The Greatest Classic Rock Guitarists - Part 1

With displays of rock virtuosity during the 1970s that still compare to modern standards, it is safe to say that May was ahead of his time. His playing showed a finesse and control which was a contrast against the raw rock tones of his contemporaries. He has consistently embraced progressive techniques - early finger tapping such as the tapped ‘chimes’ on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Bijou’. You can also hear May adopting sweep picking during the track ‘Was It Worth It’. Proof of his continuous development and willingness to develop and evolve his style over the years. He even used the guitar to emulate brass instruments on the track ‘Good Company’ including trombone and piccolo. This prompted the band to state that ‘no synthesisers were used’ on the album sleeve.

As an innovator, Brian May surrounded himself with and championed cutting edge players of the day such as Eddie Van Halen (with whom he released the album ‘Star Fleet Project’ in 1983) in addition to Nuno Bettencourt and Steve Vai, who performed alongside him at the Guitar Legends Festival in Seville, Spain in 1992.

May was the master of crafting symphonic solos and there is much we can learn about the importance of melody and structure from his approach to written lead parts, with many of his solos becoming as famous as the songs from which they are derived. Although it has been noted that Freddie Mercury composed some a handful of solos such as ‘Killer Queen’ which were adapted for the guitar by May.

His guitar tone was unlike anything heard before and May has stated that his primary influence for shaping his sound was the tone produced by Rory Gallagher. His sound came from an unconventional combination of equipment; amp wise he favoured the Vox AC-30 and used a number of them in combination to give an overall full sound. He would also remove the ‘brilliant’ and ‘vib-trem’ circuits which gave the side effect of an additional gain boost for each amplifier. A treble booster pedal was used as standard before the amp and stayed on continuously and his ambient lead tones were thickened with the use of an Echoplex delay.

Of course, when considering May’s unique sound, we have to reference his infamous ‘Red Special’ guitar. The original was built by the 16-year-old May and his engineer father using the wood from an old 18th-century fireplace and household items such as mother of pearl buttons for fret markers. The tremolo arm was interestingly constructed from a bicycle bag carrier with an end fashioned from the head of a knitting needle. The ‘Red Special’ has seen mass production by manufacturers Burns and also Guild over the years.

Having earned himself 6 Grammys for ‘Best Rock Instrumental Performance’ it is clear that Jeff Beck still holds his place as a true innovator of instrumental rock guitar. His style and approach pushed the expressive possibilities of the electric guitar beyond the standard blues/rock-based approaches of his peers. His playing was brave and came from a vision of only being limited by Beck’s imagination.

Despite being prolific in the 1960s as a blues player Beck is one of the few guitarists to reinvent his style and rewrite the rule book for the guitar later in his career. During the 1980s he gave up the use of a plectrum in order to focus on the dynamic range and feel gained by using his fingers alone. This was used in conjunction with creative use of his whammy bar and volume control to give a broader range of effects simply using the guitar itself. This, in addition to his early use of distortion, has placed Beck as a pioneer of the modern rock guitar.

As a player there is much we can learn from Jeff Beck; chiefly, his expressive approach to guitar. He rarely plays a note without adding some kind of creative nuance to it; slurs, microtonal bends, whammy bar or vibrato via his right hand hitting the bridge. More often than not he combines these techniques to give notes an altogether more vocal quality; for example, approaching a bend with a volume swell whilst simultaneously releasing the depressed tremolo arm. Perhaps his fascination with world music and the enduring influence of John McLaughlin’s Indian inspired sound (whom Beck has been quoted as referring to as the ‘best guitarist alive’) has inspired this treatment of each note as a potential to create something unconventional.

It is fair to say that much of Beck’s tone is in his unique use of the guitar, however, he has been a consistent user of the Pro Co Rat distortion pedal for his drive sounds and of course his custom Strats. The hot-rodded Seymour Duncan JB humbucker also reflects Beck’s tonal characteristics and has been a mainstay for nearly 40 years (the JB initials meaning both ‘Jeff Beck’ and ‘Jazz Blues’). During his Yardbirds days, he used ’54 Fender Esquire coupled with a Vox AC-30. The original Esquire is now owned by Seymour Duncan himself.

Due to his early career as a prolific session guitarist, Jimmy Page became one of the most musically diverse and inspirational guitarists to emerge from the 1960s/70s. He took his primary influence of American blues artists such as BB King, Buddy Guy and Hubert Sumlin and translated it into an untamed rock guitar style, the impact of which is still relevant and continues to inspire the young generation of players today. At his peak, during the 1960s, Page was providing guitar on 3 studio sessions prepay, 6 days per week. It was during this period in which he honed, not only his impeccable timing performance chops but his superb skill as a producer and innovator of modern recording techniques for the electric guitar.

His playing has the rare legacy of inspiring both rock and folk players alike, with his use of altered tuning and a dexterous fingerstyle/dynamic strumming technique gleaned from his former days as a session ace. Any fan of Led Zeppelin will be familiar with Page’s use of multi-layered guitar parts. Using contrasting guitar tones, he would shape tracks and experiment with the placement of microphones in and around his amps for the sound of ambience and space. The track ‘Achilles Last Stand’ is a wonderful example of this textured soundscape.

As a player Page always made a statement and, much like the blues players who inspired him, always ensured his solos had something musically integral to say. His approach to rhythm playing was unusual for the time and would often incorporate bends and open strings within chords. Of his playing, Carlos Santana said ‘Few build musical mansions like Jimmy’.

In the studio Page used a number of different amps to suit the tone he was looking for, however, live he favoured Marshall and Hiwatt heads driven loud. He has been an avid user of the MXR Blue Box distortion for the additional drive, an Echoplex for time-based effects and also modulation from the standard MXR Phase 90. Gibson has been his mainstay, notably his double-neck SG and a ’59 Les Paul Standard sold to him by Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. Interestingly the famed ’59 was used as the base model for Gibson’s run of Jimmy Page Signature Les Pauls in 2004. He is also noted for his use of a ’61 Danelectro on the recording of Kashmir and his famous use of a Telecaster during the live performance of ‘Dazed & Confused’ and, most notably for the solo on ‘Stairway to Heaven’.

There’s no escaping the position of Hendrix as the player who successfully and fully redefined the sonic possibilities of the electric guitar. Many players before him had experimented with modulating effects and gain/distortion, but Jimi was the first to do it within such a fluid and dynamic way.

Much like Jimmy Page, Hendrix began his musical career as supporting guitarist for other artists, honing his playing and performance skills with ‘The Isley Brothers’ and ‘Little Richard’ with whom he still performed up until 1965. It was this Rock n Roll and Blues foundation which Hendrix used as the bedrock for building his reworking of the instrument.

His flamboyant and often abusive use of his whammy bar and feedback are well documented, however it is his rhythm playing which has truly stood the test of time and still provides the benchmark for modern rock guitarists. He rejected the standard barred voicing in favour of partial chords and with his thumb functioning as the root of the chords. This then freed up his fingers to create melodies and adornments whilst still playing a solid rhythm guitar part, giving the illusion of two guitars playing simultaneously. He also dissected traditional chord shapes into double stop forms allowing him to stay true to the moving chords whilst soloing. To the listener, this gave the effect of a merging between lead and rhythm guitar. The solo from ‘All Along The Watchtower’ being a perfect example of this.

During his days as a supporting guitar player, Hendrix favoured the more subtle and clean tones of a Fender Twin Reverb. It is said that, upon moving to England, in 1966 the first amplifier given to him by manager Chas Chandler was a 30w Burns. Hendrix felt that he needed something with more teeth and explored the popular Marshall amps of the time. He went on to purchase 4 speaker cabs and 3 Super Lead 100w heads, which he intended to use as backups. The combined sound was so devastating, Hendrix went on to use all 3 amps together with all the controls turned up full (later known as ‘The Hendrix Setting’). His signature tone also came from his choice of effects pedals among which were his famed selection of Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Faces, a Uni-Vibe and an Octavia octave pedal, in addition to a ’68 King Vox Wah. His first Strat, for which he will ever be associated, wasn’t purchased until 1966, prior to that his main gigging guitar was a Danelectro Silvertone. His love for Stratocasters is well known, but he also had a collection of 3 SGs, and 2 Flying Vs which can be seen during performance footage.

So there we have it; 4 of the best? Perhaps. But, one indisputable fact is the need for us, as guitar players, to stop and listen from time to time. No matter which great guitar players you place in your top 4, they all claim to have achieved their goals by taking the time to listen to their heroes.