Has you opinion on DJ Ashba changed since '09?

[Cosmo]

His guitar was out of tune during SCOM. He usually nails it a lot more than Robin.

[erguevous]

His guitar was out of tune during SCOM. He usually nails it a lot more than Robin.

Seriously. Shit happens! All you haters know damn well DJ can play the fuck out of SCOM.

No he can't...he plays it like the average youtouber plays it out there...he's average at best...I've said it before and I say it again

[Bruno P.]

does anybody remember that guy that was rumored to be hired to be gnr's turntable player? i recall something about that from back in '09..

He's Nick Sterling, Bach's guitar player. He apparently jammed with the band and knows Ron. He's a great guitar player, would have loved if he joined GNR instead of Bach's band...

Regarding SCOM, what did Ashba do? He fucked up the outro solo in LA, but the intro was OK. And he does an OK job on SCOM, but he's like an averaged guitarist trying to get the solo right while Ron runs circles and circles around him. I like how he does the solos, but Ron's on another level.

I can't stand his fuck ups in Civil War, Better, Sorry, This I Love and Maddy. How can a professional guitarist miss so much notes in a concert? That was my main complaint about Finck - apart from the way he holds some notes and some of his out of tune bends) and Ashba wasn't that sloppy a few months ago. His guitar playing is good (not outwordly, but sounded nice to me most of the time), but his constant pose and fuck ups bother me so fucking much right now. PLAY THE FUCKING GUITAR INSTEAD OF POSING. Fortus misses some notes here and there and that's normal. But Ashba does miss a lot and it's annoying, the songs sound really bad sometimes. WHY CANT HE PLAY THE FUCKING BETTER RIFF ACCURATELY? Seriously... it's a fucking basic riff. Play it like any average youtuber do and you'll be fine. I will never understand how he can fuck up simple solos and after a few seconds he does another major fuckup. Pay attention. PAY ATTENTION. I understand that he cant play the Sorry solo correctly, Bucket's different yet amazing note choices (and how he plays them) aren't usual, but Live and Let Die? This I Love? Better? Give me a fucking break.

Regarding Finck, Voodoochild, how can we know if that booklet was the correct one? I said that I was fine with Finck not having much to do with songwriting because he was there when those songs were written, but it's obvious that songs like Shackler's have nothing to do with him because Bucket and Brain are clearly the main songwriters. Even Axl probably didn't do much. I was expecting a lot more from Finck (solos, licks, etc), but if his songs are ready to be released as CD II eventually, that's cool.

[Cosmo]

His guitar was out of tune during SCOM. He usually nails it a lot more than Robin.

Seriously. Shit happens! All you haters know damn well DJ can play the fuck out of SCOM.

No he can't...he plays it like the average youtouber plays it out there...he's average at best...I've said it before and I say it again

Still, he plays it better than Finck ever did.

[Voodoochild]

Really, I dont see the problem in guitar players fucking things up from time to time. What just strikes me is how can someone complain about Robin and just forgive Ashba's mistakes. I think they are even on this matter, but DJ still needs a lot more originality because I like to assume that this band isnt stuck in the past and really needs a lot more than just someone who "respects" Slash by copying him. At least I *hope* that is the case.

Regarding Finck, Voodoochild, how can we know if that booklet was the correct one?

Because its the same credits seen on CD tab book and ASCAP files and, regarding Shacklers, on Rock Band 2 intructions manual.

I said that I was fine with Finck not having much to do with songwriting because he was there when those songs were written, but it's obvious that songs like Shackler's have nothing to do with him because Bucket and Brain are clearly the main songwriters. Even Axl probably didn't do much. I was expecting a lot more from Finck (solos, licks, etc), but if his songs are ready to be released as CD II eventually, that's cool.

Shacklers is credited to him too. He was probably a lot more involved on the arrangements with Caram Constanzo and Axl after Bucket was gone, hence he had so much arrangement credits. Songs like Shacklers and Scraped were clearly edited from different places, I strongly doubt those songs were all Bucket and Brain works alone.

Also, you're talking about songs heavily modified by Bumblefoot. Who knows if Robin wasnt playing a lot more on those Bucket songs before Ron replaced him? I still believe, by the rhythm pattern, that those may had some shared solos between Robin and Bucket just like Chinese is and Riad was.

[Rem]

... wearing the top hat.

A small poll... how many of you think slash originated this look?

LOL. It's OBVIOUSLY Mick Mars.

LOL. not even close...

Yeahh, probably not, I mean... DJ's NOT involved with Motley Crue in any way. He's not in a band with Nikki Sixx, he's never said Motley's one of his biggest influences. Slash was. And THIS hat isn't much closer to THIS ONE than THIS.. For God's sake... Even the hair and bandana are alike.

If you were not so obsessed with who is or is not an Ashba influence, you may have correctly read my question... but no matter... For all the 'interest' in music here and constant comparisons, no one managed to know who is credited with the first use of the top hat in rock... Happy New Year all, and catch you on the flip side.

[Georgy Zhukov]

DJ helped write some of the newer Crüe songs. I mean it's not like it's groundbreaking music but Nikki and Mick are not Axl Rose.

[Bruno P.]

Really, I dont see the problem in guitar players fucking things up from time to time. What just strikes me is how can someone complain about Robin and just forgive Ashba's mistakes. I think they are even on this matter, but DJ still needs a lot more originality because I like to assume that this band isnt stuck in the past and really needs a lot more than just someone who "respects" Slash by copying him. At least I *hope* that is the case.

From time to time, yes... not all the time like Ashba did in LA - haven't heard the Vegas show yet but I really hope to hear improvements from him. I think Ashba will play the safe card as always - he's doing that in Sixx:A.M. and Guns as well. I'd love to hear more originality from him but I really doubt he'd come up with a song like Better or a solo like Robin's TWAT solo. I simply hope Ron does the main songwriting and add his not so common riffs, solos and rhythm to Ashba's songs - also I hope Axl has a heavy involvement if Ashba writes something so it wouldn't sound like Sixx:A.M. songs at all.

Because its the same credits seen on CD tab book and ASCAP files and, regarding Shacklers, on Rock Band 2 intructions manual.

I'd like to believe that's the case, but we simply can't be sure because the label fucked things up. Still... Shackler's is certainly a Brain and Bucket song. Even the name comes from a Bucket oldie...

Shacklers is credited to him too. He was probably a lot more involved on the arrangements with Caram Constanzo and Axl after Bucket was gone, hence he had so much arrangement credits. Songs like Shacklers and Scraped were clearly edited from different places, I strongly doubt those songs were all Bucket and Brain works alone.

They certainly added their own ideas to the song - hence they're credited for it - but the base of the song is certainly Brain and Bucket. More like a Bucket song because it sounds a lot like his work...

Also, you're talking about songs heavily modified by Bumblefoot. Who knows if Robin wasnt playing a lot more on those Bucket songs before Ron replaced him? I still believe, by the rhythm pattern, that those may had some shared solos between Robin and Bucket just like Chinese is and Riad was.

No song was heavily modified by Bumblefoot I believe - apart from Shackler's and possibly I.R.S. and Catcher, but even on these songs he only added his rhythm and lead to them, never changed the song structure. I believe that Robin changed some of these songs's structure so that's why I'm fine with him not being the main songwriter. Also you have a valid point but we'll certainly never know

[Voodoochild]

From time to time, yes... not all the time like Ashba did in LA - haven't heard the Vegas show yet but I really hope to hear improvements from him. I think Ashba will play the safe card as always - he's doing that in Sixx:A.M. and Guns as well. I'd love to hear more originality from him but I really doubt he'd come up with a song like Better or a solo like Robin's TWAT solo. I simply hope Ron does the main songwriting and add his not so common riffs, solos and rhythm to Ashba's songs - also I hope Axl has a heavy involvement if Ashba writes something so it wouldn't sound like Sixx:A.M. songs at all.

What, you didn't watch the Vegas show? It was trully awful, no kidding. He's not as regular as people here like to say.

But, like I said, I don't have a problem with mistakes, I think its part of a live set. It does bother me how he fuck things up even when he simplifies it, but that's another story. The thing is that I don't think people care about little things like original arrangement or the correct chords in Better (instead of simplified power chords) - as much as Ashba looks cool on stage, its ok. Because these same people also say how DJ "interacts with the crowd" and has "chemistry with Axl" - even though Bumblefoot does the same, lots of time even more. Its all what people want to see.

And sorry to break you, but I strongly doubt Axl would min something like Sixx:A.M. One big example for me is how cheesy This I Love turned out to be - what really saved the song for me was how Robin's solo wasn't what someone would expect from it. I know a lot of people here like the song, tho.

But yeah, I really wish Ron could have way more input than anyone else now. If anything, at least as much as Tommy.

I'd like to believe that's the case, but we simply can't be sure because the label fucked things up. Still... Shackler's is certainly a Brain and Bucket song. Even the name comes from a Bucket oldie...

If its on ASCAP, it can't be a mistake or one could sue the band/Axl over it.

They certainly added their own ideas to the song - hence they're credited for it - but the base of the song is certainly Brain and Bucket. More like a Bucket song because it sounds a lot like his work...

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Like I said: more like several ideas mixed togheter to form one song. The bridge ('dont ever try to tell me..') could very well be written by Robin and Caram, as it sounds a lot more like NIN than bucket. I do suspect the chorus was something build after Bucket whammy riff, which would be way more proeminent.

You need to think that, as prolific as Bucket is, he spent not a long time with the band. And if they were tweaking and reworking on songs from 2004 to 2008-ish, I believe Caram, Eric Cardeux, Robin and Axl had lots of time to mess around with Bucket sessions to build some stuff up. At least his solos were clearly put togheter from different takes, way more than anything else on Chinese.

No song was heavily modified by Bumblefoot I believe - apart from Shackler's and possibly I.R.S. and Catcher, but even on these songs he only added his rhythm and lead to them, never changed the song structure. I believe that Robin changed some of these songs's structure so that's why I'm fine with him not being the main songwriter. Also you have a valid point but we'll certainly never know

I think Scraped, Shacklers and Catcher had lots of overdubs from Bumblefoot. We all know how IRS was heavily modified too, of course. I wasn't talking about song structure, but, like you said, leads and arrangement.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I don't understand now DJ Ashba is trying to be like Slash when he is far more interesting on stage than Slash

[GET OFF AXLS BACK]

Not really, I liked him the first time I saw him live.

[bumblecool]

On what parts of 'Chinese Democracy' would you say your guitar playing can be particularly heard, and how would you describe those parts?

I think before I played on 'Chinese Democracy', it seemed very tight and more industrial when I listened to it. I felt like the album needed sleaze, and just more sloppy rock 'n' roll (laughs). I put on rhythm tracks that were more riffy; if you listen more towards the right speaker, you just hear this kind of brown toned Marshall rhythm track which just throws a lot of riffs in there and stuff. Things like that I put in there, and all the fretless stuff. I could go through every song, and tell you what I did. Let's see... "Chinese Democracy"; rhythm tracks, and all the fretless stuff in the verses I came up with... "Shackler's Revenge"; riffs during the verses, rhythms, and all kinds of bends and tapping melodies at the end of the last chorus, and the guitar solos. Live I sing the chorus and play the tapping solo at the same time... "Better"; rhythm tracks, and a little slide in this one empty spot, on the fretless. In the second verse, I added some kind of bluesy riffs under the vocals... "Street of Dreams"; rhythm stuff and riffs... "If the World"; little solo riffs during the verses, and the chorus and rhythm tracks, and a couple of little solo things going into the choruses and under the choruses... "There Was A Time"; rhythms in the choruses with a riffy little lift towards the end of each, rhythms throughout... "Catcher in the Rye"; I came up with little parts for the guitars and melodies throughout the verses, rhythm tracks, the solo, the end solos, going back and forth with Axl's vocals... "Scraped"; rhythm tracks, solo on the fretless guitar... "Riad N' the Bedouins"; the main solo in the middle of the song, and rhythm tracks throughout... "Sorry"; rhythm tracks, and at the end of each chorus there's a solo guitar going on, that's my soloing there... "I. R. S."; just rhythm, and sleazy stuff throughout, riffy stuff throughout the song... "Madagascar"; rhythms in the choruses, and just slight riffy shit to the rhythms every once in awhile, breaking out in the choruses... "This I Love"; just rhythms underneath it all... "Prostitute"; just rhythms throughout... Yeah. That I believe is everything. I think (laughs).

[DarkFairy81]

Well he's very entertaining to watch live..

[GET OFF AXLS BACK]

Well he's very entertaining to watch live..

I think many women find him "entertaining"

[Guest Len B'stard]

Never had an opinion on him. To be honest the last Guns live thing i saw is that Rock Am Ring thing, other than that, nothing news really occured since the release of Chi Dem thats really interested me in GnR. Maybe when they release some new music i'll have something to judge by...it's just when players come in and out of a band so frequently it's like...y'know, i ain't the type to be sitting around dissecting such and suchs rhythm work or what have you. If someone told me there was something stand-out about it i might have a gander but as it is there's not a lot there thats different as far as i'm aware.

Even Bumblefoot if i'm honest, not really heard a lot of what he's done with GnR. He is on Chi Dem though, isn't he? So yeah, heard that a fair ol' bit. It takes me either a) a long time to grow an affection for a player or 2) something stand out in their playing and i've not had that from anybody in GnR since Brain and Buckethead and Robin Finck (who i thought was quite brilliant despite other peoples not liking him so much). I don't think Frank is as good a drummer as Brain and Bumblefoot, OK, super talented but it's like...y'know, he's a virtuoso in the Buckethead vein of things so it's a sort of like for like situation only, in my humble opinion, not as good as Buckethead.

Buckethead really made me sit up and notice like 'what the fucks he about?!?!' And he plays like, wow, something else, just fantastic. Buckethead is the one person thats ever been a member of GnR that the GnR name hasn't clung to and...y'know, he's about his own thing and has his own thing and does his own thing and he's...enough of a stand-out self contained unit to never become like...y'know, Buckethead from Guns n Roses, he'll always just be Buckethead. Absolutely brilliant guitarist, stunning. I'm not like his biggest fan or anything, only ever had a few of his albums but you just can't deny the bloke.

But yeah, DJ Ashba? Meh, i dunno. Not writing him off or anything, just...y'know, show me something. He seems to be from that whole new millenium take on the Motley Crue thing and quite frankly nothing could be less interesting to me. But like i say, show me something y'know, i WANNABE converted.

Edited January 4, 2012 by sugaraylen

[Down on the Shore]

i find him quite annoying and poserish on facebook and his fans really give me the creeps (just look at some of the people who comment on his stuff)

that being said he does seem to do more than any of the other guys to bring support to the band

[Georgy Zhukov]

I don't understand now DJ Ashba is trying to be like Slash when he is far more interesting on stage than Slash

That's your opinion I guess. An opinion that represents a small minority of people, but still an opinion.

I think we should wait and see what happens with the material Ashba actually contributes to before people can say he can hold a candle to what Slash did.

I am just saying that all Slash seems to do is play guitar. He doesn't move around much. And people are saying DJ is a wannabe Slash but only because he wears a hat. If he grows his hair long and wears sunglasses then I could see it but now I see little similarities that you can see in any rock guitarist.

[Bruno P.]

What, you didn't watch the Vegas show? It was trully awful, no kidding. He's not as regular as people here like to say.

So was Ashba actually worse - playing-wise - than he was on the LA show? Wow...

But, like I said, I don't have a problem with mistakes, I think its part of a live set. It does bother me how he fuck things up even when he simplifies it, but that's another story. The thing is that I don't think people care about little things like original arrangement or the correct chords in Better (instead of simplified power chords) - as much as Ashba looks cool on stage, its ok. Because these same people also say how DJ "interacts with the crowd" and has "chemistry with Axl" - even though Bumblefoot does the same, lots of time even more. Its all what people want to see.

Exactly. He's cool (...not!) and it's all that matters to some...

And sorry to break you, but I strongly doubt Axl would min something like Sixx:A.M. One big example for me is how cheesy This I Love turned out to be - what really saved the song for me was how Robin's solo wasn't what someone would expect from it. I know a lot of people here like the song, tho.

It sounds great live to me, but the solo is a lot weaker, no doubt - and you know what, it's the tone that bothers me the most about it. Even the parts that he plays note for note don't sound right. Ron, on the other hand, would have made the solo interesting again and wouldnt simplify or avoid the bends that Ashba avoids a lot. Some of the most beautiful moments from Chinese turned out to be fillers live - Robin's bending in SOD and TWAT solos, Bucket's and Robin's Maddy riffs, a few Prostitute riffs, Bucket's vibrato in Sorry solo, some riffs in Better, etc.

But yeah, I really wish Ron could have way more input than anyone else now. If anything, at least as much as Tommy.

I'd love if Ron and Paul worked together composing GNR songs...

If its on ASCAP, it can't be a mistake or one could sue the band/Axl over it.

Good point.

You need to think that, as prolific as Bucket is, he spent not a long time with the band. And if they were tweaking and reworking on songs from 2004 to 2008-ish, I believe Caram, Eric Cardeux, Robin and Axl had lots of time to mess around with Bucket sessions to build some stuff up. At least his solos were clearly put togheter from different takes, way more than anything else on Chinese.

But he's had like 4 years, more than enough for him to compose amazing (even if they're recycled ideas...) stuff. Maybe not enough for Axl though.

I think Scraped, Shacklers and Catcher had lots of overdubs from Bumblefoot. We all know how IRS was heavily modified too, of course. I wasn't talking about song structure, but, like you said, leads and arrangement.

Yes.

Even Bumblefoot if i'm honest, not really heard a lot of what he's done with GnR. He is on Chi Dem though, isn't he? So yeah, heard that a fair ol' bit. It takes me either a) a long time to grow an affection for a player or 2) something stand out in their playing

But yeah, DJ Ashba? Meh, i dunno. Not writing him off or anything, just...y'know, show me something. He seems to be from that whole new millenium take on the Motley Crue thing and quite frankly nothing could be less interesting to me. But like i say, show me something y'know, i WANNABE converted.

Buckethead really made me sit up and notice like 'what the fucks he about?!?!' And he plays like, wow, something else, just fantastic. Buckethead is the one person thats ever been a member of GnR that the GnR name hasn't clung to and...y'know, he's about his own thing and has his own thing and does his own thing and he's...enough of a stand-out self contained unit to never become like...y'know, Buckethead from Guns n Roses, he'll always just be Buckethead. Absolutely brilliant guitarist, stunning. I'm not like his biggest fan or anything, only ever had a few of his albums but you just can't deny the bloke.

How can you judge guitar players if you don't even want to listen to them playing? You say that they're not insteresting players but didn't even listen to their work.

Ashba's not my cup of tea, but I can't deny that he's got some cool riffs, licks and solos. At least to me some of their Sixx:A.M. songs sound OK. But they're cheesy and not original...

[Guest Len B'stard]

How can you judge guitar players if you don't even want to listen to them playing?

I didn't judge his guitar playing though, i was basically saying that there is nothing in his image or in anything anyones mentioned that makes me want to hear him fulfilling the role he does now in GnR, the Robin Finck role for want of a better name for it.

[Bruno P.]

How can you judge guitar players if you don't even want to listen to them playing?

I didn't judge his guitar playing though, i was basically saying that there is nothing in his image or in anything anyones mentioned that makes me want to hear him fulfilling the role he does now in GnR, the Robin Finck role for want of a better name for it.

So listen to his Sixx:A.M. work and the Vegas or the LA show. There's some good/great (and awful) moments but none of them outstanding though. He certainly ain't at Robin's creative or originality level and far, far away from Bucket, at least imo and judging by their whole careers - GNR, solo, etc. I do prefer some of his takes on GNR old songs though, like NR solo (Robin used to fuck it up plus I dont like how he holds some notes) and the SCOM intro riff and 1st part of the main solo (Ron does the wah wah bit while Ashba plays some alt picking stuff and that's possibly why I like Ashba & Ron's take better on the solo). I should also mention that he pretty much plays Slash's solos note for note, but I like his tone better and he's (at times) more consistent than Slash...

[erguevous]

How can you judge guitar players if you don't even want to listen to them playing?

I didn't judge his guitar playing though, i was basically saying that there is nothing in his image or in anything anyones mentioned that makes me want to hear him fulfilling the role he does now in GnR, the Robin Finck role for want of a better name for it.

he pretty much plays Slash's solos note for note, but I like his tone better and he's (at times) more consistent than Slash...

Tone is a matter of opinion, as pretty much everything being discussed here...to me, Slash's current tone OWNS any guitar tone in new GNR, when hearing AFD songs...if in doubt, listen to the "live in stoke" slash CD or any of the soundboard live shows from last year after he got his AFD100 amp...no one's coming close unless you're making the right mods and very few have actually achieved that (check metroamp forum)...

[Nosaj Thing]

I don't understand now DJ Ashba is trying to be like Slash when he is far more interesting on stage than Slash

No.

Well he's very entertaining to watch live..

I think many women 15-year-old girls find him "entertaining"

Fixed.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I don't understand now DJ Ashba is trying to be like Slash when he is far more interesting on stage than Slash

No.

Well he's very entertaining to watch live..

I think many women 15-year-old girls find him "entertaining"

Fixed.

Actually yes, and watch out for mods when you edit posts.

[Nosaj Thing]

I don't understand now DJ Ashba is trying to be like Slash when he is far more interesting on stage than Slash

No.

Well he's very entertaining to watch live..

I think many women 15-year-old girls find him "entertaining"

Fixed.

Actually yes, and watch out for mods when you edit posts.

Don't tell me what to do.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I don't understand now DJ Ashba is trying to be like Slash when he is far more interesting on stage than Slash

No.

Well he's very entertaining to watch live..

I think many women 15-year-old girls find him "entertaining"

Fixed.

Actually yes, and watch out for mods when you edit posts.

Don't tell me what to do.

Just being helpful, don't need to be an ass.