The classic artist J Mascis called “the best guitarist ever”
It’s hard to put a finger on exactly who inspired Dinosaur Jr. leader J Mascis and his unique approach to the guitar. For one, Mascis has a sound and style that is completely unique to him – the second you hear the pummelling riffs for ‘Freak Scene’, ‘The Wagon’ or ‘Feel The Pain’, you know that it’s Mascis behind the fretboard.
Mascis has also done a pretty good job keeping quiet about which guitarists had informed his style, often hilariously describing his concept behind Dinsosaur Jr. as trying to be “the world’s loudest country band.” You’d be forgiven if you didn’t necessarily hear Scotty Moore or Glen Campbell in his approach.
But Guitar World recently got the inside scoop on who Mascis looked up to when crafting his six-string sound. Once you hear Mascis describe his guitar style as a mix of Tony Iommi, Bob Mould, and Ron Asheton, it all seems to fit together in a more obvious way.
If there was ever a guitarist that Mascis had no problem comparing himself to, it was Jimi Hendrix. Both Mascis and Hendrix favoured psychedelic textures, namely the Fuzz Face pedal, that both would use to astounding heights, and both found the perfect middle ground between rhythmic playing and brain-melting solos. As the leaders of their respective power trios, Mascis and Hendrix were cut from the same cloth.
“Hendrix probably seems obvious, but he’s the best guitarist ever, you know? No one is ever gonna get close to him,” Mascis explained. “So, he’s on the list for that reason alone. He’s an influence for all the obvious reasons, but I’ve never even tried to figure out a Hendrix song, meaning I’ve never tried to play like him. I’ll never even try to play like him.”
“I’ve never heard a single person play Hendrix correctly,” Mascis also claimed. “People always try to rip him off, which is one of the saddest things ever. People trying to play like Jimi Hendrix are just depressing. I mean… I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan once, and he was OK, but I don’t know… he was a bit more repetitive than Hendrix. With Hendrix, it was all in his hands. You can’t duplicate that.”
Check out ‘Purple Haze’ down below.
