Not great guitarists who are nevertheless perfect for the band they're in

springhead

Seconded. Only saw Mick once but he was excellent. 

drwiddly

My old band supported The Pirates at one gig in 1977 when they were touring the Skull Wars album. They were a lovely bunch of guys and Mick Green's guitar playing was pure class.

Universal8

Dave Navarro 

AlexO

I've just seen that someones thrown Brian Setzer to the list. I'm going to give the OG Poster the benefit of the doubt and presume that they meant to add him to this thread instead .....http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/144829/guitarists-you-like-in-bands-that-you-dont#latest

Which would still be strange as the Stray Cats are great...

Perdix

French and Ojeda Twisted Sister, not great but do a job.

Grocer_Jack

springhead said:

Seconded. Only saw Mick once but he was excellent. 

Thirded - great player. 

HAL9000

Marc Bolan.

DeeTee

Bridgehouse said:

abw1989 said:

I'm surprised Billie Joe Armstrong hasn't appeared on here yet. Green Day have made a fortune off power chords and octaves!

Yep. This. And whilst we are at it, Brian Molko

God yes! Molko is the perfect answer to this thread. Really simplistic stuff that's just *right*.

As for the comments about quality etc, I just took this thread to mean "not technical but good for the band," hence the Cobain reference. A lot of other professional guitarists are "better" technically, but I would struggle to hum their guitar line. I'm only ever interested in musicians that serve the song. Good example - Billy Duffy. The guy is so restrained on a lot of Cult stuff. Not a note wasted.

Jonathangus

Chris Stein and Frank Infante.  Neither's exactly a technical wizard, but they were masters of playing parts which complimented each other, and sat within the song instead of stomping all over it.

darthed1981

Bridgehouse said:

abw1989 said:

I'm surprised Billie Joe Armstrong hasn't appeared on here yet. Green Day have made a fortune off power chords and octaves!

Yep. This. And whilst we are at it, Brian Molko

Great, under-rated band Placebo.

But... if he can get those kind of results with that kind of simple playing isn't that in itself... great?

Bridgehouse

darthed1981 said:

Bridgehouse said:

abw1989 said:

I'm surprised Billie Joe Armstrong hasn't appeared on here yet. Green Day have made a fortune off power chords and octaves!

Yep. This. And whilst we are at it, Brian Molko

Great, under-rated band Placebo.

But... if he can get those kind of results with that kind of simple playing isn't that in itself... great?

Molko is the guitar in Placebo. But his genius is his writing, his performance, his vocals and his simple but effective guitar. He isn’t a guitarist, or a great guitarist - he’s an exceptional all rounder

tone1

Universal8 said:

Brian Setzer

My first 7” single was ‘Rock this Town’ by the Stray Cats’ I love his playing 

Eggman

Stuckfast said:

Oooh, good shout.

I'd probably add Mick Ronson and Ron Asheton too.

I agree about Mick Ronson. Although, I would argue that he was actually very musically talented. With Bowie he did all the instrumental arrangements. He was originally leader of The Rats, which became the spiders from mars.

tone1 said:

Libertines- Pete Doherty 

This is who I thought of too!

guitartango

Cant believe Dave Gilmour and George Harrison are in this list, is it because they can't shred ?  Yeah CN and Here comes the sun are really shite records

darthed1981

Bridgehouse said:

darthed1981 said:

Bridgehouse said:

abw1989 said:

I'm surprised Billie Joe Armstrong hasn't appeared on here yet. Green Day have made a fortune off power chords and octaves!

Yep. This. And whilst we are at it, Brian Molko

Great, under-rated band Placebo.

But... if he can get those kind of results with that kind of simple playing isn't that in itself... great?

Molko is the guitar in Placebo. But his genius is his writing, his performance, his vocals and his simple but effective guitar. He isn’t a guitarist, or a great guitarist - he’s an exceptional all rounder

Ahh, fair point, and very eloquent.

Must put some Placebo on...

Philly_Q

Bridgehouse said:

darthed1981 said:

Bridgehouse said:

abw1989 said:

I'm surprised Billie Joe Armstrong hasn't appeared on here yet. Green Day have made a fortune off power chords and octaves!

Yep. This. And whilst we are at it, Brian Molko

Great, under-rated band Placebo.

But... if he can get those kind of results with that kind of simple playing isn't that in itself... great?

Molko is the guitar in Placebo. But his genius is his writing, his performance, his vocals and his simple but effective guitar. He isn’t a guitarist, or a great guitarist - he’s an exceptional all rounder

Doesn't Stefan Olsdal also play a lot of guitar on the records?

Which doesn't take away from the point at all, very good band.  I should listen to them more.

hobbio

I'd say Page Hamilton isn't a technically great guitarist (yes, yes, I know about his education etc) but his riffage with Helmet is up there with the best.

Philly_Q

hobbio said:

I'd say Page Hamilton isn't a technically great guitarist (yes, yes, I know about his education etc) but his riffage with Helmet is up there with the best.

I was thinking about him earlier, in relation to this thread.  To me he seems pretty great, but he certainly doesn't go in for displays of virtuosity and he certainly does what's right for the band.

Another would be Tim Sult.  He always seems to be the quiet man in Clutch, a bit overshadowed by the rhythm section and Neil Fallon's vocals and lyrics.  But I can't imagine anyone doing a better job in that band.

Bridgehouse

Philly_Q said:

Bridgehouse said:

darthed1981 said:

Bridgehouse said:

abw1989 said:

I'm surprised Billie Joe Armstrong hasn't appeared on here yet. Green Day have made a fortune off power chords and octaves!

Yep. This. And whilst we are at it, Brian Molko

Great, under-rated band Placebo.

But... if he can get those kind of results with that kind of simple playing isn't that in itself... great?

Molko is the guitar in Placebo. But his genius is his writing, his performance, his vocals and his simple but effective guitar. He isn’t a guitarist, or a great guitarist - he’s an exceptional all rounder

Doesn't Stefan Olsdal also play a lot of guitar on the records?

Which doesn't take away from the point at all, very good band.  I should listen to them more.

Yeah, I believe he does. They are very different live I must admit - but just as epic and as well polished - but they do have (or used to have) a much more back to basics sound...

mikem8634

The chaps from Half Man Half Biscuit