This one was triggered by another post and I thought that an interesting question would be - whom, out of all generally recognized guitar heroes, you don't particularly like?
I will start with some big names - for me, Joe Bonamassa and SRV .. I appreciate their talents but they don't inspire me a bit.
You don't have to go into details .. just names ...

I don't listen to either but I'm sure live, both would and would have been melt your face off amazing.

 

Yes, you are correct. Have seen them both live and my face still has remnants of blistering,...

 

Probably many of the "greats" would fall into that category for me. There are a lot of guitarists who have had an important and lasting influence/impact over the years, and I absolutely value their contribution. When I listen to them, I can hear how they influenced the guitarists whose playing I really enjoy. But, I often don't find their playing as awe inspiriting or emotionally compelling as most other people seem to.

 

Stevie Ray tops that list for me.

 

This is strictly for guitar inspiration only

I love Randy Rhoads' playing and the music he produces, but for whatever reason I don't find him inspiring. Same with Tony Iommi's work, love it - but I can't say he motivates me to play or reproduce his tone. Eric Johnson, a master with all the right strokes - but I don't like his sound too much.

 

John McLaughlin
Makes me want to quit.

BB King makes me want to play. I'll never be able to play like either but at least BB makes it look easy, keeping the dream alive...

 

Steve Vai. Boring. I couldn't even think of one of his riffs, licks, melodies, etc.

Maybe the beginning of Yankee Rose and that's about it.

 

I like Vai in a band context...DLR, Whitesnake etc...it keeps him in check.

There must be a German word to describe his solo stuff though...."amazing yet boring and unenjoyable".
I bought his solo dvd a few years ago. got half way through it then gave it away to my BIL (also a guitarist).

 

So easy, it’s sad. I know how important and influential he was, I swear but after reading his autobio, I thought and think Clapton is a total asshole, instant channel change. One exception, Layla, and that’s mostly due to Duane lol.

 

thats the opposite of most people...the riff is what people love, the really screeching slide work during the reprise make people turn the dial...in fact my wife did this yesterday lol.

 

I’ve never really been into watching 1980’s lead guitar players suck their own dick.

Give me a Django or Perkins or Derek Trucks and I’m dazzled.

 

A slippery slope to "judge" other players, but first guy who came to mind?

I'm with @Guncho +1 for Steve Vai. I like his work on Eat 'Em & Smile, but out of a band context, it's boring.

Take a guy like EVH vs a guy like Vai. Vai is "the better" player/musician/student of the instrument, but he's limited by the rules he knows. EVH did not know the rules. I would rather play with Eddie's reckless abandon than Vai's proficiency.

One Vai piece I can watch over and over is his duel from Crossroads. A great watch, but to sit through an entire concert of that? Nope!

 

One Vai piece I can watch over and over is his duel from Crossroads. A great watch, but to sit through an entire concert of that? Nope!

One Vai piece I can watch over and over is his duel from Crossroads. A great watch, but to sit through an entire concert of that? Nope!

I can comfortably pass the rest of my days without hearing or seeing Steve Vai (worst case of "guitar face" I've ever seen). BUT, this is my absolute favorite video of guys having a good time and showing off - unfortunately you need to see the longer version from the Crossroads DVD to get the full effect.

 

 

Top of the list for me. Yngwie Malmsteen. For 5 minutes it seems fantastic. Then boredom sets in.

 

This is pretty funny:

 

Keef

(dons flame retardant suit)

 

And plays for an over rated singer in an over rated band. Yet I love them.

 

Michael Angelo Batio. Incredibly talented yet the playing can only be consumed in small doses

 

Jack White, plus some others already posted above, plus most shredders.

 

Slash.

 

good to know I'm not the only one who doesn't think Slash is all that & a bag of chips.

 

Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin. Yes, I know they are legends and both brilliant, but they really do absolutely nothing for me. I liked some of JM's work in his early years with Mahavishnu and Miles Davis- much of that was very cool and inspiring.

 

Kurt Cobain.

 

Is he really considered a "guitar god"?

 

I can't think of any players that inspire me to play like them. There are many that I like and may try to figure out how they played something so I can make it mine but I never consciously try to emulate them. I guess that's why I'm still a hack.

Edit: I had to come back to this after thinking about it. Mike Campbell, I have been inspired by his playing and learned some Tom Petty songs lick for lick. He epitomizes lead guitar for me. I don't like players that try to show off. I prefer players that add to the song.

 

I can't think of any players that inspire me to play like them. There are many that I like and may try to figure out how they played something so I can make it mine but I never consciously try to emulate them. I guess that's why I'm still a hack.

When I hear the term "Inspired by", I never think "emulate". I've listened to a lot of players that helped to shape the way I approach guitar and play. I sometimes out right steal licks and incorporate them in to my bag of tricks and most of the time never play it exactly like the player I grabbed it from. Some players that inspire me to play, I play nothing like them. In the 80's I spent some considerable time trying to emulate the tone of Ray Flacke. Even bought a Gibson L9 lab series amp like him. That was the last time I really tried to emulate someones tone as I realized its pointless. But his tone and other players influence the tones that I do get, most of which come from my left and right hand approach.

 

I appreciate great Jazz players but I just don't have an ear for some of the harmony. At the end of the day, I guess I'm just a blues/rock guy. For example, I'm out at level 2 here:

 

I surround myself with guys who know that stuff, and by osmosis it trickles down.....drip by drip.

 

Top of the list:
Clapton. (so much hype. "slow hand"? pffftt... I can play slower.)

Page (just sounds out of tune and noisy to me. Peaked at Stairway to Heaven)
The Stones guys (meh....and sloppy. Overall, the British blues thing leaves me flat)
Beck (i just dont get it...and he seems like an asshole)
Yngwie (amazing technically, but insists upon himself. and an asshole)
Bonamassa (hes fine, but its a lot of the same)
Tom Morello (he is to whammy pedal what Zakk wylde is to pinch harmonics)

Always weird to me when guys like Townshend and G. Harrison etc are on great guitarist lists....some of the great songwriters of all time, yes...but guitarists, no.

 

Any wanking guitar player who's only fans are other wanking guitar players - Holdsworth, Vai, Malsteen, Bonamassa, Eric Johnson, etc.

 

Eric Johnson

I feel about him like I feel about both Rush and the Rheostatics. Wow ... talented ... not connecting ... anything else available? Each to their own I think Jason Isbell is great but others put his poser-meter on 10 and hit ignore.

j

 

Jeff Beck - Love his early works with the Yardbirds, but soloing... A lot of gimmicky swells and whammy bar tricks that he has perfected over the years, but after listening for 5 minutes I have to turn him off.

 

It's rarely black or white for me, mostly shades of grey

I gotta say that Bonamassa is pretty bleh to me
And Gary Moore trying to play blues (or anybody trying to play blues and missing; I guess whether someone "has it" or not is also personal opinion anyway)

 

I find there are styles of music that don't grab me, and of course there are marquee players associated with those styles. But even in the styles that I'm good with, whether a given player "inspires" me will depend on the tune, but also on what aspects appeal to me on that particular day. FWIW, I like Eric Johnson a lot and have about a half dozen of his albums. But even with him, there are segments where I am prompted to think "Oh jeez, THAT riff again? C'mon man, you know how to do other stuff."

I rarely, if ever, find Jimmy Herring uninspiring. That might be because I'm only familiar with him in contexts that bring out the best in his playing.

And some players can seem uninspiring at first blush, but when you zero in, and maybe even slow them down, it elicits a "Wait, WHAT? How did you DO that?!" reaction.

I've loved Frank Zappa's playing since the mid-'60s when I first heard Freak Out, but even he can be given to mindless noodling in search of a good phrase. So he has his inspiring as well as his uninspiring moments.

I think most players have their moments where they're in the car, idling, waiting for the good phrase to come out of the store.