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Changing of the guard

2K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  Takin' a Ride 
#1 · (Edited)
The year 2013 is going to be the true begining of the changing of the guard.

Steve Vai may have had a huge impact on the development of the 7 String Guitar. Korn and the guys from Slipknot definately had an impact on the masses and progressed the use of 7 String guitars. Their success allowed more 7 string guitars to be accessable at a reasonable cost.

The new breed of players such as Tosin Abasi who are playing 8 and 9 string guitars are on another level all together. Guys like Tosin are using the 7 and 8th strings to full effect, not just palm muting the top string.

Now that 8 (and 9) string guitars have became a lot more accesable, no thanks to this years line up from Ibanez, one can only wonder were this level of music will end.

As these guitars become accessable to todays younger generation of players, who seem to want to learn the instrument to a level of proficiency not seen since the glory days of the 80s when guitars players wanted to be the best they could be on the instrument, we are going be able to sit back and listen to a real change in music.

Thanks Ibanez for developing the guitar and for the giving players the new kinds of tools needed to push past the envelope.

Now lets get out there and play!

Sorry for sounding like an add for Ibanez, I am just a bit excited about guitar today. It feels great.

-Wolfram
 
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#3 ·
The interesting thing will be whether the changes in the music industry and the rapid pace at which things move due to the ubiquity of the internet will allow the establishment of new "guitar heroes" like we had "back in the day".

I'd be interested to see which of Ibanez's endorsers sells a) the most guitars for them, and b) the most music.

The guys from Asking Alexandria (who I remember being ridiculed for their look just a couple of years ago) now have signature models, but how many of these guitars will sell compared to the flagship of Ibanez's lineup the JEM7VWH? Conversely how many records will Steve Vai sell these days compared to guys who get in the charts or are on major labels?
 
#10 ·
I'd be interested to see which of Ibanez's endorsers sells a) the most guitars for them, and b) the most music.

The guys from Asking Alexandria (who I remember being ridiculed for their look just a couple of years ago) now have signature models, but how many of these guitars will sell compared to the flagship of Ibanez's lineup the JEM7VWH? Conversely how many records will Steve Vai sell these days compared to guys who get in the charts or are on major labels?
A very interesting juxtaposition.
 
#4 ·
In my opinion, 7 strings are hear to stay, 8 and 9 string guitars are a fad.
I bet less than 10% of the guitar players out there will ever own one.
The sounds get so low that the average listener can't even understand what the heck is going on.
Guitar amps were not designed to play that low and sound good.
There is not really any hope for chords covering the lower strings and sounding good either.
I feel getting lower and lower is not doing much for the guitar.
 
#6 ·
having owned an 8 string i can say that they aren't that easy to play. I have large hands and zero problems with any 6 string but the 8 was just too sluggish feeling for me. Active pickups help with definition but most guitar amps can't handle the lows. The only way i found that i liked the 8 string was through a powered PA speaker or keyboard amp with sub using an effects unit like a line 6 pod or something simular.

7 strings are here to stay. They offer an effective balance of heavy and clarity. They aren't so low that they are mushy and the low b can be handled easily by most amps.

I clicked on this thread thinking that you had got a new pickguard.... changing of the (pick)guard... lol
 
#12 ·
Lets not loose our heads here. tosin hasn't written any hits, or been in any famous bands like Vai.... I think its a way off before he takes over, if thats even ever gona happen... Vai revolutionised shredding, tosin is still shredding just on 2 more strings, which isn't all that new as others have been doing so also..
 
#14 ·
There will probably never be another Van Halen/Joe Satriani/Steve Vai situation. Pretty much everything that can be done (in terms of guitar heros) already has been, and the state of the music industry basically negates any sudden 'massive worldwide stars' unless you're a ****ty overhyped pop act.

Tosin is an interesting guitarist, but until he (or AAL) change their style to be interesting to the mainstream listener, he/they aren't going to experience that widespread acclaim/adoration.

I disagree that there is going to be any 'changing of the guard' simply by having more strings available. If anything, things will stay the same for a lot longer because of the 'tune it lower/**** yeah, more strings!' mentality. We need innovative, INTERESTING playing to really change things, and that just isn't really happening yet.
 
#18 ·
There will probably never be another Van Halen/Joe Satriani/Steve Vai situation. Pretty much everything that can be done (in terms of guitar heros) already has been, and the state of the music industry basically negates any sudden 'massive worldwide stars' unless you're a ****ty overhyped pop act.
I wonder how many people thought like this after Hendrix threw a guitar over his shoulder? If Van Halen, Rhoads, Satriani or Vai thought that everything had already been done on guitar were would we be now?

As much as the internet has changed the way we obtain music and listen to it, which has led to the current 'state of the music industry', it has also made music more accessable. In some ways when a tape (ha remember those) used to get handed around and copied you were restricted to a local area or scene of music, in that the tape needed to get passed from one hand to another before the music spread. Combined with touring, bands then got signed and were then launched.

Now with the myriad of bands and music so easily available on the interenet you can pass on a link to massive amounts of users so quickly. Far faster than tape. If the music is good, people will listen and you don't need a record label for that. Coupled with the reduced cost of recording versus the quality of a recording an artist could get a huge following just recording from their loungeroom. The downside is that people may pick and choose all the easy listening songs and may be less inclined to dig deeper in to the theme of an artist or band. Thus reducing their longevity.

This in turn may make it harder for the next Van Halen or Vai'esque guitar hero to keep up writing great hits but I figure if they are truly great (and have some luck ) they will prevail. Plus youbcan never beat a truly great live show. I am pretty sure to fully appreciate Hendrix you had to see see him live. It is hard to see him setting fire to a guitar from vinyl......but he didn't have YouTube, imagine how much bigger he could have been.

-Wolfram
 
#15 ·
guys like satriani vai and van halen got 6 stings, mastered them, became famous with them and changed the way of guitar playing WITH a 6 string... thay took what was given and totaly changed it they didnt asked for somethink more or somethink better to play more or play better... i think thats what matters, play somethink new on somethink that people think that everythink was played!! Vai played with a 7 string after revolutioning the way guitar was played becouse he probably already played everythink HE could play on the 6 string
 
#17 ·
I still can't get behind the idea of taking a 7, 8, or 9-string guitar, then dropping the tuning down ridiculously low. How many threads have we see about, "What gauge strings should I use on my 7-String Ibanez 25.5" scale so I can play in F# with a drop E? 13's just seem too loose..." Really? I recently joined a thrash band that sounds very heavy. Imagine my surprise when I asked them, "OK, what do I have to tune to?" and they simply replied, "We just tune to standard concert pitch with 6-strings." It IS possible to sound heavy without Uber-drop-tuning.

I think Bill Cosby said it best... "Speak English and pull your pants up!"
 
#20 ·
I still can't get behind the idea of taking a 7, 8, or 9-string guitar, then dropping the tuning down ridiculously low. How many threads have we see about, "What gauge strings should I use on my 7-String Ibanez 25.5" scale so I can play in F# with a drop E? 13's just seem too loose..." Really? I recently joined a thrash band that sounds very heavy. Imagine my surprise when I asked them, "OK, what do I have to tune to?" and they simply replied, "We just tune to standard concert pitch with 6-strings." It IS possible to sound heavy without Uber-drop-tuning.

I think Bill Cosby said it best... "Speak English and pull your pants up!"
good point. I still think the heaviest music was in standard or 1/2 step..
 
#19 ·
I still say three guys changed rock guitar music.
Chuck Berry.
Jimi Hendrix.
Eddie Van Halen.
I think it pretty much ends there; at least for now. I like Animals As Leaders but, IMO, I liked TMac's last album much better. And shredding is cool but after a while it just starts to sound like audio mastrubation. You take a guy like Tosin and a guy like Al DiMeola and put them on stage in front of people and I'm betting Al has more general appeal - even though they arguably do the same thing. It's all in the presentation.
And 8's are a bitch to play; and my hands are pretty big. It would be nice to see an artist take the 8 into places we've never heard AND be appealing. Tosin is probably the best guy right now to fill that role. After a few more albums I'm hoping his approach becomes a bit more refined; but that's my opinion. Lots of guys here probably like Petrucci but I've always found him a bit boring. The one thing he's done that I do really like was the Liquid Tension Experiment stuff - and there he had a classy guy called Tony Levin helping to bring that music to life.
 
#21 ·
I think that there will never be another Hendrix/SRV/Van Halen/Satriani/Vai not because there's nothing left to do on the guitar, but because music featuring very prominent guitars is unlikely to ever become widely popular again.

People who completely dislike rock music know who those guys are. A lot of even dedicated fans of rock don't know who Tony McAlpine is. The difference is that average people are no longer exposed to guitar intensive music, so you have less general interest in the guitar. That drives it to be more and more of a niche.

There are lots of people out there who are amazing at a variety of instruments and have dedicated followings. I bet there's someone out there rewriting the book on how to play a clarinet. That's where I see guitar virtuoso music going.
 
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