Schenker's place in the guitar god hierarchy

mentoneman said:
good to see you around too brotahtoes!
oh man-sucky about health dings-sorry to hear. and cold crowded surf. GONG! i had to have surfer ear surgery from decades of cold cali water but the warm salty oahu water has been great.
but yeah i’ve been back home on oahu for a while now and just loving surfing and boogie boarding every chance i get! gtr takes a backseat when you are a surfer living in the epicenter of surfing!
i’m a local/unko at 4 of the best spots around the island (except Pipe/north shore scares me) but brah the barrels i score are real fun.
here’s a couple nuggies i got on the sponge at Sandy Beach🤙🏽 aloha!
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Nice!
 
mentoneman said:
forgot to mention becker. that guy had a bright future and a wonderful personality on guitar and in person. he brought the yngwie classical legato and sweep thing together with the gilbert picking and added his own sense of humor twist and american gunslinging. he also has really good vibrato which is often overlooked.

watching him in person unintentionally lap marty technically and tonefully over and over again at a clinic and cacophany gig, then drooling at the potential with roth. then attending his benefit concert shortly thereafter when he could not walk unassisted was heartbreaking.
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Becker was so good . I was just teaching the solo to Show Time . What a cool jazzy shred blues thing it is ! Pentatonic arpeggios are so fun in it
 
mentoneman said:
that’s awesome and he’s no slouch. his pursuit of classical and japanese melody is different. but for context marty used to live on oahu and he used to give lessons at a local guitar store and to a friend of mine at his house 3 blocks from where i lived. i also used to see him play at parties and clubs back then with his band Hawaii and he was an above average local player with a bit of an attitude and horrific tone. i had other player friends i loved way more. and the cacophany deal i saw was similar even though he had become a bigger shrapnel guy. but becker was peaking and sooooo good. but stoked to see marty very successful at what he did.
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Yep, Marty definitely progressed. He played in the courtyard during lunch when I was in high school - I think it was 82. It was 3/4 of his band Hawaii- I think they kicked the singer out just before - they just jammed instrumentals. But yeah, at the time I was more into Sacred Rite.
 
EVH and Hendrix are 1A and 1B to me in terms of greatness and impact. For EVH, you could take away Eruption, and then every dive bomb and all the tapping, and he would still be the most important rock player in my book. There was way more depth and versatility to his playing than what he offered up on those first two records. His rhythm playing alone puts him in a different league altogether.
 
this thread got me listening to jimi which i have not done in a very long time and i forgot just how good he is. i listened to machine gun set 1 and 2 new years 69 then the two sets from new years day at the filmore, each version is like a whole different song and equally as good. his soft playing is so gentile and soothing and his ripping stuff is like controlled chaos. he had a grease to his playing like no other
 
Jack Luminous said:
I know it's blasphemous but I still prefer Friedman's soloing. Don't know why.
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I do too. Friedman’s solos (like in Tornado of Souls, Hangar 18, Holy Wars, Symphony of Destruction) are so much better musically/compositionally. They just convey a lot more feeling in the notes. Becker had more impressive chops, but his leadwork didn’t have much to say and pretty predictable note choices. He played with great feel and vibrato, but the musical content itself of his leads weren’t very good imo
 
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littleguitars said:
EVH and Hendrix are 1A and 1B to me in terms of greatness and impact. For EVH, you could take away Eruption, and then every dive bomb and all the tapping, and he would still be the most important rock player in my book. There was way more depth and versatility to his playing than what he offered up on those first two records. His rhythm playing alone puts him in a different league altogether.
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I mostly agree except for the part about eruption. I remember first hearing it when I was 14 and if weren’t for the alien tapping section and dive bombs I for sure would never have remembered the piece. It’s to me basically just an obnoxious show-off noodle fest with a tapping section at the end that sounds amazing when you’re 14 (like I was at the time). I have much more appreciation now for his riffs and rhythm, but I still find his leads to sound obnoxious imho. Sadly so many players seemed to follow suit with that style of lead playing, so can’t deny the huge influence there, but it was in that case imo a bad influence
 
Funny thing. I got to listening to UFO last night, but instead of the Schenker era, I ended up listening to the two first psychedelic, space rock albums. Those are really good, but definitely trippy and not what I'd call great guitar work, but still fun.....
 
RaceU4her said:
this thread got me listening to jimi which i have not done in a very long time and i forgot just how good he is. i listened to machine gun set 1 and 2 new years 69 then the two sets from new years day at the filmore, each version is like a whole different song and equally as good. his soft playing is so gentile and soothing and his ripping stuff is like controlled chaos. he had a grease to his playing like no other
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Exactly. He never repeated himself. He was an incredible improvisor, yet he wasn't always 100% inspired, as you hear in the 4 different Machine Guns from 2 nights. A few of them ramble, the first show, first night is awesome, and the one we all know he was possessed. Channeling from lord knows where, he was able to recreate a moment in time w/ all it's sounds.
 
alan67 said:
Yep, Marty definitely progressed. He played in the courtyard during lunch when I was in high school - I think it was 82. It was 3/4 of his band Hawaii- I think they kicked the singer out just before - they just jammed instrumentals. But yeah, at the time I was more into Sacred Rite.
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Love Sacred Rite. Love their version of Eleanor Rigby!
 
braintheory said:
I do too. Friedman’s solos (like in Tornado of Souls, Hangar 18, Holy Wars, Symphony of Destruction) are so much better musically/compositionally. They just convey a lot more feeling in the notes. Becker had more impressive chops, but his leadwork didn’t have much to say and pretty predictable note choices. He played with great feel and vibrato, but the musical content itself of his leads weren’t very good imo
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Becker and Friedman were perfect for each either . Jason brought endless flow and counterpoint and Friedman balanced with off the wall phrasing . I think with the money and time they were given they came up with amazing stuff . Literally just weeks to do those albums as teens . Mind blowing
 
Techdeth said:
Becker and Friedman were perfect for each either . Jason brought endless flow and counterpoint and Friedman balanced with off the wall phrasing . I think with the money and time they were given they came up with amazing stuff . Literally just weeks to do those albums as teens . Mind blowing
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The Friedman stuff that did it for me was his leadwork with Megadeth. Definitely unique phrasing like you said. Jason of course was a very flow-y player. Maybe it’s my bias as a classical guitarist, but when Becker tried to be classical or when he used counterpoint, it imho just wasn’t very high quality. It was to me predicable and not musically inspiring. It was for me his playing itself and feel that impressed me. Some guys like him are great players, some are more great at making musical ideas (aka composers or improv), not many are truly masters at both. I can’t even name an example of someone that’s both honestly
 
MS is in my top 10. Unfortunately, like many of my heroes, has had a sordid past. A close friend worked for him for years and MS ended burning that working relationship in a real bad way.... bummer. But, he is playing so good these days.
I respect VH, just never really been a fan....
 
We've jumped all over in this thread but I like it...another fun fact, Friedman has said many times how he thinks Hendrix is the most overrated guitar player of all time. He just doesn't get him and he doesn't hear anything special. I love that he has the balls to just say it as it is and stick to it today. Personally, I think hendrix was fantastic. Love his rythm playing, groove, and the tone he got just stacking pedals and making noise. Amazing band too. Lead wise, he was " good" but never blew me away in that department.
 
Fusionbear said:
MS is in my top 10. Unfortunately, like many of my heroes, has had a sordid past. A close friend worked for him for years and MS ended burning that working relationship in a real bad way.... bummer. But, he is playing so good these days.
I respect VH, just never really been a fan....
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What's the story there? Are you able to share it? There are many stories about MS though. I think I remember reading a story about his drunk days where he would lock himself up in a room weeks at a time getting drunk and playing guitar with his feet just to be able to do it. Just bizarre stuff. Or destroying his guitars in fits of rage etc... probably has some issues in his past which only his brother knows about. They also have a strange relationship. 🤔 makes you wonder who the problem is when so many people have stories about you..
 
Kapo_Polenton said:
We've jumped all over in this thread but I like it...another fun fact, Friedman has said many times how he thinks Hendrix is the most overrated guitar player of all time. He just doesn't get him and he doesn't hear anything special. I love that he has the balls to just say it as it is and stick to it today. Personally, I think hendrix was fantastic. Love his rythm playing, groove, and the tone he got just stacking pedals and making noise. Amazing band too. Lead wise, he was " good" but never blew me away in that department.
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I am one that doesn’t get the Hendrix thing either. There are some songs I like and we have covered some stuff over the years, but never thought much about it. Starting to play in 1980, more likely was already influenced by the players he influenced.
 
Kapo_Polenton said:
We've jumped all over in this thread but I like it...another fun fact, Friedman has said many times how he thinks Hendrix is the most overrated guitar player of all time. He just doesn't get him and he doesn't hear anything special. I love that he has the balls to just say it as it is and stick to it today. Personally, I think hendrix was fantastic. Love his rythm playing, groove, and the tone he got just stacking pedals and making noise. Amazing band too. Lead wise, he was " good" but never blew me away in that department.
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I totally agree with Marty (Marty is one of my favorite lead players fwiw). I always liked Hendrix and of course thought he was good, but it was shocking to me to see him consistently be on all these lists of best guitarists of all time. Really? I mean I always liked him, but never saw him on that level, but I also see being innovative/creative and a great guitarist as 2 different things. What I liked best of Hendrix music-wise and playing-wise was his cover of "All Along The Watchtower". There was other stuff I liked by him, but that was the one that I thought was really great
 
I'm amazed that people that play guitar on this forum don't get or think the Schenker thing is all that . Hendrix, Van halen and all these guys have their strong suit and niches but listen to MSG or UFO and let me know if Eddie could play that melodic on his best day.

Hate to sound like a Fanboy but he's still kicking serious ass in 2022 as he is on the downside of his 60's !!!!
 
Panhead5 said:
I'm amazed that people that play guitar on this forum don't get or think the Schenker thing is all that . Hendrix, Van halen and all these guys have their strong suit and niches but listen to MSG or UFO and let me know if Eddie could play that melodic on his best day.

Hate to sound like a Fanboy but he's still kicking serious ass in 2022 as he is on the downside of his 60's !!!!
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I’m a fanboy myself so I’m good with all this lol . Was just listening to a live show today from1981 part of the bootleg box set. Man he was on fire. Some of the stuff he’s done with his career makes me scratch my head but it’s his career
 
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