Is John Mayer a better guitar player than Dave Matthews?

ticohans · Unread post by **ticohans** » Tue May 13, 2003 9:55 pm

Hey Jason, didn't mean for that to sound like it was directed at just you, as it definitely wasn't. The part about the looking good on guitar you brought up, but others agreed there. Wasn't trying to bash you or anything.

Have you ever seen a video of Neon? If that's not complicated rhythm guitar, I don't know what is. And you should check out that John Mayer LLD if you can.

God_Fearing_Man · Unread post by **God_Fearing_Man** » Tue May 13, 2003 11:02 pm

ticohans wrote:For those of you who say that John can't play Dave stuff, you just haven't heard him play it. If you haven't check it out. He can blow Dave away at some of his own stuff. And Mayer is clearly a better lead guitarist. I don't buy all of this "oh well Dave can do it, he just doesn't want to." That's empty and idle speculation, which is fair enough. But you can't use such baseless speculation to suggest that Dave could play a good lead next to Mayer. And who cares how Mayer LOOKS while playing the guitar? The question is who is the better guitar player, not who is the better guitar model.

Dave is a great player who has been very successful with his style. But quite honestly, Dave is a bit of a one trick pony. It's a great trick when it comes to guitar style, but a lot of it is the same thing over and over again. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but Dave has his ways and he sticks with them. Lots of closed voicings up on the neck, basically no fingerpicking (stuff like Christmas Song and Where Are You Going don't count as tough finger picking), and very percussive and repetitive licks. But he's fairly diverse in terms of the actual rhyhtms used: he puts his trick through a LOT of different hoops. And that's where Dave really shines, and that has EVERYTHING to do with his songwriting, which leads me to my conclusion. Mayer is head and shoulders above Dave in just about every way possible as a guitarist, but Dave is a far superior songwriter. John Mayer has a lot more guitar tricks, but for now, he's only putting them through a few hoops. Both are wonderfully talented. At the end of the day though, if there were a guitar contest between Mayer and Matthews, Mayer would tear it up.

I like Dave a lot more, though, precisely because of his great songwriting. Mayer's not anywhere close in that department, at least for now. We'll see what happens in the future, but Dave definitely takes the songwriting cake.

Couldn't agree more.

Frankly, I can't stand Mayer's songs or his lyrics, but he is a fantastic guitar player.

DmbFanJason · Unread post by **DmbFanJason** » Tue May 13, 2003 11:54 pm

chuck_d14 wrote: there will NEVER be another John, as simple as that.

I disagree...there are plenty of faggots in the world...

- on a more serious note, what THE FUCK is so special about JM's guitar skills?

you people say he's so good...why? because he's fast? what? we all have dogged his songwriting, even the people that defend his guitar skills have dogged that....so what the hell is the guy good for? why dont we say there will never be another tim reynolds? we say there will never be another Dave Matthews because he is the best at what he does in our opinion...songwriting........John Mayer is fuckin hardly best at what he does...

the way yall are comparing mayer to dave is...mayer is better at lead....yea, well timmy can fuckin blow both of their asses out of the water at lead with one arm behind his back...no way in hell could mayer pull of Stream...no fuckin way....

so BOTTOM LINE is...dave is better at songwriting than mayer, and dave is the best at that, as we have all agreed on....mayer is better than dave at lead, but not even close to being the best at that....so what the hell is mayer good for?

ticohans · Unread post by **ticohans** » Wed May 14, 2003 12:22 am

umm, i never said there will never be another dave matthews, and i don't think he's the best song writer ever. i DO think if other people believe dave is the best songwriter, they need to take off their blinders. mayer isn't close to being the best ever in lead just like dave isn't close to being the best ever in songwriting. both are good at what they do, but best is not a word i would ever use in even the most remote proximity to either. to even have a legitimate reason to claim that someone is the "best" at something means that the person staking the claim must be very familiar with almost every, if not all songwriters ever. that's a little over the top, i know, but the logic still stands. now, i don't really think it's practical to assume such a thing. however, i would demand a far greater knowledge than anyone here seems to have before i would be satisfied with a poster's proclamation of a songwriter or guitarist as the best at what they do. i personally can think of many songwriters who i consider to be better, from the very obscure types, like david bazan, to the names in lights guys, like bob dylan.

QuattroDore · Unread post by **QuattroDore** » Wed May 14, 2003 1:03 am

Can we put a moratorium on this gridlock? :roll:

JohnDubDMB · Unread post by **JohnDubDMB** » Wed May 14, 2003 2:06 am

Mayer went to school for guitar. Dave didn't. Mayer is only better because he knows more theory. Dave never took a lesson. Dave by far is better Mayer may be more technical but Dave is orginal.

ihopeyoulockedthedoor · Unread post by **ihopeyoulockedthedoor** » Wed May 14, 2003 6:12 am

Mayer eats his own poo......

barcode · Unread post by **barcode** » Wed May 14, 2003 8:10 am

Mayer eats his own poo......

I heard about that, but didn't believe it was true!

Trippin Hillbilly · Unread post by **Trippin Hillbilly** » Wed May 14, 2003 8:44 am

Whatever happenned to my lunchbox? When came the when it got thrown away....................lalalalalalaaaaaaaaaa

COME ON!!! Is he serious?

vipergts281 · Unread post by **vipergts281** » Wed May 14, 2003 10:14 am

So does anyone have the guitar tabs for "No Such Thing" by John Mayer?

jsgksu · Unread post by **jsgksu** » Wed May 14, 2003 12:44 pm

vipergts281 wrote:So does anyone have the guitar tabs for "No Such Thing" by John Mayer?

Go here for Mayer tabs: http://www3.sympatico.ca/g403z/

dmbfan111 · Unread post by **dmbfan111** » Wed May 14, 2003 1:53 pm

mayer is a popstar, thats why he has about 9,000 people at his concets and 21,00 at dave concerts. If dave wanted too im sure he could play lead and totally rock out but we all know how humble he is. This is not johnmayertabs.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DustyDave · Unread post by **DustyDave** » Wed May 14, 2003 2:00 pm

dmbfan111 wrote:This is not johnmayertabs.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It may not be johnmayertabs.com , but its still a helping community , so why not help out

jsgksu · Unread post by **jsgksu** » Wed May 14, 2003 2:06 pm

DustyDave wrote:It may not be johnmayertabs.com , but its still a helping community , so why not help out

Thanks, I didnt feel like telling him, and I dont know about the whole Dave being able to play lead but just being humble and not ever doing it either.

mbgreen · Unread post by **mbgreen** » Wed May 14, 2003 2:18 pm

Can Mayer write licks like dave? No. (I'm not implying he wants to.) Can he play everything Dave can, and then some? Yes.

If you think Mayer couldnt play circles around Dave, (In terms of sheer skill on the guitar) you're a moron, plain and simple, and you need to listen to more music.

Having said that, I cant stand Mayer, cause his lyrics are so incredibly pubescent that it makes me sick.

Now this horse is seriously dead.

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Is John Mayer a better guitar player than Dave Matthews?

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