I thought that this would be a fun little debate and discussion to get into, mainly because I was reading a fan's review of a certain P album(can't remember which one) where he was commenting on Prince's guitar playing ability and said that in his opinion that P was a better guitar player than the legendary SRV.

Ok, so if anyone cares to chime in on the subject, what is your opinion about this fan's statement?

can't compare the two.
I have never listened to SRV.

which album was it?
that might help others to compare.
[Edited 12/19/06 3:14am]

muirdo said:

I believe that the review from the gentelman was on epinions.com for one of P's albums. However I am sure that he was not just talking about whatever Prince guitar song he happend to be reviewing, but about how Prince as a whole is a better guitar player than SRV with all of the examples of his playing on his albums throughout the years and also I assume his many live performances as well.
[Edited 12/19/06 3:53am]
[Edited 12/19/06 3:55am]

i can only see 3 albums reviewed there.
News
SOTT and Purple Rain.

my money is on Purple Rain.

Who is SRV?

wlcm2thdwn said:

Stevie Ray Vaughn, I suppose that I should have printed his whole name.

Prince is my guitar hero and my original inspiration to pick up an axe.

Having said that...

Here are a few people that may admire Prince as a musician and even like him as a guitar player, but would not be quaking in their boots anytime soon.

Steve Vai
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Segovia
Stanley Jordan
Santana

Forget the words "better". These men are just amazing guitarists and amazing musicians. Just like Prince. You can say you like one over the other, but it's almost impossible to say whose "better" when you're talking about professional musicians that have been playing for awhile.

Having said that, almost all the guys on this list have demonstrated in public and on recording, a technical ability that Prince rarely displays. And they are only the "S"'es.

While there are things on guitar they can do that Prince cannot, there are things Prince can do on guitar that they can't touch.

No need to compare.

Stevie Ray Vaughn was a Master. So is Prince. Room for many masters in this world.

Different styles. But in a straight blues context, I think SRV is the better player, though Prince can play the blues. But Stevie Ray was a blues guitarist, period, that's what he did, that's all he did. He was more studied and more fluent with that vocabulary. That said, I certainly wouldn't kick Prince out of my band.

(Truth is, it's Prince's ability as a rhythm guitarist that is undervalued, not his soloing. IMO.)

Alasseon said:

Such as? Prince is one of the funkiest rhythm players ever, but c'mon people...Prince was also my main inspiration for taking up guitar, but I'm honest when it comes to other players. Prince is a great guitar player, no doubt, but he's no innovator who does stuff that other players "can't touch". He's funky and he can rock. That should be good enough, shouldn't it?

S**t, I'm just glad that he's gotten some due as a guitar player.

I'm also a big SRV fan. He brought the funk as well. That's what got me into him. Check out "Couldn't Stand the Weather", "Tightrope", and "Wall of Denial", for starters. For me, that's what sets him apart from Clapton. With SRV, you could get some funky guitar and some great lead guitar all in the same song. I've always wished Prince would do more of that. I love 'em both.

I've always loved this performance - funky!

http://www.youtube.com/wa...xAaCtv8MOY

JesseDezz said:

I'm not a Prince fan-bot. What I mean is that he has his own voice that no one can really duplicate. If I *had* to choose his strength as a guitar player, I'd say his it's his versatility. In other words, he can play several different styles and is probably one of the world's best rhythm guitarists. He can bring the funk. He can do the blues. He can do the rock lead. He can do the folk strumming. Prince has range. You can hear sounds out of his guitar that no one else does, simply because playing an instrument is like signing your name. No one can do it exactly like you can.

A great example? Try listening to Yngwie Malmsteen play the blues. Tell me that even an average blues guitarist couldn't do better. Prince can do things that Yngwie couldn't dream of, but the reverse is also true.

Let's put it another way. As a blues guitarist, very, very few could touch Stevie Ray Vaughn. Not his brother. Not Eric Clapton. Not Robert Cray.
So in a straight-up bluesfest, Prince would not be as impressive as SRV.

But I've yet to see performers as versatile as Prince.

Alasseon said:

Wow!!

Prince vs. SRV & Prince vs. Jesse Johnson all in one day! (LOL)

As I alluded to on the Prince vs. Jesse thread. I been a fan for many years and have yet to "hear" all this stylistic versatility in Prince's guitar playing.
His songwriting I can understand, his playing nope.

Prince is great tayloring his voice on the guitar to fit his tunes. I'm not hearing all this great stylistic variety being bandied about. I personally found his earlier work more original & inspiring than most of the stuff he's released in the last 16 years.

Prince is great at being himself for better or worse. What I find irksome is the need for the constant comparing against other guitarist. He's established something that is uniquely his. Leave it at that. When you start veering into the issue of who's better you start to get outside of what I feel music is all about and that is self-expression.
[Edited 12/19/06 18:01pm]

Prince is a great player... great timing and finesse... But I haven't seen him do anything that I thought nobody else could do.

In terms of guitar playing, I'd have to pick SRV over Prince... People all over the world were trying to copy SRV's style of playing (and not doing it all that well)...
[Edited 12/19/06 15:45pm]

Prince-period.

Sorry folks, SRV is one of the best players ever if not the best. While Prince is very good and is very versatile Eric Clapton said it best. He said something to the effect that evey guitarist has a point in an improvised solo where they may pause or may not be 100% sure which way they are going yet. But SRV never had that. He always knew exactly where he was going and what he was doing next. Plus Prince cant play behind his back.















But I still love Prince's style more.

I dont much like SRV's they are 2 hard on gas!I Mean get a Grip rip

Oh Yeah that Yngwie he won all those Grammys for Polka Right Long Live the Polka King Yngwie thanks 4 sharing I almost 4got!!!

TedW said:

You took the words right out of my mouth!

JesseDezz said:

You must also remember that Stevie Ray also had quite a fondness for jazz guitar playing as evident on his instrumental 'Lenny' and others. I believe I read one time also that Kenny Burell was one of his biggest jazz guitar influences. Probably Wes Montgomery too.

I've always loved this performance - funky!

http://www.youtube.com/wa...OY[/quote]

Wow...Stevie Wonder, SRV, Jodi Watley, AND Brown Mark???

2 different styles. Both great musicians!

PurpleJam said:

Yeah, on his albums, he always included a jazz-influenced cut. I read an interesting anecdote in DownBeat magazine back in the mid '90s. SRV and George Benson were performing on stage together. According to the mag, George Benson and his little amp completely blew away SRV and his massive wall of sound.

Here's another George Benson collaboration: http://www.youtube.com/wa...x7p1Adk1xY

They're not very similar.

Prince is a more well rounded musician--probably knows more chords & scales than Stevie did.

But Stevie had maybe the best tone of any guitar player, absolutely beautiful. Like blues opera. He was also one of the most powerful guitar players ever.

As good as Prince is, I don't think of him as a guitar hero, though. He's a musician. Stevie's a guitar hero.

Yeah, I love how Benson holds back just enough not to wipe Carlos out completely. Benson's playing is mind-boggling, even on those bullshit little pop tunes he started recording. He is a titan of jazz guitar.

SRV would wipe the stage clean with P in a blues jam.
Period.
But, that would be kinda hard for him to do because he passed away a while ago.
SRV was a amazing blues monster who used 13 gauge strings on a stratocaster.
He was a 2 trick pony, but the best at those 2 tricks in the world.
Prince is vastly talented and can play a number of instruments as if they were his main instrument, so to compare the 2 eye for a eye and tooth for a tooth is not fair. SRV cannot or could not play the piano like P can to my knowing. Nor could SRV sing, dance, play drums or bass like P.

So for me, this ? is more like, if i were stuck on a desert island with one artist's album collection for the rest of my life , who would it be?
Id have to Pick Prince because of all the different styles and influences you can get from that collection. Sorry Stevie you are definately one of my major influences though! Always have been, always will be.

Just like NDRU said
"As good as Prince is, I don't think of him as a guitar hero, though. He's a musician. Stevie's a guitar hero."

Nicely put.

prince is not a guitar hero???
hahaha
then who is a guitar hero? clapton? santana?
or maybe that poor late curt cobain.
because all 3 are always on guitar lists of best players ,but the fact is prince can wipe the floor with santana and eric and 90% of the guitar players from those lists.
prince's guitar solos are very well composed licks.
jimmy jam or terry lewis said:prince plays notes on guitar other people dont hear.i agree.
he is one of the rare players who can solo endlessly but you gonna still crave for more.
he was,is the guitar hero from the day one.

kstrat you want versality in princes playing?
ok,examples
jazz solos on my summertime thang demo,creamy instrumental,
xogenus all contain diffrent phrasing style ,licks opposed to prince's jimi hendrix influanced solos on bambi,habibi,but at the same time prince beside hendrix rock influanced playing have santana influanced rock guitar playing.

fusion jazz influanced guitar solo in dorian mode prince did on miles davies"so what on bet awards is stylisticly much diffrent then his rock playing.

when you talked about prince have ability to put his style of playing in diffrent music genres,you were probably having clapton in mind.

clapton always plays 4 phrases he knows in every genre he plays.

if you want to know how good prince can play blues check first avenue blues from 1984 .he kicked ass there/but prince is no blues player.blues is great but its very limited by its structure and we all know prince dont like limitations.

you people better think a bit before you say something as stupid as prince is no guitar hero.
prince plays guitar better then 90 % of players on guitar players lists.

Prince or SRV? This is a good one. I'm here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metro area, where SRV was born. I when to school at UT, in Austin where SRV jammed. I am even a friend with WC Clark, a fromer friend and bandmate of SRV. Met Double Trouble, had a beer with them between sets at Antone's, after SRV death.
SRV was a great guitarist. He was a bluesman that could really play the guitar, but stuck to blues, classic rock and rockabilly styles. He, did play some of the smooth jazzier styles at times.
Prince, however, has shown on most of his records that he can play many different guitar styles. Prince plays with much more depth in his songs. Most of Prince's best playing can be heard in the background, undertones of his songs. Think of Joy In Rep., We Can Funk.
Then, think of the obvious, Purple Rain, I'm Yours, Bambi, Jack U Off, Calhoun Square, America, The Cross, Thunder, Beautiful Strange... Ya'll know I could go own all night, but I don't want to mention a song that I'm not suppose to know about! I'm not even going to get into funky guitar playing.
I love SRV. I have all of his cd's and videos. He can't funk it like Prince.

Prince is or would be a more complete guitar player. Even if it's because he is a better musician or can play other instruments, so he can create or hear music easier.

I saw the post of players listed here. Add Al Di Meola to the list of greats.
Al, Santana and Prince are in constant rotation in my Escalade and my apartment.

Yes, I have some guitars at home and I'm constantly studying players styles. I also have cds of Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Satriani, Eric Gales, Ian More, John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Hendrix and Buddy Guy.

PRINCE IS THE BEST!

Prince is a better rhythm player... His timing is impeccable... SRV sometimes speeds up over the band while he plays... I haven't seen Prince ever do that...

I really loved his acoustic set on the Art of Musicology... He really made the guitar sound clever interesting... not just straight chords the way a lot of folk singers like to play... lots of licks and sparkle...
[Edited 12/21/06 2:08am]

Alasseon said:

- Agreed totally. I dont like the term ´better than´ because music isnt competition and everyone has their weak and strong points.

I think Prince is extremely underrated as a player, although I acknowledge the fact that he isnt a guitar innovator. He wasnt there in the 60s/70s with Beck, Clapton and all those guys setting most of what we play today.

He is not the obvious guitar player who plays real fast like Yngwie or real complex like Mc Laughlin. I think he is great in the details, in the rythm, in the vibrato, versatility...

SRV was truly great also

GustavoRibas said:

Like I told another reviewer on a topic similar to this one, yes the word 'best' really is not the appropriate term to use in these discussions. And you are right about the fact that music should not be a competition about who is 'better' and whatever else, but an appreciation of each artists' skill with their own unique style and what they bring to music in general.

I just assumed this to be an interesting topic because of the fact that Prince is usually not nearly as praised as a guitar player as SRV has been, and I thought that in the gentleman's opinion of Prince being a 'better' player than SRV is certainly not something that you would hear very often and it defianately made me curious as to what others had to say about this subject.