Top 5 Guitarists Who Have Influenced You? :O

[TomAwesome]

I might change my mind if I think about it for a while, but off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Billy Corgan: He's got a little bit of everything going on. His material spans a fairly wide range of genres, pretty much everything is done artfully and tastefully, and his tone is to be respected.

Dino Cazares: He was a pretty big influence as far as more straightforward heavily detuned metal. He's one of the few people I can think of who has actually made cold, soulless mechanical precision work for him.

Stephen Carpenter: Huge flowing chords under massive distortion that are both heavy and pretty at the same time. How can you not love that shit?

Jerry Cantrell: He doesn't play fast and probably doesn't have the chops of a robot, but he really keeps your interest. I actually need to try to let him influence me more.

Mikael Åkerfeldt: He's pretty good at going between really nice clean/acoustic material and balls out brutality. Billy C's original idea in the Pumpkins was to, "play quiet music loud" and mix the two extremes together. Mikael does pretty much the opposite most of the time and puts them in sharp contrast. I also like how he manages to make dissonance sound pleasing.

Honorable mentions go to Jon Schaffer, Devin Townsend, Stephen Wilson, and Adam Jones.

 

[kmanick]

Eddie Van Halen
Yngwie malmsteen
Vinnie Moore
Tony MacAlpine
Joe Satriani
Greg Howe
John Petrucci
Jeff Loomis
Frank Gambale

these are the guys who have influenced me the most when I started playing again in 2002.
back when I originally started I'd say they were

Jimmy Page
Ritchie Blackmore
Jeff Beck
Robin Trower
Frank Marino
Brian May

 

[progmetaldan]

Had to go to a top 10...

Right now, and in the musical direction I'm currently heading:

John McLaughlin
Allan Holdsworth
Shawn Lane
Brett Garsed
Alex Machacek
Greg Howe
Jimmy Herring
Scott Henderson
Frank Gambale
Guthrie Govan


The others who got me into guitar at a higher level in a more general sense:

John Petrucci
Michael Romeo
Tony MacAlpine
Steve Vai
Ron Jarzombek
Vinnie Moore
Roine Stolt
Mikael Akerfeldt
Kiko Loureiro
Yngwie Malmsteen

probably heaps of others as well...

 

[Leuchty]

1. Alexi Laiho
2. Kirk Hammet
3. Michael & Chris Amott
4. Bjorn Gelotte & Jesper Stromblad
5. Rob Flynn & Phil Demmel

 

[Breakdown]

Dimebag was def. my #1 influence but others in no order

!. Dimebag Darrel
2. Randy Rhaods
3. Elvis Presley
4. Zakk Wylde
5.Jeff loomis

 

[dougsteele]

Eddie Van Halen: killer blues and the introduction to 3 note per string shit.

George Lynch: Rippin' vibrato, and cool ideas. Him and Ed are simlilar in my book. Warren DeMartini's a lot like George..I like him too.

Ummmm, Yngwie: for the introduction of staccato picking.

Paul Gilbert: for making it all easy to understand, and for being a fucking mean ass shredder.

Jason Becker: pretty much the top of the pile for me. The sweeps are just bullshit.
------------------

Those are my main men, then there's:

Hetfield and Ian: for the mean ass rhythms.

The Meshuggah boys: for the even meaner rhtyhms.

Guthrie Govan: Prorbably thee most fucked up player ever...

Ace Frehley and Angus Young: My youth.

 

[arktan]

1. me
2. me
3. me
4. me
5. me


But it's true. I'm not trying to make something sound similar to some guitar-gods (because i lack the skills )

 

[Slayer89]

Well, I'll try and encompass all my time with the instrument.

1. Dan Donegan - Yes, the guitarist of Disturbed. I know he's no virtuoso or ground breaker, but it was the riffs he played on Disturbed's album "The Sickness" that really got me wanting to play.

2. Zakk Wylde - Man, I remember thinking this guy was god. His over usage of anything pentatonic or pinch harmonic'd used to amaze me to no end. I still love a lot of his work.

3. Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Pride and Joy" showed me that it doesn't have to be loud and angry to be cool.

4. Jon Donais and Matt Bachand - "The Art of Balance" was my first real step into metal territory. I remember listening to it over and over and loving every moment, from the slick leads to the beautiful acoustic work. Though nothing they've done recently has worked for me, I still love them. To this day the only solo I've learned note for note is from "Enlightened By The Cold".

5. Alexi Laiho - I don't even know how to explain this one. I just love his style and spent a good chunk of time trying to emulate it.

(Fuck 5 ... that number sucks, lol)

6. Jeff Loomis - This guy definitely shows my current interest and direction a lot better than any of the others. While I love his lead playing and would give almost anything to be able to play/write like it, his rhythms are what get me. The blend of speed and chunky grooves always keeps my attention. He's also the one who got me looking at 7s.

 

[Doomcreeper]

1. Chuck Sculdiner - Death (I really loved the work with Andy LaRocque and James Murphy) Death is my favorite band and the reason I like Death metal over other genres, his playing and song writing was amazing.
2. Paul Masvidal - Cynic The way he writes is incredible, it's technical, and beautiful. I also love the jazz influence in his playing.
3. Trey Azagthoth - Morbid Angel I love the way he mixed slow heavy riffs, shred and and heavy and fast riffs in their songs.
4. Michael Keene Machine/Steve Jones - The Faceless This band and Veil of Maya both have amazing guitar riffs and are really nailing the mix of new styles with a good influence of old, they keep it more death metal than core and they're phenominal players and writers.
5. Kelly Shaefer - Atheist I love this band, his playing is so good, I love the jazz parts in their riffs, overall their music sounds amazing.


If this is written badly, I apologize, I wrote this kind of early becuase I checked the site before going to school.

 

[Xiphos68]

1) Derek Corizine He's just all around great guitar player plays like vai its amazing. He's walk with Christ helped me realize to use my talents for God.
2) Joe Satriani Legato and great music.
3) Alex Skolnick His versatility and can shred the mess out of a guitar.
4) John Petrucci Speed picking and sweeps.
5) Steve Routh find your own sound.

 

[Sang-Drax]

I tried to point out only 5, but couldn't. Sorry.

1. Mikael Åkerfeldt. I usually can't make dissonant chords work that good, but I do heavy use of opeth-like both acoustic passages as well as layers through heavy parts.

2. Alexi Laiho. Since he's the only shredder I really like, whenever I play fast I tend to sound a little bit like him (hopefully).

3. Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle, Ashes Divide). It's funny how this guy is such a bad player as far as technique goes, but even so he manages to sound awesome most of the time. I love his simple melodic riffs, and I make use of them a lot.

4. The Edge (U2). Because delay rocks and he's the king of delay.

5. Jónsi Birgisson (Sigur Rós). I do use a cello bow on my guitar, and, of course, this is my major reference concerning the subject. Plus, given the fact that Sigur Rós is my favorite band these days, I always look up for them writing slow, sad leads (even when not using my bow).

- Extras:

6. Bulb. This is new, actually. Periphery is the only math metal band I liked so far; so, his work is all that I care for under this genre. No Meshuggah or Sikth for me (I need more melody than that). Of course, there are plenty of other great guitarists in the ss.org that write math metal stuff, but they're usually short instrumental clips, not the work of a full band - and, thus, not enough to influence me as much as Periphery.

7. Dave Gilmour. Even though it's more of having a magical talent of always choosing the best note for your solo, I try to make my leads an important, melodic part of the song rather than just porn for other guitarists.

8. Doods that layer lots of open chords: Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, and Placebo are my major references here. I love the nostalgic feeling this kind of stuff produces.

 

[AeonSolus]

1. James Hetfield - I thank him for making me downstroke every single riff i do
2. Bulb - He's made out of win. Even tho i'm listening to his stuff since late '06, everything i do since then sounds Bulb'ish
3. John Petrucci - Who hasn't he influenced?
4. Pete Loeffler - Another one of my early influences
5. Daron Malakian - Yep, him... the first stuff i could attempt to play on the guitar was SOaD

 

[Daemoniac]

Eric Powell (16volt): The man who got me into guitar, and distorted, detuned guitar. Still some of my favorite (but simplest) riffs ever.

Fredrik Thordendal / Marten Hagstrom (Meshuggah): While i only really got into them recently, the way they play really speaks to me, and i feel like the time signatures etc.. are similar to how i play without realising, so again, it speaks to me Especially obZen.

Bryan Ottoson R.I.P. (American Head Charge): Again, pretty simple riffs,but really really heavy, and again, really got me into playing. Also started getting me to think about more than 'just' power chorded riffs

Tim Skold (KMFDM/Marilyn Manson/Skold): Kind of simple riffs, but a rad-awesome crunchy tone. Love his work with KMFDM, and gave me a bit more of a respect for slightly classic 80's riffs.

Mick Thompson/Jim Root (Slipknot): One of my favorite guitar tones ever, and kickass hectic but not real extravagant playing. Love everything about their playing.

Micheal Amott (Arch Enemy), Jason Novak (Acumen Nation), Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir), Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory), and Mushroomheads XIII all get mentions as well. Its a close one

I have a thing for simplicity (generally) with riffs. I like it when its really primal and rhythmic

 

[vampiregenocide]

I have a thing for simplicity (generally) with riffs. I like it when its really primal and rhythmic

Same

 

[Splinterhead]

Allan Holdsworth - its been said, his legato is pretty much the benchmark. Beautiful phrasing, killer technique.

Frank Gambale - sweepmaster general. Great note choice and has a really cool jazz sensibility.

Shawn Lane - musical genius...that's pretty much it

Jimmy Page - imo one of the best rock riff writers to come along. his sense of arrangement and production for the guitar will influence guitarists for years to come.

Scott Henderson - great sense of feel. i do prefer him in the fusion context as opposed to the blues thing. he would sometimes push his playing to the limit until he almost lost it and then he would bring it back. he really plays with a tremendous amount of heart and conviction.

 

[CrushingAnvil]

In No order, just the top 5.

Barrett, O'brien, Rutan, Azagthoth, Van Halen.

 

[bulletbass man]

Petrucci- Amazing technique and melodic content. Inspired me to get into 7 strings (which is likely the biggest influence on my playing more than anything else).

Loomis- I love his solo album. Easily my favorite album released by anyone who can still physically play guitar

Becker- My all time inspiration both as a guitarist and person.

I don't really need anyone else.

 

[7StringedBeast]

1. Dime
2. Chuck Shuldiner
3. SRV
4. Jeff Loomis
5. Jesper Strömblad & Björn Gelotte

Too bad that 3 of them are already gone (RIP).

 

[DeathShred1]

Paul Gilbert- His string skipping and alternate picking with different time sigs did it for me.

Yngwie Malmsteen- Really it was him swinging his guitar around his body that got my attention. Then I actually got into his playing afterwards...haha.

Shawn Lane- His speed got me for sure.

Rusty Cooley- His multiple tapping licks that sounds like his running a shit load of arps did it.


Scott Stine- This guy blew me away when I was Younger. Think of Rusty Cooley but before Rusty's time. Great Player.

 

[Desi]

My turn.

hide of X-Japan: When I first discovered Jrock and before I bought my first guitar, hide blew me away with his playing, stage presence and charisma. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and I bought my first guitar because of him.

John Petrucci: His speed, precision and melody grabbed me and did not let go.

Marty Friedman: His phrasing just kills me, such a melodic player.

Jeff Loomis: The kind of shredder I aspire to be.

Steve Morse: His compositions are out of this world beautiful, an awe inspiring rock guitarist as well as a classically schooled player.