The neverending Bono Guitar debate

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gabrielvox said:
Ha! I stand vindicated!

You watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOnkANrm7AE

And then riddle me this, batman:

- who's IEM is that?

- who's making the mistakes?

- who's playing the outtro solo/riff?










the answer to all the above is none other than Bono, thankyouverymuch
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Interesting, I wonder who's pushing the wah-wah for him, might be his guitar tech or something.
 
Exactly. It's imperfect, the volume and swell are not consistent...and look over at Edge, look at what and where he's playing on that neck. That riff/solo is not played way up there, nope.
 
Come on, let's not fool ourselves. It's reknown that he cannot play guitar well, he says it himself: his fingers are too short and chunky.
 
edurban said:
Come on, let's not fool ourselves. It's reknown that he cannot play guitar well, he says it himself: his fingers are too short and chunky.
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I wonder how he ever managed to play the piano. :lol:
 
edurban said:
Come on, let's not fool ourselves. It's reknown that he cannot play guitar well, he says it himself: his fingers are too short and chunky.
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That's not the point of this thread, this thread is addressing the naysayers that Bono's guitar is turned off, is not emitting sounds, or is in some other fashion faking it whilst an unknown entity under the stage plays the parts.

And that, my friend, is bullshit.
 
last unicorn said:


I wonder how he ever managed to play the piano. :lol:
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Gee, I wonder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00pHh0_V76Q

So who exactly is playing piano there?

This whole chunky fingers cant possibly play the guitar thing is crap. My dad's hands are almost identical to Bono's, I've seen both up close so I know. My dad plays, and very well at that. He also types at a very good rate, and accurately. Thick fingers do not preclude playing the guitar well.
 
gabrielvox said:


That's not the point of this thread, this thread is addressing the naysayers that Bono's guitar is turned off, is not emitting sounds, or is in some other fashion faking it whilst an unknown entity under the stage plays the parts.

And that, my friend, is bullshit.
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Ok, I agree with you then. I am sure he pays when he plays, only probably very basic chords. But I don't believe his guitar is switched off!
 
I liked his playing on THE FLY during the Vertigo Tour, but I don't believe that's him playing that solo @ the end of GONE on that clip.... sorry.

But that clip of him playing piano on SWEETEST THING is cool as hell.
 
Why not? Who else is playing it then? Not Edge, that's for sure! Watch just before they pan away from Bono, he slides his hands up the fret to exactly where that part is played, and then he heads back to his amp. It's not a stretch to say that he headed back to hit a pedal or something, not by any means! Dude that is definitely Bono's guitar and so is the feedback at the end, he's got his guitar slammed up against the amp.

It's not that hard a part, really, and he's not playing it properly per se, it's so imperfect and rocknroll it's not even funny. If Dallas or Edge were playing it, it would sound closer to perfection (well to what it's supposed to sound like). Even Bono's guitar tech would play it better than that.

I also LOVED The Fly during Vertigo, probably the best Fly ever. Some shows I was at Bono's amp was as loud as Edge's and it was all nice and dirty. :rockon:
 
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Doesn't Edge play that solo bit at the end of Gone on the Boston Elevation DVD? Bono's got some guitar chops, more than he lets on I think, and with enough practice I don't have any reason to doubt that Bono is really playing that part here. It doesn't sound terribly complicated.

Gabrielvox, what's your opinion of the intro to Walk On on the Elevation DVD? I always thought it was Bono playing those opening notes at that show (cuz Edge clearly isn't), but somebody on here claimed it was common knowledge that Dallas or somebody else under the stage was playing that part...
 
If nothing else, thanks for the awesome version of "Gone." It's nice to know that I'm almost at the level of Bono when it comes to guitar :lol:. But yeah, I do think he's better than he lets on.
 
Silkensky - I don't have time to watch it again, but once I do, if what you are saying ie it looks like Bono and not Edge is right, I'll be happy to agree, I've NEVER believed the whole Dallas is playing that shit anyways! even **I** can play that opening part, and dude, I can't play guitar worth shit!! :lmao:


Miguel - haha! I love that clip!! Fricking awesome!!!


Alanah - :up:
 
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I don't see why it couldn't be him. It's only like four notes with a ton of noise on top. His guitar tech could work the wah for him; Dallas does that for Edge whenever Edge isn't near his gear.

I've always been amazed that Bono could pull off the piano throughout Sweetest Thing, though. Live, the attention to detail of playing an instrument just goes out the window.

Don't blame the fingers. Some folks just don't have the temperament or can't be bothered to be that precise about anything. Bono plays guitar like he dresses when in public - sloppy as hell.
 
:drool: thanks for that link! awesome performance!

:wink: but really, it's not THAT hard to hear Bono playing guitar in songs.... I mean :shrug: I can hear him on One (live editions tho) and on most songs where people claim they can't hear them... is it just me?
 
It is Bono playing that outro solo. But if you listen to the solo and go beyond the heavy processing, it's actually really, really basic and, well, not played all that cleanly. :shrug: The processing hides a lot.

Bono plays guitar like he dresses when in public - sloppy as hell.
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QFT.
 
gabrielvox said:


That's not the point of this thread, this thread is addressing the naysayers that Bono's guitar is turned off, is not emitting sounds, or is in some other fashion faking it whilst an unknown entity under the stage plays the parts.

And that, my friend, is bullshit.
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There's folks who believe that? Damn. I guess maybe they're not U2 fans? Who else would believe that anyone in this band would intentionally betray an audience? Wouldn't the consequences of being caught far outweigh the potential benefit? And what's the benefit? To convince an audience that Bono can really play guitar? Who cares? He's the singer.

There is a pre-recorded backing track used for this song. Maybe that's what confused people. Programmed backing is one thing, but fake playing? It would never happen on this level.
 
Boston version of "Gone", here is what happened. The Boston DVD is filmed over 2 nights. If you'll notice during Gone, it sometimes shows Edge playing a red Rickenbacker, and sometimes a black one. That's because the first night he kicked the red one, and the 2nd night he was playing with the black one. This is just poor editing right here.

The high pitched guitar part you hear but do not see Edge playing is because while the audio is being used from one night, the video footage is from a different night. Either Edge was not playing that high pitched part on the night that the video is from, or it's just the video from a completely different part of the song.

While I'm sure that's case, there are a few other options. Dallas is playing it, or it's an overdub (wouldn't be the first time, ISHFWILF Mexico City DVD). But there is no way Bono is playing that part. Bono doesn't have effects pedals like the Edge has, there's no way Bono could make that sound if he wanted to. I personally believe Bono is a better guitar player than we all think, but he isn't playing that part.
 
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The_acrobat said:
Boston version of "Gone", here is what happened. The Boston DVD is filmed over 2 nights. If you'll notice during Gone, it sometimes shows Edge playing a red Rickenbacker, and sometimes a black one. That's because the first night he kicked the red one, and the 2nd night he was playing with the black one. This is just poor editing right here.

The high pitched guitar part you hear but do not see Edge playing is because while the audio is being used from one night, the video footage is from a different night. Either Edge was not playing that high pitched part on the night that the video is from, or it's just the video from a completely different part of the song.

While I'm sure that's case, there are a few other options. Dallas is playing it, or it's an overdub (wouldn't be the first time, ISHFWILF Mexico City DVD). But there is no way Bono is playing that part. Bono doesn't have effects pedals like the Edge has, there's no way Bono could make that sound if he wanted to. I personally believe Bono is a better guitar player than we all think, but he isn't playing that part.
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Well, that's all very interesting but the original post was not talking about the Boston DVD but about a clip posted on youtube from a Toronto show. Demonstrating that Edge played the solo on the Boston DVD proves nothing about who played it in Toronto.

Dana
 
During Boston, the audio is all from one night except the VERY end. Even with the poor video editing, I can tell by the audio what happens:

Bono plays the solo riff (12-14-15-14/12) twice while Edge plays chords. Then, Bono goes to chords as Edge moves up, you can hear the different tones between the guitars, as Bono's is farther back in the mix as per usual. On this portion, Edge plays that part, but instead of sliding 14/12 at the end, he plays E and B on 17 and finishes. (It's a simplistic summary that doesn't accurately describe the solo, but that's the gist of it.)

I don't think it was two different nights in which each played the solo. I think it was one night where they swapped on the solo. Hence the first two parts being quieter (Bono) and the third part of the solo being louder (Edge).

This clip, it's just Bono.
 
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