Ok, well apparently the techo guys at Axebay got some negative feedback about my ten worst guitarists list (some people just can’t take a joke, hey) so I decided to write something more serious about guitarists. I know you know in my own mind I am a legend and the greatest guitarist who ever was, just a bit unlucky that’s all. But there have been some that have gone before me that have been just as good and dare I say it, maybe even better than me. I want to discuss two of these guitarists now.

Over the years Stevie Ray Vaughan copped a lot of criticism for sounding similar to Jimi Hendrix which in turn led to an untold number of comparisons between the two. Just who was the best of the two and why? Let’s first take a look to see why they were compared.

Both Jimi and Stevie played blues rock both used Fender Strats through Marshall amps. They had a similar guitar sound and obviously Stevie was heavily influenced by Jimi. They both wore flamboyant costumes. They both died at an early age. They were both addicts at one time or another during their short lives, with Stevie more prone to alcohol abuse. But that’s where the similarities end.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was technically masterful. He was hugely influential in restoring the popularity of blues rock in the late 70s and throughout the 80s when everyone was disco dancing to KC and the Sunshine band. Stevie played fast and clean. He would use heavy distortion and tremolo from time to time but his magic came from his fingers. When he covered “Little Wing”, he played with such precision; you can tell right away that it’s not Jimi Hendrix. When Stevie performed at the MTV Unplugged, he electrified the audience by playing his hit song, “Pride and Joy” on an acoustic guitar and showed viewers just what he was capable of with a guitar.

Hendrix on the other hand was an innovator. He was influenced by blues guitarists like, Robert Johnson but what he did with this blues music was to turn it into something much more. He has influenced generations of bands and guitarists. Technically speaking, he was rough and choppy but he more than made up for that with his revolutionary stage presence and the incredible sounds he produced that most people have never heard of at the time. Jimi played from the gut; I mean he was all feel, nothing else. The fact that his songs have been covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan makes it easy to clearly hear the difference between the two guitarists.

There’s no doubt that Jimi Hendrix is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. He may not have been as technically good as Stevie was, but Hendrix defied the music genre and produced songs that people to this day will try to cover. When Hendrix was on stage, he played as if he was making love to his guitar and often did. Some of his best performances would climax when he would simulate sex with his guitar and amp (I really feel for the poor stage roadie, cleaning up the mess afterwards). Stage presence and performance was something that Stevie Ray Vaughan could never duplicate or even imitate.

This comparison between Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix may be subjective but we can all agree that Jimi is one of the most influential guitarists of all time and Stevie was technically the better player. However, without Jimi Hendrix there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan.

-Axel