Who gets your vote for best rock guitar sound?

[metalchurch]

Yeah, I never got why people said Rhoad's tone was shitty, I always liked the first 2 Ozzy albums, in fact they are among my all time fav albums ever.

I think alot of the problem wasn't the tone, but the capturing of the tone.
ie: the recording process.
Max Norman is great at what he does, maybe it was the environment?
But I do know that "Diary" was rushed because of the tour and they didn't spend much time on it.

"Blizzard" was pretty much just 4 guys getting together and cranking shit out and whatever happened stayed.

Oh well what can ya do?
Can't appease everyone.

Did anyone catch the Marshall 1959RR Rhoads sig guitar head?
$4000 worth of "shitty" tones for the masses. (sarcasm detector:ON)

[coffin feeder]

Randy had an excellent tone, I agree. Here's a few guys that I think should be mentioned.

-Billy Gibbons
-Neal Schon
-Mick Mars
-Collins,Rossington,and Gaines
-Jimi Hendrix Jr.

[cucuplex96]

I always liked the sound of the guitars of throwing copper - live

And i went to see Powerman 5000 at the crowbar a few years back with shine down when they were first breaking,, Boy let me tell ya... Powermans guitars were by far the most massive and most CRUSHING knock you the F*$( down and peel the skin off your feet, live guitar sound i have ever heard. I had a grin from ear to ear the whole time about that.. the whole show blew me away. I never heard a band presented like that in a small venue.. it was incredible

[DrumAndDestroy]

I always liked the sound of the guitars of throwing copper - live

And i went to see Powerman 5000 at the crowbar a few years back with shine down when they were first breaking,, Boy let me tell ya... Powermans guitars were by far the most massive and most CRUSHING knock you the F*$( down and peel the skin off your feet, live guitar sound i have ever heard. I had a grin from ear to ear the whole time about that.. the whole show blew me away. I never heard a band presented like that in a small venue.. it was incredible

a friend of mine drug me to that show...i did a lot of drugs back then.

[bassist_25]

I've never been a big Marshall guy, but I also thought that Rhoades had really good tone. As Joe pointed out, you can tell that the production isn't up to par on those early Ozzy albums. Still, I always thought Rhoades tone was very distinct (which he'd need for his playing style) and full.

[YankeeRose]

I'm sure you all are sick of me by now.

Heck no, what you wrote was a fun read, several would be added to my list if I cared to go over 13, and I'm glad you wrote what you did...lest anyone thought I meant other than Jeff Beck.

[Banned]

Ok, I've tried to avoid this thread in order to save everyone (including myself) from having to deal with another long list, but I just can't avoid it any longer. My faves:

Jimi- the Godfather

Harrison & McCartney- listen to them trade off on "The End" (2 bars apiece, rotating 3x Mc-H-L) . Also, w/o McCartney there is NO rock bass as we know it today, period. Not a real fan of Lennon's tone, though.

(Devadip) Carlos Santana- "Song of the Wind"-If i need to explain this, you're tone deaf.

Iommi- metal fingertips & all.

Johnny McLaughlin- Hey, Jazz through a Les Paul & a Marshall stack sounds GOOD (not to mention the fabulous tones he got w/ Miles etc. in the pre-Paul days)

Dickey & Duane -Creamy smooth goodness + "honking rhino" -in harmony, no less.

Robertson & Gorham - California beach bum + manky Scottish git both through Les Pauls & Marshalls. Each sounded unique, but synergistically more beautiful in harmony. Honorable mention: Eric Bell.

Gary Moore - I could have lumped him in with the other guys, but he's done so much on his own since 'Lizzy that he deserves his own mention. Probably the only guy in this list that has better sustain than Carlos.

Clapton -From the Yardbirds & Bluesbreakers to "Unplugged" he has defined what "class" means in relation to guitar tone.

David Gilmour - Another guy w/ class. He uses a lot of toys, but never let's them overpower the purity of his signal. He might be the best exemplification of what a Strat should sound like.

Jeff Beck - Go listen to "Blow By Blow" right now!

Roy Buchanan - I don't really know if he's "rock' or not, but he could make a guitar do ANYTHING.

Uli Jon Roth - When God plays guitar, he does it through Uli.

Michael Schenker - Probably the best wahster ever. When Marshall issued the JCM 800 series, they consciously modeled it after Michael's tone. The fact that he plays a Flying V doesn't hurt, either.

Trower - So what if he sounds a lot like Jimi? It's GD GOOD!

Zappa - Who'd have thunk such a thin, nasally, wah-driven sound could be so unimpeachably flawless?

Doyle Von Wolfenstein - Lo-fi perfection.

Damien Thorne - Brooding, dark, murky, w/ just the right amount of harmonics. Honorable mention: Glenn Danzig (even though I hate to do it, he did cut a lot of tracks on the Samhain albums). Honorable, Honorable mention : Lyle Preslar

EVH - I have to admit I don't listen to him much, but his vibe is perfect for what he's doing.

Hetfield & Hammett - a lot like cookies & milk. Add Cliff to the mix & it's a lot like Cthulu eating cookies & milk.

Murray & Smith - Heavy & melodic in a beautiful, meaningful way. Some of those sounds are indelibly imprinted in my brain forever. Honorable mention: Dennis Stratton.

Randy - I used to agree w/ some on this board that his tone was weak. Now I listen to "...Romance", "Diary...", "Believer", and "Revelation (Mother Earth)" and think they might be the best tones ever recorded. I really wish he had lived even just a little while longer.

Dime- "Great Southern Trendkill" has some of the best & most diverse tones ever compiled on one album. The solo in "Floods" still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight & makes me a little weepy, too.

Richard Thompson - The solo to "Why Must I Plead" on "Rumor and Sigh" is one of the most expressive sounds ever emitted from a loudspeaker. Thompson is one of the unsung heroes of guitar.

Bob Mould - Another unsung hero. "Black Sheets of Rain" is so full of despairingly mournful tone that it will make you want to go hang yourself-in a good way.

Zakk - the Stuff w/ Ozzy leaves me a bit flat, but the range of tones he has exhibited on "Book of Shadows", "Pride & Glory", and all the BLS albums shows a range of sophistication that he is often not given credit for. No "one trick pony" here.

Felix Kos No shit, he belongs here. How the hell does he get all those different sounds out of one rig all in the same night?

OK, that's enough for now. I'm sure as soon as I hit "submit", I will immediately think of 20 other must mentions, but I'm spent & I'm sure you all are sick of me by now.

J, I am surprised you did not categorize and cross reference according to fender vs gibson vs other and then amps by marshal vs mega boogie vs vox vs other. You could have also categorized by decade, 70's vs 80's etc.. A problem would be where do you put Felix with his Mosvalve set up? Then Uli would create his own unique problems with a 32 fret 8 string Sky guitar ( which you were allowed to intonate a tone)

[Plastered Bastards]

Iommi- duh

Greg Ginn- After he figured out what to do with it and then on the Gone records.

Steve Von Till and Scott Kelly- Sometimes it's like they are in trance.

And speaking of In Trance, anybody who played or plays guitar for the Scorpions.

Pig Champion of Poison Idea- So brutal and clear.

Dave Mustaine- Crunch and crunchy

Fast Eddie Clarke- Early Motorhead, enough said

The Edge- So many sounds and he's still finding more. The best live sound I have ever or will ever hear.

Murray and Smith- Duh

Downing and Tipton- See above

Navarro- Especially the Ritual lp

Piggy from Voivod- Amazing guitarist,very very very underrated

Robert Smith- Very atmospheric

[Ron]

One I forgot, and one of the best, crushing live tones I've ever heard... Adam Jones.

[CCdrums]

Tiny Tim....that ukelele ripped your face off!

[bassist_25]

Piggy from Voivod- Amazing guitarist,very very very underrated

Totally agree. I always pull out my Angel Rat disc now and then, and I'm always amazed. What a great band!

[MOONDOGGY]

What is the secret to that hollow sounding Randy Rhoads tone? Vernon Reid from Living Colour also had a similar hollow sounding tone (ignoring the sloppy playing!).



My favorites are Andy Timmons and the Italian Marco guy that James Labrie used on his Elements of Persuasion album. Lots of processing, but they nailed that melt your face holy grail of gutiar tone. I'm slightly guitarded, but I know that these guys will impress, so if you don't have their stuff and you play guitar.....shame on you!

[orangekick]

Piggy from Voivod- Amazing guitarist,very very very underrated

Always one of my favorites.

[Frank Benlin20]

uncle ted nugent ofcousre.!!

[DirtySanchez]

uncle ted nugent ofcousre.!!

I agree. I love the Great White Buffalo

Metallica on the Kill'em All album.

I'm also gonna go with Pepper Keenan from C.O.C.

Mike Vallely's Band Revolution Mother, has an awesome sludgy tone.
I think they use Orange Amps. Those things sound sick.