Better Guitarist... Clapton or Vaughan?

[Homercidal]

I remember the intimidation story, but couldn't place it. Thanks for the reminder. I 've loved Clapton since 'Fresh Cream', but I get more excited about SRV needle drops now. Maybe I 'm played out...'Stairway to Heaven ' syndrome, perhaps. Nobody has mentioned Jorma Kaukonen or David Bromberg yet: two awesome guitarists and great performers to boot. Any list has to include Jeff Beck: the guitar players guitar player.

Odd. I have not heard Jeff Beck and liked it. Maybe I am in need of further study.

 

[stratslinger]

I wonder why Les Paul himself named Zakk as one of the greatest of all times? I am not comparing Zakk from his Ozzy days. Listen to some of his blues from Black Label Society. Plus all of this is strictly just a matter of opinion. I myself really enjoy the acoustic blues work from Zakk. SRV sure could make that Fender talk.

Also keep in mind that, if you listen to old Les Paul recordings, he's the type of guitarist who likes to play a lot of fast scale-like runs all over the place. Kind of similar to a lot of Wylde's material that I'm familiar with. Lots of technical wow-factor, not as much soul - as opposed to guys like Vaughan or Clapton who were (or are) great technicians but can also pull great emotion out of their instruments - and are equally happy sitting back and playing laid back, chord-based leads if and when the songs call for it.

A lot of time, it's what they DON'T play that tells you how good the musician is. Maybe better put, it's what they're willing to not play, if that makes sense. Wylde, as much as I do enjoy lots of his music, strikes me as the type of guitarist who feels like he has to fill up every second with loud and fast runs or crazy assed pinched harmonics. Which all have their place, don't get me wrong. But sometimes you wanna sit back and listen to a "Lenny" or a "Tears in Heaven", and I've never seen either in his repertoire.

 

[unionrdr]

I think Stevie Ray is better in terms of authenticity of style. He wanted to play just like the old timers did in terms of style. Clapton is more blues/rock fusion. Or just flat out I IV V rock. Stevie ray is also known as the king of the shuffle beat. Check out "Pride & Joy" or "Cold Shot" for an example.

 

[Stocktonbrew]

Srv

 

[frozennorth]

They are truly in different worlds. Clapton is a slow blues man, easy. Stevie hammers out a pure blues hammer to your senses, hard. Stevie has it in my book, but Clapton is the man though. Stevie at Carnegie Hall and Clapton on Riding With the King are two of my favorites.

 

[GrogNerd]

Odd. I have not heard Jeff Beck and liked it. Maybe I am in need of further study.

find a video of him playing. it looks like he puts so little effort into doing such amazing things. he makes it look just so friggin dang easy, watching him sometimes makes me want to put down the guitar forever.

Also keep in mind that, if you listen to old Les Paul recordings, he's the type of guitarist who likes to play a lot of fast scale-like runs all over the place. Kind of similar to a lot of Wylde's material that I'm familiar with. Lots of technical wow-factor, not as much soul - as opposed to guys like Vaughan or Clapton who were (or are) great technicians but can also pull great emotion out of their instruments - and are equally happy sitting back and playing laid back, chord-based leads if and when the songs call for it.

A lot of time, it's what they DON'T play that tells you how good the musician is. Maybe better put, it's what they're willing to not play, if that makes sense. Wylde, as much as I do enjoy lots of his music, strikes me as the type of guitarist who feels like he has to fill up every second with loud and fast runs or crazy assed pinched harmonics. Which all have their place, don't get me wrong. But sometimes you wanna sit back and listen to a "Lenny" or a "Tears in Heaven", and I've never seen either in his repertoire.

listen to Book of Shadows. it's not BLS, but Zakk solo. it's a perfect showcase of a wider range of styles than you've probably heard from him. not all just exercises in jamming NPMs (notes per measure) into a solo.

as for OP, I really can't listen to much Clapton anymore. Bluesbreakers and Cream, heck yes. plus some Derek & the Dominos and deeper cuts off Slowhand. but other than Unplugged, his 80s stuff and beyond is unlistenable to me.

Music, for me, died in 1990 on a hillside in East Troy, WI. At least contemporary music. Since then, I rarely listen to new music, even from bands and musicians I enjoyed before. It wasn't sudden or even a conscious decision. I didn't say to myself, "oh, SRV is gone, I can't stand new music anymore." I didn't even notice it until years later.

long story short: SRV

but my real guitar hero is Rik Emmett. can't really name a straight-up blues tune he's played. Maybe "Young Enough to Cry" from Just a Game, unique in that it's 3/4 time. otherwise, he excels in 3 different genres: hard rock, archtop jazz and classical guitar. he also does sappy love songs and catchy pop tunes

 

[unionrdr]

Late great number one caster blaster, take two;

 

[zbbfreak19]

Of those two I would say srv, Clapton while great just never played with the raw emotion that Stevie did. I have been very lucky at a fairly young age (39) to have seen a few legends, my who's who of guitarists include, Clapton, Jeff beck, bonnamassa , evh, mike Campbell from the heartbreakers ( very underrated), brad paisley, Keith urban, and John Mayer. I have also seen bob marleys band the wailers, Robert Plant. I have missed for various reasons zz top, Aerosmith, and acdc


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[stratslinger]

Glad someone brought up Brad Paisley - I think he gets overlooked an awful lot simply because he's a country artist and lots of people just don't pay so much attention to that style of music. But just to listen to some of his guitar work... Dude's a beast. I wouldn't put him on the same level as just about any true blues artist - the emotion just isn't there, and that's really important in my book. But on a technical level, he's hard to match.

 

[Homercidal]

Without trying to derail the thread, I want to mention that a simple Googel search for Backing Tracks, or Jam Tracks, will result in a nice variety of webpages that will provide music to play your guitar along with. There are usually a large genres of styles and keys to choose from. Last night I earned a nice little blister on my finger from trying out a lot of them. Combination of not plyaing enough, and not knowing when to quit!

Some sites might even have "Karaoke for Guitar" type songs to jam with. Otherwise it's fairly generic tunes.