Sons of Apollo’s Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal! 

Ron might be the most underrated guitar player on the planet.

Ron has the perfect voice for dubbing videogame sarcastic villains.

The voice, the skills, the personality; Ron is the American Guthrie Govan!

I'm speechless, Ron is a genius

"When I'm out of notes, I can just make more with this thimble." Hahaha what a genius.

I cannot believe how good this guy is while at the same time being such a real and down to earth personality. God bless him for sharing his talents with us!

Roy is my new favourite guitar player. What a wonderful human being and a monster player.

Ron was a prodigy even in High School, when we were bandmates and playing our first gigs together in New York City. Congrats bro, so glad the world gets to hear your incredible talent !!

The thing about clicking on a Bumblefoot video is that you have to be prepared to have your mind blown. If do you that, it goes pretty smoothly.

Someone shouldn't be so great, humble and talented at the same time, it's illegal. This guy is unreal, can't imagine how many time he has spent practicing. Thanks God for giving us such a genius

iv been watching Ronny play since I was 11...he lived down the block from me..back then he was already insane...god bless..

That solo in Signs of the Times is EPIC. Love this guy.

he is too good for GNR , glad that he left , what a beast guitarist

Been a shred fan since the Shrapnel records days in the 80's. I've seen all the big names and every 80's shredder ever. I think I have every album Shrapnell ever released, plus all the other shredders too. Gilbert and Petrucci are 2 of my favorites of all time. Bumblefoot is the first player I've seen in 20 years that makes my head explode and just think "forget it, don't even bother trying to learn that." I'd have as much chance playing Jordan in some 1 on 1. The speed, accuracy, and plain out of the box thinking like playing with thimbles and fretless guitars is not just on another level, it's on another planet. All that, and it sounds amazing. He plays with feel and soul and emotion that many shredders just never can capture. He USES his shred to add excitement to his music, not just as his only offering. Just incredible. I'm not going to debate this player is better/worse than that player. It's all subjective. I will say this guy has chops that I've never seen before though, and I've seen Paul G play in harmony with Billy Sheehan using cordless drills with triple picks glued onto them.

A story for those in the comments. Way back when, my father was in a thrash metal band in Staten Island. One night, they found themselves in a studio or rehearsal area. Recording/practicing. I don’t recall which, but it’s not a vital part of the story. What is important-while their band was in the hallway waiting for their time, they heard something coming from one of the adjacent rooms that sounded VERY familiar. Something that everyone kinda knew, but couldn’t quite place their fingers on was being played by an absolute shredder on the guitar. After about a minute of hearing this mysterious tune, someone said, “it’s eruption....backwards.” Our lovable and humble bumblefoot decided that regular old eruption wasn’t enough of a flex-and decided to play the piece backwards. What an absolute legend.

His shredding is so tasteful.

Ron is from another planet! Where guitar players are insanely awesome. I can listen to him play all day!

Humblefoot, I wouldn’t be so humble if i had skills like that 😅.

Thimble technique is gold. Ron is one of the best.

Not just a genius guitarist, with a beast of a guitar that makes ones jaw drop, but also one of the nicest guys in the business. Thank you Ron, you are a legend, and deservedly so, but I swear if I ever meet you, then you are not getting away with that guitar Maw-HaHa!

Every time I see this guy play solos I wonder what the heck is going on. His technique is so effortless and fluid that it transcends the limits of bare shredding and goes well into musical territories.

That solo is SO FRESH. That tapping thing at 8:26 is unreal.

Oh man, he's a true guitar wizard

One of the best shred ive ever seen!! Wow...

It's stupid how clean that was.

He is such a humble guy!!

Never liked any shredding before. Ron Thal changed that. Great player, great communication. 10/10

Every time I hear this solo you think after each section he has to peak out and end the solo but Ron finds another gear and another level and blazes away like no one else.. amazing, his solo cd's are crazy fun as well..

Words can't express how great this guy is. So I'm glad the music he makes can do it :D

I had heard this name right through the 90's - Ron Thal - there is already a certain vibe to it.. Someone rightly commented he plays like a beast, someone said like a God - yes that level of practice is God mode! And the recovering from cancer and car accident, if it were to be true.. Then this is a Master Art example right here for generations to learn! This is sublime work 🌟

Without doubt one of THE most talented, innovative, original musicians around!

This guy’s playing is insane!!! What a master!

This is the complete solo , the whole package.

What can you say about Ron Thal ? A simple, cool, down to earth dude and an excellent guitar player !

Damn after this video I'm madly in love with this wizard. Absolutely speechless.

Some holdsworthy tone and playing right there! I love it

Great album, catchy tunes!!! Bumblefoot guitar work is god-like, he absolutely stole the show!!!

Scary good!

RON YOUR AMAZING...

I had to go back and listen to the original record. This performance of the solo is absolutely flawless, play it side by side and you won't be able to tell a difference, wow!

amazing player. . you were under utilized in GNR . . great seeing you become what you deserve with all the talent and musical wizardy you have . . Keep Rocking Ron. you have been always been a humble and talented musician.

Love this dude! Much respect!

it is insane! out of this world - so Ron always has been.

Ron is coolest humblest rocker out there. Effortless playing.

I've been aware of Ron for yrs but never paid attention - what a mistake on my part. Now I'm really into Sons of Apollo, great band.

Ron Thal...suona la chitarra portandola oltre al limite stesso dello strumento...è un genio.

This guy is nothing but a madman, and I love him

I had no intention of staying, but u couldn't rip me away. Wow! Wonderful stuff. I'm a fan. Fly on dude

I am speechless... watatatow..! A super nice guy and a hell of a shredder!!!

Amazing!

I was there in 1983-87 Los Angeles...great work sir..respect for the love of music some david fiuczynski...influence...keep it up !

Amazing player and very down-to-earth humble guy. Thank you Ron!

It is really unfair how effortless Ron Thé master Bumblefoot Thal plays

a cool guy with an insane skill and a beautiful monster, perfectly-perfect

Good to see you back in fucking great fusion shredding shape!

wow...I didn't realise that he actually played the down tuned riffs on the album on his fretless. He has amazing intonation skills to be able to pull that off! Definitely my fave solo on the album, so cool to see him play it note for note..thimble and all :)

Ron you are one of the most kindness, monster Shredding guitarist out there I mean I love your humility bro and I know your buddy the bass player he's my friend on Facebook and he is a great guy also but you are definitely underrated bro and when people really sit down and watch you're sweeping Your legado and all the other stuff you doing your amazing bro And your new band that's just phenomenal I hope you guys make it really big

One of the all time greatest guitar solos I've ever heard. Jeeeez!

He is at a totally different level of awareness. He most likely was the little kid mentioned in that conversation you might of had with someone when they told you that they didn't care how good you thought you were, there's always some little five year old out there that can blow you the fuck away. He was most likely that little 5 year old.

Massively underrated ,utterly brilliant,and a real ,one off.wow!

Obviously a monster, but truly a gentleman!

Holy Moly.... I thought I was good.... I still have much to learn...This guy is amazeballs...

The solos of his guitar sound nice and amazing for every song of sons of apollo

genius and humble guy he is

One of the greatest guitar solos EVER!

AMAZING musician!

This guy is incredible!!

MINDBLOWING ! Hard to describe which is why music is superior to language: thank you Ron 😃❤️👍!

Bumblefoot is unreal !!! Glad to see more are getting introduced to him. Such a beast and an underrated player.

Great! Ron. Amazing

Just such an amazing musician! So precise and spectacular! Can't wait for May 15th to see him and Sons of Apollo in Cleveland!

Mygod.. this dude rocks

This guy is a monster, one of the best all time guitarist!

He awesome and nice guy ,,,,

Man, if I could ever hope to be HALF as chill (and of course technically advanced) as Bumblefoot, I could die happy.

So complex yet amazing!! Rock On,Ron!

Perfection !!!

This video was a treat. His work is awesome.

Hats (and lot more of what ever) off to you !!!

Rob is a monster! That's an understatement

I just LOVE this guy!!!!!!.."BUMBLEFOOT" RULES

RAW TALENT ! Excellent guitar playing... and quite the instrument to be sure. I liked this video a great deal.

I listen all the time and I've gotten to the point where sometimes I can tell when it's bumblefoot that means when it's good he's there...

OMG, this man is a F****ng beast!

Ron Thal! Another Super Talented Guitarist, that has came out of Nowhere! One Word (WoW)!

A real son of Apollo. This music is a gift for prog and shredding nerds.

What a great artist!!

Hopefully there will be a second album to unleash to craziness of this guy .

WOW! WOW! WOW! That guitar solo...mind blown!!!

I have heard about Ron's virtuosity for a long time and from many people. His performance here shows how versatile he is with his signature instrument. Very cool instrument it is. His thimble tool is as unique as it gets. I wonder if Ron has seen Alex Calder's Slide Winder slide ring/bar? Anyway, thanks for the entertaining video discussion and performance. Greg M Atkin Strum-N-Comfort Picking Systems

Amazing talent!

I have seen this guy before. But I did not know how good he is. WOW! He is up there with Steve Via.

Ron is a legend!! I like to think of him as a mystical druid of guitar with mysterious powers and irrefutable wisdom - which is not far from the truth, let's be honest!!

You are awesome! Thanks for being such an inspiration!

totally amazing !!!

Love the fretless stuff!

That Signs of the Time solo floored me the first time I heard the SoA record - first time in years that a guitar solo has genuinely knocked me on my ass. Absolute master!

When being _only an amazing_ guitarist just doesn't isn't enough.

Jeez, I don't know whether to just burn my guitars, or burn down the house, claim the insurance, and live the rest of my life in a shack with a guitar amp, a toilet, sink and bed, and hope I'll get this good if I practice hard enough. And you have to love him because he's such a nice guy!

Bravo!!! Fantastic stuff