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Ed as a guitarist

GivenToFly982GivenToFly982 Posts: 46
edited January 2008 in The Porch
I was wondering what you guys (especially guitarists) thought of Ed's guitar playing ability. Ed obviously doesn't play on every track and I sometimes wonder if 3 guitars is overkill anyway. I don't know a whole lot about guitar, but he's obviously talented though i have heard some really good guitarists say that Ed's playing ability is pretty average at best...sometimes its kind of sloppy (although thats really a part of grunge music so some of it is probably intentional.) and he seems like he has trouble keeping up sometimes when they play live. However, I thought his guitar playing was beautiful on the Into the Wild soundtrack. Again, its way better than i could play but i looked up the tabs and those songs dont seem too terribly difficult. Anyway, i was curious as to what you guys thought.
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  • JP2026766JP2026766 Posts: 1,125
    Sometimes he can be sloppy, but he's fairly talented at finger picking. I'd say hes a pretty average player, but he does alot of nice things w the guitar.

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  • Guitarhero27Guitarhero27 Posts: 2,146
    his tone blows these days...he should go back to using the hiwatt's
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  • Rhinocerous SurpriseRhinocerous Surprise Posts: 4,423
    What he does with a guitar, he does well. He doesn't play like Mike, but he doesn't try to. No one else in the band could have written RVM or Man of the Hour though.

    And I like the three guitar sound. Very full, without getting too crowded.
    Smokey Robinson constantly looks like he's trying to act natural after being accused of farting.
  • beachdwellerbeachdweller Posts: 1,532
    GivenToFly982 wrote:
    I was wondering what you guys (especially guitarists) thought of Ed's guitar playing ability. Ed obviously doesn't play on every track and I sometimes wonder if 3 guitars is overkill anyway. I don't know a whole lot about guitar, but he's obviously talented though i have heard some really good guitarists say that Ed's playing ability is pretty average at best...sometimes its kind of sloppy (although thats really a part of grunge music so some of it is probably intentional.) and he seems like he has trouble keeping up sometimes when they play live. However, I thought his guitar playing was beautiful on the Into the Wild soundtrack. Again, its way better than i could play but i looked up the tabs and those songs dont seem too terribly difficult. Anyway, i was curious as to what you guys thought.

    I'd say Ed's songwriting ability with the guitar is better than most guitar players guitar playing ability
    "Music, for me, was fucking heroin." eV (nothing Ed has said is more true for me personally than this quote)

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  • sayhellotokevinsayhellotokevin Posts: 47
    Here's my take (I've talked about this before with friends): Technically speaking Ed is a pretty average guitar player. I think it's his song writing abilities that make him fucking awesome. The riffs he comes up with are simple, but lend themselves perfectly to Stone and (especially) Mike's superior guitar skills. I think RVM and Corduroy are two perfect examples.
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  • nocodelover22nocodelover22 Posts: 108
    His guitar work on Insignificance is really nice as well.
  • HushBullHushBull Posts: 996
    It's his tambourine playing he needs to work on. I mean come on ITW a la Tambourine!
    "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"
  • Dustin51Dustin51 Posts: 222
    I have to agree with what others are saying. He is a brilliant song writer. His melodies and rythms are amazing. He knows how to write something that sounds good. He isnt Stevie Ray Vaughn though, but thats cool. The songs he writes might be favorites out of the band members. I am mine, RVM, Wishlist, In my tree...great songs. And the Into the Wild Sountrack was pretty awesome. Interesting...but awesome at the same time.
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  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    he can write such beautiful songs with simple chords that mike solos over and stone can put in lots of fills or play along...Immortality or Sometimes..Better Man...Porch

    and his solo songs rule too....Dead Man..No Ceiling...Long Nights....

    fucking beautiful.


    i really like his rough sloppy guitars....best seen on Interstellar Overdrive, Grievance and Not For You
  • Niko80Niko80 Posts: 1,608
    Its a good thing Eddie is not the greatest guitar player. If he were, I would not be able to play his songs. Im taking huge pleasure in learning his songs as they are all fairly simple to play and easy to memorize.

    I have played guitar for 6 months now and I can already hold a Eddie Vedder cover concert:-)

    Ed has made my introduction to the guitar very very satisfying. Working on guaranteed now and its surprisingly easy to play.
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  • GivenToFly982GivenToFly982 Posts: 46
    JordyWordy wrote:
    he can write such beautiful songs with simple chords that mike solos over and stone can put in lots of fills or play along...Immortality or Sometimes..Better Man...Porch

    and his solo songs rule too....Dead Man..No Ceiling...Long Nights....

    fucking beautiful.


    i really like his rough sloppy guitars....best seen on Interstellar Overdrive, Grievance and Not For You

    Yeah, I agree with you especially on Immortality....that part of "Immagine in Cornice" when he is on stage by himself (during a soundcheck i guess) that version of Immortality sent chills down my spine....beautiful.
  • binauralonthecapebinauralonthecape Posts: 257
    i used to have little to no respect for eds guitar playing until i found out how many songs hes written the guitar parts for...that being said, i do think three guitars can be overkill sometimes, it seems alot more songs from avocado have the three guitar effect which, again, can be overkill..but i think we are nitpicking here, this is the greatest band on the planet...
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  • pjfan31pjfan31 Posts: 7,335
    I don't know any technical stuff. But on my uneducated guitar knowledge, I think he is good on RVM, betterman and cordouroy. So he is alright in my books
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  • HailRoad24HailRoad24 Posts: 133
    Guitarhero27 wrote:
    his tone blows these days...he should go back to using the hiwatt's

    x2. His tone on the 2006 and 2007 tours was horrible. Get back to how it sounded in 1998 and 2000, IMHO.
    -PUSH ME AND I WILL RESIST!
  • Cropduster84Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    GivenToFly982 wrote:
    Yeah, I agree with you especially on Immortality....that part of "Immagine in Cornice" when he is on stage by himself (during a soundcheck i guess) that version of Immortality sent chills down my spine....beautiful.

    My favourite part of the dvd......

    I like his guitar playing.....man of the hour and dead man are both so beautiful, and i love thumbing my way......i like his fingerpicking style......


    i love how ed, stone and mike gel.....
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  • GmoneyGmoney Posts: 1,618
    id say he's better than we think, itw is proof of that. he is obviously overshadowed by mike and stone, but that's how pj is designed...
    Further back and forth a wave will break on me, today...
  • ledveddermanledvedderman Posts: 7,761
    The man came up with one of the best riffs the band has ever released...Sad. That makes him legit in my book.
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  • BrokenGlassBrokenGlass Posts: 298
    I think Ed is a competent guitarist in accompanying himself, and a less than average rhythm guitarist band-wise. I just wish he would not try to solo. Those e-bow solos on Wishlist are painful to hear, and they go on and on and on....
  • WobbieWobbie Posts: 30,334
    I've been trying to learn guitar for two years and Ed is a hell of a lot better than me!

    Then again, maybe if I had Mike and Stone around to help me....
    If I had known then what I know now...

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  • BrezBrez Posts: 570
    Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:
    No one else in the band could have written RVM or Man of the Hour though.

    Right there your talking about songwriting ability, which isn't the same as guitar-playing ability.

    Eddie Vedder:
    Songwriting ability = Phenomenal
    Guitar skills = Average
    And before his first step... He's off again...
  • Jam10Jam10 Posts: 654
    I think Ed is a great guitarist, especially considering he is a lead singer in a band and not a regular guitar player on all of Pearl Jam's songs. You can't compare Ed to Mike or Stone because Mike and Stone are the main guitar players. Into the Wild is really awesome work by Ed and I do think he really is a great guitar player!
  • Rhinocerous SurpriseRhinocerous Surprise Posts: 4,423
    Brez wrote:
    Right there your talking about songwriting ability, which isn't the same as guitar-playing ability.

    Eddie Vedder:
    Songwriting ability = Phenomenal
    Guitar skills = Average

    It's his ability to write with a guitar. I think it's relevant to the topic.
    Smokey Robinson constantly looks like he's trying to act natural after being accused of farting.
  • GivenToFly982GivenToFly982 Posts: 46
    BrokenGlass wrote:
    I think Ed is a competent guitarist in accompanying himself, and a less than average rhythm guitarist band-wise. I just wish he would not try to solo. Those e-bow solos on Wishlist are painful to hear, and they go on and on and on....

    Ah, you just answered a question that haunted me for years...i always wondered what that thing was that he plays with when playing wishlist since a saw it on Live at the Garden. The E-Bow! Fascinating.
  • NoonieNoonie Posts: 93
    ledvedderman wrote:
    The man came up with one of the best riffs the band has ever released...Sad. That makes him legit in my book.

    second that.

    and I like the e-bow on Wishlist!
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  • smile05smile05 Posts: 600
    Ed's guitar playing with Pearl Jam is like Ronaldo at Real Madrid,always in the shadow of Luis Figo (stone) & Zinedine Zidane (sir mike)
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  • dannydanny Posts: 2,279
    GivenToFly982 wrote:
    I was wondering what you guys (especially guitarists) thought of Ed's guitar playing ability. Ed obviously doesn't play on every track and I sometimes wonder if 3 guitars is overkill anyway. I don't know a whole lot about guitar, but he's obviously talented though i have heard some really good guitarists say that Ed's playing ability is pretty average at best...sometimes its kind of sloppy (although thats really a part of grunge music so some of it is probably intentional.) and he seems like he has trouble keeping up sometimes when they play live. However, I thought his guitar playing was beautiful on the Into the Wild soundtrack. Again, its way better than i could play but i looked up the tabs and those songs dont seem too terribly difficult. Anyway, i was curious as to what you guys thought.


    he may not be the best guitarist but fuck he is the best singer ever
    danny d
  • deadnotedeadnote Posts: 1,678
    you should check out not for you from snl

    i think that just about shows edwords gauitar plaing
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  • pearljamgirl07pearljamgirl07 Posts: 792
    I think he is great ,he isn't the best guitarist but he play very very good...
    "You're the eve of my destruction in the garden of fears"
  • nukebootnukeboot Posts: 1,465
    smile05 wrote:
    Ed's guitar playing with Pearl Jam is like Ronaldo at Real Madrid,always in the shadow of Luis Figo (stone) & Zinedine Zidane (sir mike)

    I've never heard of Real Madrid.

    I'll have to check that band out.
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  • BrezBrez Posts: 570
    Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:
    It's his ability to write with a guitar. I think it's relevant to the topic.

    I see what your getting at.
    And before his first step... He's off again...
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