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I have a problem when it becomes about being a great guitarist rather than making interesting music via the medium of being a great guitarist.
SRV is something of an exception in that his thing was Blues (capital but as with so many of these things, the more purist/12 bar-y he got then the less interesting i find it. I really like some of his more interesting songs like Change It or Crossfire and wish hed gone more down that path than 'heres another Albert King ripoff' . He may well have been headed that way but obviously we wont ever know.
The stuff about Satriani, Vai, Yngwie i agree 100%. Its just kind of dull.
It seems to me, that very rarely do you find someone who is both a gifted instrumentalist and a great writer - or even a great interpreter of other people's songs. And when I say 'gifted' I mean someone of exceptional technical ability - I'm not referring to people like Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, et al.
Bonamassa is undeniably a fine player - though not one who if I heard on the radio I would instantly recognise. He sounds like a generic 'High-octane' blues/rock player to me - albeit a very good one.
If he's encouraged people to play - good on him. If he entertains 'dad rock' fans with PRS bomber jackets - good on him.
When he called in Tone World, the guys there reckon he was very down to earth and great to deal with.
But there is a 'but' for me - the musical framework he operates within is very limited. Stand-out songs are what make careers - Still Got The Blues, Layla, Comfortably Numb, Brothers in Arms and the like exist outside of the guitar parts - they are listened to (and loved) by non-players. Rather like Roy Buchanan - who is one of my all-time guitar heroes - Bonamassa's audience is made up of players.
Given that, his level of success is remarkable - but may be hard to maintain.
I think JoBo's a much more conservative type of chap than the Beatles were, which impacts his writing/ development as an artist (read: he doesn't take enough drugs to make music as interesting as the Beatles....)
Maybe his musical horizons just aren't broad enough. The Beatles, for all their faults, were incredibly open-minded musically. Didn't always lead to brilliant results, of course, but still...
I understand the market is saturated with Bonamassa branded stuff but the gear he ties his name to tends to be at a pretty good standard.
That's about the only thing I don't like about JB... every time I listen to him I can't shake the notion that I'd just rather listen to Eric Johnson. ) I prefer EJ's music and think he's a better player, too.
That being said I'll totally take a decent lead guitar player getting fairly famous, considering the alternative a lot of the time. I know I make jokes about JB, but they're just jokes. I do generally like him. ) (Same goes for malmsteen and co too.)
You haven't been to TGP, have you?
Actually there's a thought, someone should try to talk JB into signing up there. If you thought the credit crunch of 2008 was bad...
Watch him on Youtube plugging a Les Paul into pretty much anything - still sounds like him.
When I look at the clip of him playing the Bernie Marsden 'Burst through the 1 watt Marshall/Andertons head....my reaction is: What is JB's pedal board for exactly? To get his sound he just needs a great Les Paul and a decent valve amp (OK - a bit of delay to hand as well).
I think I would have taken Fender's money without worrying about being compromised in any way. They just need to make sure that the tone controls work. A lot.
JoBo 's most annoying thing is is publicist. For that genre he is not a patch on Warren Haynes, Kenny Wayne Sheppard or Derrick Trucks. He's perfectly listenable to but the hype is way beyond the talent.
I did feel like a boob though, because as others have rightly pointed out this is to do with his backline. Not his guitars. But again I'm sure he has some sort of Dumble signature model knock off already doesn't he?
I have no issue with him earning a living etc etc. If people didn't buy his stuff, then manufacturers wouldn't make it.
(b) Agreed. I like him, but to me he's a decent-to-pretty-good player. There are plenty of other players who are just as good, and maybe better (obviously, in my opinion) who aren't getting the same recognition. As I said above, though, considering there could very easily be no guitar players getting recognition like that, I'll take it!