[quote="StevenB130"]I swear to god, I'm surrounded by fucking idiots.[/quote]

Hey guys, you know you're not supposed to lock Steve in the house of mirrors.

BURN

First-- Why Jimi Hendrix is idolized for his -skill-, I won't ever understand. His music was always more about the raw feeling of it, the thoughts, ideas and emotions it envoked, and the places it could take your mind if you absorbed it and let it get into your system...Not being an excellent guitarist. Although Hendrix was amazingly gifted in teaching himself to play left in an age of rights, if you must let go of the sentiments and be critical, his technical skill always left something to be desired no matter how huge a presence he carried.

Second-- On to Manabe-san. Personally, the thing I appreciate most about Manabe's style is that he doesn't seem so intent on sticking to the high e, B and G strings as a lead guitarist. In most other forms of music that make use of electric guitar (Such as blues, pop, funk, etc.), it's almost a fact of life that the rhythm guitar uses the lower half and the lead uses the higher. A good example of Manabe's departure from this is the solo in 'Moon Is Mine', in which it starts very low on the low E and progresses fluidly up the strings. The solo is very pleasing, a refreshing change from most rock solos, well written, imaginative and also fun to play if you happen to be a guitarist yourself. Rather than clinging to any type of technique such as chords, single notes or slides, Manabe covers each string in the solo at very least once, and makes use of a variety of different touches. The bottom line-- -He makes use of the entire instrument.-

Manabe-san has another good point, as well, one that almost every guitar enthusiast I've met overlooks, and that is that skill isn't determined by how fast you play or pick, how wicked of a solo you write or play or how loud or influential the music is; It can be a country song for all I care (And I dislike country, at that.), but the important part of lead guitar and the thing that makes a piece using one good or bad is how well the lead player blends with the other musicians. A person could learn to be just as incredible as Yngwie Malmsteen or Buckethead, but it's just abrasive noise if it doesn't fit with the song. Manabe's leads always sound so nice and smooth that it can sometimes be difficult to pick the notes out of the rhythm for tabbing purposes, his solos, licks and runs are always very complimentary, and quite tasty at that. Another player who is often under-rated because he focuses more on the song than being a big famous shredding guitar player is Larry LaLonde, of Primus fame. Who else save himself and Todd Huth could write things that sound good around Les Claypool's mind-bending bass, let alone for almost 15 years?

There's also the fact that as someone mentioned earlier, blues and rock aren't the only styles of music...So why not play more than one? Manabe's releases as Nine Miles go completely off the beat of the pillows' brand of delicious, and pleasingly, you can still even hear Manabe's dub and reggae influences slightly in a lot of his parts. Let's also not forget that he's quite experienced these days, it being 2005 and he having been born in 1962 (Sorry if I'm wrong.)? Quite a talented man, is our beloved lead player. I can't vote in the poll, apologies, because I honestly don't think the choices really stack up to him. Comparing the poor man to Green Day is just an insult, and although a good guitar player, Eric Clapton is probably always going to be more appreciated for his almost magical songwriting abilities instead of his actual instrumental work.

If I had to compare him to someone, though, it would perhaps have to be Trey Spruance from Mr. Bungle (Or The Secret Chiefs if you're a fan of his already.), or perhaps Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever of Coheed And Cambria, who came to fame in recent memory with the 'In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3'.

He may, also, compare well to Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez, of At The Drive-In, De Facto, and more recently well known for being a member of the Mars Volta.

...By the way. Disco Volante is a Mr. Bungle album, isn't it? Good choice.

Hendrix was renound because he was gall damned original and there was no one else like him to hit the mainstreem at the time his music came out. You cannot fairly compare his originality to anything that is done today because he is the most imitated guitarist out there. Also, the fact that he was left handed and played a right handed guitar with his left hand says something about his talent.

Anyway, I gave Manabe an 8 simply for his own originality. He's the first person I have ever seen who plays slide guitar riffs with out the slide.

[quote="Mellie"] Also, the fact that he was left handed and played a right handed guitar with his left hand says something about his talent.[/quote]

You're pretty much right except for this statement. All he did was string the guitar strings in reverse order, and he only did it because he thought it would look cool.

He actually didn't restring the guitar from what I've seen. It looked to me from some of the old clips I've seen, like he played it as is.

[img]http://www.rockul.info/photo/JimiHendrix/hendrix.jpg[/img]

I can't find a very good picture, but it looks to me here like his low E string is on top, so that would indicate that he strung his guitar backwards.

yeah i just watched a video..

jomei's right

[quote="Jomei"][img]http://www.rockul.info/photo/JimiHendrix/hendrix.jpg[/img]

I can't find a very good picture, but it looks to me here like his low E string is on top, so that would indicate that he strung his guitar backwards.[/quote]

haha. too lazy to get a left handed guitar..... or he just thought it was cool like you said. thats pretty funny.

I give him an 8 because he done an awesome job on his guitar playing and solo playing for MOON GOLD, WHITE INCARNATION, 90's My Life, Pantomime, Kool Spice, LIVING FIELD, Please Mr. Lostman, and RUNNERS HIGH.

Nothing against Pee-chan after all he is an awesome guitar player but isn't this the only reason on why he smokes?

I thought Hendrix was amazing because he played intricately and sung at the same time.

[quote="pokemon master"]haha. too lazy to get a left handed guitar..... or he just thought it was cool like you said. thats pretty funny.[/quote]

wouldn't lefty guitars be more difficult to obtain?

like lefty scissors... and lefty desks...

yup. they cost like $200 more just for the cheap ones.

[quote="YamanakaSawao1"]yup. they cost like $200 more just for the cheap ones.[/quote]

Not so. I just checked both Musicians Friend and Sam Ash. While Musicians Friend seemed to be not listing the left hand Standard Strat, Sam Ash had it listed at $370. Which is the same price that Musicians Friend has the right hand Standard Strat. Of course, this is the price you would pay if you were not getting the sunburst finish, which is an additional $50.

[quote="terra"]wouldn't lefty guitars be more difficult to obtain?

like lefty scissors... and lefty desks... [/quote]

Hendrix wasn't exactly a hobbyist. Playing guitar was his life, even before he made it big; I'm sure he could have found and afforded a left-handed guitar quite easily, had he wanted to.

^I believe that for a while, Fender was not making any left hand models. I think it was from the begining of Fender that they did not make any of these models. Most likely after Hendrix became popular is when they started to them in bulk quantities.