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hendrix versus clapton versus pete



I must weigh in on this Hendrix versus Claption versus Pete thing.  I
applaud the observation that Pete's power rythum style of playing the
Guitar is, in its own right, a unique and gifted accomplishment that
other guitarists often overlook.  I must also applaud the candor that is
displayed when you realize Pete couldn't play screaming lead riffs the
way that others in his generation of guitarists could.  Pete himself
acknowedged this many times.  However, I strongly disagree with the
notion that Pete's worst lead play came in his Gibson S.G. days.  That
is absolutely crazy.  As Pete has himself acknowledged, that period
represented his best "single-note" playing. The Live at Leeds album
clearly shows Pete at his best playing screaming leads. I would make a
similar observation for the Isle of Wight album. Where Pete's sound
really went sour was when he abandoned the Gibson S.G and Les Paul --
cousins in my book -- and started playing that horrendous Stratocaster. 
True, he tried to customize the instrument by putting gibson electric
transducers (pickups) in the guitar, but it didn't work. What a shame
that his change of equipment happened right after the death of Moon.
Both of these events -- each no less critical in my book -- caused that
every-glorious sound known as the Thunder of the Horrible Who to forever
pass us by.  God how I only wish that Pete would plug a Les Paul into a
stack of tube amps once again, and find someone who can play a crazed
style of sloppy drums. Being only 30 years old today, I was too young to
see it when it was live.

	Anyway, you're right. Pete's chord voicing is phenominal. But I think
his best single-note days were in 1970.