Is John Mayer a better guitar player than Dave Matthews?

subotai · Unread post by **subotai** » Tue May 27, 2003 5:47 pm

Hey so does Dave smoke pot?

The Man of The Hour · Unread post by **The Man of The Hour** » Tue May 27, 2003 6:29 pm

subotai wrote:Hey so does Dave smoke pot?

"Hemp is the answer to many of today's economic and enviromental problems. Please support the legalization of its cultivation in the U.S." -Dave Matthews

Never let this thread end

jsgksu · Unread post by **jsgksu** » Tue May 27, 2003 6:46 pm

The fact that he thinks hemp could be used as an environmental resource doesnt necessarily mean he smokes pot, if thats what you were saying. I know he used to becuause he used to talk about it a lot but I dont really think he talks about it anymore, I dont think he uses it anymore either.

DustyDave · Unread post by **DustyDave** » Wed May 28, 2003 12:10 pm

The topic is who the best guitar player is , not who smokes the most pot ....

The Man of The Hour · Unread post by **The Man of The Hour** » Wed May 28, 2003 4:29 pm

DustyDave wrote:The topic is who the best guitar player is , not who smokes the most pot ....

I guess you are right, but it was bound to come up, eh?

GuitarGuy610 · Unread post by **GuitarGuy610** » Wed May 28, 2003 5:51 pm

I don't think the pot really makes anyone a better or worse guitar player.....maybe if they are playing while smoking it.....but thats a whole other story.

DustyDave · Unread post by **DustyDave** » Wed May 28, 2003 9:35 pm

The Man of The Hour wrote:
DustyDave wrote:The topic is who the best guitar player is , not who smokes the most pot ....
I guess you are right, but it was bound to come up, eh?

True lol i wondered what took so long , it wasen't to put anyone down , even though it was off topic :lol:

dreudown · Unread post by **dreudown** » Thu May 29, 2003 12:37 pm

just wondering....

just because Mayer is more advanced theoretically and technically, does that make him a better guitar player?

after reading all of these posts, I've been downloading a lot of JM's songs and listening to them. he's very good and I have a new respect for him that I probably wouldn't of had had this debate never been brought up but I'm still not convinced he's better. I guess I just need a better definition of 'a better guitarist'

IMO dave's intricate riffs mixed with his nearly flawless rhythm just makes him sound more skilled to me. I guess I would be lying a little bit if I said that my opinion is not biased, being the Dave fan that I am, but it was his unique guitar style that made me pick up music (his voice grew on me after that) and I've never found that kind of perfection in another guitarist/singer.

Anyways, not to start this whole war up again :wink:

just sort of wondering what classifies a "better guitarist"

I guess ultimately it's different for everyone.

DustyDave · Unread post by **DustyDave** » Thu May 29, 2003 2:09 pm

dreudown wrote:(his voice grew on me after that) and I've never found that kind of perfection in another guitarist/singer.

Dave is far from perfect

everyone makes mistakes ....

Try downloading some videos with John Mayer , then you'll see what many people mean by Better Guitarist , i can recommend " Neon " and any of the videos from Instore 6-30-01

pennywisetheclown · Unread post by **pennywisetheclown** » Fri May 30, 2003 12:13 pm

"in 1997, 670,000 people were arrested for smoking pot.... didnt the president, that was president in '97, didnt he even say he smoked pot one time?... 670,000 people arrested for the most harmless thing in the world."
- David J. Matthews
so yeah. i think its safe to assume that dave is using his paper not for writin, but for rolllin doobies.
yeah and as far as im concerned this whole dave vs john thing ended on like the first or 2nd page. allow me to summarize: john is a better guitarist. he can play rhythm. he can play lead. he can play all of daves stuff, just as good or better than dave can. and while dave may use some funky voicings, john's playing style is more diverse and ultimately takes more skill to pull off than dave's. case closed.
i do think you guys are vastly underestimating john's songwriting ability tho. he hasnt hit his peak yet, but comfortable, sucker, and why did you mess with forever are three of the best songs ive ever heard.

waffle_house_jam · Unread post by **waffle_house_jam** » Fri May 30, 2003 11:50 pm

An interesting thing to remember is that people judge guitar skill by speed and technical ability, but hardly ever think about how the guitarist uses that ability. When I listen to John Mayer, I hear a bunch of bubblegum pop riffs with completely out of place and random SRV ripoff solos. I think it sounds disgusting. This is the best example of what I'm talking about. I went to one of John's concerts and was thinking the whole time (besides 'this sucks') that he would be really good if he would 1) shut up and 2) calm down and stop trying to be SRV and do some nice instrumentals.
Using the technical ability to create beautiful music is most of the guitar skill in my book. Look at David Gilmour, for example. He wasn't the fastest or most hardcore technical guitarist, but his lead work in my opinion is some of the most impressive stuff out there. It's melodic genius that counts, not just speed.
As for the Dave vs. John argument, of course John is faster than Dave. He showcases that with every nasty-ass blues solo he does. I think Dave has honestly taken the acoustic singer-songwriter thing to the higher level. He is much more creative with his rhythms, his songs, everything. I won't even talk about John's songwriting ability, because it is almost nonexistant.
I say Dave is the better guitar player, because he uses his talent well, and is more creative.
-oh, and all you people raving about Neon-have you ever noticed that all that movement John goes through is completely unneccessary? the song is exceedingly simple, but he used positions and changes that make it look complicated. That raises another question-was he showing off or is he too stupid to notice that his ultra-complex rhythm can be picked from like 3 chords?

Appfro · Unread post by **Appfro** » Sat May 31, 2003 12:17 am

John is better i think but like mentioned before, he playes lead. Dave doesn't. Dave doesn't need to play lead, he has Boyd, Leroy and Tim for that. That's what's beautiful about DMB, the lead guitarist isn't the lead at all and doens't need to be. You don't have to be fast and furious on a guitar to be good. Dave may or may not be able to do the stuff that John does, ive never really heard him try, he doesn't need to. But if you want to look at passion for music and songwritting talent, Dave all the way. I hate john's music, but i love to watch him play because he's good. So while they both play a similar type of music with acoustic guitars, i have to go with the copout, their styles and/or roles in the band are just too different to compare.

DustyDave · Unread post by **DustyDave** » Sat May 31, 2003 12:38 am

Saying that John's writing abilities are nonexcistent is quite funny , on another note i wouldn't mind seeing you put up a cover of Neon and see how EASY it is to play

And John does use his skills to create some rather unusual chord voicings ....

One big contradiction , you keep saying John sucks and has no writing abilities and that he is boring and so on , but yet you admit he is faster and he showcases his talent with those nasty ass blues solo's he does :lol:

Saying someone is untalented is not only a stupid thing but more like pathetic .... If all these musicians out there who " SUCK " sucked so bad , then i doubt they could make a living out of it .... Write some songs , put them up for a critique , and see if people find those writing abilities better than the " Sucky " artists out there ....

Appfro · Unread post by **Appfro** » Sat May 31, 2003 2:13 am

i agree w/ some of your statements and some of them are just wrong in my opinion. i do agree that you should never attack someones song writing. i do write songs and it is harder than i imagined when i started. so i would never say anyone's songs suck...much less john mayers. he's actually a good songwriter, i just don't like his stuff. its nto really my thing. as for making a living as a songwriter. that's where we differ. there are endless numbers of musicians out there (or nonmusicians) making livings as musicians who probably can't write there own name muchless a songs...cough cough kelly osbourne cough cough. so just because someone's making money and may even write a couple songs on the album cough cough brittany spears cough cough which means the primary song writer said i need a word that rhymes with love and means high...above? good now we can put your name in and say you helped write it...doesn't mean that they are good at what they do. its all about their publicity people and how hot they are.

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Is John Mayer a better guitar player than Dave Matthews?

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