for locals). Can't beat that. We all kept playing since then and played in many bands, with my youngest brother making that his career, albeit, as a drummer. I've kept up the tradition with my son, who knows his way around a fretboard as well. Family jam sessions are awesome.

Gear = Paul Reed Smith and Strat for electric and Taylor acoustic these days. Mesa Boogie and Orange amps.
While I am a rock guitarist, I enjoy, appreciate and can play many different styles. My influences when learning were Page, Clapton, Iommi, West, May and Schenker.

Fun thread as an OT for me. Will follow and be happy to answer questions.

 

[Bleem Phuppert]

How do you like the LT-25? I've been looking at them since I knocked over my VOX Mini3 with jacks plugged in - messed up all the inputs and now I have to fuss with them so that they work. Do you use many of the multiple presets for amp models? My only concern so far is it's a little big for my situation.

It's my daily driver - the Marshall is upstairs in my "studio". Overall, I'd have to say I love it. There are a lot of weird presets, or at least weird in my opinion, that I don't use much. But I'd say there are about half a dozen that I use all the time, particularly the amp models that are based on Fender tube amps - the LT25 does the emulation really, really well. I got mine at GC (the Marshall came from Sweetwater) because I'd had gotten a Line 6 Spider as a gift a couple years back that I just really didn't like so I traded it in.

For the money, I highly recommend the little Mustang. Definitely.

 

[Bleem Phuppert]

Anybody have a recommendation for a keyboard under $1000? I'm just looking for something to noodle on, use it to lay down some basic tracks. Nothing fancy / exotic / complicated.

 

[611george]

For those who think Clapton can’t play. A cover of Freddie King’s (does anyone remember Freddie King?), Hideaway.

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Freddy was one of the three Kings - Albert, Freddy, and B. B.

And Muddy Waters invented electricity.

 

[Bleem Phuppert]

Two names not mentioned here yet, but who I admire greatly, are Mike Campbell (Heartbreakers) and Andy Summers (Police). Both solid musicians and really, really good composers.

Just watched a Tom Petty special on AXS and Campbell was talking about how he wrote "Refugee". The first thing he said was, "Well, first of all, I wrote in in F#minor, because it's such a really cool key." Wait wut...

 

[phs73rc77gsm83]

Two names not mentioned here yet, but who I admire greatly, are Mike Campbell (Heartbreakers) and Andy Summers (Police). Both solid musicians and really, really good composers.

Just watched a Tom Petty special on AXS and Campbell was talking about how he wrote "Refugee". The first thing he said was, "Well, first of all, I wrote in in F#minor, because it's such a really cool key." Wait wut...

I’m not sure I was ever able to understand the differences from one minor key to another, except for maybe the chord voicing to have the melody note on top in a chord melody arrangement. I know some feel strongly that certain minor keys are more “this or that” than another. An interesting article related to this is below.

The Heartbreak Key

D minor plays on our rawest emotion — but in contemporary music, even the most somber of artists tend to avoid it. Why might this be?

www.rollingstone.com

 

[newell138]

My favorite by Satriani. Like Joe I have to sit down when I jam to this.

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Great album

 

[Bleem Phuppert]

I’m not sure I was ever able to understand the differences from one minor key to another, except for maybe the chord voicing to have the melody note on top in a chord melody. I know some feel strongly that certain minor keys are more “this or that” than another. An interesting article related to this is below.

The Heartbreak Key

D minor plays on our rawest emotion — but in contemporary music, even the most somber of artists tend to avoid it. Why might this be?

www.rollingstone.com

This is really wild, because one of my favorite "sittin' around and just strummin'" riffs is some combination of Dmin Amin C, which are the i-v-VII in D minor.

I have it on my list, now, to play around in F#min to see what the deal is (hell, maybe pay a little more attention to 'Refugee').

 

[NiTeKnight]

Eric Johnson is pretty darn good on Cliffs of Dover Live!

 

[RUevolution36]

 

[BROTHERSKINNY]

Started playing in 1990. Some of my favorite players are John Mayer, SRV, Clapton, Al Dimeola, Derek Trucks, Roy Buchanan, and many more.
Currently play a USA standard tele electric and a Ibanez acoustic.
have mostly noodled for the better part of 30 years but have recently tried to expand to other parts of the fret board.

 

[runrayrun]

A great list of guitarists. I have have to add a favorite Jersey born guitarist: Walter Trout. Great blues guy. Saw him in places like BB Kings and the Stanhope House (another great Jersey music place in its time). These days, I play mostly acoustic, new Yamaha mainly, but have my old Alvarez on the side that I use when I want to play a song with non standard tuning (like Rain Song - Led Zeppelin, Seasons - Chris Cornell). 90s altrock got me doing a lot of drop down D tuning: Everlong - Foo Fighters, Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden, Climb That Hill - Petty. Lately, I have been learning a lot of songs by Mark Lanegan. I discovered him late, so I had years of his work to enjoy at once.

 

[mdh2003]

Going to go sideways here a bit.

Just finished Get Back. John Lennon was a pretty damn good guitarist. It’s weird, because other than those old school Ed Sullivan typey stuff, I don’t think I ever saw him play. It’s not the only thing that stuck out, but yeah, one of my first thoughts was, ok..this guy can play pretty well. On the actual show - I’m not really a Beatle guy at all, but was completely into this thing. I know it’s not for everyone, but I’d think most musicians or artists would find it fascinating.

On the top of all time underrated guitarists for me - Prince. Again, sounds funny to think that about a quasi pop star. But, I’d put him up against ANY of the guitar gods out there. He more than holds his own.

 

[Knight Shift]

Going to go sideways here a bit.

Just finished Get Back. John Lennon was a pretty damn good guitarist. It’s weird, because other than those old school Ed Sullivan typey stuff, I don’t think I ever saw him play. It’s not the only thing that stuck out, but yeah, one of my first thoughts was, ok..this guy can play pretty well. On the actual show - I’m not really a Beatle guy at all, but was completely into this thing. I know it’s not for everyone, but I’d think most musicians or artists would find it fascinating.

On the top of all time underrated guitarists for me - Prince. Again, sounds funny to think that about a quasi pop star. But, I’d put him up against ANY of the guitar gods out there. He more than holds his own.

Was going to put Prince in my post above, and took him off. But this says a lot, and a perfectly titled song for this thread- cued up to his solo that put everyone on that stage in awe of his talent. Dhani Harrison was awe struck.

Tom Petty and more on the story behind Prince’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” solo – and the mystery of the disappearing guitar

“Everybody wonders where that guitar went, and I gotta tell you, I was on the stage, and I wonder where it went, too.”

www.guitarplayer.com

Billy Gibbons says to Prince in a 2 hour conversation. . . " Can you teach me . . . . "

 

[RUGuitarMan]

Going to go sideways here a bit.

Just finished Get Back. John Lennon was a pretty damn good guitarist. It’s weird, because other than those old school Ed Sullivan typey stuff, I don’t think I ever saw him play. It’s not the only thing that stuck out, but yeah, one of my first thoughts was, ok..this guy can play pretty well. On the actual show - I’m not really a Beatle guy at all, but was completely into this thing. I know it’s not for everyone, but I’d think most musicians or artists would find it fascinating.

On the top of all time underrated guitarists for me - Prince. Again, sounds funny to think that about a quasi pop star. But, I’d put him up against ANY of the guitar gods out there. He more than holds his own.

Lennon was a good player. Staying with The Beatles, George Harrison was an excellent player and underrated. I think The Beatles sometimes actually get underrated (if you can believe that), especially by younger people. Some of that has to do with their early sound and the “pop music” aspect to some of their songs. There were four very good musicians in that band and they were among the best at putting musical arrangements together. I agree with Prince, he was a great talent, multi instrumentalist. He was particularly excellent with the guitar.

 

[Rhuarc]

Been playing 44 years. Over the course of time there were moments when hearing something changed me as a musician. Here are a few of them in somewhat chronological order:

First of all, I didn't even know there was a video for Rhinoceros, so thanks for that.

Second, that entire album is a masterpiece. Great production, great guitars and drums. I honestly think it's one of the top albums of that decade, despite it being overshadowed by the rest of their catalog. A 100% testament to how great grunge can be.

 

[Rhuarc]

I am not a player, nor very knowledgable about guitar playing techniques but I'm a huge music junkie across all music genres so I've heard a lot of great music over the years. My contribution is Ty Tabor of the band King's X. They have been my favorite band for over 30 years and it's pretty crazy to see how many rock musicians they've influenced over the decades but never quite made it over the hump to stardom. Ty has great skills and always has fantastic guitar tones. Lots of great riffage as well. Here's his craziest soloing every, IMO.

King's X - Moanjam

 

[BigLou]

I’ll always be partial to Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, Dickey I got to know pretty well in Bradenton FL,.
Always will love the standard guys Clapton, Page, Beck, Hendrix and Stevie Ray.
Don’t forget our own Billy Hector from the great state of NJ😊

Love the Billy Hector shout out. My brother is a guitarist and has been friends with Billy since they were teenagers. I used to hire Billy’s band to play my frat at Rutgers back in the day. He’s still going strong. Great blues player.

 

[29PAS]

It's my daily driver - the Marshall is upstairs in my "studio". Overall, I'd have to say I love it. There are a lot of weird presets, or at least weird in my opinion, that I don't use much. But I'd say there are about half a dozen that I use all the time, particularly the amp models that are based on Fender tube amps - the LT25 does the emulation really, really well. I got mine at GC (the Marshall came from Sweetwater) because I'd had gotten a Line 6 Spider as a gift a couple years back that I just really didn't like so I traded it in.

For the money, I highly recommend the little Mustang. Definitely.

Thanks - good to hear. The Spider was also on the list. The VOX has been ok but I almost never use the more Metal-y (for lack of a better desciption) emulations, which to me is about half of them.

 

[Bleem Phuppert]

Thanks - good to hear. The Spider was also on the list. The VOX has been ok but I almost never use the more Metal-y (for lack of a better desciption) emulations, which to me is about half of them.

The Mustang has lots of blues-oriented presets, so you might find it more useful.

Do NOT get the Line 6. It's awful. I thought it was just me, but a friend of mine also has one and we just happened to be talking one day and he commented on how much he hates it. I think he traded his, too.

 

[zappaa]

I find it interesting to read and hear about the guitar playing of guys who for one reason or another, you don’t associate with their being great guitarists
Glen Campbell
Robbie Roberson
Neil Young
Stevie Winwood
Come to mind

 

[scripts]

can't play but this would be cool

 

[MadRU]

Orianthi Panagaris

 

[phs73rc77gsm83]

I find it interesting to read and hear about the guitar playing of guys who for one reason or another, you don’t associate with their being great guitarists
Glen Campbell
Robbie Roberson
Neil Young
Stevie Winwood
Come to mind

Glen Campbell was an exceptional guitarist and prior to his solo career, played as a studio session guitarist for many top hits of the ‘60s including songs from The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Mommas and Pappas, Byrds, Sinatra, Bing, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and many more.

Robertson and Winwood were very good too. I like Neil Young but personally I don’t think he was/is an elite guitarist.

 

[asgot]

There's been enough conversation about this topic lately, across multiple threads, that it warrants its own.

For guitarists: What do you play, what do you listen to, who do you like, what gear suits you best, stuff like that. For the rest, it's art - your opinion matters, even if you're not familiar with how it's made.

Hopefully we'll get some good chatter, here. And hopefully it can stay on the board. I mean, hey - it's gotta be as good as "What beers have you tried and how were they", amirite?

Cc: @RUGuitarMan, @mildone, @RUScrew85, @Knight Shift

I think that as a fan Stevie Ray Vaughan is simply outstanding
Stevie Ray

 

[RuBird]

Mark Tremonti formerly of Creed who started his own band.

 

[mdh2003]

For the rest, it's art - your opinion matters, even if you're not familiar with how it's made.

Forgot to mention, I really appreciated this comment. Thanks for that.

 

[611george]

 

[RCBeta79]

Tortured my roommates in the Fraternity house learning to play an acoustic guitar....guitar practice sophomore year kept the brothers away......and having some time to study.

Self-Taught on a Conn Acoustic Guitar (Japanese) and bought an Ibanzez Acoustic Electric a few years ago with a Fender Amp

Next Guitars: Vintage Martin Acoustic Electric and Gibson Electric Guitars

Favorite artists to play on my acoustic guitar are Cat Stevens; Crosby, Stills and Nash; Beatles.

Most talented male guitarist: Pete Townsend, Peter Frampton, Jimi Hendrix

Most talented female guitarist: Nancy Wilson

Best Female Vocalist: Annie Haslam (Renaissance) and Nanette Mancini (Johnny's Dance Band)

Best Male Vocalist: Freddie Mercury and James Taylor

Best Rock Band: The Who, Queen

Best Southern Rock Band: Allman Brothers

Underrated Bands: The Guess Who, Rennaissance, Rush, Slade

First major outdoor concert: The Allman Brothers (1973) at Trenton Speedway

 

[RU848789]

I only discovered TOOL a few years or so back. And I'm pretty enamored with them, to say the least. When I was younger, I would not have given them a fair listen. But it's some genius stuff.

And I have a deep fondness for music with complex varying non-4/4 and alternating time signatures, for which TOOL is known (at least in recent times). That 4/4 shit gets boring real quick.

Have played Tool songs in my party playlists many times - perhaps you were doing too much blow with the hookers to notice. Love Tool and they're very good live, too.