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Page or Hendrix?


Flying Zeppelin

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They are both good in their own right.

Jimmy's Strengths: Unforgettable guitar riffs, true pioneer of studio recording/mixing techniques.

Jimi's Strengths: Unforgettable use of the guitar as both rythm & lead at the same time, true pioneer of guitar feedback/control.

Jimmy's Weaknesses: A little slow on the fretboard (when trying to knock off particularly speedy passages he ususally missed a note here or there)

Jimi's Weaknesses: Not particularly consistent live (sometimes the feedback got away from him and at some point turned into just plain "noise")

Both played with extreme emotion as if what was coming out of the guitar had its own brain so they both get credit there.

I would say Jimi might have the slight edge because he was on the major scene a few years before Jimmy, and did all this with his guitar in addition to being the singer (although I never particularly liked his vocal abilities).

Its really an endless debate that cannot be decided... its all relative to peoples opinions and musical tastes.

IMO, strictly looking at guitar work, Jimmy in 1969 trumps all.

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Jimi's Weaknesses: Not particularly consistent live (sometimes the feedback got away from him and at some point turned into just plain "noise")

I love Hendrix, and would even say I play his records more than Zep. But some of the live stuff I've heard is quite awful (and some is quite awesome). And his star spangled banner rendition is very over-rated.

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Jimi Hendrix didn't have as long as Jimmy Page to experiment more with his sound, so this is a trick question! But I've always liked Jimmy's style over Jimi Hendrix, and Jimmy P never lit his guitars on fire or licked them with his tounge which makes him a-ok in my book.

:P

Edited by zeptangerine
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  • 8 months later...

Jimmy Page is more than just a guitarist. He is like, a musical genius. I don't really understand why Jimi Hendrix is so highly regarded. I love his music, don't get me wrong, but he was always so inconsistent, which made for a bunch of noise! Jimi Hendrix doing a rendition of The Beatles Day Tripper was amazing though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIbRgVQMjbQ

He also learned Sgt. Pepper within like two days of it's release, and played it at what was it? Isle of Wight? That is epic.

They are both amazing for different reasons, but I prefer Pagey. :D

[Which may be biased, because Led Zeppelin has been my second favorite band since I was 9. :P ]

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I prefer Led Zeppelin to The Jimi Hendrix Experience, by far, but I think the best Hendrix playing has more virtuosity and natural feel than any individual Page performance. Jimi's guitar was as much a part of him as a whistler's lips are. B) I think Jimmy excelled as an ensemble player, and of course producer (he should get far more recognition for his studio work).

On a side note, I happened to be listening to The Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps the other day, with the Clapton guitar solo, which just sounds lame to me, really, and I was thinking, why the hell didn't they get Hendrix to play the solo instead. I know Clapton and George Harrison were close friends, but Hendrix knew The Beatles and could have done something phenomenal on that song. But that's one of those daft "what if" things. Still, shame really.

Edit: I bet someone could do a mash-up to get a Hendrix solo onto While My Guitar Gently Weeps. God knows, there's enough Hendrix recordings around to sample from.

Edited by croquet'n'cocaine
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  • 3 years later...

Jimmy's Weaknesses: A little slow on the fretboard (when trying to knock off particularly speedy passages he ususally missed a note here or there)

Especially early in Led Zeppelin's career, Page was very fast! He wasn't called "Magic Fingers" for nothing.

Edited by Amstel
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Hendrix is #1 it really can't be argued. I mean, he just exploded Electric Guitar into the popular consciousness in such a mind blowing way.

I like Page better.

BUT what if Hendrix had the same good management Jimmy had? Don't forget that! Jimmy was protected and coddled and given the freedom to do whatever he wanted. Hendrix sadly was exploited and signed bad deals that compromised his vision and situation.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I like them both for different reasons. Neither is really better than the other, just different. The above poster mentioned speed...when has that ever been a criteria for a great guitar player? Speed for the sake of speed means shit, as a matter of opinion there is not a single shredder I like, to me they all sound like machines, no emotion. As far as overall technique paired with emotion and projection are concerned, no one beats Jeff Beck in my opinion and he rarely plays fast runs and the ones he plays are not very fast at all, moderate and controlled with presence. I feel both Page and Hendrix were similar in that regard, when they did play fast there was emotion behind it but neither player is what I would consider a shredder by any means. In case it is not obvious, I hate shredders. Maybe it is because I learned to shred very well within a year of picking up a guitar, but it took me several years to play with emotion, presence, phrasing, and color so I know what real playing is and it sure ain't speed.

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I like them both for different reasons. Neither is really better than the other, just different. The above poster mentioned speed...when has that ever been a criteria for a great guitar player? Speed for the sake of speed means shit, as a matter of opinion there is not a single shredder I like, to me they all sound like machines, no emotion. As far as overall technique paired with emotion and projection are concerned, no one beats Jeff Beck in my opinion and he rarely plays fast runs and the ones he plays are not very fast at all, moderate and controlled with presence. I feel both Page and Hendrix were similar in that regard, when they did play fast there was emotion behind it but neither player is what I would consider a shredder by any means. In case it is not obvious, I hate shredders. Maybe it is because I learned to shred very well within a year of picking up a guitar, but it took me several years to play with emotion, presence, phrasing, and color so I know what real playing is and it sure ain't speed.

I agree with you , for the most part, as far as shredders go Vai s Passion and war fare is a great cd, hes more than just sppeed, ans Satches surfing with the alien and flying in a blue dream are great to, but the rest is like you said. As far as jeff beck I agree with you for how he plays now, But when hendrix was alive he wasnt even close to him, And if Jimi had 40 years to progress like jeff did, he would still be better imo.

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I don;t think Page could have lead a trio like Hendrix did. They both had their own unique flair, but Page benefited from having the other three with him. The other three brought out the best in him.

Hendrix could have played with any other two guys (and did) and it would/could be great.

As for guitar playing, they were different blues based players, and both great in their own way, but Page had another gear with all the stuff like Achilles, The Rain Song, TSRTS etc...

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