Guitarist that once had great tone-but now is different or just plain bad.

[Blues4U]

I thought that Zakk Wylde had killer rock and roll and metal tone on his first two disc with Ozzy but I really can't stand his newer uber gain tone. It's just not as good.

There are a few others I will add to the list, but I wanted to see who, if anybody you guys come up with.

I am not only talking metal, anybody and any band.

[Lance_S]

I hate to say it but EV. I still play quite a bit of his old stuff and it was pure genius. Fair Warning is still a favorite for me. But his later stuff just didn't have the tone and creativity. O.K. Putting flame retardant suit on now, Let er rip.

[The_Sentry]

Alex Lifeson, although he's going back to his older tones. I thought he had the best tone back in the 70's, but once he picked up the strat and started going overboard with the chorus effect, I just wasn't diggin' his tone as much.

[StrangerNY]

Leslie West.

I loved his tone and vibrato in the Mountain days. But later on - the 'Theme' album is a great case in point - he started using the Westone guitars with a Floyd and fell in love with his whammy bar.

West has one of the greatest natural vibratos I've ever hear, bar none. To hear him replace it with a synthetic-sounding whammy vibrato kills it for me.

- D

[sidepartings26]

Clapton

Possibly one of the most over rated guitarists ever.

[Lance_S]

I am with you Sentry,

Man, did RUSH kill it back in the day. Still on my top ten most loved bands of all times. So much music for so few members.

[SpinWheelz]

Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and Stone Gossard. Have a listen to "Ten", then have a listen to the crap they've produced this millenium. It makes you want to go up to each of them and ask, "Why are you so full of self-loathing?"

[Blues4U]

EV was another one that is tops on my list.

Clapton isn't over rated, he is one of the second wave of modern guitar players that changed things and shook things up. He isn't technical, but he is far from a hack. Many, many great guitarist site Clapton as being one of, if not their biggest influences. I don't think Clapton has ever been apart of his own hype, he is just a victim of the media jumping on a band wagon. But he has pretty sucky tone for the most part these days. I have some live clips where he's playing a Gibson again and he sound like the Clapton of old.

Keith Richards, there's an over rated guitarist, but still, there are many guys out there that claim Keith is the reason they play guitar, so I guess he isn't.

Leslie West did lose it for a time, he's back now I believe.

Judas Priest really took a tone change for the worse after Defenders of the faith. Between British Steel and Defenders these guys defined great metal tone-then they went techno and then they went to crap. I am going to date myself here but when I was in highschool and saw these guys on the Screamin' for Vengeance tour, it was tonal bliss.

I agree with Lifeson too, he's back i think, at least for now.

[sidepartings26]

Originally Posted by Blues4U

EV was another one that is tops on my list.

Clapton isn't over rated, he is one of the second wave of modern guitar players that changed things and shook things up. He isn't technical, but he is far from a hack. Many, many great guitarist site Clapton as being one of, if not their biggest influences. I don't think Clapton has ever been apart of his own hype, he is just a victim of the media jumping on a band wagon. But he has pretty sucky tone for the most part these days. I have some live clips where he's playing a Gibson again and he sound like the Clapton of old.

Keith Richards, there's an over rated guitarist, but still, there are many guys out there that claim Keith is the reason they play guitar, so I guess he isn't.

Leslie West did lose it for a time, he's back now I believe.

Judas Priest really took a tone change for the worse after Defenders of the faith. Between British Steel and Defenders these guys defined great metal tone-then they went techno and then they went to crap. I am going to date myself here but when I was in highschool and saw these guys on the Screamin' for Vengeance tour, it was tonal bliss.

I agree with Lifeson too, he's back i think, at least for now.

When Clapton was with cream he was a different guy; his tone was incredible. And yes he changed the guitar world and had people amazed. But as guitarist who was once great but is now different I have to agree. He has a weak sound I think and is boring. People bang on about unplugged, and how good he is on that. I love that album but if you read the sleeve there were 3 or 4 guitarists. An important guitarist, but I don't know if he can be sitting up there in the top 10 polls at number 3 after page and hendrix (usually)

[hillbilly]

How do you go from this:

To this:

[dynabite]

Billy Gibbons - after the 7th or 8th album , Clapton had a wicked tone with Creme but every concert they did was picture perfect, EVH is a 'one trick pony' and it wouldn't of really mattered what he played his licks on although he had a BFG before Gary Moore.

[BCRGreg]

Santana.

[hillbilly]

[Blues4U]

Joe Walsh, who I love jumps back and forth from good tone, great tone, crap tone. When he plays songs that were recorded with great tone, he has great tones, and so on. So I guess he just likes to experiment with his sound and do things his way. I respect that, but sometimes his tone is just plain weird.

Joe is the reason I picked up the guitar.

I agree with Santana too - he's kinda the supper treble or super no treble, nothing in between.

As for Clapton-I agree with everything you said-but the guy can still revert back to classic, good Clapton tone when he chooses I guess. Here is an example.

YouTube - Eric Clapton : Have You Ever Loved A woman

YouTube - Eric Clapton : Have You Ever Loved A woman

I think it's the same guitar-different era with what could have become a great band.

You Tube

You Tube

[jodymauk]

Originally Posted by Blues4U

I thought that Zakk Wylde had killer rock and roll and metal tone on his first two disc with Ozzy but I really can't stand his newer uber gain tone. It's just not as good.

There are a few others I will add to the list, but I wanted to see who, if anybody you guys come up with.

I am not only talking metal, anybody and any band.

Zakk used Ampeg's on the first 2 albums,and not so many SIG pedals..
And back then he was hungry....

Now his tone is too saturated,,,And his plate run'th over.....

[5F6-A]

+1 for Joe Walsh...

[970harris]

Originally Posted by StrangerNY

Leslie West.

I loved his tone and vibrato in the Mountain days. But later on - the 'Theme' album is a great case in point - he started using the Westone guitars with a Floyd and fell in love with his whammy bar.

West has one of the greatest natural vibratos I've ever hear, bar none. To hear him replace it with a synthetic-sounding whammy vibrato kills it for me.

- D

Have you checked out those three blues / blues rock albums he's put out within the last several years (Blues to Die For, Got Blooze, and Blue Me)? On the cover of Blue Me, you can see the headstock of the LP Junior he's holding, and on the inside / back cover of Blues to Die For, you see a LP Junior proudly displayed (albeit with a tune-a-matic bridge) leaning against his amp). That material is heavily sprinkled with some good Leslie West grind on a Les Paul Junior, as in "Why I Sing the Blues" and "I'm Ready" from Blues to Die For. Wonderfully full notes with plenty of sustain and huge vibrato.

[Blues4U]

JodyMauk-what do you think of Zakk's current tone? I really think it is terrible and it really detracts from his great ability- I hate to say the Wylde man's tone sucks-but compared to what it was, it sucks. I didn't know he played Ampegs, but it's obvious that he had a major equipment change after the first two records.

[gmacdonnell]

Originally Posted by hillbilly

How do you go from this:

To this:

Because of this:

[gmacdonnell]

Every one of these guys is proof that tone isn't "just in the fingers."

Though, ironically, many of these guys have claimed exactly that...

I'm not going to say their tone is "worse" now, (if they like it, that's all that matters to me,) but it's certainly different. I do miss the days of the LP-wielding, Marshall on 10 Clapton, but he's earned the right to do what he wants to do. And as a songwriter, I can't help but feel he's written some of the best songs of the past 35+ years, even when he wasn't laying righteous leads anymore.

Eddie Van Halen, on the other hand, the guy obviously likes his new tone, so no complaints from me on that. But, I'm pretty sick of seeing so many stripes and smelling Schwinn paint every time I walk into a music shop.

Is there any guitar-related product he for which he doesn't have a signature model? Oh right, picks, cables, strings: I guess we know what's next on the list!

[zplapplap]

Originally Posted by The_Sentry

Alex Lifeson, although he's going back to his older tones. I thought he had the best tone back in the 70's, but once he picked up the strat and started going overboard with the chorus effect, I just wasn't diggin' his tone as much.

Blame Andy Summers.

[gmacdonnell]

Speaking of Andy Summers, I have to say, I think his tone has gotten much better over the years. I saw him at a jazz gig, and his tone was just killer. He was using his old ES-335, into some kind of Mesa setup, but it was just a huge, fat, warm, but very clear sound, both clean and overdriven.
Really impressive tone, and his playing is incredible.
From the videos I've seen, his tone for the reunion tour is better than back in the day as well: fatter, more dynamic and a incredibly overdrive sound. His use of effects has become much more subtle: it enhances rather than dominates the sound.

I read his autobiography: what an interesting life he's had. I've always thought he was a really unique player. Some of his voicings are straight out of Bill Evan's or McCoy Tyner's playbook, but he was using them in a rock setting. It's funny that he actually had to play down his skill and knowledge in order to be "punk" enough to get a record deal, (for that matter, so did Sting and Copeland.) That's the music business for you.

[zplapplap]

Great post! I love Andy Summer (playing and tone) and, from the interviews I've read, so did Alex Lifeson.

I was fortunate enough to see The Police on their reunion tour. Andy clearly retained his chops and was able to recapture what he was doing 25 years ago. The updated arrangements worked, too. I guess that's what happened with an additional 25 years of music under your belt.

It was a dream come true for me. I was 8 years old during the Sychronicity tour and my parents wouldn't let me go...or didn't force my brothers to take me with them.

[gmacdonnell]

Wow, I really envy you that! I really wanted to go see them, but in the end my girlfriend and I decided we couldn't really afford it at the time. Of course now we both really regret not seeing them, esp. since they all say "it's really over" this time. Not out of bad feelings, i think it just must be an exhausting undertaking.

Andy's always been one of my favorite rock players. His tone is unique and wonderful. I actually prefer his live tone on the Police Live! album over the studio versions of the early songs. He say in his autobiography they were working on virtually no budget at first, so the guitar tracks were down as quickly and cheaply as possible.
They just had a Twin Reverb and a Phase 90, plus the overdrive circuit built into his famous Tele.

He still got legendary sounds from that setup, but his live tone from that era was magnificent. He was using Roland JC-120's and Marshalls, and had a lovely sound that was really clear, but powerful.

His jazz playing is fantastic too. I actually think he's just improved by leaps and bounds over the years, which is really impressive considering his professional career started in the mid-60's.

Most famous players get comfortable, which is why many of them end up on lists like this. But a select few, like Jeff Beck and Andy Summers, just seem to push themselves relentlessly hard as musicians, and are real role models for me.

BTW, in the book, one of the most interesting sections is when he talks of his friendship with God, (Clapton,) at the height of his 60's fame. Of course, it's well know that Andy Summers sold Eric a '59 or '60 Les Paul Standard right after his Beano guitar was stolen. But the details of that sale are really kinda funny.
Eric basically followed Andy around incessantly and went to his gigs and everything, called him all the time, and begged, saying, things like "You really like Telecasters after all. But I need a Les Paul to really play."

[lp_junkie]

Clapton comes to mind, I loved his Gibson era tone but the Strat sounds are weak and unimpressive to me.

[gmacdonnell]

Originally Posted by lp_junkie

Clapton comes to mind, I loved his Gibson era tone but the Strat sounds are weak and unimpressive to me.

I know what you mean, (though I do think he got great tones on Layla, 461, and his other early 70's work with the Strat.)

I read his autobiography, and combined with some older interviews, I'm positive he made that switch with no illusions as to the tone he'd end up with, or for that matter, the tone people expected from him.


They used to speculate that Hendrix influenced Clapton to use a Strat. While I'm sure Clapton (re) warmed up to Fenders because of Hendrix, considering how vastly different he used the Strat, I think it's clear he was going for something else entirely.

He mentioned, many times, his admiration for the Band, and for Robbie Robertson, who played Teles and Strats.

I said he was looking for a band, playing great songs, not just playing solos for 10 minutes at a time. He was sick of being a guitar hero, and wanted to anonymity of a band, (hence Derek and the Dominoes.)

And if you're looking to play in a larger band, and want a tone that cuts through, rather than powers through, a Fender is a much better choice than a Gibson. He obviously was sick of that sound.

I miss the Gibson-wielding Clapton of old, but at least the man has survived and is happy and successful. I can't argue with that.
(But maybe if we beg him long enough he'll take out his Les Paul, again. )

[Blues4U]

gmac,

I agree with your assessment for the most part. I did hear Clapton say in his own words on of all places "Larry King, who I only watched because of Clapton being on there" Clapton talked a little of his and Jimi's brief friendship. He said he started messing around with the Strat because of Jimi. He said that he had bought a left handed strat to give to Hendrix and the night before Jimi dies, he (Hendrix) had a gig somewhere and that Clapton wasn't able to hook up with him to give him the guitar he bought for him. The next day, Hendrix was dead and he never was able to give him that left handed strat.

He went on to say that he was really pissed the Jimi died and he didn't handle it well and he sort of went off the deep end for a while. He then said, I guess I started playing Strats as a silent memorial to his fallen friend.

These are not Clapton's words, they are mine. It was sort of the gist of the Hendrix part of the interview though.

Stupid King just kept asking him about the women and the drugs and didn't ask a thing about the music.

You could tell that Clapton had a soft spot for Hendrix as a man, not just as a player.

I haven't read the book by Clapton but I guess I should. I just don't get into the tabloid type of gossip stuff, which from what I understand, is a huge part of this book.

I forgot to add that I too liked Clapton's early Fender tone. I started not liking it when the Lace Sensors and the boost circuit came to be part of it.

[gmacdonnell]

Yeah, that's how he pretty much describes it in his autobio, except he sort of combines the tribute to Jimi with the need he felt for a completely different, more band-oriented sound.

Interestingly, in Andy Summers autobio, he talks about Clapton begging to buy his '59 or '60 Les Paul, and Clapton kept telling Andy that he was a "Fender player" at heart, but that he (Clapton,) needed that Gibson, and there were so few Les Pauls in England at the time. Eventually Clapton wore him down. He offered him double or more than Andy paid for it, so about 400 pounds. Andy was (and is) friends with Clapton, so I think he basically only asked that he give him what he'd paid.

Most guys would weep thinking of selling a real Burst for so little, but Andy takes it in stride, saying his fate lay elsewhere, and with a different guitar.

[st.bede]

it is strange to think about how much people change...

I just get board with the same sound day after day and I find myself changing just to do something different...I would think that a lot of these rock guys have a similar experience but since they are endorsed they are stuck with a certain thing....

I am not a fan of EVH new stuff and I mean any thing but the first five albums (if I remember right) but,

I think two factors happened to hamper him 1. drugs and 2. I think he just got more into songwritting.....how long does anyone want to play super guitarist for?...a lot of times (IMHO) I think people move away from chops to song writing

(EVH even on the first album there was a really poppy vibe with the chorus stuff going on...since I like it all and, always remember I can always pick up a good musically idea from almost any source I do not let these things bother me...and Eddie Krammer is fantastic)

also, I think a lot about tone is being individual...right? so, Albert Collins has that high pitched grating thing going on (ice pick) but, since it is him it is cool

[roadsong66]

Originally Posted by sidepartings26

Clapton

Possibly one of the most over rated guitarists ever.

Thank you, I thought I was the only one who thought that. Is it just me or is he the "whitest" blues player you have ever heard?