Who gets your vote for best rock guitar sound?

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Wednesday Jun 11, 2008

I agree with everything everyone has said so far.

A few more:

- Leslie West. Damn.
- Uli Roth. Ahead of his time in every way possible.

moxham123 · Post by **moxham123** » Thursday Jun 12, 2008

Ritchie Blackmore
Robin Trower
Steve Howe
Paul Dean
Richie Sambora
Pat Travers
Frank Marino

moxham123 · Post by **moxham123** » Thursday Jun 12, 2008

Rik Emmett - Great guitarist. By the way, the original three members of Triumph (Rik Emmett, Gil Moore, & Mike Levine) have reunited this year and are on tour and also going to do another record. They were recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in April.

http://www.triumphmusic.com/

http://www.junoawards.ca/vhof/index.php

DrumAndDestroy · Post by **DrumAndDestroy** » Thursday Jun 12, 2008

erik melvin
el hefe
fletcher dragge
dick dale
joe queer

SkarmaSutraMusic · Post by **SkarmaSutraMusic** » Thursday Jun 12, 2008

Stevie Stevens..(Billy Idol)..I LIKE HIS SOUND.

skipisode · Post by **skipisode** » Thursday Jun 12, 2008

Joe Satriani

John Sykes

Adrian Vandenberg

Gary Moore

YankeeRose · Post by **YankeeRose** » Thursday Jun 12, 2008

My "dirty baker's dozen":

Many Allman Brothers' Guitar tones
Beck
Clapton
Frampton
Gilmour
Hendrix
Page
Santana
Satriani
Trower
Vaughan
Van Halen
Wilson

whitedevilone · Post by **whitedevilone** » Friday Jun 13, 2008

1 Zakk....indeed

2 Di Meola...his 70's tone Les Paul through a Marshall w a touch of comp. can't be beaten.

3 Bill Frisell.....if you don't know do yourself a favor.

4 Jonnie Mac.

whitedevilone · Post by **whitedevilone** » Friday Jun 13, 2008

moxham123 wrote:Rik Emmett - Great guitarist. By the way, the original three members of Triumph (Rik Emmett, Gil Moore, & Mike Levine) have reunited this year and are on tour and also going to do another record. They were recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in April.

http://www.triumphmusic.com/

http://www.junoawards.ca/vhof/index.php

That's great news!Ric was amazing.The other cats w/out Ric.Not so good.

moxham123 · Post by **moxham123** » Friday Jun 13, 2008

whitedevilone wrote:
moxham123 wrote:Rik Emmett - Great guitarist. By the way, the original three members of Triumph (Rik Emmett, Gil Moore, & Mike Levine) have reunited this year and are on tour and also going to do another record. They were recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in April.

http://www.triumphmusic.com/

http://www.junoawards.ca/vhof/index.php

That's great news!Ric was amazing.The other cats w/out Ric.Not so good.

I found some videos of the Triumph reunion show from 6-7-08 in Sweden. Of course, the quality is not so good but you can still tell how good they are. Plus, Rik Emmett is doing a show in Pittsburgh on 11-15-08 at The Rex Theatre

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bR3_R8ba0Tg

http://www.rikemmett.com/

Atomic Jim · Post by **Atomic Jim** » Friday Jun 13, 2008

Eric Clapton, especially his later songs like Old Love, Reptile, etc.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Saturday Jun 14, 2008

Stefan Liebing - Primal Fear

Jake E. Lee - Ultimate Sin album, for sure.

Zakk - No Rest For The Wicked, Gibson/Marshall/EMG's what can ya say?

Andy LaRoche - King Diamond

Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo - Queensryche

Yngwie - just cause he is the god of all.

George Lynch - on "Mr. Scary" ...well it was all good shit what can I say.

But to get on topic of the best "Rock" guitar sound, I would say David Gilmour without a doubt.
Hands down he has such a great and natural tone and feel than most guitar players. Point being he doesn't hide behind distortion.

Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' is a prime example of what he's all about.

Honorable mention to Jerry Cantrell for sure. I love his wah technique.

Oh yeah and one more guy I forgot to mention is Howard Leese from Heart. Man that tone was awesome!!

And the dude from Boston who's name eludes me at the moment.....(edit 3:15 am I finally remembered it is none other than Tom Scholtz. I'm an air head.)

Damn this is never ending really, there's so many great players, all of whom I have the utmost respect for.

Great topic CC DeDrums!!

moxham123 · Post by **moxham123** » Saturday Jun 14, 2008

Steve Morse
Kery Livgren & Rich Williams from Kansas
Jeff Carlisi & Don Barnes from .38 Special

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Sunday Jun 15, 2008

Duane Allman---especially that honking rhino sound he's making on the extended solo of Mountain Jam. The most smokin solo by Duane is his short explosion on Hot 'Lanta, esp from the Filmore East live album.

KyleMayket · Post by **KyleMayket** » Sunday Jun 15, 2008

i'm sorry, but i love slash's guitar tone on Sweet Child of Mine... just that one song really, but it's soooooo big and full and right off the bat it kicks you in your teeth.

stratobastard27 · Post by **stratobastard27** » Sunday Jun 15, 2008

Slash is one of my favorite guitarists, but I think in general his tone isn't all that great. I always thought of Izzy/Gilby as the "clean rythym" guy, and Slash as the "mega distortion" guy. Slash does do a lot more than just play lead. While I think his lead tone is pretty good, his "massive rythym" is waaaayyyyyy too compressed and tiny, overall. Go back and listen closely to Nov. Rain and Heaven's Door.

Randy Rhoads is one of the all-time greats. No question about it. His tone sucked more than any other professional I've ever heard. I had no idea you could make a Les Paul and Marshall sound that fucking bad.

Who I do like? SRV had the greatest "pure" tone ever. EVER.

As far as young punks go, I love the tones of Black Stone Cherry. So full, so crunchy, so heavy, so clear, so sustainy....etc... All at the same time.

J Michaels · Post by **J Michaels** » Thursday Jun 26, 2008

How did I forget Michael Romeo of Symphony X? His tone is like a buzz saw with bottom end. Cuts through and punches you in teh face all at teh same time. Kinda reminds me of Dime's tone a bit. Perfect for what they do.

rickw · Post by **rickw** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

I saw Glenn Pavone and the Cyclones at Thunder in the Valley Thursday night. That man's tone was just incredible! I think he was using a Marshall Bluesbreaker amp with two different celestions in it. I know one was a Vintage 30 and I think the other was a Celestion Gold.

HurricaneBob · Post by **HurricaneBob** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

rickw wrote:I saw Glenn Pavone and the Cyclones at Thunder in the Valley Thursday night. That man's tone was just incredible! I think he was using a Marshall Bluesbreaker amp with two different celestions in it. I know one was a Vintage 30 and I think the other was a Celestion Gold.

I love them guys Rick.
Glenn is a monster!! His drummer and bass player are very down to earth too. Great band

rickw · Post by **rickw** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

Yeah Bobby, very cool guys. I talked to Tom for awhile about the old Coaches Inn days when he played for Billy Price. That tall guy who plays in your band has some pretty killer tone as well!

gibson980 · Post by **gibson980** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

I think steve from slacker theory

hahahah

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

Re: Randy Rhoads

stratobastard27 wrote: No question about it. His tone sucked more than any other professional I've ever heard. I had no idea you could make a Les Paul and Marshall sound that fucking bad. .

First time anyone on here's ever agreed with me on this. Expecting "Big Eyes" from BDR.

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

VENTGtr wrote:Re: Randy Rhoads

First time anyone on here's ever agreed with me on this.

I agree, too. Those first few Ozzy records sound like demos. The playing is great, but the recordings are weak.

One of the guitar magazines had an interview with Kevin Dubrow when they put out the Quiet Riot "Randy Rhoads Years" compilation. Dubrow said the guitar tone was so bad on the original records that they had to feed the guitar tracks through Carlos Cavazo's Marshall rig and re-record them.

Gallowglass · Post by **Gallowglass** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

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.

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Friday Jun 27, 2008

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

Hell no! Who else on this board would list Dimebag, Richard Thompson, and Bob Mould one after another?