Most Underrated Guitarist?

[wiped]

Steve Rothery from Marillion ..

agreed

[wiped]

Andy Latimen of Camel,just listen to Ice as an example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhRgelkyeyo

agreed

[maglev375]

Agree on the Zappa posts, the other thing about FZ is his evolution as a guitarist. There's a huge difference between his playing in 68 and 88. The original vinyl Sleep Dirt (quoted above) is just fantastic (the CD issue has horrible unnecessary vocals added), but a great album also is 'Guitar', a selection of live performances.
I also think Angus Young is hugely underrated. He has so much natural talent, and is a really inventive player.

[my breakfast.]

Vini Reilly could be another contender. Quite an abstract guitarist.

[Beowulf]

Steve Rothery from Marillion ..

agreed

Not agreed: he's ok .. but underrated? Not in my (occasionally humble) opinion. Frequently overrated methinks (Beowulf ducks and cringes then waits for the onslaught of a completely out of proportion coordinated backlash from disgruntled MOLF contributors)

[Beowulf]

I also think Angus Young is hugely underrated. He has so much natural talent, and is a really inventive player.

Hmmm, I hadn't noticed. He's very entertaining, granted; but if he's underrated then it's by me too. I'd better go and find some AC/DC to review to make sure ...

[Hudini]

I think Angus Young is very overrated.

[my breakfast.]

Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. He clearly had a natural flare and talent. His rhythm playing, his ability to multitrack parts coherently AND his tasteful Chuck Berry solos are all competent for a guitarist from a cartoon band who learned guitar by taking drugs and playing along to Stooges album. A few years earlier he would have been in a band like Doctor Feelgood and had much more musical credibility.

[Idisaffect]

Mick Jones! Straight To Hell, for example. Subtle brilliance. The guy was seriously inspired.

[olzen]

Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. He clearly had a natural flare and talent. His rhythm playing, his ability to multitrack parts coherently AND his tasteful Chuck Berry solos are all competent for a guitarist from a cartoon band who learned guitar by taking drugs and playing along to Stooges album. A few years earlier he would have been in a band like Doctor Feelgood and had much more musical credibility.

I agree. The guitar parts on "Never Mind the Bollocks" are usually brilliant. People who say the Pistols didn't know how to play their instruments need to listen more bloody closely.

[zag]

Roy Buchanan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDOIL5OqvYs

[danielcaux]

Has Syd Barrett already been mentioned? Quite underrated guitarist in my opinion, especially because of the big shadow Gilmour has cast over him, although both are compleeeeetely different guitarist and shouldn't been judged in the same terms. Barrett, although having a very basic technique, had a quite unique and "modern" approach to the guitar. A sound quite refreshing to hear when contrasted to a context were pretty much all his peers were white boys trying to be american blues guitar players (not to discredit Hendrix, who was indeed a great player, but I think one of the many reasons for his big popularity over Britain is that all these blues guitar player wannabe white boys were just completely awestruck with having a real black american blues guitar player among them). Barrett was influenced a lot by blues too of course, as his last studio session would clearly prove, but even that influence was of a more exotic, less popular and even outdated, strain of the blues than the kind most rock players from his era where re-processing into 60s pop.

[my breakfast.]

Syd is underrated in my book. Gilmour is seen as the 'proper' guitarist but Syd had a completely different streak to his guitar playing.

I think Leslie West is overlooked as a guitarist. He used a little Les Paul Junior, which was a thin tiny guitar, but he got an amazing tone out of it. Mountain's use of Sunn amps was quite unique, and although they stole their sonic footprint off Cream their use of Hammond organ (and leslie-speaker processed rhythm guitar at times) was quite interesting and unique. Those Sunn amps are important, they gave a lot of meaty fuzz to both the guitar and bass work of Mountain. Leslie West seems to have utilised pinched harmonics and other 'squeelies' long before other guitarists picked them up. Some of the solos I've heard him play on live recordings have almost all been treated with his harmonic playing.

[wiped]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYCG5wZ9op8

[flashback]

How about Nick Barrett of Pendragon.Checkout his body of work all the way back to the mid-80s.Hell the band needs to be listed in the Most Underated Bands thread.Thier latest output Passion is just great.