Underrated Guitarists...

Jeff Beck-Himself
Steve Howe-Yes
Urma Kaukonen-jefferson airplane, hot tuna.
Robert Fripp-King Krimson
Trey Anastasio-Phish
Frank Zappa-The mothers of invention
Eddie van he…oh wait we said UNDER rated.

Underrated… Mark Tremonti from Creed.

Define “underrated”.

Many of these guitar players are “A-List”.

Beck? Zappa? Fripp? Lifeson? Uli Jon Roth?

These guys are the cream of the crop! I’ve been playing for over 20 years and I’ve never heard these names and ‘underrated’ in the same sentence.

I don’t think that we’re all on the same page here.

To be sure, “underrated” != “little known”

Overlooked, maybe?

When I think “underrated”, I think of Prince or Keith Urban or James Hetfield or Malcolm Young or — The folks who write or play songs and you would never think that it’s them or that they had the level of skill they have or would normally associate as ‘guitar player’. Some of the greatest rhythm guitars are the ones you don’t hear until they stop playing.

Did someone actually say Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, and Eric Johnson are underrated? Jesus.

Chris Hannah - Propagandhi

[quote]Rocky101 wrote:

Micheal Schenker[/quote]

I’ve always liked him.

I’ll throw in Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. I think he gets some crap for not being the greatest technical player, but most of the technical guys can’t compose for crap. And I like his style.

Alright steelyd. How about dispatch?

[quote]Ronsauce wrote:
Are they the guitar players from a bunch of death/black/Scandinavian/whatever other kind of metal bands?

Do they actually stand out in addition to be technically proficient? I’m getting pretty sick and tired of guitarist that can shred but can’t infuse their playing with any kind of emotion. It gets really boring really quickly.[/quote]

The ones I mentioned above, they all have the technical skills but they never overshadow the music, ESPECIALLY Marco and Jorn.

What about Dispatch?

yeah to echo SteelyD here, let’s not confuse “underrated” with “not well known in the mass (non-guitar playing) public”.

Jeff Beck is a legend in the guitar world, not underrated at all. same thing with most of the guitarists mentioned in this thread.

a few mentioned earlier who ARE underrated even in the guitar world are the likes of: Keith Urban, Prince (incredible), Jake E. Lee.

Peter Green.

Nils Lofgren

Lindsey Buckingham - Fleetwood Mac

Jorma Koukonen - Hot Tuna

John Mayer

Barry Bailey - Atlanta Rhythm Section

Randy Bachman - BTO, Listen to the solo on Blue collar

Adrian Gurvitz - Baker Gurvitz Army

Tony Iommi - Black Sabbath

JJ Cale

Drew Abbott - Silver Bullet Band

Bruce Cockburn

Chris Whitley

Dave Edmunds

Mick Ronson - David Bowie

Eddie Hazel - Funkadelic

Paul Langlois & Rob Baker - The Tragically Hip

Harvey Mandel

Jerry Douglas

John Fogerty

John Haitt

Cesar Rosas & David Hildago - Los Lobos

Leslie West

Paul Barrere & Fred Tackett - Little Feat

Phil Manzanera

Robben Ford

Ron Wood - Rolling Stones, Keith Richards gets all the attention

Steve Kimock

Steve Winwood - Famous, but not for his guitar

Tommy Bolan

Tim Armstrong - Rancid

Tim Reynolds - Dave Mathews Band

Rory Gallagher.

I’d say Tony Iommi is overrated. His tone isn’t very good and his playing is quite sloppy.

Sure he gets points for writing some decent riffs in Black Sabbath, but I’d hardly say he’s underrated.

[quote]Testy1 wrote:
Eddie Hazel - Funkadelic
[/quote]

Good call. P-Funk is not the first band to come to mind when you think of ‘guitar’, but when Eddie dropped out of the mix, there was a gaping hole.

[quote]Testy1 wrote:
Steve Winwood - Famous, but not for his guitar
[/quote]

Perfect example of an excellent ‘non-guitarist’. Check him jamming at Clapton’s Crossroads concert.

Dear Mr. Fantasy:

Crossroads (@ 3:00 in):

John Petrucci - Dream Theater

[quote]detazathoth wrote:
Al Di Meola - Egyptian Danza (Live) - YouTube [/quote]

Agree he’s great, but who says he isn’t highly rated?

[quote]Ronsauce wrote:
I’d say Tony Iommi is overrated. His tone isn’t very good and his playing is quite sloppy.

Sure he gets points for writing some decent riffs in Black Sabbath, but I’d hardly say he’s underrated.[/quote]

Yeah but isn’t he missing a finger so he had to tune everything lower to begin with? Not sure on that story.

For whoever mentioned Prince, good call. His halftime show in 2007 was incredible. Playing Purple Rain, in the rain? Really a once in a lifetime kind of performance.

[quote]acelio wrote:
John Petrucci - Dream Theater[/quote]

Hardly “underrated” :slight_smile:

Alex Lifeson, although highly lauded as an excellent guitarist, is underrated simply due to the company he keeps. Neil is considered one of, if not the best rock drummer in history, and Geddy is so good that Les Claypool looks up to him.

Its like a Maserati next to a couple of Ferrari Endos. All amazing cars, but one is going to get slightly less attention than the other two.