ohyesindeed

Got the wallet that spencers has (the brown one) and a couple of shirts. Here's one of them ( front and back):

If you got anything, fell free to post your pics here!

what the fuck is up with the g & r logo?

it's guns n roses.

not guns and roses.

am i the only that thinks that is just fucking weird?

so, let's save basketball analogies for the chili peppers board......

bottom line:

none of us hang out with or know any member of the band to accurately project what the fuck is really up.

but, if i may participate in this speculation game:

robin is obviously pretty useless on his own. if this wasnt true he would have made his own record. not putting him down, just stating what appears to be a "fact". now, why does he stay with gnr? well, one has to think he actually likes what he's doing, considering the fact that he had a pretty cushy gig with NIN prior to gnr. in his case, i imagine he has a lot of creativity invested in this project and it is his duty to see it to fruition. also, he gets paid a fuckload. i imagine he gets a check every month just for being in the band, and if they're on tour, he gets more.....i dunno how much, but it's more than i make.

i think stinson, behind axl and finck, has a lot of creativity invested as well. also, let's remember that the replacements were never huge. they could have/should have been, but they never really broke. they were like the ramones of the 80s: they influenced everyone, but only their followers cashed in. gnr is the only arena-ready, cash flowin' project he's been in, and he seems so happy and appreciative just to be doing something at this level.

dizzy is a touring keyboardist/session guy.

don't know much about pittman or fortus (other than the fact that he's the best guitarist on stage!)

as far as the drummers go:

if you're a good drummer and you're smart, you go where the money is. when you've been around as long as brain or ferrer, you come to undertand that you have to treat being a drummer the same way everyone else treats drummers in general.....thus, you dont pick up the sticks in someone else's project without a check. singers/songwriters/non-drummers generally view the drummer as an easily replaced commodity, so you better fuckin understand that and make sure you get paid....

you guys are all way off....

axl brings his own car on tour with him, and he likes to park right outside the stage door. sometimes he just needs to grab some gum.....but usually he's just makin sure he's not getting a ticket or being towed.

actually calling him anything more then average shows how little YOU know about guitar playing

I have been playing for over ten years and I can tell you right now after 1 year I could do a better take on this solo than Stinck

WOW. i wasn't gonna say anything else in this thread.

but WOW.

that really sucked. i think they may have been having an off night though......

finck's part was shitty there, and it was made even shittier by the fact that he ran to the front of the stage to deliver it! "yes, i believed you guys in the front row ordered the botched, classic solo? comin right up!!"

still...fortus' thing didn't sound too awesome although it sounded a bit like amp difficulty....axl's voice was weak, too....so i think posting that vid might be a bit unfair.......

as much as i think finck screws up the old stuff, he definitley does more than okay for himself in the new. the solo in "the blues" is pretty classy....so it's hard to completely rule him out. still, i think that fortus should be on lead, with finck on rhythm.

man, i think fortus is just amazing. for sure the best player on that stage! i think he fits the overall "vibe" of gnr really well, and his playing is just over-the-top badass.....he's really incredible. every lick i've seen him play in this band has been great, and i don't understand why he doesn't get more solos.

i really like the way he plays izzy's old solo in "nightrain". he spruces up a little bit and adds his own flare, but it's tasteful, ya know?

also, i think he has excellent taste in guitars. it's cool to see a thinline tele on stage with axl, then a hollowbody, and then the mighty gibson les paul custom. he also has a really cool stage presence: for the most part, he's pretty understated, just up there and rocking out. then he gets a fire under his ass and does that cool "bash and slide" guitar move....total class. him and ferrer and my fave two new guns.

also, i think he looks kinda like jeff spicoli, which is awesome! totally awesome!

Ohyesindeed and Rockstar81 - we get it. You both don't like Ron.

You've both said it a hundred times -- at least 20 times each in this thread alone. Give it a rest.

Most people consider Ron a talented guitarist and charismatic musician with a great rock vibe that has become a highly-respected part of GNR. Let these people speak their minds. They have a right to express their views without the two of you jumping all over them after every post so that you can repeatedly make your vitriolic posts against Ron.

...

bbf does not fit in on that stage. he is not rock n roll, and he is not a star. his is a weird kind of "turd in the punch bowl" vibe. the rest of this band, however much i disliked the '02 version, has really gelled, and have become damn respectable as a band unto themselves.

I don't know who you've been watching, but it certainly isn't Ron. He's totally "rock n roll" - far more than your beloved Buckethead ever was. Ron totally gels with the band and helps the band to project a true rock vibe that wasn't there in 2002.

"beloved"? i have never once said i liked buckethead because i never liked him.....and i haven't been jumping all over anyone.

me, purple haze.....and i think slash's appetite? we've been having a right mature discussion i guess about guitar playing essentially (as guitar players often do!) & i have made it clear through my posts that i fully respect everyone else's opinion.

Bumblefoot was just a last minute replacement for Bucket. I would like to thank Ron for answering all my fellow forum members e-mails and talking to them at shows. Good luck with the footguitar 2.0 and with your band Bumblefoot. My gut feel is that Bucket and Brain will be back in 07 to help Axl climb back to the top of the mountain.

well, i think there will be some more lineup changes, but bucket and brain will not return.

they apparentley already tried to get bucket back unsuccesfully, and frank recording for the album seems to punctuate brains permanent exit from the group.

i think they brought in bbf to "replace" bucket, but did so because they needed to tour, and the new songs had bucket parts already set it stone, and these parts needed to be played.

i think they will change a lot of this on the album, hopefully to more tastefeul guitar work, and bbf will be let go. i still find very odd that on those videos from the official site bbf's guitar is completely erased and everything else is intact.

clearly axl is a perfectionist, and if bbf's tracks were to go missing unintentionally, axl would have had him re-record them or he wouldn't have posted the videos.

bbf does not fit in on that stage. he is not rock n roll, and he is not a star. his is a weird kind of "turd in the punch bowl" vibe. the rest of this band, however much i disliked the '02 version, has really gelled, and have become damn respectable as a band unto themselves.

Holy shit..look THIS:

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

What The Fuck!!!!

get a fucking rope....

OLD OLD OLD OLD

who cares? he was having fun at the ONE solo gig he did during the break between the european and us tours.

so, it doesn't bother you in the least that bbf took SCOM and completely butchered it? i mean, he's in the band.....why is he even playing that song on breaks from gnr? did his band play that song before he joined? fucking tasteless.....it's one thing to do what gilby clarke does and play that song as it's supposed to be played and just sing it terribly.....it's another thing to fucking play it like it's a system of a down song with your band & your dumb ass opera voice.

it's also indicative of him capitalizing on his association with axl, which is spineless. i suppose there have been more people at the gigs since he's been in gnr, so he'd better give 'em what they want and play some flacid nu-metal/punk version of SCOM.....and i'm sorry, if that's bbf's "creative mark" on that tune i'd hate to hear what he may or may not be doing on the new record.

Well you sure did ignore all of my points and decided to focus on my age. Well done for not being able to reply in a constructive way.

i made my point in 5 words.

you didnt make one in about 100 or so......brevity is the soul of wit.

but, since you asked, here's some more words:

you're 16. i'm 22. i've been playing guitar since you were 4. (and that doesn't make me a better guitar player or person than you, btw....)

when i was first getting into playing guitar, i really liked all that shredding shit. i even learned to play some of it. the more i listened to these "catch all" shredders who could play any style, the more i noticed something:

they could skim the surface of those styles, but they couldnt master any one style. i had an epiphany:

it is better to be really good at one thing than to be mediocre @ 7. you might think that bbf can play the blues.

sure, he knows the blues scale and can physically play SRV licks. but, he ain't a better blues guitar player than SRV, is he? he ain't better @ classical than segovia, and he ain't better at jazz than wes montgomery. he ain't better at writing songs than dylan, lennon, or keith richards. so, what's the point of being able to shred your ass off in any style when you really can't be taking all of it to heart, cause you ain't better at it than people who specialized in one style? why be a jack of trades, but a master of none? now, it could be said that all the people i mentioned are legends and no one could ever be better than them.....this is somewhat true. but, you have a better chance at getting to the heart of what they were doing by focusing on just a couple of things rather than 100.

so, there's that.

there's also the fact that the more i got into music, the more i realized that the things that moved me the most were things that came in simple packages. if you own 10,000 records and you're in your 40s, will you ever forget the melody to "old mcdonald had a farm" or "twinkle twinkle little star"? no. why? because it's simple as water and it stays with you forever. SCOM ain't no complex melody.....you will never forget how that song goes, or the feeling you get when listening to it. there comes a point in music, when too much is just too much regardless of how good you are. it becomes static. economists among us (musical or otherwise) know the value of constantly downsizing everything. the more you talk, the less people listen.....always better to make your point in as few words (or notes) as possible, in the simplest way possible. if you can't explain "it" to me like i'm 6, it may not be worth explaining...

these are just my opinions, and i'm not "right" and you ain't "wrong"...it never works that way with music. you like what you like. most people i know, even people with chops on the guitar that bbf would cream over, agree.

so you can take that for what it's worth.....

Heh, nice try but there's holes in that logic wider than George Michael's arsehole.

You're making the assumption that any particular virtuoso guitar player does not have a specialty and only emulates many other styles. This is factually incorrect. Shred itself is a style and has existed before the guitar was even invented. Shred is just the name you give it when applied to guitar. Try telling Paganini' he never had a "style".

Sure a neoclassical player will be not be capable of playing blues like SRV, or BB King... try and ask BB King to play Always With Me Always With You, Whispering A Prayer or Cry For You. Not technically intensive playing but still, the idea of BB King playing that in front of an audience is just obscene. Horses for Courses.

The idea that any of the great virtuosos is incapable of a simple melody is also utterly farcical. The albums Population Override, Colma or Electric Tears by Buckethead for example, not a note of super fast sweeping, alternate picking or tapping.

To put it simply, there's a difference between guitar wanking and shred, guitar wanking is playing as fast as you can while neglecting melody, shred is not. All the great shred anthems are driven by a simple melody at their core.

Try to tell me these lack melody or emotion:

Andy Timmons - Cry For You

Steve Vai - Whispering a Prayer

Oh and to the guy that shat all over Bucket and Vai... they were taught by the best for a reason and it's possible for a student to surpass their teacher (in this particular case, Satch and Paul still pwn them though). Vai for example is not where he is because of his chops. Lane, Cooley, Batio, Bucket, Thal etc etc would eat him for breakfast. It's not about chops, its about the quality of your music and your melody. That's why Vai is where he is, he's a great MUSICIAN, just like any great player from any genre.

Oh and btw, I'm not some Vai nut, I like him a lot but he's probably not even in my top ten. I just thought my avatar pic was a particularly pwetty picture

nice try yourself:

the point of what i'm saying has zero to do with logic. nor does it deal with emotion and melody. emotion is completely subjective......saying a player lacks it is like saying he or she lacks a nice jacket, or a well-shaped nose. beauty is in the eye (ear) of the beholder.

what i'm saying is that, to me, the greatest things in life, music, and art can be explained in very few words, notes and shapes. things that are deceptively simple (the main riff to "louie louie", for example) provide a lot more enjoyment, and last a lot longer than something that is blatantly complex.

i'd rather listen to the notes a player isn't playing.

i'd rather have 3 really close friends than a hundred acquiantences.

i'd rather subsist on the smallest amount of food my body can handle than be gluttonous.....and that's what shredding is to my ears: gluttony.

and yeah, b.b. king, srv, et al would never be able to pull off something bbf or vai could.

but, here's the wrinkle: they never wanted to, and have never even tried.

bbf, vai, and every other shredder, however, tries hard (and fails miserably) to play blues licks.

andy timmons (who i took a few guitar lessons from briefly before he made the ear extasy album, btw) is a good example of the point i'm making. he's a great guitar player technically speaking. sure, he can play a little blues, a little classical, a little jazz, but he is not great at any of those styles. he understands their nature technically, and he knows how to play the scales that make up those type of styles, but he has not put in the time to really be great at any of them, because he spreads himself thin over too many genres.

so, the reuslt is bland, safe, and by-the-numbers guitar solo music (to my ears at least), that sounds more athletic than it does artistic (again, my ears).

Holy shit..look THIS:

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

What The Fuck!!!!

get a fucking rope....

Well you sure did ignore all of my points and decided to focus on my age. Well done for not being able to reply in a constructive way.

i made my point in 5 words.

you didnt make one in about 100 or so......brevity is the soul of wit.

but, since you asked, here's some more words:

you're 16. i'm 22. i've been playing guitar since you were 4. (and that doesn't make me a better guitar player or person than you, btw....)

when i was first getting into playing guitar, i really liked all that shredding shit. i even learned to play some of it. the more i listened to these "catch all" shredders who could play any style, the more i noticed something:

they could skim the surface of those styles, but they couldnt master any one style. i had an epiphany:

it is better to be really good at one thing than to be mediocre @ 7. you might think that bbf can play the blues.

sure, he knows the blues scale and can physically play SRV licks. but, he ain't a better blues guitar player than SRV, is he? he ain't better @ classical than segovia, and he ain't better at jazz than wes montgomery. he ain't better at writing songs than dylan, lennon, or keith richards. so, what's the point of being able to shred your ass off in any style when you really can't be taking all of it to heart, cause you ain't better at it than people who specialized in one style? why be a jack of trades, but a master of none? now, it could be said that all the people i mentioned are legends and no one could ever be better than them.....this is somewhat true. but, you have a better chance at getting to the heart of what they were doing by focusing on just a couple of things rather than 100.

so, there's that.

there's also the fact that the more i got into music, the more i realized that the things that moved me the most were things that came in simple packages. if you own 10,000 records and you're in your 40s, will you ever forget the melody to "old mcdonald had a farm" or "twinkle twinkle little star"? no. why? because it's simple as water and it stays with you forever. SCOM ain't no complex melody.....you will never forget how that song goes, or the feeling you get when listening to it. there comes a point in music, when too much is just too much regardless of how good you are. it becomes static. economists among us (musical or otherwise) know the value of constantly downsizing everything. the more you talk, the less people listen.....always better to make your point in as few words (or notes) as possible, in the simplest way possible. if you can't explain "it" to me like i'm 6, it may not be worth explaining...

these are just my opinions, and i'm not "right" and you ain't "wrong"...it never works that way with music. you like what you like. most people i know, even people with chops on the guitar that bbf would cream over, agree.

so you can take that for what it's worth.....

Do you think this ruins Nightrain?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90sDGpBLb50

yes.

If you think Ron's solo stuff is bland and generic you've either not listened to them fully, or know very little about music. He's extremely varied and his music is oozing with style. He knows how to change his sound in the blink of an eye and this makes a style of music you very rarely encounter. He can cover so many different genres and styles it's amazing. He's immensely talented, and if you can't see that you must be quite ignorant or uneducated.

you must be 16.

All I know is that Ron Thal is a better guitarist than Buckethead, and Bumblefoot have put out some great, great music, some to rival even GN'R.

you have got to be kidding.

bumblefoot has got to be the most boring, generic, tasteless band i've ever heard.

if my one of my best friends was in that band, i would stll refuse to watch them...

Generic? Generic?

Did I actually read that right?

A band that has run the gamut from fusion jazz to emo? Generic? A band that has actually even blended blues, fusion jazz, hard rock, and punk is generic?

You could say boring (opinion), or tasteless (part of the appeal), but since you said generic...

dig:

they play generic fusion jazz

generic emo

generic "blues"

generic hard rock

generic "punk"

they only skim the surface of those styles, don't make them their own, and have no imprint:

jack of all trades, master of none.

it's better to be reeeally badass and unique with 1 style of music than it is to be really horribly mediocre at 7.

it's kinda like bbf's amp: the line 6 digital shit-stack whrein every amp sound is a button away.

now, there might be a setting on that amp that says "twin reverb" and another setting that says "AC30".

the twin reverb setting might kinda sound like a twin, and the AC30 setting might sound more like an AC30 than the twin setting.

however, if you compared the "AC30" setting with a real AC30, you'd rather just play the fucking real thing. see, the real AC30 is only good at being an AC30. it does not know how to be anything else......the line 6 dial-an-amp is a cheap imitation of a ton of classic sounds, but is not able to accurately replicate one of them. why? cause it's too busy worrying about how many fucking dials it has than actually being a good amp.

i think you can buy them at wal-mart now.........

Do you own over 2500 albums? I do. And let me tell you, they have done very original shit.

your taste is obviously very thin. unless you are well into your 30s (which, if you are, you are fucking immature btw) there is no way you could have listened to all of those records thoroughly.....or you're obviously a "quantity over quality" guy which would explain a lot......

the fact is: bumblefoot the band is fuckng stupid. compare how long they've been around to how many connections ron thal obviously has.......did you hear of them before gnr?

the vocals and lyrics are fucking atrocious, and the music is bland and uncool.

as for the whole "virtusoso" factor in gnr, here is the bottom line:

gnr were (are) a rock n roll band. ok? all this virtuoso shit, it has NOTHING to do with rock n roll.

you see, the virtuosos, as someone said above, are "like and bach and mozart" and "theoretical physics in complexity". well, that's all well and good, except the best rock n roll comes in immediate 2-5 minute bursts with a lot of repition and simplicity. the virtusoso shit forces you to stop and think about what they're playing when you should just be lost in the song......

All I know is that Ron Thal is a better guitarist than Buckethead, and Bumblefoot have put out some great, great music, some to rival even GN'R.

you have got to be kidding.

bumblefoot has got to be the most boring, generic, tasteless band i've ever heard.

if my one of my best friends was in that band, i would stll refuse to watch them...

Generic? Generic?

Did I actually read that right?

A band that has run the gamut from fusion jazz to emo? Generic? A band that has actually even blended blues, fusion jazz, hard rock, and punk is generic?

You could say boring (opinion), or tasteless (part of the appeal), but since you said generic...

dig:

they play generic fusion jazz

generic emo

generic "blues"

generic hard rock

generic "punk"

they only skim the surface of those styles, don't make them their own, and have no imprint:

jack of all trades, master of none.

it's better to be reeeally badass and unique with 1 style of music than it is to be really horribly mediocre at 7.

it's kinda like bbf's amp: the line 6 digital shit-stack whrein every amp sound is a button away.

now, there might be a setting on that amp that says "twin reverb" and another setting that says "AC30".

the twin reverb setting might kinda sound like a twin, and the AC30 setting might sound more like an AC30 than the twin setting.

however, if you compared the "AC30" setting with a real AC30, you'd rather just play the fucking real thing. see, the real AC30 is only good at being an AC30. it does not know how to be anything else......the line 6 dial-an-amp is a cheap imitation of a ton of classic sounds, but is not able to accurately replicate one of them. why? cause it's too busy worrying about how many fucking dials it has than actually being a good amp.

i think you can buy them at wal-mart now.........

All I know is that Ron Thal is a better guitarist than Buckethead, and Bumblefoot have put out some great, great music, some to rival even GN'R.

you have got to be kidding.

bumblefoot has got to be the most boring, generic, tasteless band i've ever heard.

if my one of my best friends was in that band, i would stll refuse to watch them...

image is important.

take buckethead, for example.

i already hate the way he sounds, but the way he looks makes it even dumber. now, if he looked cool, i would still hate what he plays.....but i wouldnt have the extra "bad image" ammo, dig?

just like bbf:

he sounds like a moron. he looks like a moron too. if he sounded cool and looked like a moron, i woudnt mind if i was listening to it. but, i would still laugh at his moron looking, cool sounding ass when i went to the show.

thus, it is important to sound and look cool.

in bucket and bbf's case, i doubt anything could save them. i mean, if you look that dumb with a bucket and mask on your head, you must look reeeeeallly dumb just being yourself.....

and i'm sorry, you can't be fuckin wearin a fuckin dumb ass snow cap with holes in it to let your clumpy hair out, with limp bizkit pants to boot, and fool us 3 months later with your new "classic rock" look. bbf has got to be the dumbest looking guitar player in history, and i say that with all credence to bucket, steve vai, yngwie malmsteen, and whoever that douche from extreme was.....

First of all, you're young aren't you?

Secondly, you've got big posters of Slash all across your bedroom wall, all topless and sweaty, looking very sexy and cool, don't you?

i'm in my 20s....so yeah i'm young.

i dont have any posters on my wall. i do have a framed picture of a dancing mexican couple that looks like it's 40 years old. i went to buy a frame at a thrift store, and it turned out i liked the picture in the frame better than the frame itself.....

and i'm sorry, folks:

looking like a badass is a big part of rock n roll. you think gnr would have sold record #1 if they were all wearing clown wigs and diapers in the "sweet child" video? or, if in the "jungle" vid, they were all carryting tiki torches, wearing grass skirts, and riding elephants? songs are most important yes, but image comes next. it is important to look fucking cool while you are playing....fortus has got it down. so does axl. finck looks kinda dumb, but okay. stinson: cool.

bbf: so fucking uncool it is bringing down the entire stage show. he's a fucking tool. he plays like a tool, acts like a tool, sings like a tool......

and that solo "band" of his? i would rather listen to slash's snakepit forever than hear 1 second of that bullshit....

image is important.

take buckethead, for example.

i already hate the way he sounds, but the way he looks makes it even dumber. now, if he looked cool, i would still hate what he plays.....but i wouldnt have the extra "bad image" ammo, dig?

just like bbf:

he sounds like a moron. he looks like a moron too. if he sounded cool and looked like a moron, i woudnt mind if i was listening to it. but, i would still laugh at his moron looking, cool sounding ass when i went to the show.

thus, it is important to sound and look cool.

in bucket and bbf's case, i doubt anything could save them. i mean, if you look that dumb with a bucket and mask on your head, you must look reeeeeallly dumb just being yourself.....

and i'm sorry, you can't be fuckin wearin a fuckin dumb ass snow cap with holes in it to let your clumpy hair out, with limp bizkit pants to boot, and fool us 3 months later with your new "classic rock" look. bbf has got to be the dumbest looking guitar player in history, and i say that with all credence to bucket, steve vai, yngwie malmsteen, and whoever that douche from extreme was.....

i really think (hope) it's just a matter of time before axl realizes that this whole bucket/bumble/shredhead bullshit has just got to go. i like bumble better than bucket just because he's not wearing a fucking mask, but bumble seems to find ways to look like a complete chode on his own.

bucket and bumble both sound the same to me:

like a couple of robots who, to prove they are human, begin to beat off violently. the only way to prove they are human beings is to have an orgasm but they can't, so they just start beating faster and faster and faster and faster......

now that finck, fortus, stinson, and rose have been together for awhile, there is some real chemistry between them that was absent in '02, and even at the start of this tour. now they really do seem like a tight group of guys who belong together.....but the second bbf gets involved it just kills it. everything about him, from his sound to his stage "presence" to that fucking goofy mama's boy grin just sceams.....i dunno what it screams........but it ain't "rock n roll".

axl's friggin' blingin'!

I never really liked him.

Hes a nice guy and he interacts with the fans wich is awsome, but he doesnt belong in this band. Finck and Fortus can handle themselves just fine, besides, shredding and Guns N' Roses go together like water and oil, it just doesnt work.

I hope that guns4tea guy was for real and Im inclined to think he was, Bumblefoot needs the boot.

agreed.

slash had his own brand of "shredding" but it was more "moan/wail" than outright shred....maybe it was just the total badass attitude that slash played with that makes it different.....or maybe it's the fact bbf is expanding on/imitating slash's licks, whereas slash was just playin' his own licks, ya know?

either way the "shredder factor" in gnr is the biggest thing that's bringin' down the new band. it ain't neccesarily bbf or bhead's fault....it's the concept that their role in the band is somehow needed.....i've said it before: they seem like penis implants to compensate for the fact slash isn't there.

fortus/finck are a fine guitar team, IMO, and there's more than enough guitar bad-assery between just the two of them.

i think if this record does well with the kids, the finck/fortus team will be a god-damned respectable pair of guitar players for the new generation of gnr fans. whether or not you'd rather have slash/izzy, finck & fortus are fucking rock n roll guitar players.

bbf and bucket are not.

if i say it's wanking, it's wanking. may not be wanking to you, but my opinion is the only one that matters to me. "two handed legato technique"....it even sounds like your jacking off. and don't fucking tell me about image and fame. i've been slaving in clubs for over 10 years, playing guitar for 15, and i ain't ever gotten anything other personal satisfaction out of it, and that's all i need...so blow yourself.

So essentially, my opinion is my opinion and that makes you wrong? Please back it up with facts please. You could have played for a 1000 years but if you think that anybody who plays with tapping and sweeping is shit you're a an idiot plain and simple.

Yeah sure... tell Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai they're all shit. They're legends that smoke you spinning on their cock you fucking small minded little insignificant piss ant.

see, now you are proving your ignorance.

fortus was in the fucking PSYCHEDELIC FURS. you probably have never heard them. he was also in love spit love, and has a pretty good writing/producing/session racket on the side......and he is the absolute best guitarist in the band, period. watch that vid on finck's website....his tone, his technique, everything is tasteful....he's fucking amazing.

Do. Not. Patronise. Me. I'm aware of Fortus' background. Yes, Fortus is an amazing guitar player I agree, I never said he wasn't but even though I share this view with you, this is not about opinions... you cannot compare the achievements of Fortus and his playing ability to Ron's. Ron is one of the most technically gifted guitarists on earth, has ears like a bat and his music has gained him comparisons to musical colossi like Frank fucking Zappa.

So yeah, before you go on a patronising, insulting offensive... think before you speak. Now go nurse your ego you little burger nipple.

there are no "facts". your opinion is your opinion, you ain't wrong. you're the one who called me wrong in earlier post......the fact is that, to me, i dont fucking care if bbf can play 1000 times as fast as he can, i think he sucks. that simple. sure he's a good technician with a good ear....i'll bring my car to him so he can fix it...

VH, vai, et al are all good at swinging their dicks around.

van halen I is a good record from a good band. see that word: "band". that is what it's about. the band. the people playing together and sounding good as a unit, not some fucking dickless shredder who's trying to hog attention. bbf''s tone (line 6. come one dude) is so offensive when he's playing chords, it makes the band sound bad. the fact he plays with zero attitude and a dumb ass grin makes it even worse. he's a clown.

just like buckethead.

just like vai.

and you said fortus was a "good live player".

wanna talk about guitar players.Im watchn a double DVD right now of Eric Claptons Crossroads Guitar Festival, from 2004. Eric Clapton, BB King, Robaert Cray and Jimmie Vaughn(onstage at the same time !!)plus EC and Carlos Santana, ZZ top, and a bunch of other bad motherfuckers Its a 4 day guitar festival in Dalles Tx. Fuckn Sick...im talkn about them takn turns makin that motherfucker cry and then rippn its fuckn head off rock1 Bucketwho?

hey!

i was at that! those fuckers know whats up on the guitar! my first concert was bb king, srv, and jimmie v. came on at the end. i knew i would end up a guitar player!

ohyesindeed - That's incredibly ignorant and small minded if you ask me, completely neglecting two handed legato techniques and sweeping just because you think it's not fashionable or cool is pathetic.

Many people use those techniques tastelessly, yes, but to rule out the use of them all together is fucking retarded. It restricts you as a musician and that's when you cross the border into being in it for the fame, image and money and not your art. Essentially, it puts you on the same level as Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline.

Oh yeah, I didn't criticize your taste. I assumed you hadn't heard Bucket's solo material as branding those albums "guitar wankery" is not just a stupid opinion, it's factually incorrect.

if i say it's wanking, it's wanking. may not be wanking to you, but my opinion is the only one that matters to me. "two handed legato technique"....it even sounds like your jacking off. and don't fucking tell me about image and fame. i've been slaving in clubs for over 10 years, playing guitar for 15, and i ain't ever gotten anything other personal satisfaction out of it, and that's all i need...so blow yourself.

Richard should take the Lead and Bumblefoot should either take the rythm or just come back to his solo career. I don't understand why Richard isn't on Lead while he is the absolute best guitar player in this band.

If Richard Fortus were on Lead, he would be recognized as the guitar héro of his generation. I've said it since day one. He is the Master.

...and you've been wrong from day one.

As of yet, Richard is a good live player, that's it. Fuck all else. He hasn't created any music of note or critical acclaim. He may do in future yes, but as of yet NOTHING .

BBF is not only technically EONS ahead of Fortus but he has also, unlike Fortus, created a body of solo work that has gained him respect and admiration amongst his peers.

That's it, that's as far as the argument goes. You can have your opinion on this of course, but looking at the facts what you're saying is utter nonsense.

I'd like to know what your reply to that is.... if you have one that is an actually piece of logical reasoning and not just a baseless opinion again as always.

see, now you are proving your ignorance.

fortus was in the fucking PSYCHEDELIC FURS. you probably have never heard them. he was also in love spit love, and has a pretty good writing/producing/session racket on the side......and he is the absolute best guitarist in the band, period. watch that vid on finck's website....his tone, his technique, everything is tasteful....he's fucking amazing.

you probably learned how to play guitar from an instruction video, fanboy.....

i just don't hear anything that ron adds, and didn't hear anything with bucket, either. that kind of guitar playing is what happens when people don't get laid for too long....when you have no idea what the fuck "sexy" even is, your playing ain't gonna fit gnr....

i mean, bucket did have the best nunchuck/robot dance solo in the history of rock, but it was the only solo of that nature (thank god!) to my knowledge.

at least with bucket, i could kind of "respect" him from a freakish/artsy standpoint, but with bbf it's just pure, unadulterated stupid. i mean, the guy plays a line 6 amp, and a guitar shaped like a foot on stage. bbf has zero stage presence, looks/acts like a moron, and even had the audacity to sing on YCBM when axl ran off. you just don't fucking do that when you've been a band for a month.....especially when your voice sounds like some operatic system of a down reject bullshit......

what really blows my mind is that richard fortus is a total badass and can clearly solo his ass off tastefully....why the fuck is he not getting all the leads?

save for the bbf/buckethead/superfluous shredder factor, this new version of gnr is god-damned respectable, and i never thought i would say even that. up to '02 it was fucking circus-type joke, but slowly but surely they are coming around. no more bucket. finck looks like a rock n roller. fortus is awesome. it appears that LA white-boy-funk-meister brain is out of the picture, and has been replaced by a bonham-esque powerhouse of a drummer.

i hope rumors of bbf's exit are true, and that unless izzy comes onstage for the songs he wants to play on, they only have 2 guitarists.....

lol well put argument man, that was witty

You are wrong though sorry

I'm not a fan of shredding your fretboard to hell and back when it doesn't fit but to accuse BBf and Bucket of being simply guitar wankers is utterly absurd.

Bucket and BBf have tons of albums full of beautifully melodic guitar playing.

Colma, Population Override and Electric Tears by Bucket especially... not one note of mental chromatic shred. All beautifully written chill out melody.

BBF's shredding showing off thus far is him just trying to impress you imo. You can imagine how daunting joining an entity like GnR is.

you have steve vai as your avatar and you're questioning my taste? please.....

that type of playing is fucking silly in my opinion. totally masturbatory and tasteless.....once you cross over into two-handed tapping and arpeggio sweeps, you are a wanker. you're a wanker before that even, but you're officially a wanker once you cross that bridge.....