I've never been massively into shred guitarists. I was weaned on a steady diet of 70s rock and blues growing up, and have always appreciated melody and thoughtful phrasing over sheer speed (though I do wish I could play some of that stuff so I could use it in a guitar shop and belittle all the annoying staff).

Mr Big aren't really cheesy pop overall though, they are classic a hard rock band, featuring virtuoso musicians. I agree about his instructional videos though, good viewing. Likeable fella too, good sense of nerdy humour, and respect for the classic rock and metal bands rather than just "shredders".

one of the few geet players that i actually watch the vids of regarding bass actually, mr big are amazing in my humble opinion.
did you know he tours with the ex drummer of necrophagist?

thats the guy, fucking insane drummer.
i chat to him a lot on face book.

he has a load of youtube vids of him playing speach into drum patterns, its hillarious.

the bassist with the 50 string bass?
i will try and find the vid he did with a 15 string baritone, its quite outragious

I would like to nominate 3 gentlemen for their part in creating some of the filthiest, heaviest riffage of all time -

Firstly, the late Mr Lief "Leffe" Cuzner of Nihilist for his part in creating the the classic Swedish death metal sound and style.

Secondly, Messrs Alex Hellid and Uffe "Monster" Cederlund for their perfection of said sound and style. A hugely underrated guitar duo IMHO.

And of course Nicke Andersson, David Blomqvist etc deserve a mention too!

Also, praise hail to the Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal.

Snowy White

oh fuck off.

This is a subject I really couldn't give a fuck about. I don't care how skilled a guitarist is if they make shit music e.g., Steve Vai.

Dimebag's stuff with Pantera was great, some excellent riffs that influenced me down the years. But what people forget is that there were comments about how Dimebag was supposedly past it riffwise just shortly after the first Damageplan album dropped.

His style just seemed a little dated then. I felt the same when Reinventing The Steel came out. A new generation had taken over, and Pantera just didn't have the same appeal anymore.

Of course over time the best Pantera albums, from Cowboys to Trendkill, have stood up whereas the stuff that came after them on a mainstream level mostly sounds shit now.

If Dimebag was still alive today, he would probably be playing in the exact same style as he was in the 90's too. The difference is that enough time has gone by for people to get nostalgic about 90's metal.

Most of the hype about Dime now seems to be coming from the younger generations of metal fans who didn't experience Pantera's prime first hand because they weren't born or were too young to really be exposed to them. Some of the people in the latter group managed to catch the tail end of their run before their split in the late 90's/early 00's, but they weren't around for their triumphant period in the early to mid 90's.

Catching a great band on the decline is better than nothing, but it obviously isn't the same thing.

I think my favourite guitarist will always be Martin Simpson.



I couldn't find a single video to really illustrate his versatility, his subtlety, his technical playing, his blue playing, his folk playing etc but I reckon this is a decent introduction to him.

Can't remember if I mentioned him in this thread as it goes back donkey's years, but Tommy T. Baron and his work in Coroner has always been a personal favourite. Some nice inventive riffs, and great, melodic lead work. His legato in particular was a huge influence on me when I was a youngster. I loved his tone as well. The way that band worked together though as a unit also contributed.

As much as I love a two guitar line-up, the trio format just opens up the guitarist to do his own thing and not be so locked into certain parts (especially when the bassist can more than hold their own as well, which is really the key - I love the way Ron Royce's bass is integrated into these solo sections).

Coroner seem to have passed me by, but I really should check them out: Any recommendations for a starting point?

Typically I would point people in the direction of their mid-period, to albums like 'No More Color' or 'Mental Vortex'. They are more what people would probably consider their 'progressive' phase, but I would use that term quite loosely. It's more in terms of riffing style compared to the meat-and-potatoes thrash rather than composition and arrangement, particularly compared to their Teutonic brethren.

If you are a bit more thrash purist, than 'Punishment for Decadence' might be the place to start. Coroner for me are a bit like Death, in the sense that they have a rather strong overall catalogue that didn't really disappoint so you can't really go wrong IMO. Something like 'Grin', their final album, is perhaps a bit more of an acquired taste with it's groovier and textural direction and more industrialised production, but I still enjoy it.