Sometimes Older Really Is Better

Where have all the real guitarists gone?

That is not a rhetorical question. I want to know. Where are they?

I realize this is a generational thing. I remember when I used to listen to groups like Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult during my teen years. My parents called it devil music or acid rock.

They couldn't understand how anyone could listen to that stuff. It was just noise to them.

I respected that. I wouldn't expect somebody raised on Glen Miller to enjoy ZZ Top.

But today, it's different. It's a generational thing, to be sure, but it's more than that.

I like lots of today's brand of rock 'n' roll. Some of it is not wholly unlike the stuff I grew up with.

But there seems to be a glaring deficiency in the world of modern rock.

Guitarists.

I suppose that's a bit overstated, but I had a discussion the other day with a 20-something person who is fairly connected to today's music scene. (That means he buys lots of current CDs.)

I, off the top of my head, rattled off a dozen or so virtuoso guitarists from my generation - Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Brian May, Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Angus Young, Alex Lifeson, Joe Perry, Ted Nugent, Billy Gibbons, Randy Rhodes, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Michael Schenker, John McLaughlin, Kirk Hammet, Tony Iommi.

There were lots more.

All of these guys could - and still can if they are still living - absolutely rip it up on guitar. They have the chops, blazing speed licks and techniques that stretch the sonic limits of their instruments.

You listen to something they play and it just blows you away.

I play guitar. Not well, mind you. It's just a hobby. But I play enough to understand the level of difficulty of some of the stuff those guys are doing.

I read an article once that said if you didn't start playing before age 7 or 8, you could never be a real virtuoso. The early years were when you had to begin the dexterity training. Also, that same article said that the truly great guitarists had faster brain chemistry. That signals from the brain to the extremities have a clearer path and move faster in them than they do in other people. It's as if they were genetically predisposed to play guitar.

I believe that.

Of course they still had to practice, but I could practice 12 hours a day for the rest of my life and never be able to shred like Steve Vai.

So, anyway, I rattled off all these great guitarists and I asked, "Who are the current equivalents? Who are the great guitarists of the '90s?"

There was a pause. And then, "Well, Lenny Kravitz is pretty good." Somebody else offered up Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

But beyond that, unless I'm really missing something, there doesn't seem to be any really killer rock guitarists currently coming up in the world.

Frankly, the best guitarists recording these days are ones from my generation.

Like Carlos Santana. What an awesome guitarist he is. He has so much in his hands.

It's not so much technical wizardry that makes him so good, although he certainly has plenty of that. It's the raw emotion he puts into his playing. It's almost as if his guitar is alive.

Santana has a new hit with Rob Thomas, the lead singer from Matchbox 20. It's a tasty tune.

But most of what I hear today in rock 'n' roll isn't like that. I have to go back to the old bands to find that really crisp guitar I like to hear.

The guitarists in many current bands seem to have learned a few barre chords and wound up with a recording contract.

But that's in keeping with lots of what's going on in society today. The quick fix. The instant gratification. The reward without the work.

I do not mean to disrespect modern bands. I like to listen to them. I buy their CDs.

I just wish there was a new crop of virtuoso guitarists coming up for me to listen to.

But I don't see it happening.

Another thing I find ironic in the music industry is the desire for all things "vintage."

There are effects processors, enhancers, limiters, octavers - all manner of digital ways to twiddle with your sound in modern music. But the sound guitarists most try to emulate is that of an old Fender Twin Reverb amp or an old Marshall stack.

There are CNC machines in factories turning out flawless, beautiful electric and acoustic guitars.

But guitarists still pine after old Fender Stratocasters and Gibson Les Pauls.

Companies like Martin and National attempt to faithfully recreate the look, feel and sound of their "pre-war" models. National even calls their brand new resonator guitars "reproductions."

The march of time and the differences in manufacturing processes preclude exact replication of those old instruments, of course.

But it amazes me that there are plenty of people who think the best sounding guitar in the world is a 1941 Martin D-28 herringbone. More amazing is that there are guitarists willing to pay more than $20,000 for one in decent condition.

Generally, longing for the good old days gets you labeled as old-fashioned, unenlightened and out of touch.

But when it comes to guitars and guitarists, older is better. No doubt about it.