# Who do you think the most underrated rock guitarist is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958 "2009-07-14T06:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/141 "2009-07-25T01:15:43Z")
Dimebag Darell of Pantera. Now, I realize that anyone who is a rock or metal guitarist already knows and acknowledges his greatness but outside of the heavy rock/metal world he’s not highly regarded. He had total command of his guitar at all times and could play anything at any speed of any difficulty at will. As long as he could think it he could play it. His solos were always very tasteful and, for me at least, very difficult to copy. He always made it look effortless. He came up with many very memorable riffs and, unlike alot of metal bands from the 90’s, each song didn’t sound the same. Pantera was definitely a band where each track sounded it’s own, due to the varied guitar. DD was one of only 2 celebrity deaths that really moved me almost to tears. The other was Walter Payton. Paul Gregoletto and Matt Heafy of Trivium are very good as well and play off each other excellently. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/142 "2009-07-25T08:54:09Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > **Daniel Ash** from Love & Rockets and Bauhaus. He has a very unique style bouncing between complex picking and machine-gun tempo strumming. He is able to play live with Rush-like sound complexity and impeccable timing. I like Daniel Ash a lot too, but I always thought of him as more of a minimalist. BTW, I don’t know if it’s just an oversight, but you didn’t mention Tones On Tail. That’s another band he was with and they’re worth checking out if you like Bauhaus and Love and Rockets. > [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > What’s **Peter Buck** ’s standing among guitar players? He seems to be pretty underrated to me, but maybe he gets more credit than I realize. I came in here to mention Peter Buck. He definitely doesn’t get as much recognition as Johnny Marr. Speaking of Johnny Marr, I don’t think he’s underrated. He’s a brilliant guitarist but he gets a _lot_ of recognition. At least that’s my experience. What about Lou Reed? I don’t really hear other people talk about his guitar playing much. I love his rhythm guitar playing, it has a groove that I don’t really hear from other guitarists. He’s good on lead guitar as well. A guitarist who is more underrated in the sense of being overlooked is Mick Ronson. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/143 "2009-07-25T14:18:07Z")
I don’t know if he’s underrated compared to these people, but someone I find doesn’t get the proper amount of credit is Slash. His independent work really is worth looking up. ---
**Author:** ![maikai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@maikai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maikai)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/144 "2009-07-25T16:43:07Z")
I never see Mike McCready of Pearl Jam mentioned anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![MwNNrules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@MwNNrules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MwNNrules)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/145 "2010-01-31T05:38:04Z")
I’m a big fan of Steely Dan, and I would definitely say they’re underrated. I second the notion that Jeff “Skunk” Baxter is underrated, and there’s also Elliot Randall and Larry Carlton (both session musicians I believe). They’re work on “Reelin’ in the Years” and “Kid Charlemagne” is just great: intricate and catchy. I could probably put up arguments for a couple other guys, but nobody else came immediately to mind. Edit: Brought this up, after being directed here by WordMan (see this thread: [Best Guitarist of Each Decade? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=550053)). ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/146 "2010-01-31T06:08:37Z")
Glen Campbell, Bruce Springsteen. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/147 "2010-01-31T06:13:43Z")
Steve Stephens (Billy Idol, Black Light Syndrome), until I heard BLS I never really paid attention but going back and listening to his work with Billy Idol I am dazzled (and BLS is amazing but it is too “heavy” for some folks). Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/148 "2010-01-31T06:16:08Z")
I echo Larry Carlton. I think he was about to make it big before he was shot, although his career hasn’t been bad since. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/149 "2010-01-31T15:01:10Z")
I would second the late John McGeoch but my all time favourite and most under rated (or not known of/mentioned) guitarist is Bill Nelson. - ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/150 "2010-02-01T03:11:33Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > For all I know he’s a god among guitarist circles, but I was thinking recently that Waddy Wachtel deserves to be more of a household name. A couple of Warren Zevon’s songs came on my iPod the other day, and I kept repeating thm over and over just to listen to Wachtel’s guitar (particularly “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”). Noticed Waddy playing with Stevie Nicks at the Grammys tonight. He is good and has been around forever. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/151 "2010-02-01T03:20:16Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult. He has an unmistakeable sound, and I love the way he plays around with the themes of the songs he’s soloing in. > > [Harvester of Eyes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SORcz0nUJJg&feature=PlayList&p=1580FB5AF1320AD4&index=5) - a weird and not incredibly inspiring song, but listen to how he messes with the rhythm at 1:26, and then just blasts the tune open beginning at 1:40, then comes back in with a complete reinterpretation 3:36. I think he’s an extraordinarily gifted musician, breaking out of the strictures of Texas Boogie/Blues scales and rhythm. > > [Longer, live solo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnhY2gyJU7A). Also, his guitar is made of Swiss cheese. > > I sometimes think I can hear people soloing who have been influenced by him - in particular _Third Eye Blind_ and even _The Hold Steady_, but I’ve never heard him referenced by any guitarist. Agree totally! I first saw BOC early on, maybe '74ish. Blew my mind that first time and I saw them from the arena filling peak to seeing them at the local Harley dealer for a MDA fund raiser. Always great, one of my favorite bands. My personal favorite BD performance is from the “Some Enchanted Evening” album, on the song “Astronomy”. The third (maybe fourth) solo break may be my all time favorite guitar solo. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/152 "2010-02-01T03:28:54Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > But \*\* Derek Trucks\*\* has been declared a new [guitar god](http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/the_new_guitar_gods_john_mayer_john_frusciante_derek_trucks) 😃 along with John Frusciante (mentioned above) and John Mayer (curiously not mentioned - possibly it’s still fashionable to dis him) on the cover of Rolling Stone. He also seems to grace the covers of guitar magazines with some regularity. So while he still seems to glide below the radar of the general public he gets accolades galore from that section of the crowd that values the art of the instrument. > > I think that a lot of the discussion in this thread is stumbling on the term **underrated** by assuming it means “less popular”. > > Kinda like I had first thought of submitting **[Joe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbUlBWOVJrg)[Bonamassa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn09Xn9JF5s)** as underrated but he gets a lot of recognition in guitar enthusiast circles. So I don’t consider him to be underrated. Many albums and performances later he’s still unknown to the general public. Huge Bonamossa fan, I recommend the Rockpalast DVD. [Here](http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Bonamassa-Live-at-Rockpalast/dp/B000DN5W4I/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1264994783&sr=1-10) ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/153 "2010-02-01T05:23:16Z")
staying with the underrated theme… i would toss out John Butcher… i always enjoyed hsi work and he had a brief flurry on mtv about 20 yrs back but has been under the radar… Robin trower… i just caught him last year… still listen to his bridge of sighs album… and his work with Procul… Hiram Bullock… Paul Shaffer band… caught him live in chicago yrs ago… he really tore the vic up… dude was great… also… he did something with charlie drayton? one time. playing manic depression while drayton played drums on a garbage can… vh1 had a great little jazz show on sunday nights… miss that… and the jools holland show… ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/154 "2010-02-01T22:38:42Z")
Jon Butcher! Good one. I have a few of his albums and he can really rip. ---
**Author:** ![Shig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Shig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shig)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/155 "2010-03-04T12:50:39Z")
OOPS! Guess I can only edit and not delete. I had mentioned Buckethead and immediately after posting the part of my brain that remembers to sometimes pay attention remembered the OP saying he wasn’t asking about solo artists. Sorry. =) ---
**Author:** ![LittleGreenRosetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c77e96/32.png) [@LittleGreenRosetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleGreenRosetta)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/156 "2010-03-08T08:07:46Z")
> [@santosvega](#): > > A bit late to the party, but I just gotta nominate Bruce Springsteen. He’s definitely not the greatest guitar player in the world, but in my experience he’s incredibly underrated. Most people I’ve talked to don’t even know that it’s Bruce, and not Little Stephen, who plays the vast majority of the solos and lead guitar lines in the E-Street Band. Listen to a bootleg from the '78 Darkness tour, particularly the 4-odd minute intro to ‘Prove it All Night’, and tell me that while he might not be a technical virtuoso, that guy can rock _hard_ on the guitar. Bruce hides it pretty well, doesn’t he? (lol) You mention the “Prove It” intro on the Darkness tour, I think the outro solo was pretty darn awesome as well. 🆒 Not to mention “Because the Night” from that tour. If you really want to blow your mind, go back and find a Steel Mill boot from like '70. For example, here’s “The Wind and the Rain”: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omfInocGYnU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omfInocGYnU) Nowdays, I think Bruce pretty much focuses on his songwriting and other aspects of his show, as WordMan said: _“…he’s a solid player. Kinda like Bonnie Raitt or other “front men” who have real chops but market themselves based on being a singer, songwriter, personality, etc.”_ That said, though, he still can tear it up when he wants to. 😉 While I love Bruce, my pick for underrated guitarist would definitely be Peter Frampton; I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![musicartguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@musicartguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicartguy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/157 "2019-02-19T15:33:33Z")
Wow… where do I start? Many of these guys are more multi-faceted than just rock, but they have definitely mastered the genre: Electric Players: Elliot Easton of the Cars Ty Tabor of King’s X Allan Holdsworth (not rock per se… but criminally overlooked). Rick Nielson (plays what needs to be played, and hooky as hell) Neil Geraldo of Pat Benatar (awesome player) Andy Summers Gary Richrath of REO Kerry Livgren of Kansas Michael Schenker (sp?) Tommy Shaw Ted Nugent (back when he played as opposed to running his mouth) Adrian Belew Acoustic Players: Paul Simon (his acoustic playing is awesome). Leo Kottke (an absolute master ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/158 "2019-02-19T15:50:37Z")
Rob Zombie?? ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/159 "2019-02-19T16:05:41Z")
There are so many great guitarists famous or not. If you want to really see talent, check out the guys who made videos putting together all the instruments they’ve played in a song. My two fav guitarists (and bands) are Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad and Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958/160 "2019-02-19T16:50:00Z")
Don’t know about “most underrated” – it seems to blur with “not as well known as certain other guitarists of seemingly lesser talent, but greater popularity” - but some names not previously mentioned: Dave Edmunds – from his Love Sculpture days Alvin Lee – perennially slighted in best guitarist polls Terry Reid Steve Winwood Rick Derringer – from his Johnny Winter days Junior Brown – virtually never mentioned in best guitarist polls Harvey Mandel Eddie Hazel I’m sure there are others…. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-the-most-underrated-rock-guitarist-is/502958.md?page=9)