I'm too picky with guitar players...

Depends if you want a bad blues guitarist in your band.

 

Nothing wrong with being picky if you know what you like and have standards you expect. Just be happy they have recordings you can hear beforehand so you don't have to waste time and effort trying them out in person.

That in mind, I've found recordings to not always be the best instrument to judge a player's skill. I've known some bands who have made some killer recordings because they can take a million takes in a studio and redo parts as needed. On a gig, however, it's a whole different story, and they will often sound mediocre at best.

As for there being a lot of bad guitarists out there, I'd agree and disagree. It usually just depends on the circles you run in. If you hang out with lots of musicians you'll tend to find a lot better players than if you're resorting to finding dudes on Craigslist.

 

I go to this one blues jam every month. There always is 10-20 GP's and 2-3 bass players.
90% of the GP's that show up suck bad.

I love it because I walk out of there feeling like I'm Tommy Shannon.

 

The electric guitar has done more harm to music than any other instrument. It has also, probably, done more to promote music than any other instrument.

The world of marketing has created millions of bad guitar players, and very few good musicians.

I feel your pain.

Unfortunately, as you have already discovered, you will have to wade through miles of crap to find one good guitarist. The best way to do it, as already mentioned by jmattbassplayer, is to hang out with a lot of musicians. The better they are, the easier it is to find a decent guitarist. They'll know the good players in your area.

Ya gotta network. It takes time and effort, but it's better than blind auditions, like the kind people setup on CL.

 

Sounds to me like you're not being too picky and you have reasonable standards.

 

Me too. You're not too picky. You're picky enough.

 

You're not picky.

You recognize a lost cause, and know better than to waste your time with it.

 

When jazz was dominant and everyone was "horn crazy" I'm certain I've read the same complaint about horn players.

 

Man, I WAS the house bass player for a Tuesday night blues jam here for well over a decade (unless I was on the road then I got a fill-in). I can't even tell you how many awful blues guitarists I have played with. But, I took a pretty lenient approach to it in that setting. One of the best ways to get better is to jam with more experienced guys.

But as band members? No way.

 

I'd say the only reason you should accept a crappy guitar player in a serious band is if he can bring something else to the table, namely vocals. If you already have a sufficient guitarist and need a vocalist, I'd say a vocalist who plays intermediate guitar would be acceptable based on his vocal merits.

 

:scowl:Nothing makes me crazier than a bad drummer!

 

Just be careful though. They can sound as nice as pie over the phone, agree with everything you say (yes, I play amazing rhythm guitar), but sooner or later they'll pull out that distortion pedal and make their 'volume' heard.. Ugh, guitar players, not my favourite at the moment, having said that, there must be some out there who know their place in the mix and are mature as artists. Saw an awesome jazz quartet a few months ago, with an equally awesome and skilled guitarist. They're out there, you can never be too picky!!

 

Which must be hard if you're in a touring band, or a house bass player!

Btw, interested to know what constitutes a bad blues guitarist: note selection, rhythm, or feel?

 

In my opinion and experience it is not just guitarists who are like this it is a lot of musicians in general. The more musicians you surround yourself with the more you will see the variations and level of musicianship differ. The one BIG thing I have come to learn is that a lot of people are built up to believe they are better than they are by their parents, GF's, wife, childhood friends, and whatever small usually non-musician friends tell them. So, they will come to an open jam or start auditioning for bands thinking they are far better than what they really are. I remember reading an article in a Guitar World magazine growing up and it talked about those musicians who are like this. Most of them are the type to learn just the "main riff" or the hook of a song to impress people, but if you asked them to sit down and play the entire song they couldn't do it. Then when they started to "create" their own material they really couldn't do it because they have never really learned their instrument. So, NO I do not think your are over critical or too picky.

 

Um... no not really. Electric guitar is the most beautiful sound in the world.

There are a ton of bad guitar players but there are also a ton of bad bass players, drummers, keys players, singers ect. I guess it depends on your particular music scene but I have seen much more terrible bass players than terrible guitar players.

 

That sounds like my version of hell. Playing a 1-4-5 in A for 45 minutes while some wankers trade off bad solos.

 

You should be picky. there is nothing wrong with that. like you said, if they wont take the time to nail a recording when they can keep doing it until they get it right... what will they sound like live???