Audio guitarist comparison '92, '02, '06

[sweetness]

You Could Be Mine

1. Slash

2. Buckethead

3. Bumblefoot

November Rain

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

Nightrain

1. Slash

2. Buckethead

3. Bumblefoot

All three are outstanding guitarists, but these are Guns N' Roses songs we are talking about. Buckethead and Bumblefoot took in your face guitar solos written by a blues/classic rock guitarist and added a big dose of hair metal... not good.

Slash played every solo differently, on agressive songs he played with an enormous amount of edge and on ballads he played fluidly and with sentiment that couldnt be topped. His phraseing is great, even on simple outros at the end of songs like Its So Easy, Nightrain, and November Rain, he keeps you amazed till the very end.

Buckethead played everything fluidly, he couldnt tell the difference between an agressive rocker and a soft ballad. He could play crazy fast and thats great, but he had no edge and he made songs like Nightrain and You Could Be Mine into hair metal renditions.

Bumblefoot has a decent amount of edge in his playing and he varies that among different songs, compared to Buckethead thats pretty damn good. He plays November Rain almost as good as Slash, but on Nightrain and You Could Be Mine he seems to get lost in the riff to the point where he says "Fuck it, I'll just shred around till the song ends". He looses touch with the songs, thats his weakest point.

Edited November 28, 2006 by sweetness

[Bravefish]

Slash on all 3

Shredding is the worst thing ever to have happened to guns imo

god bless such a sensible post, best post of the day!

[da_pope]

Slash for all 3.

Shredding and Blues Rock don't go together very well.

And oklahoma isn't even a good show for Slash.

[F*ck Fear]

Slash wrote alot of killer shit in his time. No fucking doubt about it. But I am judging on the sound I perfer.

You Could Be Mine:

Buckethead

Slash

Ron

November Rain:

Buckethead

Slash

Ron

Nightrain:

Slash

Ron

Buckethead

rock1

[Solidius]

Slash; anything else is blasphemy.

[highvoltage]

You Could Be Mine

1. Slash

2. Buckethead

3. Bumblefoot

Not even close. Slash's solo is clearly the best. Buckethead's is way too melodic and calm at times, whereas Ron's is the worst he does in GN'R. Still cool, nonetheless.

November Rain

1. Bumblefoot

2. Slash

3. Buckethead

Pretty close between Ron and Slash, but I think the flashy sound of Ron's guitar sounds really great in November Rain. Slash's the shit though. Buckethead's is just plain bad, sounds way too clean for GN'R.

Nightrain

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

Very, very close again between Ron and Slash, but the latter has the edge on this one. Just unbeatable. Both his and Ron's sound great, aggressive, adrenaline pumping - and that's what Nightrain is supposed to be. Buckethead's approach just doesn't do anything for me. His sound is way too clean (once again) and the solo is too melodic at times, which destroys the atmosphere of the song. It doesn't get me pumped up one bit.

Overall

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

No surprise for me here. Slash is the one and only, the man who wrote the songs, the most charismatic of them all and a true guitar hero. Ron Thal is one hell of a guitar player and sounds great in GN'R - the perfect replacemente for Buckethead. And speaking of Buckethead, it's a good thing he left - his approach to the GN'R catalogue just doesn't do anything for me. I don't think he got what was special about GN'R, or at least I don't feel he did.

I agree with everything said in this post.

EDIT: I'll just add why I don't like Buckethead in GN'R. Sure, he plays everything perfectly, but herein lies the problem. Rock N' Roll isn't supposed to be perfect - it's supposed to have attitude, something that grabs you by the balls and makes you rock out. Bucket doesn't capture any of the attitude of Guns N' Roses. Slash had it, and Ron plays with the sort of agression that a rock n' roll band needs... watch the guy when he plays, he attacks his axe like a maniac. This is what Buckethead lacks - not skill, not sound, he'll - not even emotion - he just lacks attitude. It makes his playing boring.

Edited November 29, 2006 by highvoltage

[LA_0013]

Slash in all of 'em. Then Bucket, then Ron.

LA

[Iceman24]

The real qustion is whether ron or buckethead could write something as memorable as that melody in november rain or YCBM. Arguably they might be able to, they're both fuckin talented, but it's all speculation. Neither has anything in their catalog that could be considered iconic. Slash however, DID write them, so my vote goes to slash on all three.

Buckethead didn't write famous songs like Slash did, but if you know his solo work, you will see, that there are many songs with such amazing melodies like NR or YCBM.

Don't forget, stardom doesn't mean ability

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

You Could Be Mine

1. Slash

2. Buckethead

3. Bumblefoot

Not even close. Slash's solo is clearly the best. Buckethead's is way too melodic and calm at times, whereas Ron's is the worst he does in GN'R. Still cool, nonetheless.

November Rain

1. Bumblefoot

2. Slash

3. Buckethead

Pretty close between Ron and Slash, but I think the flashy sound of Ron's guitar sounds really great in November Rain. Slash's the shit though. Buckethead's is just plain bad, sounds way too clean for GN'R.

Nightrain

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

Very, very close again between Ron and Slash, but the latter has the edge on this one. Just unbeatable. Both his and Ron's sound great, aggressive, adrenaline pumping - and that's what Nightrain is supposed to be. Buckethead's approach just doesn't do anything for me. His sound is way too clean (once again) and the solo is too melodic at times, which destroys the atmosphere of the song. It doesn't get me pumped up one bit.

Overall

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

No surprise for me here. Slash is the one and only, the man who wrote the songs, the most charismatic of them all and a true guitar hero. Ron Thal is one hell of a guitar player and sounds great in GN'R - the perfect replacemente for Buckethead. And speaking of Buckethead, it's a good thing he left - his approach to the GN'R catalogue just doesn't do anything for me. I don't think he got what was special about GN'R, or at least I don't feel he did.

I agree with everything said in this post.

EDIT: I'll just add why I don't like Buckethead in GN'R. Sure, he plays everything perfectly, but herein lies the problem. Rock N' Roll isn't supposed to be perfect - it's supposed to have attitude, something that grabs you by the balls and makes you rock out. Bucket doesn't capture any of the attitude of Guns N' Roses. Slash had it, and Ron plays with the sort of agression that a rock n' roll band needs... watch the guy when he plays, he attacks his axe like a maniac. This is what Buckethead lacks - not skill, not sound, he'll - not even emotion - he just lacks attitude. It makes his playing boring.

I'll take someone with very little attitude who can play the fuck out of songs (Bucket), over someone with a shitload of attitude that rapes everything he plays (Finck).

[pepsicoca]

I'll take someone with very little attitude who can play the fuck out of songs (Bucket), over someone with a shitload of attitude that rapes everything he plays (Finck).

Indeed.

By the way, I thought Finck was the lead guitarist of the new band... Why aren't his skills taken into account in this topic ? Is he too good ?

Edited November 29, 2006 by pepsicoca

[highvoltage]

You Could Be Mine

1. Slash

2. Buckethead

3. Bumblefoot

Not even close. Slash's solo is clearly the best. Buckethead's is way too melodic and calm at times, whereas Ron's is the worst he does in GN'R. Still cool, nonetheless.

November Rain

1. Bumblefoot

2. Slash

3. Buckethead

Pretty close between Ron and Slash, but I think the flashy sound of Ron's guitar sounds really great in November Rain. Slash's the shit though. Buckethead's is just plain bad, sounds way too clean for GN'R.

Nightrain

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

Very, very close again between Ron and Slash, but the latter has the edge on this one. Just unbeatable. Both his and Ron's sound great, aggressive, adrenaline pumping - and that's what Nightrain is supposed to be. Buckethead's approach just doesn't do anything for me. His sound is way too clean (once again) and the solo is too melodic at times, which destroys the atmosphere of the song. It doesn't get me pumped up one bit.

Overall

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

No surprise for me here. Slash is the one and only, the man who wrote the songs, the most charismatic of them all and a true guitar hero. Ron Thal is one hell of a guitar player and sounds great in GN'R - the perfect replacemente for Buckethead. And speaking of Buckethead, it's a good thing he left - his approach to the GN'R catalogue just doesn't do anything for me. I don't think he got what was special about GN'R, or at least I don't feel he did.

I agree with everything said in this post.

EDIT: I'll just add why I don't like Buckethead in GN'R. Sure, he plays everything perfectly, but herein lies the problem. Rock N' Roll isn't supposed to be perfect - it's supposed to have attitude, something that grabs you by the balls and makes you rock out. Bucket doesn't capture any of the attitude of Guns N' Roses. Slash had it, and Ron plays with the sort of agression that a rock n' roll band needs... watch the guy when he plays, he attacks his axe like a maniac. This is what Buckethead lacks - not skill, not sound, he'll - not even emotion - he just lacks attitude. It makes his playing boring.

I'll take someone with very little attitude who can play the fuck out of songs (Bucket), over someone with a shitload of attitude that rapes everything he plays (Finck).

I was comparing Ron to Bucket.

Finck is... well... he's Finck.

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

Yeah, I realise you were comparing Ron and Bucket. I'm just saying that although Bucket doesn't have much attitude, I'd much rather have that in a band than someone like Finck who can't play with 1/10 of the skill he does.

I agree though on your original point, Ron has the best elements of Buckethead with added rock n roll style. Given the choice I'd keep him in the band rather than have Bucket back.

[highvoltage]

Yeah, I realise you were comparing Ron and Bucket. I'm just saying that although Bucket doesn't have much attitude, I'd much rather have that in a band than someone like Finck who can't play with 1/10 of the skill he does

I'm not really the biggest Finck fan in the world - not by a long shot (not at all, really)... but i'd rather go to a GN'R show and watch him play than see Bucket on stage with them again. Obviously if I closed my eyes i'd enjoy Bucket a whole lot more... but I can't get into a Rock N' Roll song if the guitarist is standing in one spot doing the occasional robot dance or spinning some nunchucks... y'know? I'd rather see Finck moving around and stagediving - even if it means having to suffer through his "November Pain" solo...

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

I guess we look for different things. The solos being played like a tortured cat screaming annoys me a whole lot more than being played magnificantly by a man who just stands still.

Edited November 29, 2006 by Slash's Appetite

[highvoltage]

I guess we look for different things. The solos being played like a tortured cat screaming annoys me a whole lot less than being played magnificantly by a man who just stands still.

What can I say? I go to a live show to see the action and feel the fire, not just for the music. I somehow manage to ignore the majority of Finck's solos on the bootlegs I listen to, so I imagine i'd be able to block them out live as well.

...I hope anyway.

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

You will be able to. I did the 4 times I saw them on the UK tour. He only spoils my enjoyment when I'm being a downloading motherfucker.

But yeah. Slash > Ron > Bucket for me. Love all three though.

(I meant 'more' rather than 'less' in my previous post. Just noticed that. >.<)

Edited November 29, 2006 by Slash's Appetite

[highvoltage]

But yeah. Slash > Ron > Bucket for me. Love all three though.

I guess we have similar tastes, because I agree with that too. I don't have a problem with Bucket musically at all - just his stage "moves" with GN'R that bug me. If it were one of his solo shows I wouldn't mind.

[DCK82]

But yeah. Slash > Ron > Bucket for me. Love all three though.

I guess we have similar tastes, because I agree with that too. I don't have a problem with Bucket musically at all - just his stage "moves" with GN'R that bug me. If it were one of his solo shows I wouldn't mind.

His stage 'moves'? Oh please..... Just because he doesn't wear leather pants, and run around stage as much as Slash, does not mean he has no stage presence. You come across as a man who is far too hooked up on how a cliched rocker is suppose to look and act. Buckethead has loads of stage presence.

When I saw GnR live back in '02, Buckethead was fucking mesmerzing. He looked iconic up there on stage.

Seeing the band twice this year, it just wasn't quite the same without Bucket on stage.

Regarding this topic....

YCBM: Slash, Bucket, BBF

NR: Bucket, BBF, Slash

NT: Bucket, BBF, Slash

[the God that failed]

Buckethead owned all those solos. He's just too good.

[worldwideboss]

I'll just add why I don't like Buckethead in GN'R. Sure, he plays everything perfectly, but herein lies the problem. Rock N' Roll isn't supposed to be perfect - it's supposed to have attitude, something that grabs you by the balls and makes you rock out. Bucket doesn't capture any of the attitude of Guns N' Roses. Slash had it, and Ron plays with the sort of agression that a rock n' roll band needs... watch the guy when he plays, he attacks his axe like a maniac. This is what Buckethead lacks - not skill, not sound, he'll - not even emotion - he just lacks attitude. It makes his playing boring.

Exactly. Buckethead may be one of the best guitar players ever, but he is no rock 'n' roll musician. He's just a different kind of guitarist. I don't think he fits a band like GN'R.

What you said about Ron is also important. His moves, the way he shows he's having a kickass time playing there is one of the things that made me feel he is a great addition to the band.

[SlashisGOD]

YCBM

Slash

.

.

.

.

Buckethead

Bumblefoot

November Rain

Slash

.

.

.

.

Buckethead

Bumblefoot

Nightrain

Slash

.

.

.

.

Buckethead

Bumblefoot

Couldn't agree more my friend, well about Slash being number 1.

[nightrain50]

ycbm- slash

nr- bumble

nt- bucket "had to listen to that solo a few time, awesome"

[Kurwa]

You Could Be Mine:

Buckethead=Slash

Ron

November Rain:

Buckethead

Slash

Ron

Nightrain:

Buckethead rock1

Slash

Ron

[mrslash]

You Could Be Mine

1. Slash

2. Buckethead

3. Bumblefoot

Not even close. Slash's solo is clearly the best. Buckethead's is way too melodic and calm at times, whereas Ron's is the worst he does in GN'R. Still cool, nonetheless.

November Rain

1. Bumblefoot

2. Slash

3. Buckethead

Pretty close between Ron and Slash, but I think the flashy sound of Ron's guitar sounds really great in November Rain. Slash's the shit though. Buckethead's is just plain bad, sounds way too clean for GN'R.

Nightrain

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

Very, very close again between Ron and Slash, but the latter has the edge on this one. Just unbeatable. Both his and Ron's sound great, aggressive, adrenaline pumping - and that's what Nightrain is supposed to be. Buckethead's approach just doesn't do anything for me. His sound is way too clean (once again) and the solo is too melodic at times, which destroys the atmosphere of the song. It doesn't get me pumped up one bit.

Overall

1. Slash

2. Bumblefoot

3. Buckethead

No surprise for me here. Slash is the one and only, the man who wrote the songs, the most charismatic of them all and a true guitar hero. Ron Thal is one hell of a guitar player and sounds great in GN'R - the perfect replacemente for Buckethead. And speaking of Buckethead, it's a good thing he left - his approach to the GN'R catalogue just doesn't do anything for me. I don't think he got what was special about GN'R, or at least I don't feel he did.

Seconded!

[brownsfan]

I'm a strong supporter of the Axl / Slash chemistry - and I will always hold out hope that someday that can work together again...

Having said that - I've never heard such clean shredding as Bucket does. It's REALLY amazing. But I prefer Slash's slow and deliberate style. Ron is closer to Slash than he is to Bucket, but not as talented as either of them.

Ohh - and I will never be able to get over the fact that the guy wears a goddamn KFC bucket and a mask on his head. Period.

Edited December 1, 2006 by brownsfan