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14K views 82 replies 48 participants last post by  devilsled 
#1 ·
"Back in the day" we had the guys like Satch and Vai, and Nuno and George Lynch, plus guys like Scott Ian from Anthrax and the guys from Metallica and Megadeth.

But...

Who are the guys that the 15 year olds want to grow up to be?

The UK guitar magazine try to convince us it's Trivium and Avenged Sevenfold, but for those of us who are younger or who teach the young guns, who are today's guitar heroes?
 
#3 ·
i think mark tremontis playing is awsome, yeah its not satch/vai/yngwie etc but i think as a whole his body of work is impessive (solos less so in creed), also i heard an instrumental track that he did and it was a shread fest in comparison to his album playing which i believe is restrained sticking in the vein of heavy rock playing more than shread.
 
#7 ·
Well, I teach a lot of young 'uns and frankly, their guitar heroes are all over the map. I've got a college age guy into JP, Gilbert, Dimebag etc. I've got a 16 year old who is into Timmons, Satch and BB King. The majority of students I have are into bands (a lot of them emo) more than they are players. I think if they are exposed to some of the great players they enjoy it, but for the most part it's a band thing right now if I had to grossly generalize it all. :)

paul
 
#8 ·
That's what I've found too. Some of the kids had their heroes (Between 12-15 it seems to be Jimmy Page, Slash and Angus Young, and I had a 10 year old student whose heroes were BB King, Frank Zappa, Robert Johnson, Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads), but mostly it was bands. YouTube has changed everything, and kids just don't discover music the same way we did. I can't wait to hear the music that comes out of this era of learners.
 
#13 ·
Paul Waggoner of Between the Buried and Me
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta

are the two biggest influences on my playing for current bands.

if youre looking for new straight nothing but theorynerd-shred guitar heroes i dont think you will find them. this doesnt mean there arent prodigy guitar players out there (in fact there are more now than ever). The style has moved on, and people are taking influence from the previous shredders, and incorporating it into songs/music that is more complete as a whole besides just straight shredding. dont get me wrong, i have immense respect for, and love, the old guitar heroes. I just feel there is more creative stuff being created today and I have moved on.
 
#14 ·
In the USA

Country, Blues, Classical and Jazz always have new up and comers...

Don't write off Country, there are amazing players out there. Studio players, touring players, and band affiliated guys.

50 years ago there were a ton of saxophone and trumpet guys who tore it up...
There are still guys today who do that only in a different forum and of course a smaller percentage.

Guitar I think will always be like that...You'll always need a guitarist for Country, Blues, Classical and Jazz. Maybe Rock too, we'll have to see. :)

Outside the USA I'd bet it is a lot different...
 
#15 ·
and remember, just because corporate radio/most available music is crappy these days doesnt mean there arent TONS of good bands and guitar players in the underground. i probably purchased 20GB of new albums last year alone of bands that you would never hear on the radio that i enjoyed.
 
#18 ·
It's true, it's cooler nowadays to listen to non-commercial unsung bands.

Anyways here are some thoughts:

One way to look at this is to take into consideration the "cycle" that will be created based on the "artist-listener effect". Check out John Mayer. Probably, people nowadays might not be listening to music that has blues roots in it and I do believe that John's music catered in a new generation of nu-blues lovers. Plus, I'm sure someday somebody will mention his name as one of their inspirations or list him in their top 10 guitarist list.

If Generalized: It as kind of like a cycle thing. Somebody started playing and record something, influence somebody and then the later starts recording something different, influence someone else who will in the future inspire someone else!

Admit it guys, we all always want to look cool holding the guitar like some guitar hero (...)
 
#16 ·
oh I am so a guitar hero ;) lol. No, I say Guthrie and Dave Weiner are the only ones that really come to mind. Who knows maybe someone will show up out of nowhere or maybe I'll get somewhere in the music industry (after I have a well paying job with a good degree that is)
I would like to see more bass heroes like Jaco, but I see better odds of a great guitarist coming since a lot of people at least try to play guitar
 
#17 ·
fact is during the 80's, it was cool to be into guitarists like Vai and satriani who played only instrumental music. Boy was I in love with them as a teen, but now days, it seems the reason why guitar is back in trends is more due to the fact that metal is back in a big way, and that requires skill on the guitar.
 
#20 ·
I don't think we have any...

Being a guitar hero, at least for me, isn't only about the playing. It's about starstatus, the touch of weirdness, charisma, etc.

I'm the first to "fall in love" with guthrie govan's playing.. But he isn't the GuitarRockGod that drinks his cucumber smoothie in a nuns outfit while penetrating an entire cheerleading team with a headstock sort of guy.. :D
 
#26 ·
Any guitar hero who wasn't more interested in his hairstyle just kept on improving. Holdsworth and Gambale. Those are two guys who have improved with age, as any musician should. But, alas, they are not considered guitar gods by the mainstream.

Guthrie Govan is one of the better players around nowadays, but on the other hand, Guthrie's been around for a long time already. He isn't exactly "new", he's only new to the younger generation.

I almost agree with Ibanez249 when he says no one has passed the torch yet. This is kinda true. They don't make guitar heroes like Yngwie and Vai any more. That's not to say they are heroes of mine (hell no! I grew out of listening to them long ago), and I believe there are better players out there, only their haircuts aren't as good. That's the difference, I suppose.

Tony MacAlpine shouldn't be forgotten. He played neo-classical in the early days and then turned himself into a fantastic fusion guitarist. Check out his albums with Planet X and CAB. Have Yngwie and Vai improved and grown as musicians like that? I don't think they have. Their best work was done long ago, and everything is different now. Nobody wants to prance around in Lycra and be a guitar hero!
 
#27 ·
Tony MacAlpine shouldn't be forgotten. He played neo-classical in the early days and then turned himself into a fantastic fusion guitarist. Check out his albums with Planet X and CAB. Have Yngwie and Vai improved and grown as musicians like that? I don't think they have. Their best work was done long ago, and everything different now. Nobody wants to prance around in Lycra.
Excellent point.

But can you imagine Yngwie playing jazz? :lol:
 
#29 ·
I think (IMHO) Buckethead has the persona, the attitude and the chops to be one of the today's giutar heros. He's a hell of a poser (starting from his hat) and an ever better player: from performing late Lane's " One note at a time" to constant collaborations with other artists and acts... well, hats off to Buckethead (No sir, we don't wear those buckets as you do :oops:. Should we wear them to improve our playing..?:wink:)
 
#36 ·
I think Buckethead sucks. Sorry. He is no hero in any way. I could never look up to someone who wears a KFC hat... Also technically he is a perfect player but everything I listen to that he played has no feel and warmth at all. Yes technically it is perfect and complex music, but there is no feeling whatsoever.

I agree that Kiko Loureiro is absolutely awesome. Due to kotornut mentioning him in one of my threads I listened to his album and his band and have to say this guy really rocks.

But to me Satch and Vai are still the real heroes. Vai still can play complex music and make it feel alive and warm. (He has the edge in feeling that buckethead is missing.)
Satch to me has become the bigger hero lately as he is stepping back from showing off his shredding skills, to write real fun and enjoy music. Everyone knows he can be real fast, so now he concentrates on the composition part and that I really love. His new albums are awesome.
 
#33 ·
I think Michael Amott of arch enemy is a new guitar hero his playing is very unique for metal and really good.

I also think Kiko Loureiro should be considered, but his band is virtually unknown in the states.

But I can't think of too many that in my estimation are guitar heros. Some amazing players but no one really, really unique and ground breaking.
 
#42 ·
Guitar heroes don't necessarily need to be technically proficient. They need to inspire in a heroic manner, those that are the musical recipient.

Tom DeLonge, and Billi Jo Armstrong were as much heroes to those that picked up the guitar because they were inspired to do so as Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley were to me at one point. I hate Aces' playing today, fact is I probably wouldn't have picked up a guitar without him though...
 
#44 ·
Wow Satch and Vai are even more heroes to me for NOT being in the guitar hero game. If you need to sink that low, like KFC buddy, to get into a ****ty game to be famous.... Then you deserve to get loughed at by anyone. I can imagine though that for the game to have an idiot player stand out it makes total sense, I agree that any 6 year old prolly loughs their had off about Buckethead.

To quote Vai: Why be a Popstar when I can do this? -> "Plays Building the Church".

If you are such a sucker about how well known a guitarist is, then Richie Sambora, Jeff Beck, Clapton, Hetfield etc. should be your heroes. IMHO none of them comes close to the virtuosity of Satch or Vai, but to the average American anyone of them is more known than Satch or Vai. (Not that any of them is bad, on the contrary I like some of them a lot, but they are not my heroes.)
 
#45 ·
I'm with the guy who said nobody passed the torch yet.
There are good players today, players that haven't been in the spotlight for long... but let's face it, the era of the guitar hero is long gone.
In the 60s, 70s and 80s people really looked up to guitar players. Most of the music of that era was possible only because of a particular player in a particular band. The guitarist often had a sort of frontman-status, and defined the sound (think eg Hendrix, Clapton, Van Halen, Malmsteen).
These days most popular rock/metal music is very generic. I don't even know the names of a lot of guitar players of rock/metal bands today...

I would say that Slash was the last guitar hero. And with that I mean Slash in the GnR-times. He was unique, instantly identifiable, and defined the sound of GnR for a big part. Perhaps not the greatest guitar player that ever lived, but he certainly was above average, and was doing something that nobody else did at the time, and had a truly iconic appearance.
 
#46 ·
I have to totally agree. Slash may not be the perfect player, but he has so much tone and music wise in him which is really neat. He created his own style and as you say: When he starts playing, you immediately know -> Slash.
The second Velvet Revolver album is also very nice and promising, it is not where the old GnR were, but you can tell that he is getting his act together again. I think Slash did not fire all his guns yet and maybe the third VR album will surprise us again.
 
#48 ·
I think the comment on the fragmented character of today's music industry is very true. Letting go of the "guitar hero" concept, which may very well be too trend-based, and venture into the world of superstars.
We don't have any !
Sure, a lot of people know britney spears, but she is not a superstar in the sense of superstars like Michael Jackson once was. She is just starring in the "britney spears" show.
Superstars have changed from talented performers known to everyone from ages 8 to 88 , to the centerpoint of marketing campaigns.
Today, the true "stars" are the producers, for instance "Timbaland" comes to mind. Writing "songs" for a magnitude of different artists in different genres.
With the current financially driven market, there is no more room for superstars, setting and following a quick trend, set by a producer, produces most money. Not keeping the "star" involved for long, enables the labels to switch as often as they like, once the trend flies over, replace them! Even pays can remain lower for the "star".
Since talent is no longer a requisite, neither to the label, nor to the public, the need for superstars has been killed in favour of the desperate attempts of the major labels to keep their income in the MP3 war.
 
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