Top 5 Guitarists Who Have Influenced You? :O

[timbaline]

Chris Broderick- He's my guitar teacher for one thing. He's been teaching me since I was 11 (roughly 6 years now). I feel pretty bad though, since I really started into guitar about 2 years ago, which was after he got into Megadeth and was doing extensive touring; so, now I only get lessons from him every now and then when he isn't on tour. I know for a fact had I spent more time playing guitar when I was younger instead of playing video games I would be a million times a better player. He's also the man who got me into 7-strings and he gives me a lot of free stuff. His Jag Panzer and Megadeth stuff are amazing as well. Also, who influences you more than your teachers(when it comes to guitar)?

Satriani- He's the man who made me fall in love with the guitar and music. His tone and his songs always make me feel better.

Kiko Loureiro- I am a Kiko fanboy... His songs are amazing and I really love how he mixes Latin Jazz and Metal.

Shawn Lane- No explanation needed for this man. Seriously.

Dave Pircher- My other guitar teacher when Chris is on tour. Only a few people influence me more than my teachers (when it comes to guitar).

 

[devolutionary]

Bear witness to me, the rhythm guitarist!

1) Rob Arnold - Chimaira are the biggest influence on my playing and also the band that have pushed me to get better
2) My Father - Local R&B legend in the 70's and 80's, and the one person I can talk guitars to
3) John 5 - Any of his live work with Manson was utterly brilliant when I was in High School
4) Adam Dutkiewicz - Biggest influence on my lead/scale development, though I am far, FAR from a lead guitarist
5) A list too big to fill - My music tastes vary too wildly at this point to pin down a number 5

 

[123]

My teachers Borislav Mitic and Conrad Simon and

- Ron Jarzombek
- Stephan Forte
- John Petrucci
- Tosin Abasi and other djent dudes like the guys from Scale the Summit

 

[MetalMike04]

hmm in no particular order its gotta be
1.Christian Muenzer (Obscura,SOP,ex-Necrophagist): definatly a huge influence on how i style my solos and the whole approach to the guitar
2.Paul Masvidal (Cynic): paved a way for beautiful melody
3.Ron Jarzombek (Blotted Science): just an untouched player who in my opinion is one of the best around.
4.Allan Holdsworth: has to be one of my favorite guitarists of all time when it comes to his lush chords.
5.Brian Echbach (The Black Dahlia Murder): TBDM were the 1st real metal band i got into and really got me started onto playing metal guitar


What can i say im a sucker for Progressive Metal...

 

[Acatalepsy]

This list is in no order:

5. Christian Kuhn (Defeated Sanity) because of how he can blend elements of the most brutal death metal with jazzy poly rhythms and make it sound incredibly memorable and catchy. Also his ability to write catchy, off the wall, syncopations is incredibly unique in death metal.
4. Mike Hoggard (Ulcerate) for his seemingly unparalleled ability to blend melody and dissonance seamlessly in a polyrhythmic riff
3. Jon Levasseur (Cryptopsy) for his uniqueness. Some of the stuff on Whisper Supremacy and ... And Then You'll Beg is just absolutely mind blowing to me; it's just super technical off the wall death metal without losing sight of song writing integrity.
2.Pin/Dan from Sikth because before I heard them I never thought it would be possible to incorporate so many diverse influences in a metal context and make it somehow sound cohesive and flow seamlessly.
1.Not trying to be a kiss ass here but Nolly has some incredibly unique ideas as far as melody and phrasing go and they have influenced me to improve the way I write my own leads. His lead playing just has a deliciously smooth, flowing quality to it that I love.

Cool list. DS and Ulcerate are the business.

 

[cregmachine]

1. john petrucci - pretty much my idol on guitar would give so much to shred like him and come up with such beautiful melodies at the same time

2. steve wilson - porcupine tree are my favourite band and i no steve doesnt do much technical stuff or shredding on the guitar but what he comes up with is absolute musical genious

3. david gilmour - most beautiful solos ever and a fantastic sound

4. mattias eklundh - spent a week with him in sweden aswell as knowing his band freak kitchen for a while not a fan of his tone but his playing style is totally unique his use of exotic scales in metal is unreal

5. munky, head - (old school korn stuff) loved the stuff they used to come up with and wer the first truly heavy band i listened to and i still maintain that they are still one of the heaviest bands ever

 

[indrangelion]

1. Jimi Hendrix - Gotta give him top spot. The man who inspired me to pick up the guitar in the first place.

2. Leda (DELUHI) - Insanely good on both guitars and bass. Knows how to write solid and catchy passages. Varying his leads every single time, and would often branch out and incorporate exotic/ethnic elements into his songs.

3. Kon Tsuyoshi - Session guitarist and solo artist. First heard of his playing when he used to work for Utada Hikaru in the studio and on stage. Very Jazz-fusionesque, and definitely inspired me to dive deeper into the genre. One of the best tones in the genre as well.

4. Paul Masvidal (CYNIC) - I don't think this one needs further explanation. AWESOME!

5. Jeff Loomis - God among men! Gotta give him the bottom spot though. The man who almost inspired me to give up playing the guitar

 

[Kermes]

1. Pete Townshend - Seeing the Woodstock and Monterey movies literally changed my life. At that age 9-10(?) stuff like Hendrix went off my head, but The Who just killed!
2. John McLaughlin - Could have picked Zappa, but Mahavisnu is something that's probably in my dna.
3. Dennis D'Amour - Truely a sonic sculpturer.
4. Tony 'Bones' Roberts - The king of minimalism. The opening of 'Born To Die In The Gutter' still gets me everytime.
5. Dr. Know - Great, somewhat a forgotten player. I love everything from the early 7"s up to the 'I Against I' era.

And of course all my buddies who can outplay me left and right! Whether in bands or not.

 

[ashek]

in no particular order.

Benjamin Weinman - The Dillinger Escape Plan
Adam Jones - Tool
Fredrik Thordendal - Meshuggah
Brian 'Head' Welch - previously from Korn
Stephen Carpenter - Deftones

 

[ittoa666]

I avoided the first 2 because I feel like the influence all or most of us are influenced by them, even if its indirect.

Never avoid good playing.

 

[Philligan]

1. Dean Ween - This guy really opened my eyes to versatility. He can make a pentatonic scale sound like anything. He's not the fastest, or cleanest, but he goes straight for tasteful.

2. Kerry King/Jeff Hanneman - Reign In Blood was the fastest, craziest thing I'd ever heard. Still is. I remember when I first played it, I was like "how can anyone play this stuff?" Took me a while, but they're pretty much solely responsible for helping me get my speed up.

3. Jimmy Page - The reason I started playing guitar.

4. Jon Schaffer - No surprise here, he introduced me to tight ass playing.

5. Josh Kelley - This dude I was in a band with for a while. He was way better than me, at first I thought "shit..." but my playing improved more in the six months I was in that band than in probably the last three years on my own.

 

[Chris Kult]

Hard to name just 5, but here goes.
1) Yngwie Malmsteen- I love his playing, his perfect pitch and his godlike vibrato!
2) Akira Takasaki- I was hooked as soon as I heard Crazy Nights.
3) Jason Becker- A true revolutionary in guitar. Awesome use of notes and different modes.
4) Jeff Loomis - Brilliant rhythm player and with lead he is the second coming of Jason Becker.
5) Chris Impellitteri- He was so fast when he first arrived, he didn`t sound human....and his last album brought some of that back.
Honerable mentions- Joe Stump, Tony Macalpine, Katsu Ohta, Takayoshi Ohmura.

 

[Treeunit212]

1: Daron Malakian (System of a Down)
2: Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage)
3: Dimebag Darrell
4: Brian Eschbach (The Black Dahlia Murder)
5: John Mayer

 

[Steve08]

This list is in no order:

5. Christian Kuhn (Defeated Sanity) because of how he can blend elements of the most brutal death metal with jazzy poly rhythms and make it sound incredibly memorable and catchy. Also his ability to write catchy, off the wall, syncopations is incredibly unique in death metal.
4. Mike Hoggard (Ulcerate) for his seemingly unparalleled ability to blend melody and dissonance seamlessly in a polyrhythmic riff
3. Jon Levasseur (Cryptopsy) for his uniqueness. Some of the stuff on Whisper Supremacy and ... And Then You'll Beg is just absolutely mind blowing to me; it's just super technical off the wall death metal without losing sight of song writing integrity.
2.Pin/Dan from Sikth because before I heard them I never thought it would be possible to incorporate so many diverse influences in a metal context and make it somehow sound cohesive and flow seamlessly.
1.Not trying to be a kiss ass here but Nolly has some incredibly unique ideas as far as melody and phrasing go and they have influenced me to improve the way I write my own leads. His lead playing just has a deliciously smooth, flowing quality to it that I love.

This list rules

 

[Zugster]

1: Daron Malakian (System of a Down)
2: Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage)
3: Dimebag Darrell
4: Brian Eschbach (The Black Dahlia Murder)
5: John Mayer

I am sooo glad to see someone else mention Daron Malakian!

 

[kennydoe]

My top 5:
1. Steve Vai
2. Stevie Ray Vaughan
3. David Gilmour
4. Edward Van Halen
5. Gary Moore

 

[Ghost40]

Top 5 for me:
Trey Anastasio
Jim Root
Vince Varialle
Paul Gilbert (Racer X days)
Alex Skolnick

 

[JamieB]

1. David Gilmore- Pink Floyd where i gained my prog roots and grew up with Pink Floyd
2. Tom Morrelo- Rage Against the Machine for jsut pushing boundaries with effects
3. Tosin Abasi- Animals as Leaders is the reason i bought a 8 string
4. Victor Wooten- I know hes a bass player but he massivley influenced my guitar playing with his percussive bass ideas
5. Eddie Van Halen- Just for the pure cheese

 

[Virtual Scott]

I've always loved this question, for as much as I like to evolve and progress and imbibe new influences as a musician, guitar player and songwriter, my basic guitar influences have always remained the same:

Neal Schon (Journey): for the obligatory massive amounts of tasteful playing, soaring melodies and speed when needed. Great songwriter.
George Lynch: Style and unorthodox technique, and originality make him probably my biggest influence. I'm a borderline fanboy here.
Tony MacAlpine: I guess the reasons are probably obvious. A massive shredder with huge amounts of guitar virtuosity and being a virtuoso on the piano as well, well, that's just damn depressing! Very versatile player.
John Petrucci: While all my friends were taking lessons from him (and I was driving some of them there, bastards!) I was still taking what they learned and absorbing it "secondhand". Growing up in Suffolk County, LI during the late 80's/90's and being a metal/prog guy, one couldn't help love the dude and his massive abilities.
Eddie Van Halen/Yngwie Malmsteen: 2 different sides of the guitar players coin. EVH came first and revolutionized guitar playing, and Yngwie did the same, albeit with a different style and influence.

 

[edsped]

John Petrucci
Paul Gilbert
Ty Tabor
Greg Howe
Tosin Abasi

I put Tosin there because I went to the Atlanta Institute of Music with him and it's so crazy seeing just how big and influential he's gotten. So I find myself thinking, well if this guy can do it then I don't see why I can't. I really envy him but I also really respect him.