Searching for the Sound

[edwin]

Oh, Bill.
 
Alright, who here remembers the Plastic Ono Mothers?
 
Edwin

[briant]

There are several players who I can spot from a mile away.
 
Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Steve Vai
Hendrix
Jaco
Pat Metheny
Stevie Wonder
Frank Zappa
 
There are others I'm sure but those are the ones that stand firmly in my mind.  Zappa especially as a guitar player was just out there in the best way.  His approach to soloing was so angular and odd but just so right.  He always gets so much (well deserved) credit for his writing but he rarely gets the credit he so well deserved for his guitar playing.  The guy had monstrous chops and good solo ideas to spare.

[elwoodblue]

zappa's goldtop
 
 
...while I'm at it I gotta give Curtis Mayfield and his band a very honorable mentioning.

[tom_z]

Bill Frisell, Alan Holdsworth, Thelonious Monk, Phil Lesh . . .

[paulman]

Man, what  great list.  
 
Darkstar01, D Boone was my first guitar hero.  Talk about a specific sound!
 
I'd like to add Duke Robillard to the list.  A blues man if I ever hoid one

[white_cloud]

I know he has already been mentioned a couple of times but I think Allan Holdsworths sublime sound is on a different level - totally and unmistakably unique to him!
 
One note of Allans playing says more than a thousand notes from most players in my opinion. John Mclaughlin is also easily identifiable from his choice of notes!
 
It is often easier to identify actual models/makes of basses as opposed to bassists these days. Exotic basses tend to sound unique to their creed. for example, it is often easy to identify an Alembic bass on a recording I feel!
 
John.

[benson_murrensun]

JOHN W. (JACK) CASADY !!!!!
fuggetaboudit!

[georgie_boy]

10 out of 10 for Holdsworth!!!!
Just amazing player

[cozmik_cowboy]

John Cippollina.  No one else's sound is even close to his.
 
Peter Gerlach

[jerryme]

What is some good John Cippollina music? I really only know of his playing throught the many Dead shows he sat in on. He was in Quicksilver Messenger Service correct? And what was the deal with the bat wing's on his SG?

[cozmik_cowboy]

Yes, John was in QMS.  A proper introduction to them would be Happy Trails, which Mr. Garcia termed the most pschedelic album ever recorded.  John did his own work on his guitar, including wiring it stereo (and building this beast to run it through), some nice inlay, and the famous bat-wing pick-guard.
 
Peter
 
ps - and I misspelled his name in my first post - only 1 p.

[jbybj]

When I worked at New George's in San Rafael in 85' 86', John Cipollina played there a couple of times. I didn't know anything about him then, but I often found myself sitting at the board, forgetting to mix, just lost in a state of wonder.
 
That was a great job............
 
JBY
 
oh yeah, back to the thread, I'd add Adrian Belew.

[jerryme]

Working in San Rafael in the mid-1980's.... So it is prolly safe to say that you ran into the boys a few times.

[elwoodblue]

That Beast is niiiiice...thanks,I haven't been turned on to his music yet and look forward to learning and listening.
Belew is a force in nature for sure...He adds alot of soul to all the bands he's been in.
 
on a grace note...zappa's goldtop went for about 130,000 dollars.
 
my curiosity is peaked about that 'modulux' in John's rig.
 
cheers

[cozmik_cowboy]

I'm not sure, but I think the Modulux was a rotating-speaker simulation device.
 
Peter