John Mayer - Best guitarist of his generation?

Gladiator

Full Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2012
Messages
2,586


I've heard he's quite the live performer and just an awesome guitarist. It's enjoyable listening to his music. I'm seeing more and more comments that he's the best guitarist of his generation.

I'm not a guitarist and I don't really know any guitarists of his generation to compare him to. Only guy I can think of right now is the lead guitarist/vocalist from Muse but I could be way off.

What do you think? Genuinely curious why so many think he's so good. Now I wish I knew guitar because in these types of discussions, it becomes a bit difficult to appreciate what he does if you don't know the instrument well.
 
Sungha Jung

Nuff said.

Tfb, it's a very subjective matter, any artist and even an advance guitarist can play virtually anything technical given some practise.

It's really subjective

Guitar is just that, some are known for his creation (santana), but if its only playing a good music, I believe any guitarist worth their salt can play them.

It's like orchestra, the violin players can play anything on their score sheet, but it takes something else to create a symphony.
 
What's Sungha up to now? Heard about him when he was around 13. He's quite gifted
 
without doubt. my hero in music
 
Mayer is a pure natural that's why I think he's so good. You can tell he just feels it, like all the best guitarists. He also isn't a show off which I like.
 
Mayer's an absolute genius with a guitar.

He has his own style which has bits of most great blues/guitar players. He can do incredible and original impressions of Hendrix/Steve Vai/BB King at the drop of a hat, and in his own work he uses a mixture of all types of player. If he does do a cover he doesn't do it verbatim, he adds his own unique sound to it.

His studio stuff can be a bit meh at times, but he's my favourite artist and has been one of the top ten, if not the greatest guitarist around for quite a long time. It speaks volumes that he covered two Hendrix songs at his LA "Where The Light Is" gig and not only did them justice, but in my opinion improved them. Improved. Hendrix.

His stuff is an absolute twat to learn up until the point it clicks, then it's effortless and so, so fun to play. It's just a shame he's so far up his own ass, but with that amount of talent I can kind of understand why. I think it was Eric Clapton who last called him the best guitarist (or best blues guitarist) but his commendations come from all over, he's literally the Paul Scholes of the music world, I've not seen a bad word about him.

Whoever said he wasn't a show off though, you couldn't be more wrong. Sorry, love the bloke but he's a massive show off.
 
jakec said:
without doubt. my hero in music
Click to expand...

Same here, I'd only be half the guitarist that I am if it wasn't for Mayer. He's a very good guitarist to emulate, if you follow what he does it makes finding 'that' tone so much easier.

Not even ashamed to admit that I completely steal parts of his style in my own playing.
 
Tomalonge said:
Whoever said he wasn't a show off though, you couldn't be more wrong. Sorry, love the bloke but he's a massive show off.
Click to expand...


Admittedly, I know feck all of his songs, maybe I just haven't seen enough of him. I kind of got the impression from what I've heard though that his songs aren't over the top with solos etc. and often quite mellow and laid back? It's just that often when I see people arguing over the best guitarist they'll mention people like Steve Vai etc. who can be quite self indulgent and while technically brilliant, they're just showing off.
 
Keenst said:
Admittedly, I know feck all of his songs, maybe I just haven't seen enough of him. I kind of got the impression from what I've heard though that his songs aren't over the top with solos etc. and often quite mellow and laid back? It's just that often when I see people arguing over the best guitarist they'll mention people like Steve Vai etc. who can be quite self indulgent and while technically brilliant, they're just showing off.
Click to expand...

I suggest you watch "Out Of My Mind" on Youtube, you'll see what I mean. Hell, he plays half of the solo with one hand. It's very impressive! But it's showing off.

To be fair though I don't think you'll find an excellent guitarist that doesn't like to show off, it's kind of a requisite that you need to get that good.
 
He did use the word nigger, and he apologized profoundly. He shouldn't have said it though.
 
Yeah, nobody's saying he's a great person.

John Lennon was a great musician despite being a serial adulterer, a wife beater and worse, scouse.
 
I think he's a decent persona actually. He comes across well in most of his interviews, and has had a tough life with anxiety like myself.
 
"it's been difficult because in my quest to be clever... in the quest to be clever and try to slither out of what i perceived to be constant persecution or somebody trying to pin me, which may or may not ever really be happening, but i think that it is a lot of the time when it's actually not. in the quest to be clever, i completely forgot about the people that i love and that love me. and as i have begun to (???) a whirlpool of selfishness, and greediness and arrogance...and thinking if i just continue to be speedy and witty and pull together as many fast words and phrases as i could, that i would be clever enough to buy myself another day without anybody pinning me down and saying 'you're a creep'. and when i should have just given that up and played the guitar... so i decided i would try to be as clever as possible all the time. and i did that at the expense of people that i love and that feels absolutely terrible. it feels worse than any headline i thought i could get my way out of. and i think it's important that you know that everybody on this stage is here playing with me not because they condone what i say in any interview... they are not on this stage because they support what i said, they're on this stage because they support myself as a possible future grown-up. and maybe they see something that i don't... so maybe i need to take a break from trying to be clever and spend a little time looking at what they see. cause they've done an unbelievable thing standing on this stage and standing by my side tonight. it's just not worth being clever.... i'm out .... just wanna play my guitar ... "
Click to expand...

Worst apology ever
 
Frusciante all the way, to echo Adzz and Snowjoe.

He's more of a composer than a guitarist now though.
 
He's one of my favourite artists, I prefer his early work although Born and Raised was a breath of fresh air. I don't think much of a new album although it might grow on me if I give it more of a go instead of going back to the early stuff all the time. Live in LA is a masterwork.
 
Not a guitarist (merely a man who hits skins) but both Frusciante (great early career) and Mayer (meh, just meh) would be no where near my top guitarist of their generation (if we're talking sub 45-7ish).

Trace Bundy from the younger spectrum and John Petrucci from the older i'd regard as some of the best.

But what do I know.
 
Depends what you're looking/listening for in a guitarist. Tons of guys about who are very fast and make what they are doing sound impressive.

Mayer's tone is exceptional. Very diverse in what he can do - really top guitarist and certainly one of the best in modern times.

Ps. Frusciante good....Kirk Hammet unbelievable (even to a non metal/rock fan like me)
 
What actually makes a great guitarist just quietly. I didn't think anyone outside metal wanked over technical proficiency.

I've seen Frusciante and Hammet live and I admire their skill, but Jack White did more for me with less just with feeling ans aggression. Same with Annie Clarke.

Same reason I like Frank Blacks voice better than Jennifer Hudsons.
 
Archie Leach said:
What actually makes a great guitarist just quietly. I didn't think anyone outside metal wanked over technical proficiency.

I've seen Frusciante and Hammet live and I admire their skill, but Jack White did more for me with less just with feeling ans aggression. Same with Annie Clarke.

Same reason I like Frank Blacks voice better than Jennifer Hudsons.
Click to expand...


I've always been a big Frusciante fan, mostly for me because he strikes a good ground between simplicity and technical ability I think. I'm not a fan of Jack White at all, but mostly just don't enjoy the music he makes more than anything else.

I've never been one for the over technical side of playing, and the Satrianis and Malmsteens do nothing for me, there just doesn't feel like theres soul there, just playing as many notes as possible for the sake of it.

That being said I do enjoy a good old overindulgent hair metal solo too.
 
Snowjoe said:
I've always been a big Frusciante fan, mostly for me because he strikes a good ground between simplicity and technical ability I think. I'm not a fan of Jack White at all, but mostly just don't enjoy the music he makes more than anything else.

I've never been one for the over technical side of playing, and the Satrianis and Malmsteens do nothing for me, there just doesn't feel like theres soul there, just playing as many notes as possible for the sake of it.

That being said I do enjoy a good old overindulgent hair metal solo too.
Click to expand...
Yeah actually I really like Frusciante and when he covers songs like "How Deep Is Your Love" it's brilliant. He suffers from being in "the band who could've been great if their singer wasn't a complete cretin", something Flea's proven with his Atoms For Peace work.

Jack White at Big Day Out 2005 was the greatest solo performance I've seen so he'll always figure high in my opinion.
 
Archie Leach said:
Yeah actually I really like Frusciante and when he covers songs like "How Deep Is Your Love" it's brilliant. He suffers from being in "the band who could've been great if their singer wasn't a complete cretin", something Flea's proven with his Atoms For Peace work.

Jack White at Big Day Out 2005 was the greatest solo performance I've seen so he'll always figure high in my opinion.

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


Yeah his cover of How Deep is your Love is one of my favourites, and one I cover quite often as it's really fun to play. I must admit I love the Chilis but I know where you're coming from. His solo stuff seems a bit more hit and miss, I think having Flea to work with was clearly good for his music.

I keep meaning to give Jack White another try, music tastes change a lot so maybe one day I'll just "get" it.
 
I
Snowjoe said:
Yeah his cover of How Deep is your Love is one of my favourites, and one I cover quite often as it's really fun to play. I must admit I love the Chilis but I know where you're coming from. His solo stuff seems a bit more hit and miss, I think having Flea to work with was clearly good for his music.

I keep meaning to give Jack White another try, music tastes change a lot so maybe one day I'll just "get" it.
Click to expand...
The Chilis and Metallica were my gateway bands, I got massively into them when I was ten, bought every single album and the rarities and joined their fan clubs etc and it led on to everything else. So I don't say it llightly but when I go back and play some old Metallica once in a blue moon I like it. But the fecking Chili Peppers, they're ruined. Every song I loved as a kid I cant listen to because fecking Anthony Kiedis is singing the most incomprehensible pretentious garbage over the top of a really great band. Frusciante obviously saw the light but he wasted best years on them.
 
I haven't gotten that hatred for the chills, I think listening to them brings back good memories for me, but I agree with what you're saying. It really is a shame too, a lot of their songs would be fantastic without Kiedis putting down his nursery rhyme style babble. But I guess that's to be expected from the band who's singer started out throwing himself around onstage and generally acting like a spastic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.