Well considering it's been 30 years since Eruption was released and is still seen still by many as the most influential guitar piece on the planet and benchmark for any aspiring guitarist then yes.:lol:
The technical aspect of the guitar is the most significant, you can piss and moan about chords, feeling etc but the bottom line is the techincal talent is the most significant aspect, otherwise people like Kurt Cobain get mentioned in top 100 polls as has been done recently, a pathetic joke. The only time other aspects should come into the equation is if guitarists are seen on level playing field techincally.
Add Comfortably Numb to that as well, almost 30 years and still raved about. The only people that wank over smoke on the water riff are non guitarists or amauters, and tbh Black Knight is a far better riff imo. I think smoke on the water is the most over-rated riff i've ever heard, tbh i rate Paranoid, voodoo and Country girl by Sabbath as better, more creative riffs.
Top 5 Iommi riffs: Voodoo, Megalomania, Valhalla, Killing Yourself To Live, One,
Top 5 Blackmore riffs: Man on the Silver Mountain, Burn, Into the Fire, Space Truckin', Stargazer
Top 5 EVH works: Eruption, Dreams, Light Up The Sky, Judgement Day, I'm The One.
Yes, Erruption - the birth of shred, was hugely influential. Still, Johnny B Goode was 10 times as influential. Technology's the reason.
What made A Johns the greatest Rugby Leage player of all time Unit? Talent! raw talent is what its about.
Original technical talent is what gets you into a band in the first place, that talent then takes you to the next level. Do you think Vai gotto where he was just on good looks? no he got there because of his amazing solo lead work which greats like Zappa, Coverdale etc realised barely out of his teens.
I hate Vai. Sorry Ron - the guy's a showpony. Great gutarist - I enjoyed his work on G3's live album, and his solos with DL Roth. But then, he was a poor imitation of EVH I thought. And his Whitesnake work was shat on by John Sykes. Technically better than both, I hate his sound. There's no balls. There's no fire. There's no grunt. Compare Judgement Day with Whitesnake to Still Of The Night. Skyes is old style - go for it. Vai is too intent on being perfect.
And that's why I don't warm to Vai, Portenoy, Michael Romeo, or Slash as much as the old masters - Iommi, Schenker, Blackmore, Moore, Hendrix. Especially Hendrix. Their gear was sh*t. THEY had to do the work. Compare the human element in stuff like Symptom of the Universe, Angus' solo in Whole Lotta Rosie, Hendrix's Peace in Mississipi, Blackmore in Light In The Black, or a host of stuff from Pete Townshend, early Aerosmith, or Rush pre Signals. Those guys worked like demons to coax out of the amp what they could.
Now, it's so easy to make a big sound with filters, compression etc, the physical nature has gone out the window. It's easier for Satriani to rip out the notes than Jeff Beck. Best example - go back to the solo in Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock. It's a ball tearer, and plenty of players could do it now. But back in 1955 with a jazz guitar, an E string pobably .012 gauge, an amp with only a tome control, and a boxy studio - completely different.
When I started playing, I'd beam in pride if my right thumb bled. I then knew I was putting in as much effort as Pete Townshend, who bled regularly. I became a heavy handed player - I'd break a string per set average.
I couldn't imagine Vai doing that.
I have never played, or wanted to play 'Smoke On The Water' on my guitar. I don't dislike the song, but I refuse to even contemplate playing it on the grounds that it is expected of me as a guitar player to play it! I am quite a stubborn person, in case you can't work out!
I teach guitar. I am amazed at how many kids get taught how to play it wrong! I recently taught a kid, who argued that it was on the bottom E string. Being a Blackmore disciple, I made sure I won that one!
best player ever Juan Croucier, the most enthusiastic bass player i've ever seen, plus had an awesome voice
Did you see Geezer on the last Sabbath tour? Blew me away - what a workhorse.
Believe it or not i want to eventually buy a fender, Fenders can also be very good even incorperating my style, i'm sure that even Dave Murray from Iron Maiden used one as well as Warren De Martini from Ratt.
Amp, need a new one, have a Peevee 100 watt with the usual build in stuff eg distortion, reverb etc, nothing special.
I do have an effects board, Zoom, got a great work out in its day, man i need to start playing again.
I use to have a Boss Flanger, Chorus pedal and digital delay, but old it all of once i got the zoom, without doubt Boss is te best brand with effects, other brands i found i wasn't too pleased with.
Go the Strat, Ronny. Greatest pedigree. Henxrix, SRV, Blackmore, Dave Murray, Gary Moore, Townshend, Yngwie, KK Downing, Rory Gallagher, Clapton, Cray, Knophler (even though he's sh*t), Lukather, Joe Walsh, and even Jimmy Page on In Through The Out Door.
Strats are light, and extremely f**king versatile. I've got 2 old ones which I used live, and with a simple bridge pickup change, I could go from Clapton's August sound and Lynyrd Skynyrd to Sabbath and Maiden easily. I've got an old '78 CBS with C shaped neck, and I put a Syemour Duncan Hot Stack in the bridge pickup, with a little toggle switch to activate the 2nd pickup - it's a great blues guitar with a gritty top end that ground out stuff like AC/DC, Zeppelin, Tatts and Priest circa British Steel easily. My other is a Jap 80's version with a bridge humbucker and a Kahler, which gives a warmer sound approaching Randy Rhodes, Gary Moore, EVH and Lukather, and on the neck pickup can get almost as warm as BB King (obviously, turn the distortion off!)
A mate recently bought a Les Paul. When I played it - I fell into jazz and blues licks aka BB King and George Benson. Les Pauls are really a solid body jazz guitar, even though they sound great through a Marshall. Yet, the Strat is a rock guitar BEFORE you plug it in. That's how both were made.
Last year I had them serviced for the first time (one was born in '78, the other '86). The itonation was still perfect. The 78's neck needed a bit of packing out. Apart from that, the pots and switches got a clean. That's all. I played them live last year. No problem.
Get the Strat. Especially one with a switchable bridge humbucker. Don't muck about with 2nd best.
