Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Artist news
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • Drums
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • You Oughta Know
  • Fake AI band
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Wrecking Crew
Recommended reading
Ian "Shiner" Thomas of Those Damn Crows onstage playing to a festival crowd with his Gibson Les Paul. He wears a baseball cap and sunglasses.
Artists Shiner from Those Damn Crows on how to write a No.1 album and the Slipknot riff he wish he wrote
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
Artists How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
native instruments
Music Production Tutorials "As nuanced as the real thing, but only if you know what you're doing": The ultimate guide to plugin guitars
Mark Knopfler
Artists "I did everything wrong, but I think they’re perfect notes”: Mark Knopfler's favourite guitar solo
Michael Thompson
Guitarists “Then it’s how you smack it, or zing it or strum it”: Guitar legend Michael Thompson talks clean tone
Brent Mason performs at Guitar Town at Copper Mountain, Colorado on 29 July, 2007
Artists “I said, ‘Damn, I wish I'd cut that song faster!’”: How a master guitarist made a cult classic instrumental album
Duesenberg Alliance Series Tom Bukovac: the new semi-hollow signature model is a stunning singlecut with a quilted maple build in a natural finish.
Electric Guitars “Unbeatable... A play-anything guitar”: Duesenberg Alliance Series Tom Bukovac Session Man review
  1. Artists
  2. Guitarists

10 lead guitarist clichés

News
By Total Guitar ( Total Guitar ) published 24 October 2013

Tick every box for legendary guitar hero status!

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Leather trousers

Leather trousers

The older brother of denim and less-chafing cousin of snakeskin, leather is the world’s hardest-rocking fabric.

From convenience (the wipe-clean format repels bodily fluids) to sheer comfort (the windproof nature ensures snug knackers onstage at Roskilde), its merits far outweigh the handfuls of talcum powder many of our heroes are presumably forced to dump down their crotches.

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
Media hatred

Media hatred

For every Dave Grohl, there are a thousand guitar heroes for whom 'difficult' is a lifestyle choice.

These morose sleeve-mutterers react to well-meaning questions about amp settings with a barked order to “read the press release” and a pout like you’ve pissed on their cowboy boots.

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
Scalloped frets

Scalloped frets

There comes a time in a shredder’s life when he decides: “These top frets aren’t doing it for me. Maybe I’ll hollow the fingerboard out, like some mad carpenter, for no discernible reason other than to annoy guitarists who pick up my signature model.”

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
The trophy wife

The trophy wife

To compensate for an adolescence of solitary sweep-picking, the guitarist spends his weekends prowling The Viper Room for his prey (Baywatch babes between marriages).

A white trash romance will briefly blossom before withering in a storm of groped lap dancers and assault charges.

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
The failed solo career

The failed solo career

With an ego inflated by his agent’s hot air and his Dylan-flavoured new material knocked back by the band, the guitarist strikes out alone.

He’ll soon discover he doesn’t like playing sweatboxes, has the stage presence of patio furniture and his singing voice sounds like bagpipes being violated.

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
Multi-neck electrics

Multi-neck electrics

How many songs require you to shift from a six- to a 12-string within the same bar? None.

Yet that doesn’t dissuade the rock fraternity, from Pagey’s EDS-1275 double-neck back in the day to Vai’s heart-shaped triple-neck and Michael Angelo Batio's frankly bonkers Quad Guitar.

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
A drug habit

A drug habit

For this cliché, any narcotics are fair game, but ego-bolstering cocaine tends to be the drug of choice.

For the best example of nose-powder on record, dig out Oasis’s bloated Be Here Now, described by Noel Gallagher as “the sound of a bunch of guys on coke, in the studio, not giving a fuck”.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
The wall of Marshalls

The wall of Marshalls

In 2011, with state-of-the-art PA in most venues, there’s no need for a wall of Marshall stacks.

But to the insecure axeslinger, hitting the stage with a mere combo would be humiliation on a par with admitting his codpiece is full of socks. Some bands have been known to use empty 'dummy' cabs just for the look or even mic up a small combo around the back, safely out of sight of the audience.

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Strange headwear

Strange headwear

Slash’s iconic topper is just the tip of the hatstand.

Highlights include Tom Morello’s ‘Soviet chimney-sweep’ cap, the headband that suggests Mark Knopfler has just come from a step class and the IRA-style balaclava James Dean Bradfield wore on Top Of The Pops in 1994 during the Manics' performance of Faster.

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
Sunglasses indoors

Sunglasses indoors

It’s dusk in a dimly lit restaurant, but still the lead guitarist lurks behind his Aviators in the least effective attempt to ‘keep a low profile’ ever.

His shades have two functions: concealing bloodshot eyes during magazine shoots, and allowing the rocker to comb the room for nubile fans and potential stalkers. They will only be removed for showers, orgies and eye tests.

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
Categories
Guitars
Total Guitar
Total Guitar
Social Links Navigation

Total Guitar is Europe's best-selling guitar magazine.

Every month we feature interviews with the biggest names and hottest new acts in guitar land, plus Guest Lessons from the stars.

Finally, our Rocked & Rated section is the place to go for reviews, round-ups and help setting up your guitars and gear.

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/totalguitar

Stay up to date with the latest gear and tuition. image
Stay up to date with the latest gear and tuition.
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Ian "Shiner" Thomas of Those Damn Crows onstage playing to a festival crowd with his Gibson Les Paul. He wears a baseball cap and sunglasses.
Shiner from Those Damn Crows on how to write a No.1 album and the Slipknot riff he wish he wrote
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
native instruments
"As nuanced as the real thing, but only if you know what you're doing": The ultimate guide to plugin guitars
Mark Knopfler
"I did everything wrong, but I think they’re perfect notes”: Mark Knopfler's favourite guitar solo
Michael Thompson
“Then it’s how you smack it, or zing it or strum it”: Guitar legend Michael Thompson talks clean tone
Brent Mason performs at Guitar Town at Copper Mountain, Colorado on 29 July, 2007
“I said, ‘Damn, I wish I'd cut that song faster!’”: How a master guitarist made a cult classic instrumental album
Latest in Guitarists
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature Pro-Mod Nova-7 NAT: The new S-style is eight years in the making and in some of the promo pictures it looks like Angel Vivaldi has been on horseback for much of that time.
Angel Vivaldi and Charvel unveil state-of-the-art 7-string for levelling up your shred game
Jimmy Page plays his cherry red Gibson EDS-1275 double neck live at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Link Wray.
Sundragon unveils the Nymph, a one-watt powerhouse tube combo designed for Jimmy Page
Zach Myers of Shinedown is bathed in blue stage lights and plays his custom-relic'd Silver Sky.
Shinedown’s Zach Myers on Paul Reed Smith, signature model updates, and that relic’d Silver Sky
George Lynch performing with Dokken in the '80s
“I remember Eddie Van Halen asking me, ‘What’s wrong with you?'”: George Lynch, the guitar hero cursed by bad luck
Fender Custom Shop Ariel Posen Stratocaster: Posen's new signature model was inspired by the Jazzmaster and has custom-wound AP-90 pickups. Check out those cupcake-style control knobs.
Ariel Posen’s new Custom Shop signature Strat is A) stunning and B) inspired by a… Jazzmaster?
Daron Malakian of System of a Down performs live in a wide-brimmed had with a custom Flying V with an open-book Gibson headstock.
Daron Malakian on how synth leads the guitar on his new album and why he doesn’t stick to one style
Latest in News
IK Multimedia Tonex One Brown Sound Anthology Limited Edition: these special run mini pedals offer the Tonex One in red, yellow and white, each presenting a specific era of EVH's classic tone.
“The anthology fully captures an artist’s tonal journey as he changed rock guitar forever”: Eddie Van Halen’s holy grail tone from a Tonex One mini pedal? IK Multimedia unveils the Brown Sound Anthology
Billy Joel
“Once you’ve seen this film, you’ll never hear Vienna the same way again," says Billy Joel doc director
Costumed members and singer Tobias Forge of the Swedish rock band Ghost perform at Uber Arena on May 7, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. The concert is part of the Skeletour World Tour 2025
“A life-changer for the existence of the band”: Tobias Forge says Ghost’s gig phone ban has been a success
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature Pro-Mod Nova-7 NAT: The new S-style is eight years in the making and in some of the promo pictures it looks like Angel Vivaldi has been on horseback for much of that time.
Angel Vivaldi and Charvel unveil state-of-the-art 7-string for levelling up your shred game
Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble: the rotating speaker emulator has a visual reference on front, three modes, mono/stereo outputs and a metallic gold paintjob.
Boss puts Hendrix and Gilmour rotating speaker sounds on the menu with the RT-2 Rotary Ensemble
a fire at the festival site of the Tomorrowland electronic music festival, Wednesday 16 July 2025
Massive fire breaks out at Tomorrowland EDM festival in Belgium

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...