Top 5 Guitarists Who Have Influenced You? :O

[Pat_tct]

I had a break at the guitar for a couple years and re-learned how to play and improved so I would go with the guitarists that helped me, find my style.

No order:
Tosin - AAL is just... u know what i mean
Chris letchford - scale the summit helped me find my strenght in two handed tapping and ambient play
Jake Bowen - Best guitarist in periphery imo
Mikael Akerfield
Marc Okubo - Got me into challenging riffs

 

[tm20]

-Jimi Hendrix
-Ben Orum
-Willie Adler
-Mark Morton
-Dimebag

 

[karjim]

Well, where do I start, I'll put those who define my style not whom I love
-Dave Mustaine/ J Hetfield ak Jesus/ Moses:
They defined the metal, the fast rythms of nowadays heavy music

-Daron Malakian ak Melody Guy:
Because of him I learned how to make a great simple catchy heavy melodic song, the most important thing when you have a band

-Shawn Lane/ Jason Becker ak Mozart/ Beethoven:
They teach me everyday what "perfection" is...I drop always a tear listening the "Hill is other people" solo (Personae album) and Perpetual Burn...BEST SOLOS EVER MADE...Pure Geniuses. I WANNA PLAY THAT FAST WiTH THAT MUSICALITY!!!! Shawn is dead the day of my twentieth anniversary, it's not a coincidence

-Fredrik Thordich & Ben Sharp (Cloudkicker) ak The Brain Crushers:
They teach me the groove, reason I bought a 7 string

-Paul Gilbert/ Steve Vai ak The Teachers:
That's why I picked a guitar, the most coolest and nice guitarists ever, so gentle, so full of knowledge
With Shawn it's how I wanna play Solos for the rest of my life

 

[Alpenglow]

right now my biggest influences, in no particular order -

Robby Baca/Cameron Maynard (The Contortionist) - really got me into beautiful cleans and heavyness crafted well into the same song
Marc Okubo (VoM) - those crazy riffs and the style of breakdowns
Misha/Bulb - really got me into syncopation in 4/4 and groove riffs (with occasional tapping). Also to a lesser extent echoing clean guitar ambiance over groove riffs that sound easier than they are to play.
Luke Hoskin (PtH) - emulating his style and learning Fortress is how I learned to sweep and tap.
Kris Coombs Roberts (FFAF) - Funeral for a Friend was one of the first bands I fell in love with and learned to play. Really brought me into the idea of having both cleans and badass distorted riffs with feeling in the same song. They still kick ass.
Acle Kahney - The main reason I like to write echoing clean guitar ambiance on top of groovy riffs.

That's 6, and I have a ton more like Tosin Abasi, Dez and Jo (TSF), Tim Collis (TTNG), Ben Sharp (Cloudkicker), and probably 10 more. I didn't realize how many different guitarists have influenced so much until I thought about...

 

[IbanezDaemon]

Angus Young
Gary Moore
Yngwie
Vinnie Moore
Paul Gilbert

 

[InfinityCollision]

Technical influences, in no particular order:

-George Benson, for his picking style. I struggled with the normal picking style for several years due to some wrist issues, so discovering a style that my hand was better able to play was a big deal for my flatpicking.
-George van Eps, for fingerpicking and chord-melody styles.
-Allan Holdsworth and his distinctly un-guitar approaches to chords and lead lines showed me that there's so much more to guitar playing and its sonic possibilities than the sounds and styles I knew before.
-Sean Malone, specifically on the live cut of Grace, introduced me to the possibilities of two-hand tapping.
-Tosin Abasi introduced me to some techniques and also new ways to apply old techniques.

 

[Yngwie_5]

1.Yngwie Malmsteen
2.Jeff Loomis
3.Pat O'brian
4-Chuck Schuldiner
5-James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Dunno if I posted here yet, but fuck you, I'm doing it anyways.

1) Dino Cazares
2) Tony Iommi
3) Jerry Cantrell
4) Michael Wilton
5) Chris DeGarmo

Honorable mention: Richard Kruspe.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Guthrie Govan
Chris Letchford (those bloody add 9s)
Paul Waggoner
Charlie Hunter
Tony Iommi

 

[Kiwimetal101]

Chris Letchford (Just love how he doesn't need to shred to impress people)

John Petrucci (Hes just the grandaddy.. Old wise one we will always fall back on)

Tosin (.... Its Tosin ... shouldn't have to say anymore)

David Gilmour (Comfortably numb solo still makes me cry occasionally)

Joe Satriani (Just love his tone, and his super clean playing)

Randy Rhoads (Fuck knows were metal/guitar would be at if he was still around)

 

[Compton]

in no order and cheating

Dimebag Darrell (okay he's #1)
John Petrucci
Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen, Marc Holcomb (DIY all day)
Michael Keene and Wes Hauch (really got me into diminished type riffs and its stuck with me since their first stuff back in 06', wes brings a new element the faceless that just floors me to play!)
Jason Richardson (i'm not into the chelsea grin stuff yet but i remember favoriting his videos when he was like 14 and that kid has got discipline)

their are tons of amazing guitar players such as Guthrie Govan, Allan Holdsworth, Stanley Jordan that have inspired me but some of the ones I appreciate a lot are also in consideration of my age and seeing people doing/playing the same sort of thing I am working towards.

My inspiration changes all the time, which I appreciate because I don't focus on one style of playing all the time, but for now thats mah list!

 

[Mprinsje]

1: Kurt ballou (converge is my favorite band in my favorite genre of music, mostly due to his incredible guitar playing)
2: Jim Root (slipknot was the first heavy band i was really into, always more attracted to rhythm players)
3: Hillel Slovak (love those old chili peppers records, also first album i ever got was a chili peppers record from my sister. also love his playing more than john frusciante's)
4: Bart Hennephof/Jochem Jacobs from Textures (the sole reason i got a 7)
5: John Helps/Robin Southby from Maybeshewill (my favorite postrock band, very inspiring)

 

[Sang-Drax]

1. Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth)
2. The Edge (U2)
3. Blilly Howerdel (A Perfect Circle)
4. Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom)
5. Björn/Jesper (In Flames)

I started using 7's because of Lacuna Coil and Pain of Salvation, though none of these bands has influenced me as much as those above.

 

[brett8388]

Al DiMeola
Yngwie
Paul Gilbert
Vinnie Moore
Randy Rhoads

Funny when I make this list because I have zero guitars in my collection relating to Yngwie, DiMeola, or Gilbert. I will have to address this.

 

[ESP_]

The main influences on my playing style is Paul Masvidal and Chris Letchford. I can't write death metal riffs worth a shit but I can write happpy proggy leads over lushious chords all day.

 

[blaaargh]

Hmmmmm...
Ihsahn
Brent Hinds
Akerfeldt
Anders Nystrom
Matt Pike

If you can't tell just by that list, I'm more of a riffer than a shredder. I also really love the way these guys approach their music from a compositional standpoint (esp. Ihsahn and Nystrom). The reason I picked up the guitar in the first place though was Angus Young, which was why my first guitar was an SG

 

[Black Mamba]

Dave Mustaine
Alexi Laiho
Dimebag
Ace Frehley
MAB

 

[Force]

Mid 80's & my 1st guitar, so C.C DeVille kicked it off (I didn't know any better).

A fave & main influence is Adrian Smith. While Dave noodles & Janick makes lots of noises, Adrian exudes class with every calculated phrase meaning something.

My love for shred began with Vinnie Vincent. Not technically superior but back in the day it was mesmerizing.

Kai Hansen showed me how it was done when you wanted to use harmonized arpeggios as rhythm instead of lead/melody. Helloween & Gamma Ray are full of that stuff.

Lord Tim taught me a few neat tricks in our time together while we recorded Ilium albums, but I loved to sit & watch him play & though I could never achieve that level, I know his style has definitely rubbed off on to me.........thanks Tim \m/

 

[Riffer]

Angus Young
Dimebag
Adam Jones
Paul Gilbert
Mark Morton

 

[abandonist]

Tom Morello - I maintain he's the Jimmy Hendrix of our time (I know that's a loaded statement).
Scott Kelly - Neurosis are just... I don't really have words.
Paige Hamilton - Helmet, man.
Kurt Ballou - The guy is just amazing.
Interchangeable 2nd-Wave Black Metal Guitarist - Not a lot of diversity in there, but a huge influence on my playing.