Back in 2006, Omar Rodríguez-López was a towering, Jimi Hendrix-like figure within the world of modern progressive rock. Guitar World dubbed him one of “The New Guitar Gods,” and he joined a jaw-dropping murderers’ row – Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Eddie Van Halen, Kirk Hammett and John Mayer – for Rolling Stone’s “Guitar Heroes” cover story.
Despite these accolades, the Mars Volta bandleader wasn’t convinced of his own merit on the instrument: “I’ve never considered myself a guitarist, and I’ve never liked the guitar,” he told us.
