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Favourite Guitarist

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MadassAlex:

--- Quote from: The Joker on 20 May 2009, 11:20 ---And you are now one of the people ledhendrix is talking about.  Congratulations.
--- End quote ---

Which is fine, because he didn't say anything negative about them, as such.


--- Quote from: The Joker on 20 May 2009, 11:20 ---Try the solo from "The Wind Cries Mary" if you want innovative and interesting lead work.  For a while near the end he goes off on these other chords never heard in the song before or after that little solo bit.  Also, he broke new ground in recording technique, effects, etc.

--- End quote ---

Fun fact: Some of his effects innovations were borrowed from Frank Zappa. Hendrix never claimed otherwise, but the "LOL BEST GIITAREST EVAR" hype ensures that Hendrix is generally credited.

Hell, while we're talking about Hendrix's flaws as a musician, he consistently lamented the fact that he couldn't make the music in his head come out on guitar, so what you hear is a compromise between his ideas and what his experience with guitar allowed him to do.

I say all this as someone who has studied Hendrix's music and has great love for much of it. Hendrix is overrated as hell. So is Page. And Clapton. And Slash. In fact, reaching that level of fame almost ensures, by default, that one is overrated. It's because a musician can only be overrated in comparison to the ratings of other musicians. So, while there is a quantity of unknown guitarists that match or surpass any of these players, they remain overrated.

A common argument goes along the lines of "If they were really that good, they'd be well-known", which is crock because the music industry hasn't been meritocratic for decades. Given, when these guitarists rose to fame, they were almost peerless. Times have changed, however. Give a passionate teenager a half-decent guitar, a broadband internet connection and five years. They very well might have a similar amount of technical skill as any of those guitarists and lack only in experience and (arguable) amounts of musicality.

And that's a part of what I love about the guitar community these days. There are arrogant fools who place all their ego in the instrument and belittle the playing of others whenever possible, but there's an army of kids out there that don't care about anything but rocking as hard and as skillfully as possible. When the current teenage generation hits their late 20s-40s, we are going to see some amazing shit hitting the fan.

Hendrix is just one of the action potentials that set this off. With free music on the rise and renewed interest in highly technical and innovative playing, we have a lot to look forward to. There just has to be a difference between appreciation and the old school and worshipping it.

ledhendrix:
Yeah I'd agree with that. I do agree that all these classic guitarists are pretty overrated, they are excellent but the worshipping thing does get annoying. I think I was more trying to say that I don't like it when people completely disregard these people as waaaaay overrated and don't even give them a chance, saying there are much better guitarists today. Those guys were innovators rather than just being purely technically brilliant. I think MadassAlex has pretty much hit the nail on the head with what he's said.

I also agree with they rhythm thing, Hendrix's lead, whilst fantastic a lot of the time, can be pretty wank.  His rhythm is what really makes me go "Oooooh". Although saying that some of his solo's do the same thing.

MrBlu:
Marty McFly!

imapiratearg:
I can certainly share sentiments that certain old guitarists are overrated.

That said, favorite guitarists:

J Mascis
Doug Martsch
Tom Verlaine
Andy Cohen
Thurston Moore/Lee Renaldo
Joey Santiago
Ira Kaplan

I think that's most of them.

Cadeonehalf:

--- Quote from: MadassAlex on 21 May 2009, 00:35 ---
Fun fact: Some of his effects innovations were borrowed from Frank Zappa. Hendrix never claimed otherwise, but the "LOL BEST GIITAREST EVAR" hype ensures that Hendrix is generally credited.

Hell, while we're talking about Hendrix's flaws as a musician, he consistently lamented the fact that he couldn't make the music in his head come out on guitar, so what you hear is a compromise between his ideas and what his experience with guitar allowed him to do.
...

A common argument goes along the lines of "If they were really that good, they'd be well-known", which is crock because the music industry hasn't been meritocratic for decades. Given, when these guitarists rose to fame, they were almost peerless. Times have changed, however. Give a passionate teenager a half-decent guitar, a broadband internet connection and five years. They very well might have a similar amount of technical skill as any of those guitarists and lack only in experience and (arguable) amounts of musicality.

--- End quote ---

You do have a very valid point that guitarists exist in great number with technical skill comparable to the old legends. However, I think what sets Hendrix apart is his creativity. There are no good Hendrix cover bands, nor any guitarists who have replicated his sound. His creativity with the instrument was what made him a legend. I don't see the same for Clapton or Page myself, but I'm sure that their fans will come up with similar arguments.
A better way to describe my reverence for Hendrix is that I idolize him as a musician, not as a guitarist.

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