As has been stated, ‘riff’ will vary in definition, however;

If I say sing or play the riff from Smoke On The Water, every single person will play exactly what I have in my head right now. Same with Since You’ve Been Gone, Paranoid etc, the hook is so barbed, it stands out instantly.

I do the same for Stairway and what will you play? If my life depended on it, I honestly would not know what to do if someone said play the riff from Stairway . I stand by my claim – Stairway has no riff – it is littered with standalone phrasic embellishments but has no identifiable ‘Stairway riff’.

I think ‘riff’ is being confused with ‘melody’ here. This is just the way I look at it and of course, is not carved in stone.

Just browsed the top 50 or so.

This raises some very interesting/questionable points – what people class as ‘riffs’? I see them being repeated hooks that reiteraate to the listener an ongoing theme, usually continually re-emphasised in its complete and unedited form throughout the song/piece.

I note ‘Stairway To Heaven’ being in the top 20. Can this honestly be considered to contains any ‘riffs’? In fact I just played it and whilst I do not question its impact and obvious place in rock legend, it does not stand out as containing a distinct ‘riff’. You could play the intro and recognise it after the first couple of notes, but in my opinion it is not in any way an example of exceptional ‘riffing’.

Stairway has many levels and has a ‘theme’, but perhaps people simply confuse great songs with great riffs?

Comments?

Now that is a coincidence! I was only just saying in the old hand plane forum how my collection has expanded by perusing eBay. Small world or what?

Twin alnico’s. Shopping around drops it below the 300 quid barrier, however it is very difficult to get, Epiphone currently can’t meet demand.

http//www.guitarvillage.co.uk/product-detail.asp?id=3738&catid=3&manid=24&quantity=1

There is also the sunburst version out there on the shelves, but I just wasn’t that attracted to it – don’t like sunburst.

There is a review of the worn cherry studio in the latest Guitarist which is very accurate. It is very responsive, not as heavy as the Gibson and build quality is very comparable – remove the Epiphone badge on the headstock and replace it with Gibson and at a distance you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference (not three miles away through binoculars either). Excellent buy.

I also bought an Ibanez Artcore AS103NT, the link shows the actual one I bought.

http//www.soundunlimited.co.uk/products_html/AS103NT-12-01.html

The suggested build quality of this is quite misleading. The pickguard was actually quite flawed – the cutouts around the body screws were very shabby and I have requested a replacement. In addition, the neck has a minute but annoying flaw on the neck that detracts from the smoothness – but apart from that, it is easily as good as models four times the price.

The level of quality of ‘budget’ guitars has risen dramatically over the past couple of years and the range of instruments is quite astonishing.

I bought one of the limited run worn cherry Epiphone studio firebirds last week and for the money it is without peer. Limited runs will always increase in value, so has the potential to at least hold its value. It was just short of 300 quid.

Having said that, if your budget is inflexible I recommend the Schecter Blackhawk – much cheaper than your budget if purchased without the powerblock;

http//www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pages/mod_1.12/pages/mod_1.12.1/pages/mod_1.12.1.1/pages/index.php?sku=1.1.1.1.1-64-293

No YOU didnt, but my comment was not directed at you.

[quote=”lee_UK”]i rest my case, at last he see’s sense.[/quote]

There’s no apostrophe in ‘sees’.

If you try a putdown, please try to get it completely right as it loses impact.

No way, I was joking all along and really agree with Lee’s 90/10 rule.

It is unquestionable that tone comes 90% from the fingers.