Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Has anyone else seen this?

I saw it. Worth watching. I dont know what else to say. Personally I thought Jack was semi-pompous in it. I saw him on SNL the other week and whatever noise him and the band were making was horrible.

Agreed. Jack White totally comes off as some sort of Luddite. Driving that old shitty car, only playing vinyl, recording on a reel to reel deck and insisting that it's "pure". If that makes him happy, then yay. Personally, I'd rather listen to the Edge noodle through one effect of his choice for 10 minutes, than 10 seconds of the White Stripes.

Cool documentary overall, though

I really enjoyed it. To be honest I never thought about Jack that way, but I usually really dig his stuff so maybe I am blinded a little. I wish they would do some more Docs with other musicians. This was a really cool idea , it would be awesome if they expanded on it.

I had the opposite reaction ... like when 'The Edge' (let's start there ... he calls himself 'The Edge') is playing through 58 different effects and the sound that comes out sounds like something I could have dialed in on my Line 6 Spider amp back in the day ... ugh. And Jimmy Page with his constant gyrating ... he's playing some Zep riff for White and 'The Edge' and doing his rockstar gyrating thing and they are both looking at him like he's Douchebag Numero Uno. The only one amongst them with any character other than "I'm a big bad rockstar" was Jack White who also made them both look like lesser players throughout.

C'mon - this is a DIY crowd. Jack opens his setup scene by making a little one string slide guitar!

I watched this last night, and for the most part I really enjoyed it. There were a few moments that made me go with all three of them.

Anyway, some random thoughts:

You've got Jimmy Page back at Stargroves, and you only get a quick anecdote about the drum recording?

I'd be curious how much input Page/Edge/White had for the solo scenes and how much was the director, because there were elements that threw me. That 9-year-old Jack crap was so pretentious. The Edge's rig is a bit intense. Page is... well, classic Jimmy.

The scenes with The Edge back in the classroom they used to rehearse, pointing out the board where he saw the note looking for bandmates, etc. were awesome.

Honestly, the whole thing felt a bit dominated by Jack White. I have to agree with a lot of his approach to music and I totally dig his act, but at one point he annoints himself the only remaining punk. I threw up in my mouth a little.

I have seen it (own the DVD).

I'll be honest, I never heard of Jack White before, and agree that many of his bits came off as pretentious.

I think this is a display of three completely different guitarists all thrown together in a studio for a day or two:
Jimmy Page: old school (60s and 70s), session player, then rock guitar god
The Edge: (80s and 90s) effects, effects, and more effects trying to get the sound in his head out to the audience
Jack: 21st century guitar player trying to get back to the old school stuff

Very interesting, and some cool jams now and then. I think in some of the 3-some jam sessions, The Edge just looks lost, like he's just trying to keep up and/or fake it.

Maybe it would have been better to have one movie on just the 60s and 70s guitarists, maybe get Page, Clapton, and Townsend in a room for a day. Then do another for 80s-90s stuff: Edge, Van Halen, Tremonti?. Then do a third movie for current players with everything at their disposal and what they choose to use: Jack White, plus two other current awesome guitarists: ______, _______?? I don't know, who are the great guitarists of the 21st century? Maybe that's a whole 'nother thread.

Great idea, bad result sadly

I think the whole point of the film was "Let's see how Jack White compares to two other more famous guys". If you view with that mindset, it's a better experience.


To be fair, the reason the Line6 amp sounds like the Edge is because everybody copies "his" sound.

I generally agree with your assessment, Rob. White was pretty impressive. The Edge was pretty cool, but it's telling that he requires that much gear to play. Page was kinda just weird to me.

And the more pages Page turn, the more Asian looking he gets. Must be the occultism hehe.

i do the film thing for a living (not that it validates my opinion in any matter of speaking), but I had a totally different take on the doc. I have a sneaking suspicion that the director thought his whole movie was going to be a discussion/jam of three epic artists (plus a bit of extra stuff from the drive, etc.). I don't think he anticipated that they were all oddly intimidated in their own ways, and that none of them are jammy players/brilliant conversationalists. So, he didn't get these crazy/magical musical moments he expected, he only had hours of tape of awkward conversations and a shitty version of "the weight"

If I had to gamble, he probably went back to his investors and told him he needed some cinematic glue to put the piece together, thus the three vignettes with Page, White and Edge. It just so happened that White's was the most interesting cinematically (either he had the vision to be odd, or was more willing to be pushed by the film maker) so he dominated the cut. Having worked with a few prominent iconic rock stars, I know there's no guarantee that they'll be cooperative, interesting, or even show up.

Again, I have no factual reason to believe this, just what my instincts/experiences having done a few doc projects have taught me.-

I love the movie and have watched it half a dozen times, and will probably watch many more times.

I heard that the three of them were nervous to meet (like any musician I suppose!). You can see they get more relaxed as it progresses. Then when they were done and cleaning up, that's when they started to relax and work on that song at the end.

I think any one serious about guitar should watch it. You may not agree with everything, but you will relate with something in the movie.

Great insights, Still. You're probably pretty close to the mark.

I did enjoy the opening scene with White (enjoyed it a lot, actually), but I'm also glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks he can be a bit pretentious. A couple of weeks ago on TDPRI, there was a discussion about Jack White, and I commented that I thought he was a bit "full of himself", and nearly got skinned alive..

Anyways... overall, I enjoyed the movie. I'd probably watch it again. Wish there had been a bit more jamming and conversation between the three of them.

Luddite is a great word to describe him, BTW. I like old-timey stuff, but he takes it so far that it gets annoying.

I saw that documentary a while ago, found it interesting, seeing alot of gear and how it's used.

I agree with Robert, biggest highlight for me was the one string thing Jack did! pureley awesome!

I haven't seen it yet, but enjoy all three musicians in various ways. The telling thing is that in any discussion of the movie everyone always seems to hone in on Jack White. Love or hate it always comes down to him.

In unrelated news, I read the title of this thread as "It Might Get Lou" and expected more talk of Lou Ferrigno. Maybe he'll use that title for a reality show?

Not disagreeing, but just want to point out that this was far from an original idea. It's directly based on a "DIY" instrument common to the rural southern US known as the "Diddley Bow", and derived from instruments originally used in West Africa. It's also where Bo Diddley got his stage name....

It's easy to miss the point of this film, in my opinion.

When I first heard of this documentary, I was utterly puzzled by the lineup. Jimmy Page (whoa!), The Edge (yahoo!) and… Jack White? Wha? On what planet is that clown on the same level as the other two? I bet most people have never even heard of him! (I said to myself.) I could think of 20 guitarists who would be better suited to fill the '90s role in that "Best Guitarist of the '70s-'80s-'90s" lineup.

But after seeing the doc, it seems clear to me that this is not a film about THE BEST GUITARISTS. It is a film about guitarists who pioneered, blazed trails, and opened up new possibilities for the TONE and CHARACTER of the electric guitar.

And in that respect, Jack White is a perfect fit for the film—despite the fact that he's frustratingly pretentious throughout.

Thanks DVM, i was'nt aware of that at all..........since i'm real far from south....lol.

Well - yeah - but nobody said it was original, and there was no such inference ... just something he was doing and trying to make a point (which he carries through with most of his gear selection) that it's less about what you're playing and more about just playing it and making something cool out of it.

Anyway - yeah - it's true that Jack White is a pretentious guy, but honestly I think that's likely a big part of why he is where he is. You have to have some big balls to take your act as far as he has. I'm not about to fault him for it, as long as he keeps putting out the music.

Ok, I am likely going to get shot down in a hail of flaming arrows here, but I love Jack White's music. I agree he comes off as pretentious, and "I am trying way too hard to be weird" but man, he makes emotion pour from his guitar. I saw White Stripes down at Coachella one year and was totally electrified by their performance in a way that has only happened to me a couple of times. It was so raw.

More useless opinion here...
First, I love Jimmy Page.
Always have, always will.
Second, I agree with a lot of what's been said...it was a 'documentary' set up to bring 3 guitarist and their fans together.
Having been involved in the filming of a 'reality' show I know that it is not real.
Whoever steps up to do the camera's bidding wins the air time.
Third, I like the White Stripes but...as a Detroiter who was involved in the music scene way back when (and grew up in the same SW hood) I was kinda perturbed that he made out like he was the only one doing anything like this.
I shared a practice space with The Gories who were crankin' out garage blues long before the Stripes.
Spin-offs from The Gories, The Demolition Doll Rods & The Dirtbombs, both kicked out some awesome jams!
The Gore Gore Girls shoulda been HUGE for their music.
There were a lot more but...
Finally, and then I'll shut up...I give the Stripes credit for taking it all the way they did and I still love their music but...I'm really disappointed that Meg didn't marry me.

Ha ha - aren't we all?

Despite anything I said earlier about Jack White, I do really like his music. Some of the White Stripes stuff is excellent, and I enjoy some of his other work as well.