Question For Guitarists!

Hello fellow guitarists! I have a question, what is your most unpopular guitar opinion? Here are some examples(that I don't believe in the slightest) incase you don't quite understand the question.

"Steve Vai is terrible."

"Thin guitar picks are better than thick picks."

"You don't need more than one guitar."

I love Steve Vai, I play with 1.14mm guitar picks, and I have 7 guitars(which is not enough). My most unpopular guitar opinion is probably that "It's better to hold the pick with three fingers not two."

I don't know, there are many I suppose...like the more expensive the guitar = the better the quality, things like that.

My current peeve concerns pedals.  I'm staring to wake up to the fact that the more pedals you use, the more your tone gets compromised.  Even if it is a buffered pedal.  I only use a few effects these days and I'm in the process of selling off half of my pedals.

Constantine wrote:I don't know, there are many I suppose...like the more expensive the guitar = the better the quality, things like that.

My current peeve concerns pedals.  I'm staring to wake up to the fact that the more pedals you use, the more your tone gets compromised.  Even if it is a buffered pedal.  I only use a few effects these days and I'm in the process of selling off half of my pedals.

I can see that. What pedals are you selling? I am looking for a few to buy.

Christian Thrash Rules wrote:

I can see that. What pedals are you selling? I am looking for a few to buy.

Hey thanks for asking, I just sent you a PM.

I've reached the point where I do what works for me, you do what works for you and let's make music.  I prefer to keep it simple and don't even want to get into all of the different effects.  Too much work.

A great musician will sound great with or without effects.  They will sound great on cheap and expensive gear.  Likewise, a mediocre musician will sound mediocre regardless of what gear they are using.

^^Yep. I sound crappy with or without effects.

Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

I go back and forth between medium/light Dunlop picks and medium/regular. 

If you attack the strings it’s better to have a heavier pick. Strumming feels good with a medium/light.

Sevenoneself wrote:Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

I wouldn’t say he sucked… but he is massively overrated! 

Jeff Beck was way better.

How’s that for a “hot take”!

Christian Thrash Rules wrote:Hello fellow guitarists! I have a question, what is your most unpopular guitar opinion? Here are some examples(that I don't believe in the slightest) incase you don't quite understand the question.

"Steve Vai is terrible."

"Thin guitar picks are better than thick picks."

"You don't need more than one guitar."

I love Steve Vai, I play with 1.14mm guitar picks, and I have 7 guitars(which is not enough). My most unpopular guitar opinion is probably that "It's better to hold the pick with three fingers not two."

Who ever called Steve Vai a terrible Guitarist? Only an idiot would say that.

Sevenoneself wrote:Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

Oh boy I hope that's not a statement! JImi Hendrix is to Guitarists and song writers and performers what black Sabbath is to metal.

TZ75 wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

I wouldn’t say he sucked… but he is massively overrated! 

Jeff Beck was way better.

How’s that for a “hot take”!

No. Absolutely clueless statement. Jimi did things on guitar people still try to do. He's everywhere. He is an innovator. And it's not easy to play. besides that his voice is soulful and unique, he is a wizard of a performer and he wrote trippy poetic lyrics. He deserves the number one GOD spot for guitarist/artist. if anything Beck is overrated.

Xid wrote:I've reached the point where I do what works for me, you do what works for you and let's make music.  I prefer to keep it simple and don't even want to get into all of the different effects.  Too much work.

A great musician will sound great with or without effects.  They will sound great on cheap and expensive gear.  Likewise, a mediocre musician will sound mediocre regardless of what gear they are using.

remember Roger or David Gilmour once said someone said they were talentless hacks b/c they use effects. I think it was Roger that said somehthing to effect of, and paraphrase, "well why don't you come up here and drive this machine and see if you don't crash" or something to that effect. It takes time and effort and talent in itself to use effects properly.

Kurt cobain was the master of feedback and reverb. Jimi too.

Sevenoneself wrote:Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

haha, really?

Temple of Blood wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

haha, really?

He asked for my unpopular guitar opinion, so I gave it!

I wasn't allowed to listen to secular music growing up. And so now as an adult I'm reaching back into history discovering the forerunners of rock and metal. And I've found all sorts of people whose music I love. But I've never come to appreciate Hendrix, and ie only found 1 or 2 songs of his that I even enjoy listening to. So at this point in time I respect the contributions he made but I don't care for any of his music.

That’s pretty much how I feel about Hendrix, too.

Same, I don’t really enjoy his music style that much, but I can’t deny he was extremely talented

With very few exceptions, I'm not a "lead guitar" guy.

When listening to music, I've always focused on riffs and rhythms above anything else.

Solos have to be VERY well done for me to pay much attention to them.

As a songwriter, I've always been laser-focused on rhythms and creating song structures as opposed to how a lot of guitarists approach things. 

I make power chords using my index and pinky finger, instead of index and ring.

I'm completely self-taught, so that may have something to do with my unorthodox methods LOL!

Agreed about leads. Some classic rock solos hit me right (EVH all day), but I pay little attention to most metal solos.

Sevenoneself wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

haha, really?

He asked for my unpopular guitar opinion, so I gave it!

I wasn't allowed to listen to secular music growing up. And so now as an adult I'm reaching back into history discovering the forerunners of rock and metal. And I've found all sorts of people whose music I love. But I've never come to appreciate Hendrix, and ie only found 1 or 2 songs of his that I even enjoy listening to. So at this point in time I respect the contributions he made but I don't care for any of his music.

I'm not really a Hendrix fan either but "sucked" sounds too strong to me.  I also get tired of seeing his name on best guitarist lists. I think you have the hottest hot take on the whole board.  

There are many, many great solos but like songs, most solos these days also suck, whether they are technical or not.

TZ75 wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:Jimmy Hendrix sucked.

I wouldn’t say he sucked… but he is massively overrated! 

Jeff Beck was way better.

How’s that for a “hot take”!

No. Absolutely clueless statement. Jimi did things on guitar people still try to do. He's everywhere. He is an innovator. And it's not easy to play. besides that his voice is soulful and unique, he is a wizard of a performer and he wrote trippy poetic lyrics. He deserves the number one GOD spot for guitarist/artist. if anything Beck is overrated.

You’re wrong!

Jeff spoke another language with his guitar that no other person can duplicate. His use of the whammy bar was the key. He also didn’t use a pick, so that was another unique attribute in his playing. 

All kinds of people have nailed Hendrix’s style and can do it better. Robin Trower and Frank Marino for example… they took what Jimi did and went much further and less sloppy. Although Hendrix was a pioneer of rock guitar, he didn’t play very clean and had too much feedback. Jeff Beck was otherworldly and had complete control of his guitar. 

So in retrospect, I do not think Hendrix sucked. But he is highly overrated simply because he left a good impression on a legion of kids at Woodstock. Same thing with Ace Frehley from Kiss. The bigger than life stage performance overshadows the actual talent. 

Eddie Van Halen’s contribution to rock is much greater.

Jimi’s voice was unique to him, but he wasn’t a good singer. He’s no Doug Pinnick or Prince! 

He didn’t do anything out of his comfort zone. He had no dazzle. He himself didn’t think of himself as a singer. He just did it because he wanted to be in control of his music.

No he was tight and gave the illusion of being sloppy. Stevie Ray was imitating him and doing it far too clean because that's the only way he knew how to do it, inorganic and well learned, just like every other player that attempts to play Hendirx. Also Hendrix had amazing controol over his guitar so much someone tried playing it and wondered how he played it. True story.

RHCP guitarist is pretty close and does it in his own way. Under the bridge has that rough edge to it and is obviously super Hendrix inspired. There's so much more to Hendrix than Voodoo child and foxy lady. I just can't agree with anything you say about Hendrix you just really don't get him at all.

Beck overrated middle of the road guitar player. Never understood what the fuss was all about.

He had tons of dazzle. He was a musical wizard that inspired more than probably anyone on the planet. Just about any guitarist worth their salt rates Hendrix highly.

He played country, blues, fusion, and perhaps the earliest form of metal to various degrees.

Hendrix was a humble man of course he says his voice sucks. When asked how does it feel to be the best guitarist in the world he pointed at another guitarist. His voice dripped with groove and soul... talking about Dug Pinnick, he himself did a whole tribute album to the man and concerts with Joe Satch. I get the feeling you are a casual listener that's heard radio hits but not really taken a deep dive (could be wrong) either way I can tell you don't know what your talking about.

Fun fact:

Alan Morse of Spock's Beard also plays guitar without a pick.

Dustofyears wrote:No he was tight and gave the illusion of being sloppy. Stevie Ray was imitating him and doing it far too clean because that's the only way he knew how to do it, inorganic and well learned, just like every other player that attempts to play Hendirx.

RHCP guitarist is pretty close and does it in his own way. Under the bridge has that rough edge to it and is obviously super Hendrix inspired. There's so much more to Hendrix than Voodoo child and foxy lady.

Beck overrated middle of the road guitar player. Never understood what the fuss was all about.

How do you know he “gave an illusion of being sloppy”? That makes no sense!

What he presented is what he was. Unless you have an article or quote of him saying his playing was an illusion and not true to his abilities.

Jeff Beck was not for everyone. He was avant-garde. He was in a league of his own and created the weird otherworldly style that guys like Steve Vai are known to do. 

Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, Steve Vai, Brian May, Joe Bonamassa and many others have direct statements saying Beck was the most unique or one of the greatest (if not the actual greatest). 

A quote from Jeff…
Speaking when he was inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for the second time in 2009, Beck said: "I play the way I do because it allows me to come up with the sickest sounds possible. That's the point now, isn't it? I don't care about the rules. In fact, if I don't break the rules at least 10 times in every song, then I'm not doing my job properly."

MagnusPrime wrote:Fun fact:

Alan Morse of Spock's Beard also plays guitar without a pick.

It’s a hallmark of some avant-garde and prog style players. 

I’m not familiar with Spock’s Beard, but the name indicates prog.

Oh I know what I’m talking about… but you see things your way. Just because Doug Pinnick did a tribute doesn’t mean Hendrix was a good singer. He just grew up with his music and respects the guy. Jimi is by far known for his guitar playing, not his voice. 

The fact you dismiss the genius of Jeff Beck tells me you don’t know what you’re talking about. You want a simple chord progression and Jeff is in another dimension. He’s otherworldly. 

I know you appreciate Cobain’s simple approach (as I do also), but that’s where we depart. Jimi offers an immediate melody that makes the average person happy. Jeff was the Picasso of guitar. He didn’t make sense to bubblegum rockers. He’s more akin with the musical language of jazz.