Which guitarists do you feel are unsung guitar heroes?

[tremoloman***]

I feel Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot), Alex Lifeson (Rush), John 5 (Loser), and Robert Smith (The Cure) are very underappreciated guitarists. Eaxch have their own sense of style and just blow me away every time I listen to them. Their live performances far outweigh anything officially recorded or released IMHO.

Robert Smith has this uncanny knack for creating an "atmosphere" if you will in his songs that just grab you and demand your attention. Johnny Cash also has the same effect on me. As soon as I put on one of their albums, everything else clears my head and just sucks me in.

I look forward to your responses!

[Iago]

Free's Paul Kossoff..so simple! The guy never wasted a note...and had a great vibrato. He is a bit like B.B. to me.

[Iago]

oops..

and Billy Corgan of Smashing PUmpkins..I reallt dig him...He's got an unique style. Actually I started playing guitar because of his songs
By the way, His solo album is awful...

[Robert****]

Scott Henderson - he's not getting the fame he deserves.

Johnny Hiland - what a guy!

[SuperSwede]

Mike Stern!

He is one funky mysterious jazzy telemaster!

[Nelskie]

Great post, Trem - you've hit on a excellent topic. My list of underappreciated guitarists would go something like this:

1. Rory Gallagher - An Irishman who gave the blues a whole new feel. Rory has one of the "truest", stripped-down, fabulous Stratocaster sounds you'll ever hear, and amazing vocals to boot. And live - man, this guy definitely delivered the goods!

2. Johnny Winter - Shotgun electric slide at its absolute finest. A dude so raw and so hot, even the blues masters took notice. Muddy Waters (a presonal friend of Johnny's) dubbed him the "whitest black man" there ever was, and sought him out to produce his "Hard Again" LP. That's cred in the highest sense of the word, my friends.

3. Frank Zappa - Ever wonder why guys like Steve Vai and Adrian Belew turned into absolute fretboard monsters? Zappa was the headwaters from whence their genius flowed. Frank's "Guitar" LP is a veritable clinic on technique, tone, and style. Definitely check it out. It'll blow your mind.

4. Andy Summers - One, if not the first, modern player to employ a highly "textural" playing style, i.e using layers of sound and tone (rather than individual notes) as primary elements in songs. Summers' wide, spacial Strat sound set the stage for almost an entirely new genre of music - a style that would dominate the airwaves for most, if not all of the 80's, and influence countless other bands up to present day.

5. Robin Trower - Although it is true that no one player could ever fill Hendrix' shoes, Robin Trower was certainly one of the best at taking elements of Jimi's sound, and implementing them into his own music. "Bridge of Sighs" is an absolute guitar masterpiece, and a perfect example of Trower's ethereal, driving, roto-vibed Stratocaster tone.

6. Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd & The Monsters) - Mohr, ever the chameleon, has a vast array of playing sounds and styles at his beckon call. And while you'll marvel at his smooth, bluesy licks, you'll be floored by his fantastic vocals. This dude's got the whole package.

7. Ty Tabor (King's X) - The only way to describe Tabor's sound is "expansive". Blending Pink-Floydian elements into a tight, agressive, compressed tone, Tabor's sound / playing provide the perfect backdrop to the band's lush, poppy vocal harmonies.

[jpfeifer]

I agree with some of the other names mentioned in this thread.

Andy Summers: He really inspired me. His use of chords (especially add9 chords) and different guitar tones was really impressive. I used to pick apart songs by the Police to understand why he was playing certain things.

Johnny Winter: He was one of the first guys that I heard in the Blues genre that completely blew me away. I'd never heard anyone play with that much fire until Stevie Ray came along. But Johnny Winter had a different sound that was kind of like a roller coaster getting ready to fly off the tracks.

Pat Metheny: I've found that a lot of guitarist don't like him very much. He isn't very flashy, and he doesn't come from the Blues background at all. But he really inspires me in how he can play through changes and make it sound effortless, he sounds very un-guitar like in his phrasing more like a horn player. And ... I'm always impressed with his writing.

Lenny Breau: This guy could really play. It was kind of like Chet Atkins on steriods.


-- Jim

[Katastrophe]

Here's a few:

Neil Girardo - I know, I know, he's Pat Benatar's husband. But the man has solid chops, and can write a well crafted pop/rock song.

Alex Skolnick - Testament's thrash lead shredder extrordinaire. The man can flat play...

Monte Montgomery - An Austin singer/acoustic guitar player that can surprise you with little accents and fills in a song, and a good songwriter, too.

Paul Gilbert - An absolute guitar monster. Racer X's Second Heat is a must for anyone learning how to play speedy lead guitar.

Michael Wilton/Chris DeGarmo - Queensryche's first guitar team. Saw them live, and they played the music *exactly* as it was written, with few mistakes. A shame DeGarmo's not with the band anymore.

Brad Paisley - he can rip a Tele a new one. Saw him on a CMT (Country Music Television) show called "Crossroads," where they pair popular country and pop and rock singers together. He was paired with John Mayer, and they did each others songs. He can do bluesy stuff just as good as the country stuff.

[tremoloman***]

Alex Skolnick - Testament's thrash lead shredder extrordinaire. The man can flat play...

Paul Gilbert - An absolute guitar monster. Racer X's Second Heat is a must for anyone learning how to play speedy lead guitar.

Kat,

Did you know Alex quit metal altogether and formed a Jazz trio? It's really good stuff too! You can see more at alexskolnick.com

Also, Paul Gilbert is really big in Japan right now. There's an awesome DVD called "Guitar Wars" that you have to see if you haven't already done so. Once of the best concerts I've ever seen. (I'm a major Nuno Bettencourt fan and he's really good friends with him.)

Guitar Wars

[Katastrophe]

I remember reading in another thread that he went full on jazz. Went to the website, and under "Multimedia," found some audio samples. I gotta get this record... A jazz version of "The Trooper?" That's AWESOME!

I've been a fan of Racer X and Mr. Big (PG's bands) since my former guitar teacher advised that he was a former student of his at GIT... Ran right out and bought "Second Heat" and still have it (along with the other stuff on cassette tape). Gotta get that DVD, too! Thanks for the info, tremoloman?

[Spudman***]

Well...I've been talking about Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings on the forum ever since I joined. In the December issue of Guitar Player magazine with Brad Paisley on the cover there is a list of "40 underrated guitarists" on page 43 next to the Joe Bonnamasa article. Who is listed ? Why, Roine Stolt of course. Another surprise listing is Andy Latimer of Camel. Both players have excellent taste and tone.

[just strum]

I don't know many of the guitarist already mentioned, but one that I use to go see weekly at a local bar is Phil Keaggy. He is mainly seen/heard playing acoustics these days, but he is an extremely talented guitarist. If there is a down side, he tends not to know when to end a song (several are far too long).

If you never heard of him, I would recommend you youtube him.

[Spudman***]

Phil Keaggy is definitely underrated by the general population that's for sure. He's great.

[R_of_G]

Nobody should be the least bit surprised by my response, but here it comes anyway.... Marc Ribot. When asked who my favorite guitarist is, Marc is invariably my response, to which the response is almost always "who's that?" I feel sad for people who haven't heard a large sampling of Marc's playing. There are tones they will just never hear.

[sunvalleylaw]

A little different style than some represented here but I think Thomas Wisniewski, of MxPx, is underrated, as is the band in general. Check 'em out!

http://myspace.com/mxpx

http://www.mxpx.com/home

+1 on Roine! I am really glad Spud turned my on to him.

[abraxas]

I agree on many of the names mentioned already.

I feel obliged to add Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult. An accomplished and very versatile guitarist, with great taste for both tone and arrangement.

[just strum]

Nobody should be the least bit surprised by my response, but here it comes anyway.... Marc Ribot. When asked who my favorite guitarist is, Marc is invariably my response, to which the response is almost always "who's that?" I feel sad for people who haven't heard a large sampling of Marc's playing. There are tones they will just never hear.

I checked out youtube, but to be honest with you the only thing I've seen so far is really crappy video (quality of video, not of his playing) that consisted more of him tuning his guitar than anything else.

I'll have to go through some more to get a better idea of his playing.

[birv2]

Here's one who never gets mentioned: Guitar Shorty.

He's Jimi Hendrix's brother-in-law, and Hendrix used to go AWOL from the service to see him play. Shorty is now in his 60's and tours a lot, doing very small venues. Not only can this guy burn up the fretboard, but he's a absolute tone monster (G&L Strats, Fender Twins, and BBE Sonic Maximizer among other stuff). He's not a shredder, just an incredibly heartfelt blues-rock player. If he ever comes to your town, go see him. Check out his website here. If you hear him, you'll hear where Jimi got a lot of his stuff.

He's also a true gentleman, very humble, and will sign autographs and talk with everyone.

Bob

[pes_laul]

marty wilson-piper from the church they did all these things that sounded like harps and orchestra stuff but it was all done on guitar