You can put all of them against Hendrix and SRV, and they would still win.

Jesus Christ. Did you just lump Hendrix and SRV together?

Whats so bad with that? Even Srv worshiped and covered Hendrix.

I'm really not huge on SRV, but I'd say that Hendrix is (by leaps and bounds) better than anyone in the original post.

They are all, however, talented guitarists - even if I really don't like Billy Gibbons / ZZ Top

it's more like Hendrix, Beck, Robin Trower, Pat Travers, Rory Gallagher, Duane Allman for me

Robin Trower was just another Hendrix copy. Gallagher is great though. He's my favorite blues guitarist.

but ain't he a GREAT copy?

The disrespect is meant toward SRV. I hate that boring crap. Hendrix is the best there ever was.

How can you like Hendrix so much and then call SRV a worthless guitar wanker? Of coarse we all know the level that Hendrix was on, but also the heavy influence he had on SRV. While Jimi was the first to do a lot of things and in my opinion is the all around greatest musician there ever was or ever will be. SRV's strong point was definatley his playing and I think if Hendrix were still around. He would pay him that same compliment. Its completley absurd to throw around accusations that SRV was of little talent. If you like Hendrix you like SRV. His version of Little Wing was one of the best pieces of guitar work ive heard to this day and anyone with any knowledge of how the guitar is played would agree. You dont have to like him but I think some level of acknowledgment has to exist. You simply dont accomplish covers like Little Wing and other pieces of music like Lenny, Texas Flood, etc by being a worthless guitar wanker. That sounds extreme and ignorant to what talent consists of.

That's like asking me why I prefer real women over porn.

Touche ...well that makes sense..the SRV comment doesnt in all fairness. So your saying who needs SRV when you have Hendrix? Im a Hendrix fanatic but by the same token am also a fan of SRV. I recognize when someone has a talent for playing the guitar. Being as big of fan as I am of Hendrix I think you would have to agree from just the playing aspect. SRV's ability to manipulate the guitar fretboard was unparalleled.

SRV is good but Jimi is awesome, if you want my take.

I don't care if he could juggle chainsaws while playing Electric Lady Land backwards with his toes. There ain't no soul in it.

No soul??? Are you being serious or just obnoxious?? Im laughing now cause I think your just saying that for the sake of arguing. I cant entertain this debate any longer...lol

Even though I think he is way overated and never really got into his music all that much. I did always like the song Layla by Clapton and especially the acoustic version. Not all that hard a piece of music to learn either. Of course its Clapton so how complex could it be right? Anyway it was a fun learn, and not to mention its usually a crowd pleaser cause most people recognize the Layla intro immediatley. Id recommend learning it just for that reason if nothing else.

Haha none of your posts are worth ****.

:laughing:

Hendrix team. Never been huge on Clapton, think the guy is overrated.

But Hendrix is the best of all these. Vaughan, meh... good guitarist, but nothing more to me. Watching him is sometimes embarassing... He embodies to me the flat and boring white mans blues... I do not think he is awful by any means, but I think he gets too much attention as well.

Are you really suggesting that Vaughn's singles Little Wing, Voodoo Chile, or Riviera Paradise as being/sounding flat and boring white mans blues? Ive never really ever heard it described in that particular way. I guess you are entitled to your opinion, no matter how off base it may be. And I don't really see any reason you should feel embarrassed.:confused:

way to pick 2 hendrix covers to sum of SRV, haha. His versions are all inferior to the originals, "Little Wing" is good though.

SRV is a fantastic guitar player, but his vocals leave little to be desired to me. His voice is very plain and blan. Which is why I love "Little Wing" it shows his guitar talent without the boring vocals..

I agree his vocals are nothing more than average, but I might suggest that Vaughn's vocals are a little better than Hendrix. I would give it to Vaughn as far as having the best vocals.

As big of fan as I am of Srv I dont think I could place his vocals above Jimi. Of course Stevie knew his singing wasnt the greatest in the world, and has admitted he had to practice at it to just get to average.(even though I woudnt consider it just average) Which was part of the reason for tuning a 1/2 step down a lot if not all of the time. His voice does'nt appeal to everyone, but I enjoy it very much so myself. I guess it could be kind of an aquired taste for some, but it doesnt even strike me as awkward or blan when I listen to him. Equal to Jimi's vocals no..I dont think I would go that far. Jimi had good range that I dont think Srv was capable of matching. He also tuned down 1/2 a step in some of his stuff as well, but there are some pieces of music that only Jimi's vocals were capable of mastering imo. At the same time Jimi could add a soft melodic touch to some of his songs as well like in,"the wind cries mary" and "little wing". Just so versatile in so many different ways as a musician in many different aspects not just vocally. Both were great artists but the upper hand definatley goes to Jimi imo.

Hendrix to me had a more natural approach to vocals. His vocals matched his playing well. Everything about Hendrix to me seemed very natural, and sincere. I personally find his vocals to be atleast more exciting than SRV..

I just personally prefer Vaughans vocals over Hendrix, but that in return, no way means that I don't enjoy listening to Hendix's vocals also. I agree that Jimi could give a soft touch to songs like, "The Wind Cries Mary" and so on. But I have to disagree with the suggestion that Hendrix has more range (vocal wise) than Vaughan. Maybe its just me, but Vaughan seems to not only be a more powerful singer with more projection in his voice, but he also sounds like he can hit higher notes which gives Vaughan a higher range than Hendrix had. (I don't know, maybe there is something I'm missing here and my ears are deceiving me)? Stevie Ray Vaughan received a lot of criticism for sounding similar to Jimi Hendrix through the years, which in turn leads to an untold number of comparisons between the two. Both Jimi and Stevie played blues rock both used Fender Strats through Marshall amps. They had a similar guitar sound and obviously Stevie was heavily influenced by Jimi. They both wore flamboyant costumes. They both died at an early age. They were both addicts at one time or another during their short lives, with Stevie more prone to alcohol abuse. But that’s where the similarities end.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was technically masterful. He was hugely influential in restoring the popularity of blues rock in the late 70s and throughout the 80s when everyone was disco dancing to KC and the Sunshine band. Stevie played fast and clean. He would use heavy distortion and tremolo from time to time but his magic came from his fingers. When he covered “Little Wing”, he played with such precision, you can tell right away that it’s not Jimi Hendrix.
Hendrix on the other hand was an innovator. Technically speaking, he was rough and choppy but he more than made up for that with his stage presence and the incredible sounds he produced that most people have never heard of at the time. Jimi played from the gut, I mean he was all feel, nothing else. The fact that his songs have been covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan makes it easy to clearly hear the difference between the two guitarists.
There’s no doubt that Jimi Hendrix is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. He may not have been as technically good as Stevie was. And this comparison between Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix may be subjective but we can all agree that Jimi is one of the most influential guitarists of all time and Stevie was technically the better player. However, without Jimi Hendrix there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan.

this thread is not Jimi vs SRV, it's Clapton, Beck, Page vs Jimi, Srv and Gibbons

thanks for the clarifacation Duce..none of us were aware of that

I guess we're mainly talking about their performing abilities respectively, but that's just one side of the coin and essentially I cannot really pick any of them if I was to be completely honest about it. See, great guitarists tend to be crappy songwriters and whatever these guys did in terms of great songs, they did within the context of a band. I, for one, don't really care for instrumentalists just being awesome at their game anymore. I mean, I can still gasp in awe at lightning-fast solos when executed in an innovative way, but I wouldn't really listen to it as a serious piece of music for its own sake. Without the songcraft (and I don't consider neither Hendrix, Clapton or Page being very good songwriters) I don't find the comparisation very adequate.

That said, I'd go with the brits (and replace them with Steve Howe, Andy Latimer and Steve Hackett), but if I was to pick one sole Guitar Player (yes, the capitals are intentional, with the above taken into account) it'd be Hendrix, if only because he was the first and foremost inventor of them all.

If you enjoy speedy stratocaster guitar work with a Hendrix/Vaughan type style. Then give this guy a listen and tell me what you think. This is a cover of a KWS song, but really its just Little Wing reicarnated. At any rate I think this guy is fantastic with his strat ability, and i cant stop listening to him.

Well, he's good, I guess. I wouldn't really know, there are so many of 'em. The only guy who really makes a speed impression on me with a Strat is Ritchie Blackmore.

Id really say Beck could be stuck up there easily with Vaughn at #2.



He covers so many more styles than any of the artists here.

Thats some pretty cool footage of Srv there RezZ. Ive never seen that performance of that particular song with Beck, and he was jammim in typical all out Srv fashion. Dude played with the same enthusiasm, and soul every time he took the stage...... like a man possessed.

You know what, I'm gonna go ahead and put some fuel on the fire and throw in Pete Townshend here as being maybe not the best Guitar Player, but probably one of the best guitarists ever to put his playing to good use. Or if you will, he's one of the most adequate guitar players ever.

No, let me finish. He's definitely not a great Guitar Player - no need to point out the obvious here - but he's definitely a musical genius and a rare, if not the sole, example of someone who looked upon the guitar not as an instrument unto itself but as a mean to accomplish higher goals. Of course, he was part of a four-headed vehicle that could realise the visions of his songwriting, but neverhteless he was an integral part of it as well as the head visionary of The Who. I'd be hard pressed to find another guitarist who so incisively strived for progress while at the same time being fully aware of his technical shortcomings and in the process replacing the guitar performance itself with songwriting genius and, well, synthesizers, in order to fulfill the vision. Let's face it, he has written - and performed - more great songs than all of the six discussed in this thread combined together.

And all that said, he's still one of the best rythm players in rock history, period.


(I'm gonna lock myself into the bathroom now to avoid wedgies and toilet baptizing)

I agree. :clap:

Lets not forget here that Jimi only made it to the age of 27. Im not taking anything away from Townshend here, but the determination Hendrix had for advancing his progress was unparalled imo. As far as being aware of his technical short comings im not sure that he had any really. His capabilities for matching ideas in his head, and translating them through his strat, and lyrics to this day remains superior to me. Not to mention just the overall experimentation of sound barriers he broke recording wise and his fusion of psychadelic rock and blues. Not just that, but then he really made popular the unique style of which he played. By that I mean the grip he used, and invertion of chords and melodic play(Little Wing) was unlike anything people had ever heard or seen. I mean the guys got chords named after him..(the Hendrix chord)..which if you were in the key of E would be something like a E7 sharp 9 I think. Its like a B7 with your pinky placed a 1/2 step back. Anyway point being all of these things combined were part of the mystique that added to the genius of imo..the greatest all around musician to have ever graced us with his presence. All hail Jimi Hendrix

Not to many artist could influence a whole new genre in the way Hendrix could.

(wikipedia'd)
Jimi Hendrix was the first well-known recording artist to combine the rhythms and riffs of early funk to his rock sound. Perhaps the earliest example is his song "Little Miss Lover" (1967). His live album Band of Gypsys features funky riffs and rhythms throughout (especially the songs "Who Knows" and "Power of Soul") and his unfinished album also included a couple of funk-rock songs such as "Freedom", "Izabella" and "Straight Ahead".

Source:Funk rock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I can hear a lot of Hendrix inspired melodies and riffs in the Chilli Peppers music. Ive never been a huge fan, but they have a few songs that I like.

I wasn't talking down Hendrix, mind you. From a purely technical point of view he's probably topping my list as well. His shortcomings were more of an architectural nature, in that he didn't really write very good songs, something which he shares with just about every subsequent guitar hero (all of the ones in the threadstart included). I mean, he's got a few deserved classics like "Little wing", "Purple haze" and so on, but he was more of a performer than anything else. Isn't it common knowledge that his take on "Watchtower" is superior to the Dylan original, for instance? ;)

And while we're on the subject, let's not forget that Hendrix also surrounded himself (ok, maybe it was thanks to Chas Chandler, but let's not split hairs) with a - for his playing style - top-notch backing, especially the dextrous chops of Mitch Mitchell. The whole band added to the extraordinary sound of the three classic records, and if not for them along with Hendrix's performing shenanigans, a lot of the songs would probably - yes, I'm gonna say it - stink.

Hendrix version of "All Along The Watchtower" was definatlely the better version than the original. (props for writing it Bob) but still. Even Bob was ecstatic to have Hendrix come out covering it the way the he did. As far as appreciating Hendrix rythym section im more partial to a lot of what he put out with Redding and Mitchell myself than I am "The band Of Gypsys" I dont dislike any of it cause its still Hendrix but im just more keen on the dynamic they had in the early days of getting started.

Billy Gibbons (Texas Blues)
 

Billy Gibbons is one of the best when it comes to "Texas Blues". A lot of music enthusiast of today, might find ZZ Top's music boring, but on the other hand, one might also suggest that ZZ Top is a good example of what Blues Rock is all about. He is the lead singer and composer for many of the band's songs. Gibbons is known for playing his Gretsch Billy Bo guitar and his famous 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar known as Pearly Gates. Gibbons has a Bass vocal range, spanning E♭1 to E♭5, one of the widest ranges in Rock. He is also noted for using a Mexican peso coin as a guitar pick, and uses many pinch harmonics in his solos. Gibbons is very underrated and if not sometimes, unappreciated as one of the great guitarist of rock in my opinion.
In May of this year 2011, it was announced that Gibbons was named as the 2012 Texas State Musician by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Another great token of Hendrix's adaptation skills is when he did "Sgt. Pepper" live two days after the release of the album. Even my own little damned country Sweden got its share of his blessing when he did Hansson & Karlsson's "Tax free". I mean, how great is that!