For those of you play guitar well (or at least think you can ), do you think that Prince can still make a guitar wail the way he used to, still takes artistic chances, and is still a guitar hero? Or was he ever...? Does he belong in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame? Or not?

I think he's a better player than ever! He's still a guitar hero to me - can't really speak for anyone else. However, he does get props from many other guitarists I know and he's certainly had many decent articles written about him as a guitarist (Guitar World love him!).

As for "artistic chances" - can you elaborate on what you mean by that?

He's better than ever and has been a true guitar hero for a long, long time.

IMHO.

He already is in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and has been since 2004.

Yes, I think since he's gotten older and doesn't have the ability to dance anymore he focused on his guitar playing.

Which, I think he's gotten better at than he was 25 years ago.

Everytime I heard him live over the past 8 years. My jaw has hit the floor from his guitar playing.

Even though, Rolling Stone Magazine foolishly left him out of their 100 Greatest Guitarist of All-Time List. He's getting his props.

Especially after his performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps at The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. The same night he was inducted.

Mindflux said:

New musical licks, tricks, sounds, and vibes!

I´m probably one of the few people here who didn´t like the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame performance but yes, he always was and still is a guitar hero, albeit a VERY underrated one because people love to focus on other aspects, like making fun of his falsetto and high heels. Maybe the guitar world is too macho to give him props but it´s good to see that he´s getting more respect than ever before for his guitar skills....seems like they´re slowly realizing what a great guitarist he is.
While some say that he´s getting better when it comes to skills and technique, I must admit that I don´t really know much about that since I don´t play guitar myself but, more than skills and technique, in my opinion,it has always been about the melodies and sounds and atmosphere he creates with his guitar and not so much the skill level or how complicated his material is to play.
On the contrary, I think my favorite phase was between 1983-1985...listening to stuff like those warehouse rehearsals makes me realize what I love about his guitar playing, and it hasn´t much to do with the difficulty level of what he plays but more so with the sounds he creates, for instance Noon Rendezvous or that long version of Something In The Water during those rehearsals in 1984.

Something that´s been buggin me though....why does he use a whammy bar these days, and why didn´t he use one in the past?
[Edited 11/12/09 6:27am]

Yes, Prince is a guitar legend. When Prince's musical peers raise him up that says a lot about him.

Prince is in the "Rock-n-Roll," Hall of Fame for putting out an album at least 25 years. The devotion is what gets U in there.

I'm no musician, but from what I hear, he seems to have very wide range of styles and is able to confidently play guitar in any number of them.


Maybe I'm wrong? It sounds pretty darned impressive to me.

Imago said:

He's a guitar hero to me but not to the wider guitarist community. When the majority of people are asked to name the five greatest guitarists of all time I very much doubt they'll mention Prince. Or Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, John Martyn, and so on.

So, no, I don't think he was or is widely acknowledged as a guitar hero. Weirdo and gay maybe.

May, Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Townsend... they're guitar heroes.

iloveannie said:

Prince is definitely gay.

We voted on that ages ago.

Wow, where have you been that you don't know that Prince is better than he ever was on guitar?

Prince definitely kicks ass on guitar!
[Edited 11/12/09 8:23am]

Prince is one heck of a kick ass guitar player

colonized mind guitar is fuckin awesomeeeee

Zinzi said:

AMEN! Smokin' hot!

Prince let the world know that his guitar can part the sea at his Rock and Roll induction and then on Fury at SNL. He really killed it at Cochella and on Dreamer at Leno. He's probably at his peak right now!

What are your favorite Prince guitar solos? Here are some classic Prince guitars:

Steven Stills, a very underated guitar player, was on Howard Stern the other day and said that he didn't start really getting good until he was 50. He said it works that way for just about everyone. Maybe it's the same way with Prince.

Prince has been very good if not great from the start of his career, have you heard "I'm Yours". He never emphasized it on record, but live it was a different story. Plus he also let Dez and his other guitarist shine a little over the years.

Best guitar player on the planet Yeah I said it

Imago said:

Stay on topic or don't bother commenting!

poetcorner61 said:

The best is still to come.

I guess most of you know:

according Rolling Stone Prince is not even among the 100 greatest guitar players of all time (2003):

http://www.rollingstone.c..._all_time/

but Prince is #1 on Rolling Stone's most underrated guitarists (2007):

http://www.rollingstone.c...uitarists/

1. Prince
2. Kurt Cobain
3. Neil Young
4. George Harrison
5. Ace Frehley
6. Mike McCready
7. Lindsey Buckingham
8. Mick Taylor
9. Nels Cline
10. Johnny Greenwood
11. Tom Verlaine
12. Carrie Brownstein
13. Mick Jones
14. Robert Fripp
15. Johnny Marr
16. John Frusciante
17. Izzy Stradlin
18. Daniel Johns
19. Vernon Reid
20. Robbie Robertson
21. Mick Ronson
22. Billy Corgan
23. Elliott Smith
24. Eddie Hazel
25. Phil Keaggy

thedance said:

That's as maybe - but Rolling Stone is hardly the authority on guitar players. I'd be more willing to take note of a list put together by a guitarist publication.

PRINCE will always be my GUITAR HERO!!! He is truly one of the best!!!!
After hearing and witnessing PRINCE play his guitar back in 1985 during the PURPLE RAIN TOUR.....well that was the inspiration that I needed to learn to play the instrument myself!! Today 25 years later I still play each and everyday completely dedicated to the AXE!! It calls my name in my sleep!!
[Edited 11/16/09 6:03am]

^ true Prince is king on the guitar. In concerts he's absolutely fantastic, to me Prince reminds a lot of Carlos Santana, (like Prince say himself, very inspired of Carlos)

Mindflux said:

I believe Rolling Stone made a huge mistake in 2003 - not including Prince on the list, and they knew it themselves, therefor they made that second list.
That's my guess...
[Edited 11/16/09 21:03pm]

It's pretty nuts that Rolling Stone didn't include him on that first list. Like, that was a pretty big misstep

Prince surely belongs on a list covering the worlds 30 greatest guitar players ever IMO (alive or not)

His exact place might be open to debate, but top 30 he certainly is.