PasiKullero said:

I think he's the best, lets just say
I could never get tired of listening
to him play that guitar! Go Prince Go!

The only thing I dont understand is the two measurements in wich Prince is compared with other guitar players.

I mean, people will compare Prince With Steve Vai and say:

"Prince cannot do the things Vai does on guitar, he wont do string skipping arpeggios with tappings, and steve can play anything prince plays, so stevie is better"

Then, when they compare Santana to Prince they will say "Santana is soulful, and play more pretty and is more original."

But Prince can play more soulful than Steve Vai and can do more difficult things than Santana, so why the backing up changes? You have to be objective and say what makes a great guitarrist for you. No try to mold you arguments over what you want to believe its true.

I can play any jimmy page lick, it does not mean that i am as good as him. His solos are easy to play, it does not mean he lacks talent. I know guys who can play ANY Steve Vai song, Prince can´t. But i swear that this 18 years old friend of mine is not better than Prince. Prince is a great guitarrista, I am a musican, i know mroe guitar plays than most people here. I have 4 housands of mp3z of varied artistas and tons of video lessons and guitar players magazines. And if you aint a musican, believe me. Prince is not what Blaqueknight wants you to believe. He is a great player. You can believe me. He is not near a guy like Eric Johnson or Stanley Jordan but he is great.

Prince has wild vibrato, great timing, great bends, wide versatility, subtle bebop influences, incredible melodic sense, great modal runs (just see hong kong rocks),
great tone (musicology tour), excellent pull offs, can play some jazz licks, funky chords, great rhythm.

I mean the guy is great he is better than cats who has been playing guitar all their life, like John Fusciante, Jimmy Page, Sambora, Dave Navarro, Slash, Joe Perry.
These guys are good, Prince is great. He is just like Brian May, Eddie Hazzel (Oh yes he is)i cannot see where is this vast superiority of Hazel over Prince, tell me and i will look for it but i never saw., AND then there are the masters like Satriani, John Pettruci, Metheny, Vai, Steve Morse, Andy Timmons, frank gambale, wes montgomerry, al dimeola. etcc

bravo vinicius
i think vinicius salles made a great point on this topic.the most objective

MickG said:

These are the reasons that makes me rate Prince the best guitarist he's a living legend.

"I always wanted to be thought of as a guitarist. But u have a hit, and u know what happens..."
Prince - Guitar World Magazine 94

Unfortunately true. Being a ´pop star´ made it harder for people to acknowledge Prince as a great guitar player. I agree completely with Salles. He is as good or better than some guitar players like Frusciante, Eddie Hazel, etc.

7salles said:

A lot of fancy rationaliztion to disguise fanworship. At NO point have I ever said Prince wasn't a good player. Is he as soulful as Ernie or Eddie Hazel? Hell no. Prince has nothing that compares to "Maggot Brain" or "Voyage To Atlantis" in terms of soulfulness so this "he's more emotional than..." arguement is bullshit. Also this Vai is a cold player noise is BS, too. "For the Love Of God" is as emotional as anything Prince has ever played so miss me with that noise. As Gustavo said, ALL good players are emotional and express that in what they play. Prince is good. Some of you fanbots want everyone else to worship him the way that you do and that ain't happening. I've heard way too many great guitarists to calll Prince one of the greatest. He's not. Discover for yourselves...or not. I don't care. My statement stands. The problem is that people get so into Prnce that they don't truly know other artists' material as well.
[Edited 12/3/05 8:40am]

"A lot of fancy rationaliztion to disguise fanworship. At NO point have I ever said Prince wasn't a good player. Is he as soulful as Ernie or Eddie Hazel? Hell no. Prince has nothing that compares to "Maggot Brain" or "Voyage To Atlantis" in terms of soulfulness so this "he's more emotional than..." arguement is bullshit. "

It´s not. I dont see nothing on this songs that proves themselves as better than Prince when he is inspired. Its just your opinion and you want to believe its a fact. And if my argument is bs it is as bullshit as yours when you say all good guitar players are emotional so Prince cant be more soulful than vai.



"Also this Vai is a cold player noise is BS, too. "For the Love Of God" is as emotional as anything Prince has ever played so miss me with that noise. As Gustavo said, ALL good players are emotional and express that in what they play."

Here comes this for the love of God again. It is pretty but robotic pretty in a sense in my opinion. Oh yes, all good players are emotional, malmsteen is as emotional as bb king and santana in their prime. You proved my point. You change your arguments and contradicts yourself. If you say Hazel is more soulful than Prince I can say Prince is more emotional than VAI. If my argument does nto work, so yours.

"Prince is good. Some of you fanbots want everyone else to worship him the way that you do and that ain't happening. I've heard way too many great guitarists to calll Prince one of the greatest. He's not. Discover for yourselves...or not. I don't care. My statement stands. The problem is that people get so into Prnce that they don't truly know other artists' material as well."

Wont argue this but I know ever guitarrist you ever mention in all your threads.
These guitar player magazine heroes. They are all pilled in my room. But this statement does not apply to me because i heard tons of guitar players and virtuosos. And i never said Prince is one of the greatest virtuoso players of all times. All i said is that he is a great guitar player, not and ordinary one.

I mean give me a fucking break. The guy is 50 and has been playing since 14, its fucking 35 playing guitar probably everyday. Maybe there are one or two cats here in the org better than him, like frankaxtel, but i said and i will say again, he is best than lots of estabilished and professional guitar heroes like Slash, Joe Perry and fusciante and that makes him best than just good.

Well, like I said. I think Prince is a very good player. I only wouldn´t put him in the Top 10 of all time because he is not as innovative as others. He can be more technical than Santana and Hendrix, but not as innovative. And he doesnt have the knowledge of George Benson, Mc Laughlin or Steve Vai.

But Prince is an amazingly versatile and soulful player. I think he is as good as some good guitar players like Eddie Hazel, Isley, Frusciante, etc, but underrated because he is seen as a ´pop star´...
[Edited 12/3/05 10:15am]

GustavoRibas said:

I agree. Some people talk as Prince is on the level of lenny kravitz or something. It not just like it.

7salles said:

C'mon now - I don't know of ANY ONE who puts P on the level of Lenny Kravitz. Prince is a great guitarist. Let's just leave it at that. These threads come up at least every other month...

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...f_All_Time

In the summer of 2003, Rolling Stone magazine compiled a list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. The list consists almost entirely of guitarists from the genres of rock and roll and the blues. With all such lists, many people disagree with the selections.


1 Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones
11 Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of The White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes of The Allman Brothers Band
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of The Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bo Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Queen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of The Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers Band
59 Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of The Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of The Band
79 Cliff Gallup of The Blue Caps
80 Robert Quine of The Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks of The Allman Brothers Band
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of The Kinks
89 D. Boon of The Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of The Doors
92 Fred "Sonic" Smith and Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden[url]

Hendrix and nobody else can compare to Prince! I've seen this man in concert too many times and his ability to play that guitar is flawless!.

why do people here say why can play emotional and everytime they name check"for the love of god"???
what about lotus flower,crying machine,tender sdurrender.those 3 are much more emotional.
is it because the lack of knowladge?

Blaqueknight, just for sake of curiosity, what kind of songs do you like to play on your guitar?

Can´t rate him, cause I am not a guitarist, BUT he´s the only guitar player, that can make me go wild. I don´t like guitars and all those music styles where guitar plays the main role like rock or country, but I LOOOOOVE Prince as a guitarist. He can express feelings the best with it - at least for me.

I think it depends what you want from your musicians.

I would probably listen to Prince playing the triangle or something.

It's Prince playing the guitar so I kinda love it for that.

It's the man making music and what he does with it that counts for me.

his playing is distinctive, not technically brilliant. his feel and timing is unmatched from all i see on top 100 lists.

i sometimes (rarely though) prefer slash/satriani soloing and wish his stuff wasnt drenched in wah wah and long held notes that end with fast descending runs (like U got the look, lets go crazy).

im one of these:

blackguitaristz said:
2) People who ARE musicians and do listen to many differnt genres of music usually will say that P is an above average to a very good guitarist. He has their respect as a guitarist.

plus i dont see what all the fuss is about on the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". its ok. there's a comparable solo by him on most bootlegs.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

- I never trusted in lists, but this Rolling Stone list was one of the most ridiculous I ever seen. Come on, Wes Montgomery is not even on it!!! :O
Eddie Van Halen, number 70?? Wow, even people who hate him must recognize that he was one of the greatest innovators on the instrument.Prince is not there, but Soundgarden´s player is. Bullshit...

elements going on that Hendrix didn't fuck with. See P for the hella talent that he is and don't trip off of where he is regarding other guitar legends. U can believe this though; Santana, Clapton, Vai and Edddie VH all have said they dig P as a guitarist. So, that should tell ya'll something.[/quote]


I know about Santana, Clapton, and Vai admiring Prince as a musician but I didn't know they liked his guitar work..what exactly have they said.

ED VAN HALEN? I never heard or/ read any commentary of his regarding Prince.

A guitar strum too far.....

It's funny. You never hear it the other way around.

Is Jimi Hendrix as good as Prince. etc... ??

How do you measure who's the greater guitar player?

Technically Eric Clapton might be a genious but he does nothing for me.

I've always liked Prince because his music never sounded precious but refreshingly sponatious and creative.

For me some of Princes BEST music sounded like it was produced on a synthesiser in his bedroom so the guitar bit was just an added bonus as far as I was concerned.


[Edited 12/4/05 19:17pm]
[Edited 12/4/05 19:18pm]

thebanishedone said:

Please, dude. Maybe they just happen to dig that particular song. It's cool to dig guitars and guitar players (I should know - I'm one) but there seems to be a bit too much analysis over how good/great Prince is compared to other players. Let's just enjoy the music.

Ronny said:

- me neither! I would like to know what he said (I like EVH a lot also)

EVH is a very underrated rhythm player/songwriter. There's more to him than tapping/flash. Wonder what's going on with him - heard the last few shows of the tour with Sammy were kinda bad...

GoldenGlove said:

I think Prince needs a new catergory ...!

he's in my top five list...
you got ernie isley from the isley bros, jimi hendricks of course. pat methany,
steve ray vahne if i spelled it right and prince not in that order tho

Wasn't he voted the #1 UNDERRATED guitar player of all time in the guitar magazine a few years ago? I think he's amazing and would put him in the top 3 with Hendrix and Vai. I also think Santana is overrated. Just my opinion!

Ronny said:

I know about Santana, Clapton, and Vai admiring Prince as a musician but I didn't know they liked his guitar work..what exactly have they said.

ED VAN HALEN? I never heard or/ read any commentary of his regarding Prince.[/quote]
I read EDDIE VH AND Hagar in an interview together in an old Rolling Stone article from the late 80's talk about P's guitar playing. Sammy went on to say that P had an advantage over Van Halen because P was a crossover artist who had white listeners but that Van Halen couldn't get the black audience. Which wasn't true in my case cuz I grew up listening to VH.

Thanks,

I was considering posting that. As far as Carlos is concerned. A few years back
Santana was going to do a gig in NJ, not NJPAC but another venue, that I can't readily recall....Well The Star Ledger ran an article about Santana with a set of comments, several that were very complimentary to Prince's axework.

The main thing that got me though was when Carlos went on to say that Prince was one of the few guitarist that aknowledged him as an influence.I'll dig the clipping up when i get the spare time.

(Vernon Reid from time to time has mentioned Santana as a major influence and I'm sure that there are more than a few others that have done the same).
.

As far as Vai goes, I recall him saying that he had Prince in mind when he recorded the solo to the tune "The Animal" from Passion & Warfare.
However he say it was the type of solo he wished Prince would play if he would just cut loose on the guitar. Some of the other stuff I've read are generally geared towards Prince's overall musicianship.

Does anyone remember a review of on of Prince's live performances during the Lovesexy era that appeared in GTFPM? The author Buzz Morrison, was not too kind in acessing P's six string abilities. "His playing wouldn't make 1st cut in a garage band". Now that's cold!!

-KSTRAT-

blackguitaristz said:

I read EDDIE VH AND Hagar in an interview together in an old Rolling Stone article from the late 80's talk about P's guitar playing. Sammy went on to say that P had an advantage over Van Halen because P was a crossover artist who had white listeners but that Van Halen couldn't get the black audience. Which wasn't true in my case cuz I grew up listening to VH.[/quote]
[Edited 12/7/05 15:57pm]