PRINCE....

[Cheri]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZilhO_JzKpg

and some much older Prince

[SF-Dano]

After reading throught this thread, it seems many are quite taken with Prince's talents as a guitar player. Now, I thought his SB performance was great, and the man can definately play a mean guitar, but I would not place him in my top 10 or even top 20 guitarists of all time.

Curious question for the Melodic Rock crowd here. Where do you rank Prince on your all time best guitarists list? Don't need an exact number, just an approximate placement.

He would probably be near the end of my top 50. Which is still good. There are a hell of alot of great guitar players today and in the past.

[Jeremey]

After reading throught this thread, it seems many are quite taken with Prince's talents as a guitar player. Now, I thought his SB performance was great, and the man can definately play a mean guitar, but I would not place him in my top 10 or even top 20 guitarists of all time.

Curious question for the Melodic Rock crowd here. Where do you rank Prince on your all time best guitarists list? Don't need an exact number, just an approximate placement.

He would probably be near the end of my top 50. Which is still good. There are a hell of alot of great guitar players today and in the past.

As a rock guitarist, I would put Prince in the top 20. I'm not a guitar guru, and I don't know all the "genius" guys out there, but I think when you look at all the "greats" you have to put their creativity, songwriting and impact/influence as part of the whole package - Not just technical ability. On that alone, I think Prince deserves to be in the top 10 among guys like

Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Page
Eric Clapton
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Brian May
Prince
Carlos Santana
Neal Schon
Eddie Van Halen
Keith Richards

[conversationpc]

As a rock guitarist, I would put Prince in the top 20. I'm not a guitar guru, and I don't know all the "genius" guys out there, but I think when you look at all the "greats" you have to put their creativity, songwriting and impact/influence as part of the whole package - Not just technical ability. On that alone, I think Prince deserves to be in the top 10 among guys like

Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Page
Eric Clapton
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Brian May
Prince
Carlos Santana
Neal Schon
Eddie Van Halen
Keith Richards

Prince is a good player but not even in the top 50 or possibly even 100, in my opinion. There are tons of lesser known players who are just as good or better.

[Carlitto H@kk]

I really have a hard time 'rating' guitarists
because for me, as a guitar player, there are just
too many differences I see in all my faves that it
makes it impossible to relly rate them...
Did that make sense?

I have SO MANY faves but I love them all for different
reasons and the different styles they bring to the table.
For instance, I love what Zakk does but find it hard 'for me'
to rate him against someone like Neal or Jon Reznick; 3 TOTALLY
different styles but all 3 players that I love.

If I did have to make a list of my 30-40 favorite guitar players,
I think Prince would probably make my list.

[fredinator]

I had the same feeling someone else had re: seeing something really special that you may not see again. I just felt mesmerized by the whole performance. I don't know how to rank guitar players; he just reminded me totally of Jimi Hendrix, I guess.

[Jeremey]

There are tons of lesser known players who are just as good or better.

Well...Everyone has their own tastes.

Let me just say in 15 years of gigging as a singer in bands and even in high school, I have been in bands that every guitar player just about could replicate the guitar solo to Purple Rain or the intro to When Doves Cry. So yeah, lots of players out there with Prince-like chops.

Never met anyone who could write a song like "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" or "If I Was Your Girlfriend" or even "The Cross." Never met anyone who Miles Davis felt like he should record a whole record with ("Crucial"). Never met anyone who would turn down his first recording contract at the age of 15.

We will have to agree to disagree there, Dave!

[Carlitto H@kk]

[
Let me just say in 15 years of gigging as a singer in bands and even in high school, I have been in bands that every guitar player just about could replicate the guitar solo to Purple Rain or the intro to When Doves Cry. So yeah, lots of players out there with Prince-like chops.

Never met anyone who could write a song like "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" or "If I Was Your Girlfriend" or even "The Cross." Never met anyone who Miles Davis felt like he should record a whole record with ("Crucial"). Never met anyone who would turn down his first recording contract at the age of 15.

We will have to agree to disagree there, Dave!

"Sign O' The Times" is my fave Prince album, Hands Down

BTW, didn't Neal have to choose between Clapton and Santana at 15???
So now you know two 15 year-olds with MAJOR pressure at such a tender age

[SF-Dano]

I really have a hard time 'rating' guitarists
because for me, as a guitar player, there are just
too many differences I see in all my faves that it
makes it impossible to relly rate them...
Did that make sense?

I have SO MANY faves but I love them all for different
reasons and the different styles they bring to the table.
For instance, I love what Zakk does but find it hard 'for me'
to rate him against someone like Neal or Jon Reznick; 3 TOTALLY
different styles but all 3 players that I love.

If I did have to make a list of my 30-40 favorite guitar players,
I think Prince would probably make my list.

I totally understand what you mean here, there are so many different styles. It can be hard matching say SRV up against EVH, or Neal vs. M. Schenker, or even a Page vs. Beck, etc. And, though I don't rate success as a major factor when "rating" a guitarist, it is definately a factor as Jeremey mentioned. It all comes down to how much wieght we each would place on each factor ie. Technical ability, Style, Innovation, Speed, Writing, etc.

Can make for a fun discussion though.

[TRAGChick]

Here's why Prince didn't "fry" during his performance:

http://www.slate.com/id/2159161?nav=tap3