Bumblefoot the musician ..

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

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.....

Fair enough. That's the type of response I was wanting.

[sweetness]

And I'll bet you have a top of the line video game console.

I've had an Xbox360 for a few months.......Your point is? Any other asumptions you'd like to make leading on from this revelation?

I take it the Slash posters comment was relevant to yourself aswell.... Grow up eh?

.... hypocrite

Edited December 24, 2006 by sweetness

[adnan]

Ron Thal is a better guitarist technically than Buckethead. He is also better (technically) than Steve Vai.

[PurpleHaze]

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

Edited December 24, 2006 by PurpleHaze

[Graeme]

Love thing gives me chills.

Guitar Virtuosos are the best players in the world. You can dislike their playing but Bumblefoot is one of the best in his field. His work is critically acclaimed by those who really know what they are talking about.

You can dismiss their playing as wankery all you want... because at the end of the day, the people who came up with the "Cold emotionless shred" argument were just jealous because their slow pentatonic and blues scales weren't competing with the modes, scales and arpeggios adopted by the true musicians. Little theory from my Guitar teacher, a man who has dedicated most of his life to the instrument and knows more about guitar than i do about anything else.

Listen to Bumblefoot's "I can't play the blues" a song which mocks all who come out with the "Cold emotionless shredder" argument.

At the end of the day BBF's out there giving it 110% every night and loving it, as are most of the band's fans. Don't enjoy it? that's your problem bro.

But guitar virtuosos are indeed the best guitar players in the world, undisputedly.

Edited December 24, 2006 by Graeme

[angry anderson]

1. Apart from Axl, he is undoubtedly the best singer in this band. He's a fantastic back-up singer, and should be used more (check out his previous solo work to hear more)

2. November rain ending solo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWer-vHDGDA

3. He has worked very hard this year to create a stage presence worthy of a GNR guitarist.

4. Nightrain solo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzfABIMXpac

5. His communication with the fans

6. The fact that he replaced Buckethead

7. His 'Don't Cry' solo - amazing connection with the audience

Why do you appreciate BBF in this band?

That november rain bbf outro solo was cool.

The fortus middle solo was good too.

Worst part of that song was actually axls singing....aw well.

[bass71player]

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.

i love bumble's playing. i'm not going to bother to read the entire 14 pages of this thread, but have any of you guys checked out his latest cd 'normal'?

after listening to that how can anyone say 'he's better suited to play in megadeth'? buckethead's a great guitarist, but as far as writing a rock song, he's got nothing on bumblefoot. most of his cds (of which i have many) are compilations of weird little half baked melodies.

i've seen both perform solo, and ron was far more enjoyable and charismatic.

lemme ask all the people who have called him a faceless guitar geek - who's seen him with GNR?

he's talented beyond what most here have knowledge of. i worked with a guy this fall who was one of his students/buddies. tom, the guy, played bass on a couple of his solo gigs and attested to his abilities to play something after only one listen. not only can he play the main melody of the song, but he can add counterpoint. he said one time during soundcheck bbf got up onstage while the sound guy was playing the radio and said 'i'm going to play the song that was on 10 minutes ago and sing the lyrics to the song before the one playing now over it' and he did it note for note. that's one example i know, but c'mon... how cool is that? he knows what he's doing. and i have to say the solo he did at continental airlines was pretty much just wanking, but what else can the man do? ANOTHER blues solo? at least he followed it up with a great 'don't cry'

the man's come a long way too, as far as his place in gnr... at hammerstein (i was at the 15th) he was still kind of awkward and new. now, it seems like he's ALMOST completely intergrated. still a little less in the spotlight as axl and robin, but getting there for sure. the tracks on chinese democracy will for sure change any doubters' minds.

[ohyesindeed]

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).

[OTHAFA]

how can anyone say BBF isn't the best?

And people call Buckethead a freak? The crowd was completely and utterly bored during that bullshit. They were laughing at him. He's an embarrassment to the name of Guns N' Roses.

The fact that they took three minutes out of a show for that garbage is a disgrace.

Edited December 24, 2006 by OTHAFA

[Stiff Competition]

^ are you fuckign serious? were you at that show? I'm thinking not. I was there, front row and the crowd fucking loved it. Yes, they did laugh...becuase it was fucking funny, ron even laughed. It was a show done 5 days before xmas so they thought they'd have a little fun. Get the fuck over it. Ron is an awesome musician and guy and he fits right into the band now...and I don't know why people are so concerned with him needing to be as good as buckethead(which I believe he is). This is guns n' roses for fuck's sake. The guitarist that was in the band in their prime was Slash, now I love the guy but he is not the most talented guitarist in the world and they did just fine with him. So stop all the bitchin about this bullshit. Big deal if you guy's don't all get what you want, it's not YOUR fucking band.

Edited December 24, 2006 by Stiff Competition

[PurpleHaze]

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).

You missed my point a bit there. I got what you meant first time round, I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I was breaking down the reason and logic you used to support your opinion. It would be mental for me to tell you don't like the music you do but I can tell you the flaws in the reasoning you used to justify that opinion.

Did you really take a few guitar lessons from Andy Timmons btw? That's just fucking cool.

Edited December 24, 2006 by PurpleHaze

[ohyesindeed]

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.

[Axingn'r]

I'm not even sure Bumblefoot considers himself as a member of the band.

Isn't he a free agent ?

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

When I met him I asked if it felt like a real band or just a job, and he said it really did feel like a real band. Obviously, that doesn't really represent his official position, but if I had to guess I'd say he was more 'in the band' than a 'free agent' at this point. He seems to be loving it.

[Randy Lahey]

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.

[rockstar81]

If Bumblefoot wasn't hired at the last minute BY AXL (the rest of the band didn't agree), we would have had the Fink/Fortus duet with Richard on lead with Robin 50/50. IT would have been THE BEST THING to do for this band. The reaon why I will never accept Ron Thal in this band is because he is parasital for the Finck/Fortus duet, especially for Richard Fortus. without Ron Thal, Richard would be on lead and it would be phenomenal.

The 3 guitarists configuration is a vaste joke. Bumblefoot has nothing to do in this band.

Richard Fortus deserves the Lead because he is the best.

Edited December 25, 2006 by rockstar81

[ohyesindeed]

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.

[madison]

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.

[bass71player]

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.

it doesn't bother me in the least... he was just having fun. i was at that gig and he only played 2 verses like that. there were maybe 75-100 people at the club, who gives a shit? you've never goofed on a song?

just because he's in the band he has to pay homage to the songs he plays day in and day out? christ, dude, it's a fucking song, if you can't have fun with it, what can you do?

is this enough questions? lol

anyway... lighten up, he's a fun guy with a lot of talent... you'll see.

Edited December 25, 2006 by bass71player

[Jackamo!]

It's funny that most of you will turn on him, once he leaves the band.

[ohyesindeed]

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.

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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.

[Randy Lahey]

Ron as a person seems like a great guy. As a guitar player in Guns N' Roses I fucking hate him. I absolutely loathe his guitar wanking and dorky persona. Ron would be the perfect guitar player for those dipshits at talkingmetal to start a band with. Bucket and Brain in 07 Axl!!!!