I've been intrigued for a while by the concept of "Stunt Guitar". Far as I can gather, FZ coined the term for Steve Vai when he was in his band and then passed the title on to Mike Keneally, but what the hell exactly is "Stunt Guitar" and where did it come from?

Is it just the exorbitant use of bends, vibrato, tapping, sweeps, harmonics, hammer-ons, unusual chords and the like? Or is it more of a philosophical state of mind?

What other guitarists would u consider "stunt guitarists"?

I'm gonna say John Lee Hooker was the first stunt guitarist.

He was real good at Playing those notes in the in-between spaces.

I cant remember where I read it but I think Hendrix used a stunt guitar to bash around after Monterrey.

As for stunt players... Vai, Satriani top the list. EVH and a bunch of the metal gods flirt with it too.

Is this "stunt" method of playing limited to just guitarists? Are there stunt keyboardists, bassists, percussionists, wind instrumentalists and vocalists?

"Full of soumd and fury; signifying nothing."

are you saying stunt guitar is meaningless surfdead? please elaborate

>>>>>Are there stunt keyboardists, bassists, percussionists, wind instrumentalists and vocalists?


Osby?

I was thinking more like Skerik

well does quality really play a role in stunt music or is it more about having the balls to make some strange noises when the feeling grabs ya?

That's a good question. I would think if we're talking about a musical role coined by zappa that there would probably need to b some kind of technique being well executed. It would seem that said technique would also need to be difficult or at least out of the ordinary. Otherwise u might as well call it "slop guitar" or just "weird guitar".

The dictionary defines a stunt as such:

1. performance displaying a person's skill or dexterity, as in athletics; feat: an acrobatic stunt.

2. any remarkable feat performed chiefly to attract attention: The kidnapping was said to be a publicity stunt.

>>>>>are you saying stunt guitar is meaningless surfdead? please elaborate

>>>>>The dictionary defines a stunt as such:
1. performance displaying a person's skill or dexterity, as in athletics; feat: an acrobatic stunt.
2. any remarkable feat performed chiefly to attract attention: The kidnapping was said to be a publicity stunt.


I'm saying that if it's only the above then it might be musically meaningless.

Just like a stunt man comes in for the star of a movie, this is the era when Zappa turned over the heavy lifting to a guitarist that would rip the stuff up that Zappa used to rip up. Not a Vai era fan

That's kind of a depressing way of looking at it Joe. Seems like there were still plenty of FZ solos in the later years, but maybe you have a point with the Stunt man comparison for when he didn't feel like doing the heavy lifting in every tune.

>>>I'm saying that if it's only the above then it might be musically meaningless.

I'm not sure I follow, I can understand you saying it was spiritually or intellectually meaningless, but what makes it musically meaningless?

what else would it need to be besides that definition to not be musically meaningless?

Not depressing just my take on it E. I started seeing Frank in 1976-77 and onward. It seemed that as the years went on Frank spent more time directing, drinking coffee, and smoking cigerettes onstage than actually picking up the guitar. Always loved the Ike and Ray years.

I appreciate your take joe, but I do find the stunt guy cause Frank was too lazy angle a bit depressing. I'm also super envious of all the Frank you got to see. The Vai era isn't my favorite either but I think each line up had something to offer. Have u heard the "Stevie's Spanking" on ycdtosa 4? The Frank/vai dueling at the end is pretty crazy.

It wasn't laziness. I just think at times he just enjoyed conducting more, and he definately was impressed with Vai's handle on transcribing Frank's music and his playing ability and like that ycdtosa pushed Frank's playing. Vai can rip and shred but no-one can strangle a guitar like Frank Zappa.

the stuntman aspect of this is pretty interesting.

question. if a guitarist throws a lick in the middle of a verse where there normally isn't a guitar lick is he stunt guitaring?

>>>>there would probably need to b some kind of technique being well executed



or how about something accidentally done once and then practiced to do again later?

I know jamming with you and Lord Henry sometimes I'd make some crazy noise and be like how'd I do that.

Then next time I practiced by myself I'd try a figure out what I did and how I did it.

>>>if a guitarist throws a lick in the middle of a verse where there normally isn't a guitar lick is he stunt guitaring?

I don't think so


>>>or how about something accidentally done once and then practiced to do again later?

sure

>>>no-one can strangle a guitar like Frank Zappa.

I think Frank is a very underrated guitarist, but since we're talking bout guitar stranglin', how bout that Richard Thompson? He sure can get nasty fantastic

Thompson makes his guitar make sounds I didn't know were possible.

Like on that DVD where he's soloing and dropping his low E to D and cranking it back to E while playing.

WTF?

yeah, he's pretty damn stunty for folky with his alternate tunings, crazy finger pickin and all

I saw Buddy Guy play his guitar with his teeth.

I'd call that stunting.

sho nuff.

I don't think the GD world and stunt guitar is as mutually exclusive as people might think. Jimmy Herring's got all kinds of wacky tricks and the other day I could swear I heard Garcia using pinch harmonics during the orange tango jam on that 76' dick's picks.

Zappa's pacing of his solos set him apart, its the syncopated, chaotic flow of it all. Thompson is great but there is a polish to it imo.


Playing with teeth can be a stunt or a gimmick, cuz some guys are still using their fingers while fake toothing it.

Jimmy Page playing with a Violin Bow - Stunt or Gimmick

>>>>>Thompson is great but there is a polish to it imo.


hard not to sound polished when you're the best living guitarist.

maybe I should revise that to say False Toothing it.


I got a great big pointy fang, which is my zombie toof, my right foots bigger than the other one is like a regular zoombie hoof.


Hoover - prefect weekend comming. I will be doing some pre & post show fishing in St. Augiie while hopped up on chocolate. Watch out snook and trout.

Hope I can keep out of the way of the treble hooks

>>>>Hoover - prefect weekend comming. I will be doing some pre & post show fishing in St. Augiie while hopped up on chocolate. Watch out snook and trout.


nice. I've got a 3 day weekend myself.

beach day tomorrow, wedding on friday in LA and beach and fishing day on Sunday.

maybe practice some stunt guitar in there somewhere too.

>>>fake toothing it.

those phony bastards


>>>>Jimmy Page playing with a Violin Bow - Stunt or Gimmick


good one, I'm on the fence but think I'm leaning towards gimmick

>>>>>>>>>Jimmy Page playing with a Violin Bow - Stunt or Gimmick


I view it as a stunt that is so unexciting it accidentally became a gimmick.

nice!

Hey, is a band of stunt players just a power trio?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63I_eyFeEPE

good stuff E, just enough chaos going on for my taste

This thread needs more video links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTjMfN9-Rqg

>>>>Jimmy Page playing with a Violin Bow - Stunt or Gimmick

Pure evil. Listen to some of the live recordings, like "How the West Was One" Some of the creepiest sounds every produced by a rock band.

Now him using the bow to cast magick circles on stage may seem like a stunt, but when you consider he was serious student of the dark arts, it become much less gimicky.

>>>>>but when you consider he was serious student of the dark arts, it become much less gimicky.



He went to Hogwarts?

Speaking of the dark arts, is stunt guitar inherently a bit sinister and twisted?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsIzou8bYyk&feature =related

this is pretty damn stunty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNFRWXDSA8

and one more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxzk46iToo4

neat stuff..i play bass so i think of bassists like victor wooten, les claypool, stanley clarke, i'd consider them stunt bassists

Wlewis, check this guy out:

http://www.theeramjam.com/

Is this guy amazing or just an asshole?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79P2ZDjrjM&feature =related

i don't think he's either

i think he's both

timmy---that was just...interesting...he wasn't really doin much in anything i heard/saw

Did u watch this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP2ipnwRpak


Seems to have triplet and quadruplet producing techniques (slap/thump/double pluck, etc.) pretty down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut8seNQOIFY

furious---that was a better...a style i rarely work on that i should...

timmy---couldn't really make out any bass in that recording

yeah that last link was a stunt band. Stunt drums bass and guitar

interesting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE7eVfIAkkE

stunt, gimmick, or to much time and acid?

and for E with a lil bottom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN3439l4HR0&feature =related

In my book having a loop pedal takes away from the stunt. It's like doing some big jump on a motorcycle but having a harness on you to keep you from falling or something.

I'm goin with too much time and acid

Timmy how do you feel about tele-prompters?

E-Bow - Gimmick?

missing finger - Gimmick or bad mishap from stunt that went wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWMrK67_bk&feature =related

I think the E-bow is only as cool as the person using it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXs2U11AUDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx1RccwlF5g

E-bow and slide, very nice. Until yesterday I never even heard of the E-bow

Vai as stunt guitar "stand in" for FZ. Not that Frank was lazy, just busy.

I was at the show that Martin Simpson clip is from, pretty cool performance

discovered a little trick the other night when jamming with the boys.

If you run a streaming app on your iphone and put the screen on your strings over the pick ups you get some weird noises that you can manipulate by moving the phone up and down the strings and jamming the whole thing up against the face of your amp (feedback mode)

here's some other ways to get weird noises:

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

>>>>>Timmy how do you feel about tele-prompters


I think they're fine. Especially as I'm someone that has a hard time keeping all the lyrics straight to the hundreds of songs I sing.