Who is your overall favorite guitarist?

I would wager the actual sound (not the rated watts) of an AC-15 is louder than a Fender Deluxe. I have owned both.

There is one Fender combo amp I hope I never have to play with again---an early silver-face Twin Reverb. OMG what an obnoxious amp! I auditioned with a band in '71, the guitarist of which had that amp facing me with a Guild Starfire plugged into it. The audition included some pretty long jams (in the literal sense, not like kids use the term now), the last one maybe an hour long, ending just as the sun came up. I was shocked and then terrified when the guys started talking, and I couldn't hear a word they were saying. My ears had closed down to protect themselves from the piercing brightness of that guitar/amp combination. I have moderate tinnitus from a lifetime of nights like that (I started wearing protection---custom molded plugs with attenuators---in my early 30's, but by then a fair amount of damage had already been done).

Luckily, I was soon playing with guys who had Telecasters and Deluxes (though an even smaller amp, like the Vox AC15, would have been even better), and now play Martin acoustics (even a bass!). The guitar I want now is a Gibson J-200, a great acoustic for chords/rhythm.

Bdp,

I think we agree on a lot:

I'm with you on the beauty of overdriven, low output amps. I don't play a ton of electric guitar these days, but when I do it's either thru a 12 watt (dual 6v6) Nolatone Rotten Johnny or a 20 watt Swart AST (same output tube config). Give me that creamy, overdriven 6v6 sound and I'm happy.

My issue with Fender amps is the one you ID'd: They're usually too loud to get the tone I want at the volume I want. The low powered Fenders that I've played have usually been equipped with EL-84s, which work great for rhythm parts IMO, less satisfying for lead. The classic 6L6 equipped Fender amps usually have too much power/headroom to get the break-up I want at reasonable SPLs.

These days I just usually stick to my acoustics.

Isochronism---Regarding tone, small amps cranked up is the key. In '69 I was a teenager in a band with a guitarist who, like many teenage guitarists at the time, had Eric Clapton as his role model. He therefore had a burgundy Gibson SG, plugged into a Fender black face Dual Showman (nobody in San Jose had a Marshall yet). When the rest of us complained about his excessive volume, he explained that to get good tone, he had to crank up the volume knob on his Showman. Kids didn't yet know that it was over-driven tubes that made good tone, and that if you used a lower-powered amp you could get it at a lower volume. It took seeing the pics on the inside gatefold of the 2nd Band album to realize a Fender combo amp was the way to go. He soon had a black face Deluxe Reverb, which is a favorite amp of a lot of good guitarists, Evan Johns and Bill Pitcock IV being just a couple.

It was when I started hearing the original Blues and Rockabilly guitarists from the 50's that I really saw where the early R & R guitar sound came from. Paul Burlinson of The Rock 'n' Roll Trio (Johnny Burnette) is a particular favorite of mine, though it's not he on their version of "The Train Kept a Rollin". Now THAT'S great tone!

Really, she killed him twice?

Onhwy61, is there something wrong with my link? Works fine at this end. I used my old IPad; maybe that's a problem. "Foxes on a trampoline"? Pretty funny.

A women murders her husband by bludgeoning him to death with his vintage guitar collection ... in court the judges asks her .. so first offender and she replies

No first the Gibson then the Fender
.

Chuck's style is SO iconic---it IS Rock 'n' Roll guitar! And though his playing is pretty basic, not requiring a lot of chops, remember the scene in "Hail Hail Rock & Roll" where Keith is playing the guitar part in "Oh Carol" (I think it was), which starts with the strings "bent" up for the first note? Keith mistakenly plays the strings unbent, then bends them up to the note. Chuck repeatedly shows Keith how to play the part correctly, and Keith just can't do it! Rock 'n' Roll may not be "hard" to play, but it's hard to play "right"! Dave Edmunds has mastered Chuck's style, and there are many others who obviously use it as the base for their style, Keith being number one.

i generally agree with marty (which is usually good policy). i think chuck berry is probably the second (or third or fourth) greatest lyricist ever, and his influence on other guitarists is unquestionable. personally, however, i never really dug his guitar style--to me it's repetitive and narrow, and not in the hypnotic bo diddley way. a lot of folks, myself included, always believed that his piano player was the real defining element of his sound.

I kinda take both sides on this point.

Check this thread. How many mentions of Chuck do you see? (I think I mentioned him, so I'll pat myself on the back.) That near absence from a pretty savvy 'goner thread on this very subject makes him under-appreciated, no?

Conversely, Chuck is widely admired (and often revered) by those who play rock music on electric guitar. A large number of the '60s first-gen guitar heros cite him as a major influence. My favorite quote on this subject came from George Thorogood (who only did covers, not originals, for many, many years). When an interviewer asked him why he didn't write his own songs, GT replied:

"Because Chuck Berry has already written all of the great rock n roll songs."

Still, the non-playing fans of guitar music tend to overlook him somewhat. So, depending on the crowd you're polling, he may or may not qualify as under-appreciated.

Just my take.

I think Chuck gets too little credit from the average person and average guitarist for his contributions. I have no doubt that folks like Keith and Dave appreciate him. I'm sure he was their idol. Chuck's songs are mini-wonders. Each one tells a complete story in two minutes with lots of catchy scraps of singing and playing. Who knows what he could have done had his career not been interrupted by his incarceration.

Frogman, check your link. I always liked the foxes on the trampoline.

Some of the most amazing guitar playing by Wes Montgomery on this record; amazing nuance, direction and shape in his solos. And that tone! Check out his "comping" while Jimmy Smith solos.

https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=AQrcyI8zIOw

Chuck Berry underappreciated?! I believe everyone acknowledges Chuck as THE model for Rock & Roll guitar playing. Keith Richards certainly does, as well as the guy whom I feel optimized Chuck's style, Dave Edmunds.

When I wrote

"I wasn't suggesting that that's true of Chuck."

in my last post, I probably should have written: "I wasn't attempting to suggest that..." I can see how it's been read to mean that, but it wasn't my intention when I wrote it. Just a bad choice of words.

To be clear - I wasn't attempting to dis Chuck in my post. My Page comment was more in the way of noting that some very famous music often gets misattributed. Page borrowed whole songs (albeit often with brilliant new arrangements) and never credited the original songwriter. I wasn't suggesting that that's true of Chuck.

However, it is true that Chuck Berry remains (deservedly) an iconic guitarist. I agree that Chuck wrote the rules of rock n roll guitar. But, let's be fair - although Chuck Berry certainly put his own fingerprints on that lick, his single most recognizable passage was borrowed from the work of Carl Hogan.....who remains entirely anonymous.

I was focused more on the result than the artists' intent. If that was poorly worded - mea culpa.

Chuck set the standard for how to play rock and roll guitar. His style stood up for ten years till Hendrix defined the sound of the future. Chuck's stuff holds up even now IMO. An under-appreciated American musical hero.

Yea, and the first guy to fully crank up a small
guitar amp invented rock guitar sound.
I'm not meaning to be-little that little ditty.... but

When asked Chuck Berry would readily acknowledge where he got the lick. Furthermore, a lick does not constitute a songwriting credit, the standard is lyrics and/or a melody. Berry borrowed a riff, what Jimmy Page did was a whole 'nother thing.

I've taught that lick to kids a lot of times--there's at least as much of Chuck in there as there is of the other guy.

Absolutely Marty! I can't believe I had never heard of it until you just educated me.

Yes. That borrowed bit makes Jimmy Page look pristine in his songwriting credits. Pretty amazing that arguably the most famous guitar lick in rock n roll has been miscredited for 50! years, don't you think.

Marty---Ha! So Chuck "borrowed" that guitar song intro part from Carl, not just songs from Johnnie Johnson, ay?!

Here's the link to Louis Jorndan's "Ain't That Just Like A Woman"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEqiWTb-UWA

Note the intro.

Loomis, I had forgotten about "Sincerely". Double (at least!) tracked guitar, backwards tape, very creative. Marty, Louis Jordan is a lot of fun, used to play "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" in a band in the 70's. I just boxed up the CD's of his I have (preparing for a move) or I'd listen to "Woman" right now!

100% surely, the most under appreciated little guitar break ever:

Carl Hogan's intro on "Ain't That Just Like A Woman" by Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five. I can't link from this device, but check out the studio (not live where it's played by a horn) version on YouTube. I think you'll all recognize it pretty quickly.

"i'm on fire" is classic, but the real killer on that record is the guitar solo on "sincerely", which was played by roger linn, who designed all those pedals and electronics.

I'm on Fire is one fantastic tune. I remember hearing it on the slopes at Whistler mountain while skiing. What a riff!

Just yesterday I learned that Bill Pitcock IV died of Cancer back in 2011 at age 58. He was the guitarist in The Dwight Twilley Band, and played the great flurry-of-notes break in the middle of "I'm on Fire". Give it a listen---I'll guarantee you've never heard anything like it! His set-up was a Gibson ES335 directly into (no pedals) a stacked pair of Fender Deluxe Reverb amps with a digital delay between them. His tone was superb!

You're spot on Marty. There's the story about Sinatra introducing a song during a live show, calling it one of the greatest love songs ever written, attributing "Something" to L & M. Because it's a Beatles song he naturally assumed they wrote it. George is like Rodney Dangerfield.

I also love George's humility; when he would meet starstruck musicians he would say to them "Hey, I'm just like you. I just got lucky." Contrast that with Lennon's pronouncements that he was an "Artist". You're supposed to leave that to other people to say, John. Geez, have a little class, will ya?

There's another little guitar break (as opposed to a "solo") I have always loved, and which I would not be surprised to learn was George's model for his in "Nowhere Man". It's James Burton's in Ricky Nelson's "Young World". Same deal, just playing the melody, but it sounds SO great. And with tone to die for---the best I've ever heard!

Bdp,

I think it's easy to get lost when your bandmates are John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I also think that George is one of those understated players that tends to get overlooked/underrated, anyway. It's kinda the same same deal with his songwriting. In the case of "Something", I'd say that it's under appreciated on both fronts. Great song, fantastic little solo, but both might be sufficiently understated that neither gets its full due.

Rarely mentioned, or even thought of (because of our focus on technique rather than musicality?), is George Harrison. His song parts are exquisite, as are some of his solos. A particular favorite of mine is that in "Nowhere Man"---very simple, pretty much just the melody, but magnificent. Cool little harmonic played right at the end---so cool! And his tone---fantastic!

I have no real favorite but........ Two Emily Remler albums I highly recommend
are "East To Wes" and "Firefly"

Ah, the abusive lifestyle of rock musicians. I guess it comes with the territory sometimes, but you just gotta keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't catch up with the guys you care about.

I hadn't heard that one, Marty. I met Evan in the late 90's, and learned that he and Danny had played together in the 70's. Evan was the songwriter, singer, and second guitarist (everyone is second guitarist in Danny's presence!) in a group they had together in DC. Evan said Danny was the best musician he ever played with.

I did an album with Evan in the late 90's, getting to spend some time with him. He made a bunch of albums, three on Rykodisc, but I don't know how many are still in print. He's a true madman on guitar---he recorded with his Telecaster plugged straight into a blackface Super Reverb on 10. His first choice is a blackface Deluxe, but the studio didn't have one. The Super was in an isolation closet, and the engineer opened the door briefly with Evan playing---it sounded like a jet taking off. The loudest thing I've ever heard, and I saw Hendrix and The Who with Keith Moon! Actually, the loudest band I ever heard were The Kinks---Ray Davies' Telecaster plugged into a Hi-Watt stack was intensely painful.

Evan ate only once the entire week in Atlanta, the rest of the time sustaining himself by chain-drinking room temperature Bud in cans. He got to Atlanta a day before the rest of us, and when we passed the door of his room leaving the hotel our first morning, there were two 18-packs of empty Bud cans laying on the floor. We were supposed to go on the road to support the album, but upon getting back home to Vancouver B.C. (where he lived at the time), Evan didn't feel well and checked himself into the hospital, where he fell into a coma. The doctor told his woman to make funeral arrangements, Evan was in the final stage of liver failure. Three weeks later he woke up and walked out of the hospital. Turns out this had happened a couple of times before. Whatta nut! He lives in Austin Texas now, in what shape I don't know. If you ever get a chance to see him play, don't pass it up---who knows how much longer he'll be around!

Bdp,

Gatton holds a special place in my heart. What a player! His name brings a funny story to mind:

It may have been in the 1970s or 1980s at Fat Tuesday's (a club in NYC) that our group saw him play. On one song, Gatton tuned his guitar by ear while staring at the ceiling. We were close enough that my friend asked what he was looking at. He replied that, for the dropped tuning in that song, he tuned his low e string to the 60hz hum from the fluorescent lights. (Don't ask what he did at clubs without fluorescent lighting, I have no clue).

I understand that he injured himself in IIRC a welding accident and was never the same afterward. Some stories attribute his suicide (at least in part) to that as well.

Roy Clark is always a refreshing change of pace.Jawdroppinly good

I neglected to mention that Danny Gatton committed suicide years ago. But there are a number of his CD's available, the first one to get probably being the double-CD collection on WB, I believe it is. His sometimes-partner Evan Johns (also a maniac on guitar) told me Danny just wanted to stay home and work on his hot rods (something he had in common with Jeff Beck), playing around locally in bars, but that his nagging wife would not stop pushing him. Evan said Danny shot himself to get away from her!

I haven't read through all the answers, so forgive me if I'm duplicating others. For lyricism and funkiness it's hard to top Ry Cooder. His solo on John Hiatt's "Lipstick Sunset" is the most poetic I've ever heard. For Chuck Berry style Rock 'n Roll it would be Dave Edmunds (he plays like Keith Richards wishes he could, and in fact was one candidate for Brian Jones' replacement in The Stones). For virtuosity, there is a relatively obscure guitarist from the Washington D.C./Virginia area named Danny Gatton, a guitarists guitarist if there ever was one. Vince Gill (a fine guitarist himself) nick-named him "The Humbler"! Then there is a guy I'm sure others have already named, Jeff Beck.

Rich Robinson

Bob Dylan and Larry Packer.

Leo Kottke. I've liked every song he's played.

Bruce Cockburn is an underrated player,listen to Wondering Where the Lions Are.

Tostadosunidos,I feel the same as you do about Joe B. ,,,I just don't understand what everyone sees in him.I downloaded one of his albums for free online,and soon deleted every song. Each to his own I recon,,,
There are so many great players ,that I would have a hard time naming just one! I would say Jimi is still my all time favorite.
I have been enjoying a jazz artist named Paul Musso of late,,Very tasty stuff indeed!

Joe Pas is the best jazz guitar instructor. Have time I always hook up to his videos for practice.

Joe Pas,the master .

I have more recordings in my collection featuring Steve Hackett than any other so there you go, the numbers don't lie.

Next in line on taht count would be Chet Atkins I suppose.

I also do love listening to Robert Johnson play guitar, but so few recordings there to choose from.

Grant green for jazz. I live jerry garcia. For texas roadhouse blues anson finderberg. Fir modern blues rock big head todd is outstanding. The guitarist in the cure - simon gallup- is outstanding if you see them live.

Their are a lot of great ones. A few I like you don't hear often - Tommy Emanuel, Paco de Lucia, John McGlauphlin, Ry Cooder, and James Gurley.

I have to say, for all his obvious talent I see nothing remarkable about Bonamassa. He's been a head-scratcher so far for me. Can someone tell me what I'm missing?