Guns N' Roses' Bumblefoot Video Lessons

A six-page interview/lesson with Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal appears in the April 2008 issue of Guitar Player magazine. The accompanying video lessons have now been posted online.

Go to GuitarPlayerTV.com, click on "GP Lessons Apr. 08", then "Masterclass".

There are four videos available: The Thimble, Thimble Octaves, Thimble Blues, Thimble Madness.

A reliable source recently informed The Pulse of Radio that Guns N' Roses' long-awaited new album, "Chinese Democracy", is finished and the group's frontman W. Axl Rose is negotiating for more money with his record label before he will release the masters.

The ever-shifting Guns N' Roses lineup began working on "Chinese Democracy" sometime in the mid-'90s, and has reportedly spent $13 million recording the effort. Promised release dates in 2006 and 2007 did not materialize.

Guns N' Roses has only toured twice in the last 14 years: an aborted 2002 run that only lasted for a few shows, and a far more successful 2006 trek that took the latest lineup around the world.

Although Rose is considered one of rock's greatest frontmen, his sometimes irrational behavior onstage, reclusive lifestyle and notoriety for feuding with other rock stars has also earned him a reputation as one of rock's true eccentrics.

Thanks for the info to Blabbermouth.net.

Comments

[onthewaytohell]

bumblefoot..LOL...They should of kept buckethead. To be honest, the time its taken GnR to release one album, buckethead could of done about 40. Actually, if you look at the facts, he basically has.
Is bumblefoot even good???.
1st

[kalamari]

Bumblefoot is more than just good...
And I can't tell you HOW disappointed I didn't make 1st comment..... yup.

[onthewaytohell]

OWNED!

[holyspacemonkey]

what kind of name is bumble**** anyway? makes me think of the bumblebee man from the simpsons. and buckethead - the one that has to make up a story about growing up in a chicken coop to get any kind of attention - can play about a million notes per second, but so what? nobody has anything on slash. if they should have kept anyone, it'd be slash and duff.

[lilboisX3]

holyspacemonkey wrote:

what kind of name is bumble**** anyway? makes me think of the bumblebee man from the simpsons. and buckethead - the one that has to make up a story about growing up in a chicken coop to get any kind of attention - can play about a million notes per second, but so what? nobody has anything on slash. if they should have kept anyone, it'd be slash and duff.

buckethead has everything on slash.

he isnt the greatest guitarist ever.

[Comeback Kiddd]

buckethead > slash. lets not forget how bad libertad and contraband are compared to at least 1 of 40 albums buckehead has.

[reservedforchoi]

Bumblefoot is good, I don't know if he is as good as Buckethead, but he is good. I liked how they added the Chinese Democracy stuff into the article haha, Flame on UG'ers

[This1GoesTo11]

My biggest fear, at this point, is "Chinese Democracy" being a masterpiece. Wow, will I have to eat shit!

[Shabalaba]

"Chinese Democracy", is finished and the group's frontman W. Axl Rose is negotiating for more money

Sums Axl up in that one quote

[p2fyre]

I've heard some of those leaked songs (about 8 of them that i've found) they seem pretty shit from what I've heard!

[visionen]

well that lesson was quite nice.

[Chewy120]

Shabalaba wrote:

"Chinese Democracy", is finished and the group's frontman W. Axl Rose is negotiating for more money

Sums Axl up in that one quote

+1

[banana stickers]

chinease democracy will never come out XD and the new lineups gay now

[SikkiNixx]

*waits for the Axl burnfest*

[IfTheWorld]

holyspacemonkey wrote:
and buckethead can play about a million notes per second

Bumblefoot's faster
And in my opinion is probably the best guitarist GNR have ever had.
Now i'm gonna go back to listening to Pitchshifter.

[gordonbombay]

OK RELAX PEOPLE, BUCKETHEAD IS OBVIOUSLY MORE TECHNICAL, BUT SLASH'S FEEL IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO...YOU CAN'T CALL ONE BETTER THAN THE OTHER BECAUSE THEY'RE TWO DIFFERENT STYLES

[sowhat360]

i saw the new line-up live.....bumblefoot is ridiculously good at guitar.....and i also downloaded the leaked songs awhile back...no clue if thats the final version but it's better than VR....i mean buckethead did the lead work...sounds pretty good to me

[Mechanix_]

hahah buckethead and bumblefoot might be faster or whatever than slash but cmon if there were as good then they should come up with their own shit n see if it will be ever better than the old gnr music

[AdamDK]

Lol, funny how the article is about Bumblefoot yet once again they mention Chinese Democracy and GnR's past.

[ValoRhoads]

Give the man a chance! Sure his nickname reminds me of "Dirtfoot" the dirty gay monster from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, But c'mon! He's gotta at least be compitent.

[NoiseBox]

axl rose= fail.

still waiting on the new(est) release date...

[ghostofhendrix]

Going back to the actual article- that whole thimble thing that he does is really cool! Seems like an awesome guitarist and a pretty cool dude

[diversioner]

wow,this whole thimble thing is pretty awesome.
this guy seems like a good guitar player.

[AshDoro]

Bumblefoot is great, he also responds to fans posivtivly, he sent me a Autograph when i asked him

Bumblefoot ftw

[Aziraphale]

Great to see he's getting attention, for some reason he seems very overlooked. The "T Jonez" song was all it took to convince me of this man's genious.

[Shread_6009]

they havent released original material since 1991, its been 17 years.

and 13 million for an album? i could have a finished version for less that 5000$. chinese democracy better be good.

[Ponchibego]

gordonbombay wrote:

OK RELAX PEOPLE, BUCKETHEAD IS OBVIOUSLY MORE TECHNICAL, BUT SLASH'S FEEL IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO...YOU CAN'T CALL ONE BETTER THAN THE OTHER BECAUSE THEY'RE TWO DIFFERENT STYLES

I completely agree with you... as for all the people on this site I would assume most of them have some guitar experience and should know when it comes down to guitarists like Bumblefoot(who by the way got nicknamed by his wife after some foot fungus), Slash, and Buckethead that they are all great guitarists and are very hard to compare as to who is better considering that they are all different styles. This is like saying Slash is a better guitarist than Dimebag Darrell.... who could actually conclude that because they are both amazing guitarists with completely different styles.

[spazzymagee]

"Axl Rose is negotiating for more money with his record label before he will release the masters."

I think this was to be expected, alongside the other brainfarts of; 'George Bush invades another country' and 'verbal diahorea (sp) hits Hugo Chavez"

[Seventeen]

I hate all the Buckethead ignorance.People think he is only a technical player, they obviously haven't listened to even 1% of his massive collection of songs.

[Deek_13]

Who cares about axl or slash or buckethead. Yeah axl is a great singer, buckethead slash and bumblefoot are all amazing guitarists but who cares whos in the band, it's still great music.

[Slashrulz]

i´ve heard 10 leaked songs and 8 of them were amazing... well i think everybody has listened to Better and I.R.S. by now... if you havent search them in youtube.

[uhh_me?]

checked.

[5150)Ed(5150]

holyspacemonkey wrote:

what kind of name is bumble**** anyway? makes me think of the bumblebee man from the simpsons. and buckethead - the one that has to make up a story about growing up in a chicken coop to get any kind of attention - can play about a million notes per second, but so what? nobody has anything on slash. if they should have kept anyone, it'd be slash and duff.

Lol, Slash is a fake identity too. That's something they all have in common.

[gallagher2006]

Is this really news? A guitarist has posted a video or two online, save the front page!

[dgme92]

Cool. Well, I put forward the motion that UG should not release any more even vaguely hinted at GnR articles until Axl Rose, any member of the band or the record company release NEW info, not just the same "$13 million" and "ever changing line-up". Either that, or wait until the album is released for some news. Simplay because these GnR flame-fests are beginning to piss me off.

[used123]

Mechanix_ wrote:

hahah buckethead and bumblefoot might be faster or whatever than slash but cmon if there were as good then they should come up with their own shit n see if it will be ever better than the old gnr music

seriously dude? buckethead currently has about 25 albums out solo, and has another 40 or so albums as collaboration. I might suggest listening to Colma or Crime Slunk Scene, before you talk again. Soothsayer is the most beautiful piece of guitar work ive heard(my own opinion obviously, but nonetheless you'd have to be tone-deaf to not appreciate the fusion of shred and soulful melody).

[SlashWannabe1]

Ok anybody who said Velvet Revolvers contraband sucked can go ****ing kill themselves, that record PWNED everything Rock put out by anybody since USe Your Illusions 1&2. Libertad was fkn good too, most of the people who listen to that record wern't expecting it to sound the way it did so they gota rip on it.

[Td_Nights]

Mechanix_ wrote:

hahah buckethead and bumblefoot might be faster or whatever than slash but cmon if there were as good then they should come up with their own shit n see if it will be ever better than the old gnr music

:haha:

Where the hell have you been? Buckethead's '88 demos were just released (From The Coop). That was before he was even signed, give them a listen.

Buckethead isn't all Speed. Listen to Colma or Electric Tears. People who bitch about Buckethead having Zero emotion shouldn't say a damn thing.

He's (Buckethead) a more versitile musician than what Slash has ever done. That's not to say that Slash couldn't do it, he just never has.

[fastlanestoner]

This1GoesTo11 wrote:

My biggest fear, at this point, is "Chinese Democracy" being a masterpiece. Wow, will I have to eat shit!

don't worry man, it won't be.

[perilouspete]

spazzymagee wrote:

"Axl Rose is negotiating for more money with his record label before he will release the masters."

I think this was to be expected, alongside the other brainfarts of; 'George Bush invades another country' and 'verbal diahorea (sp) hits Hugo Chavez"

keep your stupid comments to yourself. that didn't make a lick of sense.

[Bobbito315]

perilouspete wrote:

spazzymagee wrote:

"Axl Rose is negotiating for more money with his record label before he will release the masters."

I think this was to be expected, alongside the other brainfarts of; 'George Bush invades another country' and 'verbal diahorea (sp) hits Hugo Chavez"


keep your stupid comments to yourself. that didn't make a lick of sense.

Agreed

[I-AM-NOT-GOD]

About buckethead, you want shred? Listen to Decoding the Tomb Of Bansheebot, you want acoustic? Listen to Acoustic Shards, you want emotion? Listen to Colma, You want feeling? Listen to Electric Tears, you want metal? listen to Cuckoo Clocks From Hell, you want electronic? listen to Bermuda Triangle.

And i can guarantee every single one of them is better than Appetite For Destruction

[sav46e]

Ive seen the current lineup play. that dude is good. no slash but who is. slash is and always will be my favourite, just my opinion but. Ive also heard bout 8 or so songs from this album, only bout 2 made me want to listen to them again.
wants more money, oh axl
wish everyone would stop comparing slsah n buckethead. they are different which shows they must both be good for everyone to notice ther styles

[Luppi]

i don't wanna create controversy, i'm just saying that people are so ****ing certain that Slash plays with more feeling than anyone.
this is what closes their minds to other guitarist because "slash is always the best".
It's pretty sad really.. Slash is a very good guitarist and all that, but as mentioned above, saying slash plays with more feeling than both Buckethead and Ron Thal is just beyond stupid.

[jman2oo2]

http://chronicton.myminicity.com/

[Satch_Boogie]

I-AM-NOT-GOD wrote:

About buckethead, you want shred? Listen to Decoding the Tomb Of Bansheebot, you want acoustic? Listen to Acoustic Shards, you want emotion? Listen to Colma, You want feeling? Listen to Electric Tears, you want metal? listen to Cuckoo Clocks From Hell, you want electronic? listen to Bermuda Triangle.

And i can guarantee every single one of them is better than Appetite For Destruction

Lmfao no.

Colma, Electric Tears and Giant Robot are the only truly great albums by Buckethead. The rest of them have so much filler and jus noise that its easy to see how he can make so many albums so quickly. I actually had the whole Buckethead discography at one point before I realised after my Buckethead phase that most of that shit was just "Noise...Guitar solo...noise" No real melody or any kind of musical sense. Just a vehicle to showcase his technical ability.

Appetite For Destruction has absolutely brilliant, classic riffs, mind blowingly phenomenal solos and catchy tunes and lyrics.

[new original]

Comeback Kiddd wrote:

buckethead > slash. lets not forget how bad libertad and contraband are compared to at least 1 of 40 albums buckehead has.

do you have ears?
judging solely by "Jordan," which everyone thinks is some epic song, buckethead has nothing on anyone; Iam better than buckethead. his whole thing is playing fast but it sounds like ass.
Libertad and contraband had ****ing killer songs that actually sound like music not to mention slash's solos fit with the song, instead of sounding like turd.

[Luppi]

^ what i find disturbing about your post is that you actually believe yourself...
"his whole thing is playing fast but it sounds like ass."
..lol.

[bassmanjoe08]

Lawlzez Paul Tobias wuz t3h greatezt GNRz G33tarr pl4yer!1!!!!

[123-Trav]

Words in this article about bumblefoot: 54

Words in this article about Axl Rose: 150

[Sleaze90]

Satch_Boogie wrote:Lmfao no.

Colma, Electric Tears and Giant Robot are the only truly great albums by Buckethead. The rest of them have so much filler and jus noise that its easy to see how he can make so many albums so quickly. I actually had the whole Buckethead discography at one point before I realised after my Buckethead phase that most of that shit was just "Noise...Guitar solo...noise" No real melody or any kind of musical sense. Just a vehicle to showcase his technical ability.

Appetite For Destruction has absolutely brilliant, classic riffs, mind blowingly phenomenal solos and catchy tunes and lyrics.

Dude 100% agreed. +1 Trillion!

[ParkerScks]

+ 100

[Frankie Sparks]

Arguing on the internet is like running in the speacial olympics: Even if you win, your still retarted.

Slash owns bucket head. And all yall little freakin teenage middle school emo shredders need to ****in get a life. Just because someone can play faster doesent mean theyre better, you sorry emos. Bucket head has EXTREME talent, but hes not better than slash. P.s. at least turn into a metal head.

[MTVget0FFtheAIR]

seems like this year is actually going to be the year...

[me_llamo_juan]

^lol.

[eetfuk58]

This1GoesTo11 wrote:

My biggest fear, at this point, is "Chinese Democracy" being a masterpiece. Wow, will I have to eat shit!

hahahaha yeah dude. we pretty much all will eat shit if its good. not something im worried about though

[Guitar_Hero2]

So people who like Buckethead are emo? That doesn't make sense. I personally like the old Guns n' Roses way better. I don't really know alot of Buckethead. I hear he's good, but I'm pretty old school. I like Slash also because I've just grown up around music like that all my life. This new stuff is really not as good.

[CrabShrapnel]

for those of you arguing on who is the better guitarist, go to YouTube, there are several vids showcasing the different solos on the same GNR songs. Buckethed doesn't just mindlessly shred on November Rain so stfu.

I firmly believe that Axl has the power to delay this even longer. And I'm really hoping to eat shit and have this turn out to be a good album. Good album > me eating shit

[F8iscruel]

bumblefoot's pretty good really neo-classical like guitar playing and the thinmble idea is pretty different but ive experamented w/ it b4 with diferent metals anything thats magnetized wil work or maybe just certain metals im not 100% sure but they all do the same thing his seems to be the easiest to use (unless u get a ring that works)

[GEARS_OF_DETH]

bumblefoot is one of those guitrist that you wont get in a long time so appreciate the fact that hes playing .....theres only a handful of guitarist like him


HE SHOULD GO ON G3

[Vantage]

new original wrote:

Comeback Kiddd wrote:

buckethead > slash. lets not forget how bad libertad and contraband are compared to at least 1 of 40 albums buckehead has.
do you have ears?
judging solely by "Jordan," which everyone thinks is some epic song, buckethead has nothing on anyone; Iam better than buckethead. his whole thing is playing fast but it sounds like ass.
Libertad and contraband had ****ing killer songs that actually sound like music not to mention slash's solos fit with the song, instead of sounding like turd.

Frankie Sparks wrote:

Arguing on the internet is like running in the speacial olympics: Even if you win, your still retarted.

Slash owns bucket head. And all yall little freakin teenage middle school emo shredders need to ****in get a life. Just because someone can play faster doesent mean theyre better, you sorry emos. Bucket head has EXTREME talent, but hes not better than slash. P.s. at least turn into a metal head.

Wrong.

[Hamham272]

Buckethead is probably the most technical of the 3. I know he's the most eccentric and different. Just look at his videos in Nottingham Lace etc. All three of these guitarists are awesome. Bumblefoot is crazily amazing especially when looking at him play a god damn fretless guitar! And we all know Slash can play (and write songs) like a mother f*cker.

[Sixpounder]

lol at people thinking all Buckethead plays is FAST FAST FAST

[3lusiv3]

new original wrote:

Comeback Kiddd wrote:

buckethead > slash. lets not forget how bad libertad and contraband are compared to at least 1 of 40 albums buckehead has.
do you have ears?
judging solely by "Jordan," which everyone thinks is some epic song, buckethead has nothing on anyone; Iam better than buckethead. his whole thing is playing fast but it sounds like ass.
Libertad and contraband had ****ing killer songs that actually sound like music not to mention slash's solos fit with the song, instead of sounding like turd.

Love how you judge him only on Jordan, retard.

[grunger]

3lusiv3 wrote:

new original wrote:

Comeback Kiddd wrote:

buckethead > slash. lets not forget how bad libertad and contraband are compared to at least 1 of 40 albums buckehead has.
do you have ears?
judging solely by "Jordan," which everyone thinks is some epic song, buckethead has nothing on anyone; Iam better than buckethead. his whole thing is playing fast but it sounds like ass.
Libertad and contraband had ****ing killer songs that actually sound like music not to mention slash's solos fit with the song, instead of sounding like turd.

Love how you judge him only on Jordan, retard.

Love how you judge him only on Jordan, guitar hero noob retard.

[3lusiv3]

grunger wrote:

3lusiv3 wrote:

new original wrote:

Comeback Kiddd wrote:

buckethead > slash. lets not forget how bad libertad and contraband are compared to at least 1 of 40 albums buckehead has.
do you have ears?
judging solely by "Jordan," which everyone thinks is some epic song, buckethead has nothing on anyone; Iam better than buckethead. his whole thing is playing fast but it sounds like ass.
Libertad and contraband had ****ing killer songs that actually sound like music not to mention slash's solos fit with the song, instead of sounding like turd.

Love how you judge him only on Jordan, retard.

Love how you judge him only on Jordan, guitar hero noob retard.

I didn't judge anyone...

[lul]

foot and head joined gn'r so they can learn what slash does.. PERIOD..

[TC1223]

They "began working on Chinese Democracy in the mid 90s". LOL LOL

[Mecler]

The thimble thing sounded awful. It hurt my ears.

[LOG4Life]

I just saw the thimble lesson and I shit myself!!

[sambargun]

Some of the comments here are really retarded. Someitmes I wonder if this is a guitar site. Who the ***k do you think recommended Bumblefoot to Axl? Joe Satriani(yes Satch himself did it). By the way his real name is Ron Thal and Bumblefoot is a painful medical condition affecting the foot. His wife got the disease and somehow the name stuck. Have you 'guitarists' ever seen him play the fretless guitar? If not, go check on youtube and then give your dumb comments.....

[Feel bad inc.]

Mechanix_ wrote:

hahah buckethead and bumblefoot might be faster or whatever than slash but cmon if there were as good then they should come up with their own shit n see if it will be ever better than the old gnr music

Slash has written jack shit music of his own. He writes some solo's and riffs, guess what buckethead writes more and better. Slash has just been jacked up by marketing so everyone loves him.

[queenslander47]

Although Rose is considered one of rock's greatest frontmen, his sometimes irrational behavior onstage, reclusive lifestyle and notoriety for feuding with other rock stars has also earned him a reputation as one of rock's true eccentrics.

haha thats a nice way to say dickhead.

[astrotrain77]

Neither Bumblefoot or Buckethead or right for GnR. Someone like Slash is better suited for the job...the other guys are not made to be playing in bands-let alone blues based hard rock.

[Crashman77]

who cares, Guns'n'Roses died long ago.

[not_dead_enough]

Both Buckethead and Bumblefoot can play anything Slash can and much more! There's no way in hell that Slash is half the player those 2 are. Slash is one of the most overrated guitarists of our time. I can think of at least 10 guitarists off my head who can consistently write sweeter riffs, play more complex stuff and not get involved in all the bullshit.

What annoys me the most about Slash is the way he thinks he's "all that" with his top hat, sunnies, slurred speech and fag dripping from his mouth, when really, he's not that good! If he just came out and said "Yeah, x guitarist is better than me" (like Dave Mustaine for example has) I would respect him much more.

[ripewithdecay]

To everyone defending Slash, I hope you realize Izzy wrote most the music, Slash may have contributed here and there but Izzy did the majority of it. And Buckethead does not just shred he has his own style which can't be said about Slash. If you want to see how versatile Buckethead is listen to Electric Tears

[IfTheWorld]

astrotrain77 wrote:

Neither Bumblefoot or Buckethead or right for GnR. Someone like Slash is better suited for the job...the other guys are not made to be playing in bands-let alone blues based hard rock.

You do know, GNR haven't been a blues based hard rock band since Lies?

[LOG4Life]

BUCKETHEAD= way better than slash
end of comments!
Kirk Hammett is better than both PERIOD!!

[slashhudson977]

SlashWannabe1 wrote:

Ok anybody who said Velvet Revolvers contraband sucked can go ****ing kill themselves, that record PWNED everything Rock put out by anybody since USe Your Illusions 1&2. Libertad was fkn good too, most of the people who listen to that record wern't expecting it to sound the way it did so they gota rip on it.

so F***in true Gnr nd VR both rock! such talent !!