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Forums > Prince: Music and More > Gary Holt Says Prince Is A Better Guitar Player Than ‘Overrated’ Eric Clapton
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Reply #30 posted 12/29/22 8:37am

JorisE73

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

2freaky said:

Steve Vai beats both.



lol

How could a Prince wanna be... beat Prince?

I got to see Steve Vai in concert once at Red Rocks, he came out wearing a purple skater suit, exactly like the one Dave Chappelle wore in his sketch, frilly shirt and everything. It immediatetly dawned on me, as much as he was trying to imitate Prince... he couldn't come close to the greatest player to ever hold a guitar.

But I give hime props for trying.



lol
Prince didn't even dare to play guitar when Steve visited Paisley Park and just he just let Steve jam with Sonny T. and Michael B. with Prince just filming it all.

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Reply #31 posted 12/29/22 9:48am

RJOrion

Prince is somehow always compared to rock or blues guitarists, when he's easily more comparable to guitar players like Freddie Stone (Sly & The Family Stone) and Al McKay (Earth Wind & Fire).
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Reply #32 posted 12/30/22 5:00pm

homesquid

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JorisE73 said:

I think Clapton is considered overrated by most guitarists out there.

Very overrated. Prince would've smoked him. But Albert King would've smoked both Price and Clapton

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Reply #33 posted 01/02/23 3:18am

ian

So funny. personally I'll never understand the need to "rank" guitarists. It's such an unhelpful perspective anyway isn't it, the opposite of what music is about. It's not a competitive sport smile Maybe we can just enjoy and appreciate the strengths and differences that make each musician unique, and the players whose individual sound has inspired others to pick up the instrument.

I get there's a bit of mythologising around Prince sometimes especially now he's no longer with us, but it seems unnecessary to knock a great player like Clapton or call him overrated.

I'm probably not the right generation for it, but those early Clapton records are pretty great (let's say, from Yard Birds, Cream, to the Dominoes era) and inspired a whole generation of blues rock players, including Prince imho. Prince obviously was a lot more than the sum of his parts ofc, and the amazing thing about him wasn't necessarily his flashy lead licks or his rhythm chops (there are many players who do those things well) but more the fact that he was the full package, he had all that AND was a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, multi-instrumentalist etc. For me, that's what was interesting about Prince. We could probably find a thousand guitarists today who could outplay Prince in his prime, but that's not really the point. It's art, not sport.


One related topic, Prince fans often repeat a comment Prince made in an interview about the influence of Santana on his playing but I personally think it has been overstated throughout the years. By looking at how Prince plays guitar you can definitely unpick what Prince was listening to on the radio as a teenager in the 70s, but it's a lot broader than just Santana imho (the band, not the person). I guess Prince didn't like to give us too much of a peek behind the curtain though and perhaps it was an easy answer to reach for during an interview to try to and squash inevitable lazy comparisons to Hendrix. It'd be nice to set the record straight on that someday.

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Reply #34 posted 01/02/23 4:32pm

GaryMF

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No one has mentioned the famour quote, when someone asked Clapton how it feels to be the greatest guitar player, he said "I don't know, ask Prince" or something like that.

rainbow
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Reply #35 posted 01/03/23 3:11am

JorisE73

GaryMF said:

No one has mentioned the famour quote, when someone asked Clapton how it feels to be the greatest guitar player, he said "I don't know, ask Prince" or something like that.



Maybe because everybody knows this is a fake quote.

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Reply #36 posted 01/03/23 7:11pm

GaryMF

avatar

JorisE73 said:

GaryMF said:

No one has mentioned the famour quote, when someone asked Clapton how it feels to be the greatest guitar player, he said "I don't know, ask Prince" or something like that.



Maybe because everybody knows this is a fake quote.

duh

rainbow
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Reply #37 posted 01/07/23 9:51pm

rap

According to Dallas Schoo, The Edge's longtime tech, The Edge is the best guitar player in the world.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/u2-edge-interview-rig-tour-guitars

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Reply #38 posted 01/08/23 3:09am

nayroo2002

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rap said:

According to Dallas Schoo, The Edge's longtime tech, The Edge is the best guitar player in the world.

https://www.musicradar.co...ur-guitars

"Whatever skin we're in
we all need 2 b friends"
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Reply #39 posted 01/08/23 1:08pm

rap

nayroo2002 said:

rap said:

According to Dallas Schoo, The Edge's longtime tech, The Edge is the best guitar player in the world.

https://www.musicradar.co...ur-guitars

Just imagine him and Takumi Suetsugu swapping notes. By the way if you want some qualified feedback on Prince's ability, check out a man on YouTube who goes by the name of Wings of Pegasus. He is very complimentary and knows his stuff.

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Reply #40 posted 01/09/23 6:06am

savagedreams

While I have never considered clapton a god, he isnt a hack either. He was hugely influential in shaping what went on in the 60s and how that set up everything else to come. then after that he was nothing special, but hardly a hack, even if i dont agree with anytihg he says these days.

Yes, I put Prince highly above clapton.

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Reply #41 posted 01/11/23 7:09am

GustavoRibas

avatar

rap said:

According to Dallas Schoo, The Edge's longtime tech, The Edge is the best guitar player in the world.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/u2-edge-interview-rig-tour-guitars

.

It´s interesting how Prince and The Edge had basically the opposite approach when it comes to playing guitar. The Edge is a sound researcher. Prince never seemed to like to spend too much time on gear.

Both great.

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Reply #42 posted 01/11/23 6:26pm

rap

GustavoRibas said:

rap said:

According to Dallas Schoo, The Edge's longtime tech, The Edge is the best guitar player in the world.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/u2-edge-interview-rig-tour-guitars

.

It´s interesting how Prince and The Edge had basically the opposite approach when it comes to playing guitar. The Edge is a sound researcher. Prince never seemed to like to spend too much time on gear.

Both great.

For a non-musican such as myself, can you elaborate??

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Reply #43 posted 01/12/23 12:33am

JorisE73

So, Jeff Beck died.

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Reply #44 posted 01/12/23 12:40am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

the edge had more of an influence on 80s guitar, 80s rock guitar at least, than prince. and much of that is prob as he did something new with it, whereas, while prince had an identifiable guitar sound, esp in the 80s, he wasnt necessarily doing something earlier guitarists hadnt done already.

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Reply #45 posted 01/12/23 4:16am

FunkJam

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JorisE73 said:

So, Jeff Beck died.



A true original and master. He could do things no-one else could, and his sound is perhaps the most recognisable out there. Very complimentary about Prince as a guitarist, also. On top of that, he appears to have been a nice guy with humility.
"Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system" - Bruce Lee
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Reply #46 posted 01/12/23 5:26am

JorisE73

FunkJam said:

JorisE73 said:

So, Jeff Beck died.

A true original and master. He could do things no-one else could, and his sound is perhaps the most recognisable out there. Very complimentary about Prince as a guitarist, also. On top of that, he appears to have been a nice guy with humility.


True, I don't everything he did but what he did that I do like is truly exeptional.
In all the interviews I have seen of him he just seems like a really nice guy.

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Reply #47 posted 01/12/23 8:37am

GustavoRibas

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Jeff Beck was a guitar genius. And really seemed humble. Orgers probably know that Rhonda was playing with him, right? And Tal Wilkenfeld, the bass player that played with him before Rhonda, played on Welcome 2 America.

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Reply #48 posted 01/12/23 8:55am

GustavoRibas

avatar

rap said:

GustavoRibas said:

.

It´s interesting how Prince and The Edge had basically the opposite approach when it comes to playing guitar. The Edge is a sound researcher. Prince never seemed to like to spend too much time on gear.

Both great.

For a non-musican such as myself, can you elaborate??

.

Yes. Different from other instruments, guitar players like to use effects on the guitar. They are small pedals that, when pressed, modify the guitar sound. The most used are Distortions, Delays (echo), Wah wah, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Whammy, etc. Some guitar players use tons of effects, others use very few. And there are several kinds of amplifiers, guitars, etc. Some more bright, some more opaque, etc.

.

And there are lots of guitarists that are obssessed with testing/buying several effects, guitars, amps from different companies. Prince didnt seem to be that kind of guy. He basically used the same Boss pedals since the 80s and only added few ones to his setup. And liked to use one kind of guitar for distorted tones (Cloud, Symbol, Strat) and other for clean (usually his Hohner Telecaster). And he had few amps too: a Mesa Boogie Hearbreaker since the early days, a Soldano and maybe another one.

.

On the other hand, The Edge always had several effects, amps, guitars. He used basically one guitar for each song live. Something that Prince would never do. Prince seemed more worried about releasing tons and tons of songs.

.

And there is no right or wrong about it. It´s a matter of personal preference.

.

If you are curious to know more, I suggest searching on Youtube things like "Prince effects", ´Boss Flanger´, ´Boss Octave´, ´Digital Delay´, ´Digitech Whammy´, etc. You will recognize several Prince sounds there.

.

Hope it helped.

[Edited 1/12/23 8:57am]

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Reply #49 posted 01/13/23 5:18pm

rap

GustavoRibas said:

rap said:

For a non-musican such as myself, can you elaborate??

.

Yes. Different from other instruments, guitar players like to use effects on the guitar. They are small pedals that, when pressed, modify the guitar sound. The most used are Distortions, Delays (echo), Wah wah, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Whammy, etc. Some guitar players use tons of effects, others use very few. And there are several kinds of amplifiers, guitars, etc. Some more bright, some more opaque, etc.

.

And there are lots of guitarists that are obssessed with testing/buying several effects, guitars, amps from different companies. Prince didnt seem to be that kind of guy. He basically used the same Boss pedals since the 80s and only added few ones to his setup. And liked to use one kind of guitar for distorted tones (Cloud, Symbol, Strat) and other for clean (usually his Hohner Telecaster). And he had few amps too: a Mesa Boogie Hearbreaker since the early days, a Soldano and maybe another one.

.

On the other hand, The Edge always had several effects, amps, guitars. He used basically one guitar for each song live. Something that Prince would never do. Prince seemed more worried about releasing tons and tons of songs.

.

And there is no right or wrong about it. It´s a matter of personal preference.

.

If you are curious to know more, I suggest searching on Youtube things like "Prince effects", ´Boss Flanger´, ´Boss Octave´, ´Digital Delay´, ´Digitech Whammy´, etc. You will recognize several Prince sounds there.

.

Hope it helped.

[Edited 1/12/23 8:57am]

Yes, it does. Thank you.

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Reply #50 posted 01/13/23 5:49pm

GustavoRibas

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You are welcome smile

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Reply #51 posted 01/14/23 7:58pm

chrisslope9

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TRACK 5

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7gp579CMkT_5cOIiN_jo988YwAOj2dF7

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