Thought this one might be nice to watch over Sunday coffee…
First off, I’m not a Strat person at all - I find they just don’t fit into my hands and I struggle to play them, but if you’re trying to sell the guitar on it’s range of sounds - this video might just be the single best demo of a Strat I’ve seen!
If I were in your shoes I’d edit the thread title.
Darn you autocorrect! Thanks and edited!
ROFL!!
Introducing the fender Start-o-caster!! 
yeah that dude can play.
I consider myself a competent player, and love messing with volume and tone, but damn it - adjusting that stuff mid phrase - mid note? Literally keeping your pinky on the volume and adjusting it constantly is something that I just could not dream of doing.
I had the great pleasure to see Jeff Beck a few years ago at the House of Blues in Orlando, and was close enough to watch how much manipulation was going on. Flat out incredible. He was not playing guitar. Every note was bent, harmonics whammied up and down, volume swells, and all effortless. He ended the show with Somewhere Over The Rainbow, which was played almost entirely in manipulated harmonics with just some keyboard swells to fill in, and it was majestic. The perfect match of artist and instrument.
I’ve managed to miss Jeff Beck every time he’s played near me - I missed him at the North Sea Jazz festival in Rotterdam, missed all his dates at Ronnie Scott’s in London and then again when he played here in Holland. I did manage to catch a broadcast of his Ronnie Scott’s performance (where Jimmy Page was actually sitting in the audience!). Like you said, there’s a certain point where he is not actually playing the guitar. But those sounds he creates are insane - I’m trying to think of anyone who has that kind of control over his / her guitar. There’s a fair number of guitar shredding / histrionics / pyrotechnic players, but really no one with that kind of finesse.
Had a similar experience a few years ago here in Oz. I ended up seeing him 3 times in the same long weekend! Totally at one with the guitar. What blew my mind was when he seamlessly integrated a slide into his whole guitar manipulation routine - it was a bit like watching a sonic juggling act - like in this track:
Oh man. It would take a LOT of work to get that much control over a slide. The first thing I thought of was how wiggling around a joystick on a keyboard would be much much easier for me lol.
Yeah, this is a case where we’re seeing a lifetime of dedication to the art of the instrument. 10,000 hrs x 10… About the only other guitarist I’ve seen up close live who comes close in terms of deft, effortless, yet totally soulful control and one-ness with the instrument is Dereck Trucks.
Another guy who has a really expressive and unique slide style is Brett Garsed - he’s known mainly as a legato fusionish player, but his slide chops are just so musical and otherworldly.
Have to check Brett Garsed out. I can’t remember which song it was at the show I saw, but Beck played a lot of slide on it, and near the end he played it on his left hand over the neck, then switched it to his right hand, playing between the pickups and the bridge, then slipped it back on his left hand in one motion to complete the melody. Seamless and jaw-dropping.
What gets me about Derek Trucks is his ability to do very fast slides down to a note and stop on a dime in key. Very, very difficult to do melodically.
Here’s one of my favourite clips - betwixt John Mayer and BB King. I think this illustrates what Derek Trucks can do with a slide…
And that right-hand technique… really cool!
I respect John Mayer for his talent, but when Mr. Trucks gets to work you can tell Mayer is dumbfounded. Trucks is unique , and needs to stay away from motorcycles. He has perfected an almost lost art.
Yeah, loved seeing Mayer pay respect in there… as did BB!
Absolutely, stay the fuck off motorcycles…! (which is something I would say to anyone I care about…)
I first saw him in '86 playing with a Oz pop act named John Farnham (who had a HUGE album in Oz at the time, and who had previously fronted the Little River Band after original singer Glenn Shorrock left). At the time he was pretty young and wore a headband that made him look a bit like Sylvester Stallone in First Blood - hence his nickname “Rambo”. He was definitely a super-shredder - this is the solo that first caught my attention - no slide in this solo, but it was pretty mind-blowing to see this live in the context of a pop song at the time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTkxLX91IS4
Here are a couple of examples of his slide playing - check out his angled-slide double-stop action - I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else do it:
Very nice, great technique, lots of touch. I’ll see if I can find some more when I get home.
Tilting the slide… I have no words for that…
Yup, that’s a whole brave new world of intonation that I’d certainly hesitate to enter!