10 Great Guitarists In Terrible Bands

John Mayer is the reason why many guitarists aren't taken too seriously nowadays. It may be nice to see a genuine rock musician on the pop charts, but the amount of fluff in his songs along with his douchey antics have painted him into a corner for most of his career. However, there's a great musical mind underneath all those poppy layers.

Instead of just using his guitar as a prop, Mayer has some pretty respectable blues chops, with traces of Stevie Ray Vaughan laced throughout a handful of his tunes. Most pop tunes are typically about playing down any technical finesse, but on songs like "Gravity," Mayer found a way to perfectly incorporate a laid back solo behind his typical downtempo material. Even when slowing it down for the more subdued cuts, Mayer's finesse behind an acoustic guitar has made for some of the most complex finger-style songs.

Across the album Continuum, Mayer teaches a master class on guitar parts, where he works with jazz players and pop producers to create some of the most technical ear candy of the past 20 years. Mayer really deserves a lot of the ridicule that is thrown his way, but anyone who can cover Jimi Hendrix and pull it off also deserves a certain level of respect.