Last great guitar hero

funstuie

Two guitar players who to me are heroes and when seen them live just mesmerised me - Slash and John Frusciante. Slash has been mentioned a lot already now if you don't like him then fair enough and you can say his guitar playing is nothing special but he's iconic in guitar playing. As a child in the 80's he was the reason I wanted to play guitar.

I have seen the chilli peppers live many times (not in their new incarnation though) and Frusciante is an amazing guitar player. To me he's a guitar hero, his guitar playing is so sweet (again to me). It does help having Flea next to you though.

Other guitarists whom I have seen live and are amazing - Wes Borland, his stage dress is just fucking ridiculous but he uses his guitar like a multi instrumentalist. Same with Tom morello both with RATM and Audioslave.

I can't remember his name but the guitarist from Ramstein was amazing when I saw them about 15 years ago.

guitargeek62

My vote goes to Tom Morello as he's instantly recognisable. I checked out the new Springsteen album, I didn't know Tom was involved with this one but from the first note I clicked it was him.

Otherwise, Cobain is a guitar hero to millions - the "new" thing that he brought, was stripping playing down to the song in an almost early-blues/folk manner. He (and Krist/Dave) removed the crap from rock, and took the songs back to something that had meaning and genuine emotion behind it. Another reason I love his style and tracks is that they're just so damn fun to play along with.

The most recent player to bring anything interesting along would probably be Jack White imo. I know there are virtuosos that have come out that truly do something unique, but to me a guitar hero is someone who is listened to by the masses, and not just a small circle of genre-specific musicians.

Also, are we including John Mayer? Regardless of what you think of him, Continuum is an outstanding album and he's really making sales and is a pretty common-place name now. 

Lev

It might be worth mentioning the modern country players who are selling out venues across the US with guitar based music. Brad Paisley and Keith Urban are certainly inspiring kids to pick up the instrument, maybe less so in the UK and Europe.

Travisthedog

Heroes are the guitarists that made you wanna go "hell I need a piece of that action" so for me it's the likes of Eddie, Joe Perry, Scotti Hill, Dave "Snake " Sabo, George Lynch, Vito Bratta, Mick Mars, Warren DiMartini and why on earth has no one mentioned Randy Rhodes!!!

People made the whole act of being a guitar player something heroic.

Kebabkid

I'd go with John Mayer too, especially as a singer-songwriter -guitarist.Yep, I can see the impact and influence that Clapton, Slash, Vai, Satriani and SRV have had/still have and even people like Johnny Marr (not a fan) and Andy Summers (huge fan), but I'm struggling to get beyond the giants like Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. Has there really been anyone so radically different and as exciting as them?
Dunno??

funstuie

I would include John Mayer - he is a very very good guitar player and has brought something new to the table.

John 5 is another one.

No one has mentioned Nuno Bettencourt yet. He's not a guitar hero of mine but to some he is.

Fretwired

koneguitarist said:

Who to you is the last great guitar hero, and to quantify this, someone who brought something new to the guitar and changed the direction of how to play.

Be it blues, rock,country Jazz whatever.

I'll go really left field. Robert Fripp. His Frippertronics and imaginative use of reverbs, delays and loops created the whole ambient soundscape guitar scene which didn't exist before he came along. And his work with King Crimson inspired the post rock movement.

mike_l

Travisthedog said:

 Scotti Hill, Dave "Snake " Sabo,

Good call, seen 'em 3 times absolutely brilliant everytime.

And funily enough I had some Skid Row on earlier

maltingsaudio

From an acoustic standpoint may  I add Tommy Emanuel to the debate 

dogload

I repeat: Kevin Shields!

ThePrettyDamned

I asked my non playing friend who would make him want to play guitar the most.

Instant response - matt heafy and slash.

Then, after a few moments, he said, 'that bloke who was in the chilli peppers an' all'. Frusciante.

jonnyburgo

I thought Page's best riffs were gifted to him by John Paul Jones.

Skipped

I did not not see Hendrix live but I have seen enough clips to imagine what the early gigs in clubs etc might have been like. Must have been truly jaw dropping  - and all without studio trickery.

Let me put it another way. If you jumped in a time machine right now and went to an early Jimi Hendrix Experience gig.....even with the benefit of having absorbed the past 50 years, I think he would sound awesome/fresh/from another planet to you. Now imagine walking into the same gig off the street with your ears calibrated to1967.

jonnyburgo

ANGUS!!!!

meltedbuzzbox

My heros are frusciante and cobain. 

Cobain made me want to pick up the guitar, Frusciante made me want to play it properly. 

Both are ultimately great song writers and that is what music is about for me.

Rocker

Luther Perkins.  Rory Gallagher.  Angus Young.  Mark Knopfler.  TBH I doubt if any non guitar person could name any guitar player. More to the point, why should this interest them?

ICBM

Rocker said:

TBH I doubt if any non guitar person could name any guitar player.

If they do it's usually whichever rock star has been in the media recently for misbehaving on a plane or something. Or Eric Clapton.

(Not that he misbehaves on planes, as far as I know.)

koneguitarist

Rocker said:

Luther Perkins.  Rory Gallagher.  Angus Young.  Mark Knopfler.  TBH I doubt if any non guitar person could name any guitar player. More to the point, why should this interest them?

First mention for Luther Perkins wow, one of my earliest heroes ! That deadpan bored look that he does, took me years to copy =D>

Vibetronic

EdGrip said:

For me, lately, this has been Russell Marsden, of Band of Skulls, and the guitarists in CAKE (there have been two, Greg Brown and Xan McCurdy). But the two players who have been there or thereabouts throughout my time playing guitar are Brian May, Jonny Greenwood, and The Crocketts' guitarist Dan Harris (who is now living in Ibiza or something, not being a guitarist). If I could ever hope to play guitar in a way that was somehow a sum of these guys... that would be me well and truly chuffed for ever.

Dan's a mate of mine, we lived together at uni Lovely chap and a really inventive guitarist. 

I'd have to go for Steve Vai and EVH, the latter for all the reasons already given, the former for taking it up to the next level.

breakstuff

OK I'll be the one to mention the elephant in the room.

It's obviously The Edge innit ;-)