The Guitar Pron Thread

[Buzzrock 14870]

I’m fairly certain JM can’t do what JB is doing in that clip above. He picks every single one of those notes.

[tbone_ 14020]

My point was JB wants to have soul in his playing and, for all the douche comments, JM plays with 100x the soul he does.

[Scooter Monzingo 820]

I have some thoughts on this. Just my own observations:

I put JM and JB in the same container as I would Johnny Winter, Roy Buchanan, Ariel Bender, Warren Hayes, and a shit ton of other really well known guitarist that simply could not write commercially successful material. They can play like their hands are on fire, but couldn’t write a lick.
 
…In fact the real shocker is all of those guys couldn’t pack Al de Miola’s lunch, just no gives a shit about jazz fusion.

[Napoleon 8600]

6 hours ago, tbone_ said:

John Mayer is everything Joe Bonamassa wishes he was as a guitar player

i thought that Joe was born in the early-mid 1960s.

[Goredho 17346]

3 hours ago, Scooter Monzingo said:

I have some thoughts on this. Just my own observations:

I put JM and JB in the same container as I would Johnny Winter, Roy Buchanan, Ariel Bender, Warren Hayes, and a shit ton of other really well known guitarist that simply could not write commercially successful material. They can play like their hands are on fire, but couldn’t write a lick.
 
…In fact the real shocker is all of those guys couldn’t pack Al de Miola’s lunch, just no gives a shit about jazz fusion.

Joe has interestingly carved himself a commercially viable niche, though, at a time when guitar centric music isn’t really commercially viable.  It’s not because people are buying his albums or streaming his songs en masse.  It’s because he promotes himself and tours constantly, makes his shows a guitar lover’s experience and sells a shit ton of merchandise and ancillary shit.

He plays in Red Rocks every year, multiple shows.  They are always sold out, and in 2 hours he plays (very well) probably $1-2 mil in vintage instruments. Its a fun experience, as long as I’m not going with an expectation of loving his music.

His true uncommon talent is probably music capitalism.

[Ollie Slatt 289]

4 hours ago, Scooter Monzingo said:

 

I put JM and JB in the same container as I would Johnny Winter, Roy Buchanan, Ariel Bender, Warren Hayes, and a shit ton of other really well known guitarist that simply could not write commercially successful material. They can play like their hands are on fire, but couldn’t write a lick.
 

JM has sold tens of millions of albums and has a bunch of Grammys.  He is one of the biggest pop artists of the last 20 years.  He has no problem writing “commercially successful material” … its just that most of it is pop that doesn’t highlight his guitar playing.   So a better comparator would be someone like Prince (except that JM’s music has no soul).  

[Ollie Slatt 289]

4 hours ago, Scooter Monzingo said:

…In fact the real shocker is all of those guys couldn’t pack Al de Miola’s lunch, just no gives a shit about jazz fusion.

This is probably true.  Julian Lage is one of the best guitar player out right now, and plays with levels of touch, subtlety and musical sophistication that someone like JB could never approach . . .  But it goes under the radar because it’s jazz.

 

[Deej 76560]

[tbone_ 14020]

The next time I hear joe bonamassa play anything that sounds appealing to me will be the first. It really is as simple as that. And I’ve tried many time to get into him.

I’ve seen Mayer live a couple of times and I’d go see him 10 times out of 10 over bonamassa.

Edit: I saw al dimeola at one world in Austin a few years back. Always liked him from back when my dad used to jam to his Elegant Gypsy album. Off the charts good.

[Celery Man 20884]

1 hour ago, Ollie Slatt said:

JM has sold tens of millions of albums and has a bunch of Grammys.  He is one of the biggest pop artists of the last 20 years.  He has no problem writing “commercially successful material” … its just that most of it is pop that doesn’t highlight his guitar playing.   So a better comparator would be someone like Prince (except that JM’s music has no soul).  

Yeah extremely confused by that. John Mayer has been commercially successful (not “successful on the G3 tour” - an actual pop star) for my entire adult life. I’m trying to think of an actual instrumentalist who has been as commercially viable in the 21st century and I’m sure I’m missing someone but am coming up blank. Does Adam Levine count?

[ohchaucer 1443]

Thanks for all these replies. It sounds like I’m not the only one. My dad loves him and when he visits we often go back and forth for hours watching YouTube clips of shows and song performances we love. And he almost always has some “amazing” new thing from JB and I kinda have to nod along.

[Chad Fuck 17564]

2 hours ago, Ollie Slatt said:

This is probably true.  Julian Lage is one of the best guitar player out right now, and plays with levels of touch, subtlety and musical sophistication that someone like JB could never approach . . .  But it goes under the radar because it’s jazz.

 

I saw him on tour with Nels Cline at the Kessler in Dallas.  Damn, what a show.  It was like a musical conversation between two greats.  No rhythm section.  Just two guys with two guitars and nothing else.

[Chad Fuck 17564]

Also, great use of the ever versatile Telecaster as a...jazzbox (fully recognizing there is no box about it).  But you can't say "jazz" and "Telecaster" without at least a passing reference to Bill Frisell.  I lucked out and got to see him at the Village Vanguard.  What a show.

 

[Goredho 17346]

4 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Also, great use of the ever versatile Telecaster as a...jazzbox (fully recognizing there is no box about it).  But you can't say "jazz" and "Telecaster" without at least a passing reference to Bill Frisell.  I lucked out and got to see him at the Village Vanguard.  What a show.

 

Bill Frisell is phenomenal.  A favorite for some time.

[sidis 9743]

24 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Also, great use of the ever versatile Telecaster as a...jazzbox (fully recognizing there is no box about it).  But you can't say "jazz" and "Telecaster" without at least a passing reference to Bill Frisell.  I lucked out and got to see him at the Village Vanguard.  What a show.

 

 

19 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Bill Frisell is phenomenal.  A favorite for some time.

bill is the fucking man.  we played "Perritos" during our wedding ceremony.

[ohchaucer 1443]

Love Frisell. And some of the stuff with Floratone is just finomenol.

[Chad Fuck 17564]

18 minutes ago, ohchaucer said:

Love Frisell. And some of the stuff with Floratone is just finomenol.

Is that the backwards sounding guitar thing?  Expound please.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Chad Fuck

[ohchaucer 1443]

Ha, no but I like where you were going. It’s actually a mini-group with Frisell and Matt Chamberlain on drums and I think off and on a few others. They put out a couple of albums. Not a lot of riffing or crazy chops stuff. Just vibes. Good example:

[Napoleon 8600]

4 hours ago, Ollie Slatt said:

… So a better comparator would be someone like Prince (except that JM’s music has no soul).  

I had never seen the word “comparator” before, so I looked it up to see if it was  actually a word.

[Chad Fuck 17564]

1 hour ago, ohchaucer said:

Ha, no but I like where you were going. It’s actually a mini-group with Frisell and Matt Chamberlain on drums and I think off and on a few others. They put out a couple of albums. Not a lot of riffing or crazy chops stuff. Just vibes. Good example:

 

Wow.  Was not expecting something like that from Bill.  Very cool.

[Scooter Monzingo 820]

5 hours ago, Ollie Slatt said:

JM has sold tens of millions of albums and has a bunch of Grammys.  He is one of the biggest pop artists of the last 20 years.  He has no problem writing “commercially successful material” … its just that most of it is pop that doesn’t highlight his guitar playing.   So a better comparator would be someone like Prince (except that JM’s music has no soul).  

Yeah, I could have done that better. 

[Scooter Monzingo 820]

3 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

I saw him on tour with Nels Cline at the Kessler in Dallas.  Damn, what a show.  It was like a musical conversation between two greats.  No rhythm section.  Just two guys with two guitars and nothing else.

Oh, I would have liked to seen that..

 

i  having a fucked up day.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Scooter Monzingo

[jimmyjazz 45554]

30 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Wow.  Was not expecting something like that from Bill.  Very cool.

That was cool.  I was totally getting a minor key vibe, and then as the band comes in it turns out the intro is the III-IV and not the I-II.  It opens up into a beautiful vamp on the root with a little IV dissonance.

(Not a theory guy, so pardon if I'm getting the names wrong.)

[ohchaucer 1443]

Yeah and some of the guitar and bass parts are almost bent ever so slightly (like 1/4 step) toward the minor chord as a head fake before a crescendo into the root note again. Or something something something.

[sidis 9743]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

Wow.  Was not expecting something like that from Bill.  Very cool.

great track.  even though he doesn't know it yet, @Goredho is going to be doing some guitar for me on a similar track soon with his newfound ambient guitar skills.

 

57 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

That was cool.  I was totally getting a minor key vibe, and then as the band comes in it turns out the intro is the III-IV and not the I-II.  It opens up into a beautiful vamp on the root with a little IV dissonance.

(Not a theory guy, so pardon if I'm getting the names wrong.)

 

29 minutes ago, ohchaucer said:

Yeah and some of the guitar and bass parts are almost bent ever so slightly (like 1/4 step) toward the minor chord as a head fake before a crescendo into the root note again. Or something something something.

it sounds to me like B major scale so it would be IV-VI instead of iii because that is an E and G#min.

it could be G# minor and starts with B major (IV) and E major (VI) before going to back to G#m (i).  who knows.  either way, sounds good.

[ohchaucer 1443]

And that’s why I’m sticking to the drums!

[jimmyjazz 45554]

1 hour ago, sidis said:

great track.  even though he doesn't know it yet, @Goredho is going to be doing some guitar for me on a similar track soon with his newfound ambient guitar skills.

 

 

it sounds to me like B major scale so it would be IV-VI instead of iii because that is an E and G#min.

it could be G# minor and starts with B major (IV) and E major (VI) before going to back to G#m (i).  who knows.  either way, sounds good.

I have an acoustic piano in this room that hasn't been tuned in a long while.  It's surely flat, I only notice it when I try to match up on a properly-tuned guitar.

I didn't go to the effort!

[DougO 5239]

I'm not a fan of either's music, though both are great guitar players. But I can't stand Mayor and his shitty fakeass cartoon voice, like another vile, detestable morph of Dave Matthews, who launched thousands of shitty wannabes. And he seems like a massive douche. 

I will say that though JB comes off as a douche when he's playing, behind the scenes he seems like a surprisingly decent guy, and does some really nice interviews. He was also great with Glenn Hughes in Black Country Communion.

Edited May 27, 2022 by DougO

[tbone_ 14020]

What do you guys know about Knaggs? Buddy of mine just acquired this. Guess it’s the Steve Steven’s model. Hadn’t heard of them before he bought. Looks bad ass to me. Gonna get to play it on Sunday.

[Buzzrock 14870]

I can dig it

[Bogeywon 2518]

I don’t like the headstock

[Chad Fuck 17564]

19 hours ago, tbone_ said:

What do you guys know about Knaggs? Buddy of mine just acquired this. Guess it’s the Steve Steven’s model. Hadn’t heard of them before he bought. Looks bad ass to me. Gonna get to play it on Sunday.

Is it just me or does the left one look a bit like the right one got left on the dash in the sun and melted a bit?  

I keed.  That's a pretty guitar.  Never heard of those guys.  Looking forward to the full report.

[ohchaucer 1443]

What do you guys know about Knaggs? Buddy of mine just acquired this. Guess it’s the Steve Steven’s model. Hadn’t heard of them before he bought. Looks bad ass to me. Gonna get to play it on Sunday.

That’s cool looking. Love the color. But question for you guitar guys…. All other things being equal, if the body style is so similar to a Les Paul, why not just stick with a Les Paul? I mean, it can’t be to get a better looking headstock, amirite?

[Chad Fuck 17564]

That’s cool looking. Love the color. But question for you guitar guys…. All other things being equal, if the body style is so similar to a Les Paul, why not just stick with a Les Paul? I mean, it can’t be to get a better looking headstock, amirite?

But if you already have a Les Paul…?

[ohchaucer 1443]

I thought that went without saying here!

[tbone_ 14020]

That’s cool looking. Love the color. But question for you guitar guys…. All other things being equal, if the body style is so similar to a Les Paul, why not just stick with a Les Paul? I mean, it can’t be to get a better looking headstock, amirite?

Honestly? It’s probably a shit ton better build quality than a Gibson these days.

I’ll report when I know more.

[Scooter Monzingo 820]

On 5/27/2022 at 8:25 PM, tbone_ said:

What do you guys know about Knaggs? Buddy of mine just acquired this. Guess it’s the Steve Steven’s model. Hadn’t heard of them before he bought. Looks bad ass to me. Gonna get to play it on Sunday.

Steve Stephens is a bad ass. I would pay to watch him tune up. 

[jimmyjazz 45554]

1 hour ago, Scooter Monzingo said:

Steve Stephens is a bad ass. I would pay to watch him tune up. 

I met him at the old Austin Rehearsal Complex.  Freaked me out.  I went outside to get some air and there was Stevie Stevens.  I half-fanboied him -- "what are you doing here?"

"Rehearsing, dude.  I'm Stevie.  What's your name?"

 

Good lord, I'm such a dork.

[ohchaucer 1443]

I met him at the old Austin Rehearsal Complex.  Freaked me out.  I went outside to get some air and there was Stevie Stevens.  I half-fanboied him -- "what are you doing here?"
"Rehearsing, dude.  I'm Stevie.  What's your name?"
 
Good lord, I'm such a dork.

Sounds like you did great. Did you happen to, stammering or otherwise, hear what he was rehearsing for?

Very cool setting to meet a legend

[Scooter Monzingo 820]

2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I met him at the old Austin Rehearsal Complex.  Freaked me out.  I went outside to get some air and there was Stevie Stevens.  I half-fanboied him -- "what are you doing here?"

"Rehearsing, dude.  I'm Stevie.  What's your name?"

 

Good lord, I'm such a dork.

Caught you off guard. Could’ve happened to anybody that is a fan.

[Bogeywon 2518]

Too much talk. Oldie but goodie 

[jimmyjazz 45554]

14 hours ago, ohchaucer said:

Sounds like you did great. Did you happen to, stammering or otherwise, hear what he was rehearsing for?

Very cool setting to meet a legend

I think he told me, maybe it was a solo tour? time erases memory.  It was still a lot cooler than the time Night Ranger tried to sell me the Mackie console they had been using for above MSRP "because we wrote Sister Christian, dude".

The ARC was a pretty interesting place.

[DougO 5239]

Guitarcenter.com has the Hercules guitar stand for $65 today as one of it's daily picks. 

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Hercules/Hercules-GS525B-Five-Instrument-Guitar-Rack-with-Two-Expansion-Packs-1500000356445.gc

 

They also have a G&L white Placentia JB bass for $299. Good and placenty!

https://www.guitarcenter.com/GL/Placentia-Series-JB-Electric-Bass-Vintage-White-1500000361332.gc

 

[Deej 76560]

I get that Placentia is just down the road from Fullerton, but c'mon...there has to be a better name. 

[tbone_ 14020]

Ok. This Knaggs is the best built guitar I have ever played. Holy shit, everything on it is just perfect. I don’t know what else they build, but if you are in the market for a seriously good single cut LP style guitars do yourself a favor and look at these.



I know that’s not a lot of detail but just trust me. Holy shit.

[Buzzrock 14870]

Just browsing Reverb they seem a little PRS-inspired with some of their shapes and fancy quilted tops.

[tbone_ 14020]

They are I think. The guy Knaggs apparently started and ran the whole private reserve operation at PRS.

PRS or no PRS, I’m telling you this was an insanely good guitar. The SSC I think it is.

[Buzzrock 14870]

Oh I definitely wasn’t stating that as a negative. Maybe more like a way to get a PRS back before they got so big. I like the shapes. 

[Chad Fuck 17564]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

They are I think. The guy Knaggs apparently started and ran the whole private reserve operation at PRS.

PRS or no PRS, I’m telling you this was an insanely good guitar. The SSC I think it is.

Holy cow.  They are many things, but heap is not one of them, based upon my quick Reverb look.

[Goredho 17346]

Seems Collingsesque in price, maybe a bit more?  Too rico for me.