The Greatest Rock Guitarists - Part 2

Characterised by one of the best wide vibratos in the world combined with eccentric over the top string bending and ferocious speed put John Sykes at the fore of 1980s guitar pioneers. His style was technically astounding but still, very much rooted in the blues which gave him the chops for showmanship plus the soulful edge to play with amazing feel and finesse, a skill rare amongst the shredders of the day.

Sykes is credited with laying down the guitar for Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pan Tang and Blue Murder, however, it is his work with Whitesnake, in particular their self titled 1987 album (co-written by Skyes) which contains some of the finest examples of his playing and incredible tone. It is here we can also gain a full appreciation of Sykes’s skills as a rhythm player. He constantly strived to avoid standard power and barre chord forms preferring, instead, to rework voicings using double stops in combination with single lines and pinched single note lines. Take a listen to ‘Crying In The Rain’ for a masterclass in rock riffing!

His solo work often saw him delivering these terrifying riffs whilst, simultaneously showcasing his prowess as an acrobatic rock vocalist - checkout his 2000 solo album Nuclear Cowboy for a modern take on his music.

There is more to Sykes than a simple rock riff machine, his compositional skills have depth; take a listen to tracks such as ‘Loveland’ and you can hear a definitive Beatles influence.

As for gear; during the 1980s he favoured 50w Marshall JCM800s modified to give more gain but did adopt Mesa/Boogie Mark II, III, and Coliseum with Whitesnake. His famous monstrous rhythm tone on ‘Still Of The Night’ was created using two Mesa/Boogie Coliseums double-tracked and mixed in stereo with a slight delay to add thickness. The gain on each amp was set low to retain the clarity of the riffs. His rhythm tone often had a subtle chorus added to it. Live, this was produced using a pedal, however, in the studio stereo tracking was employed to give a more natural version of the same effect.

His weapon of choice is, famously, a Les Paul, namely his ’78 Black Custom, featuring a mirrored scratchplate. In 2006 Gibson launched a limited run of ‘Inspired By’ models which generated two Les Pauls based in the famous Sykes guitar - an aged version (to match the look of John’s original) and a standard model.

With an adventurous and outlandish style, George Lynch has been heralded as one of the most influential hard rock players of the 1980s. His playing paved the way for many modern guitarists through Lynch’s use of wide intervallic lines, slippery legato runs and tapped arpeggios. It has even been claimed that he adopted tapping (in a rock guitar context) before Eddie Van Halen! His diverse style and techniques were, in part, due to his broad range of early influences, citing Alan Holdsworth and Al Di Meola amongst his top inspirations. This is also a genesis for many of his more exotic note choices and lines.

It was his work with rock powerhouse Dokken which cemented his guitar hero status, with instrumental tracks such as ‘Mr Scary’ setting a new benchmark for guitarists. His unique style is firmly rooted in the blues and Lynch integrates this into his speedier playing with an infectious ‘stuttered’ phrasing, playing behind and ahead of the beat to add tension. For a prime example of his ‘rootsier’ playing, check out his recent work with supergroup KXM.

The Dokken era George Lynch tone came from his use of Marshall Plexiglas heads and a helping hand from preamp boost pedals and TubeScreamers. Recent times have seen him collaborate more closely with Randall amps and has also used Bogner, Soldano and Diezel. His eccentrically designed signature guitars with oversized reverse ‘banana’ shape headstocks have become almost as famous as the man himself. Early models were spit between Kramer and Charvel, but in 1986 Lynch became a fully exclusive ESP endorsee, who produced his famous Skulls and Snakes and Serpent models. The Skull & Bones guitar (nicknamed ‘Mom’) wasn’t actually produced by ESP and so a brand decal was placed on the headstock for performances. The super hot Seymour Duncan ‘Screamin’ Demon’ has also helped guitarists who have chased the Lynch tone.

Cited as the guy who kick-started a new wave of guitar heroes during the 1990s; Nuno Bettencourt’s playing has stood the test of time and still confounds guitarists to this day. A hybrid of percussive funk and blistering technique is the first aspect you’re hit with when encountering Nuno in full flight, but this alone would not have been enough to secure the interest of the, already shred saturated, armies of guitar fans still riding the wave of 80’s virtuosos. Bettencourt’s compositional and songwriting skills were key in propelling, both himself and Extreme to the fore of guitar-driven bands. A closer listen to much of his work, beyond the riffs themselves, shows a huge Beatles and Queen influence (of which Nuno himself has consistently confirmed). ‘Am I Ever Gonna Change’ is a prime example of this influence.

Nuno’s style and tone were a move in a new direction also; swapping out saturated, delay sodden lead sounds for drier more mid-heavy settings. His take on the speedier aspects of playing was also refreshing - integrating open strings with the stock, three-note pre string runs favoured by rock players of the day and utilising groove and time feel within his lead lines in a manner never seen before.

He swiftly became known for, what has now become, his much-coveted signature moves. His use of tapped, string skipping arpeggios (in particular his favourite add9 voicing) still remains unrivalled in terms of fluidity and execution. In addition; his skills as a rhythm player turned the guitar community on its head - blending funk and, traditionally jazz shell chord voicings with a scratchy, driven tone which also encompassed muted lines and pinched harmonics still serves as a bible for rock rhythm technique. There’s no escaping the perfect combination of both these signature moves on the classic ‘Get The Funk Out’. He, interestingly enough, credits much of his rhythm work and timing to his early beginnings as a drummer.

Its is perhaps a lesson for us all that, being a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist renders your guitar playing with profound musicality and melody. Seemingly. just as comfortable behind a piano as his guitar, Nuno has managed to infuse his style with amazing chordal parts and a very prominent classical influence. Check out ‘Play With Me’ to pick up on his classical vibe and the intro for ‘Decadence Dance’ for his dizzying piano work.

The Bettencourt Signature guitar has become almost as famous as the man himself and became the ‘pin-up’ poster model for many guitarists during the 90s and early 2000s. Much like Nuno’s tone the appeal is in its stripped-back looks and natural finish. The Washburn N4 also boasts an extended cutaway and combination of Bill Lawrence USA and SD pickups. He has been quoted as saying that the N4 has become ‘Part of his DNA’.

Since 2008, Bettencourt has had a relationship with Randall amps, who produce his custom model the ‘NB King’. He also runs this combined with a selection of Marshall heads. If you’re looking for the gear behind his more defining tone found on ‘Pornograffiti’ then he employed the unconventional use of an ADA MP-1 tube preamp running into a Macintosh 2100 power amp. This was then fed to a Marshall 4x12 and cranked up to a very high volume in order to generate the drive and saturation you hear on the recordings. It is also worth mentioning that much of the guitars on the album were recorded using a ribbon mic (in combination with others). This would have injected a little warmth and bottom end back into the tone. He deviated to a 60w Soldano on the ‘III Sides’ album and drove this hard with a ‘Rat’ drive pedal to push the amp harder.

Yes, it’s almost as predictable to include this gentleman as it is Hendrix, but consider the enduring style and impact Joe Satriani has had and continues to have on the guitar world. 15 Grammy nominations and 10 million album sales place him as the world's highest selling rock instrumentalist. If this doesn’t give you cause to reconnect with his playing, then consider his early work as a teacher which spawned some very notable guitar heroes such as; Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons and, his most publicised student Steve Vai. Plus, the less rock styled David Bryon of the band ‘Counting Crows’. Interestingly, he has often been vocal about the impact his teaching had on his later development as an instrumentalist; referring to the need to musically communicate with students in a concise and effective way.

It is easy to focus on Satriani’s reinvention and popularisation of legato playing as he took his primary influence of Alan Holdsworth and reworked out to give the fluid precision which has become his trademark. The legato king also reached new audiences of non-guitar players with his catchy hooks and thematic instrumentals. He did this through the clever rejuvenation of standard blues licks and gave much of his practice time to working on inflexions, dynamics and rhythmic displacements which would add new interest to these lines but still retain their bluesy charm and appeal. The result is some of the most memorable guitar lines ever composed. ‘Summer Song’ broke the mould for this approach and received an unprecedented amount of radio play around the time of its release.

Let’s not forget his seemingly effortless integration of more advanced harmonic concepts into his playing; namely, the ‘Pitch Axis’ approach, to which he is now associated. In simple terms Satriani bent the received idea of soloing in the one key which matched the progression or harmony and often used the root as a constant, but interchanged modes and scales that shared common tones giving his playing exotic overtones and tension whilst never loosing sight of the musical result. His first instrumental outing ‘Not of This Earth’ gives a great example of this.

As for gear; Joe has been long associated with his JS signature series of Ibanez guitars. These models have seen a variety of Dimarzio pickups but chiefly the ‘Mo’Joe’ and PAF Joe and his signature neck position single coil the ‘Satch Track’. These days his amps of choice is a modified Marshall JVM which went on to become his signature model the 6100LM. If you’re looking for an old school Satriani tone, then his performance on ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’ came from his use of a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+.

For some bonus trivia - you may not be familiar with Joe’s role as a Mick Jagger’s touring guitarist in 1988. If this is old news then, did you know that he produced the 1987 album ‘The Eyes of Horror’ by death metal band Possessed? He is also credited for singing backing vocals on Crowded Houses’ self-titled album which gave us hits such as ‘Don’t Dream Its Over’.

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.