Top 5 Guitarists Who Have Influenced You? :O

[robotsatemygma]

No particular order for this one... but I'll try.

-Kurt Cobain: This motherfucker influenced me to pickup a guitar. Got into Nirvana about a few months after he died with Nevermind. Met a friend who played guitar, he showed me a few chords, and that was about it.

-Stephen Carpenter/Deftones: Around high school I was asked to join a band and yada yada... hadn't played my guitar in a few years. Picked up an axe, drop tuned it, and started playing Bored without knowing it. Deftones have always been my numero uno band and always will. Once my musical skill grew a little bit I would sit in my room playing along to Adrenaline and Around the Fur for hours. So much angst and beauty.

-Ben Weinman/the Dillinger Escape Plan: About the time I created my current band I was all metalcore'd out but had a basic idea of how I wanted my style. I was experimenting when a friend introduced me to this band and it BLEW MY MIND! I'm talking full on aneurism mixed with a 4some orgy of orgasms. This was the noise I was hearing in my head. I quickly gathered all their albums and tried learning their style. These guys really inspired me to go explore other genres of music and ultimately not limit myself to just metal.

-Django Reinhardt: No introduction needed for this guy. His playing has been an inspiration of mine... I watch guys like Vai and others just insanely sweep pick the hell out of their guitars and it's a bummer as my wrists and fingers are weak due to years of bmx injuries and carpeltunnel. Then I listen to Django, so much passion and emotion is poured into his music and he does it with only 2 fingers. His playing has been an inspiration to so many musicians through the years. It's truly an amazing legacy.

-Louie Armstrong: Weird inspiration for a guitarist. My band in high school lost our bassist right before our 1st show so I switched to bass and we picked up another guitarist. I fell in love with the bass and learned everything I could. My parents would listen to all the big band/swing and blues on the weekends while they cleaned or got ready to go out. So I began playing along to it and instantly fell in love with Louie. Now I turn on a Louie album and play my guitar adding lil bebop lines to the music and harmonizing with his trumpet.

 

[Shawn]

Earlier, it was Kirk Hammet, Warren DeMartini, Jake E. Lee, Joe Satriani and a lot of guitar players in the 80's, then I got into James Murphy, Terrance Hobbs, Doug Cerrito, Chuck Shuldiner and a lot of death metal shredders. In the past decade or so it's been Eric Johnson, Tony MacAlpine, Steve Vai, Vernon Reid, SRV, John Petrucci, etc, etc -I could go on.

 

[synrgy]

yeah, I suppose if I were being more honest with myself, Kurt and Stefan would both be on my list too. It's just such a tough call when I have so many influences and I can only pick 5.

 

[iabetesfo]

Andy Laroque
Jason Becker
Zakk Wylde
Eric Johnson
My father

 

[NegaTiveXero]

1 - Lance Arny (and Jason Daunt) of Flaw; this band got me into playing guitar and 7 strings, and they also shaped my rhythm style. I started out trying to play their sngs and it really had an effect on me. If I only had to choose one player/band that influenced me the most, it was Flaw (and their guitarists). They were there in the beginning and started it all

2 - Head and Munky; they made me think outside of normal playing and got me into adding more atmosphere ito my songs with cool and weird sounding effects in the higher registers. They also helped me look at songs in a bigger picture, instead of just the guitar parts. If you listen to a lot of their songs the guitar parts sound weird without the rest of the music, like they wouldn't fit normally.

3 - John Fucking Petrucci; this guy got me into lead playing. I always said I would rather do rhythm because it's more fun, but that was only because I was afraid of not being good at it. I heard him play and I said "fuck it, I need to be able to lead".

4 - Meshuggah; This is a more recent influence, but they've been making me think. They made me want and 8 String, but my goal (and their influence) was how to play an 8 String and NOT sound like them. I fucking LOVE Meshuggah, but I don't want to be Meshuggah. I'll throw out a tribute once or twice, but I don't want my band to be just like them. I want to take it the other way and play like I always play on my 7s and make great sounding, super low-tuned music.

5 - I have to think of a 5th one.

 

[Monk]

1. James Hetfield - Inspired me to play guitar
2. Dino Cazares - Inspired me to play a 7-string guitar
3. Head and Munky - Inspired me to break out of sounding like James/Dino
4. Devin Townsend - Inspired me to think further outside the box
5. Fredrik and Marten - Inspired me to play an 8-string guitar; even further outside the box.

Oh yeah, can't forget to mention Ihsahn.

 

[willyman101]

James Hetfield - Master of Puppets made me pick up guitar. Especially that and Creeping Death made me force myself to practice downpicking.

Paul Gilbert - I literally spent hours studying him and his lessons, and I don't even do lead. Just general legato and picking inspired me.

Jeff Loomis - Showed me heavy seven string shred.

Mark Smith/Munaf Rayani - Introduced me to ambient layers in dual guitar playing.

Robb Flynn/Phil Demmel - Seeing as MH are my favorite band it's just all the solos and riffs that make me headbang like a beast.

 

[ShadyDavey]

Blergh, these lists of top 5 "X" always make me sweat - my likes and influences change but I guess for guitarists then I have a couple of permanent influences, and then a couple that change depending on my current listening habits.

1) Jason Becker (musicallity, fire, vibrato, chops, quirky attitude - "All time great")
2) Joe Satriani (taste, tone, vibrato, knowledge, musicallity and variety - "All time great")
3) Yngwie Malmsteen (killer vibrato, great tone, attitude, chops - "Neo Classical" choice)
4) John Sykes (perennial favourite and has a god-like vibrato - "trad rock" choice)
5) Shane Gibson (he's the best of the current breed of guitarists if you ask me - has the chops and enough sense to let musicallity come through with a twisted sense of rhythm - "modern" choice)

Those are just this week, but in the past I have been influenced by Chris Poland, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale, Tony Macalpine, Gary Moore, Jeff Healey....all the usual names that I'm sure we're all familiar with. For the future? Who knows..

 

[Variant]

Alex Skolnick
Rocky George
Criss Oliva
Devin Townsend
Mikael Åkerfeldt

 

[CHAWLthornacus]

my right side think's-

angus young- for style and sound.
jimmy page- for riff's, improv and tone.
brian may- for the delayed effect.
uli roth- for being a bad ass guitar player!
willie nelson- for songwriting and acoustic sound(nylon).

my left side feel's

james hetfield- heavy riff's and rhythm time changes.
tony iommi- heavy sound and his acoustic playing.
steve vai-for making a fake mistake sound good.
SRV- for playing clear, soulfull blues with some jazzy feel.
EVH- for tone,sound and improv feel.

i've seen and listen to alot of other guitarist that i like just as much as the ones above.
but that is my 5X5 today, it might change tomorrow?

 

[Æxitosus]

again, in no order

Tool - Adam Jones. These guys were always one of my favorite bands and his playing really interested me. He didn't necessarily show off talent, but when you listen to him, you still get the impression that he's really good and just holding back. And, I have to say he has about the best guitar tone out there.

Machine Head - Demmel/Flynn. Their style isn't incredibly original, but they are still pretty great, and when I was a kid (like, 12-13 years old) they were pretty much my favorite band, so they were pretty influential.

Gojira - Joe Duplantier. These guys have a very distinct style that I ahve always loved. It really has inspired my guitar playing.

Opeth - Mikael Åkerfeldt. Need I really say more?

Underøath - Timothy McTague. I know these aren't most guys style, but they have really influenced my playing. If you really pay attention to the guitar work it's pretty technicle, especially for the genre. They don't always reflect in my work but they do influence soem of my writing.

 

[Thin_Ice_77]

In no order:

1. Sam Totman. I know I'll probably get flamed for this, but he writes all the vocal lines on guitar, he has amazing melody and his harmonies are awesome. He has speed and I really enjoy his solos. Not a lot of people like Dragonforce because of whatever, but I think Sam is really underrated.

2. Paul Gilbert. Do I really need to explain that?

3. Andy McKee. This guy inspired me to pick up my acoustic for the first time in months and really try and be creative and experimental with it.

4. Buckethead. No doubt in my mind, best guitarist in the world.

5. JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler from August Burns Red. Amazing metalcore guitarists, they come up with some amazing riffs and their solo work is none too shabby either. They're probably the biggest influences on my rhythm playing.

 

[Cyco Nino]

-Dimebag Darrell from Pantera
-Jerry Cantrell from Alice in chains
-Dino Cazares from Fear Factory
-Larry Lalonde from Primus and Possessed
-Munky and Head from Korn
-Page Hamilton from Helmet
-And a lot of hc guitarists.

 

[oompa]

it feels strange to say but ive played for 15 years and if i take some chronological approach to this, i end up with 4-5 guys who has influenced me strongly along the way but are not of any interrest to me today.

1: Kirk Hammett - Was a metallica fan when i started playing guitar, adopted his "stiff fingers" right hand picking technique for a long time, and chewed metallica riffs in and out.

2: Jimmy Page - got back to 'my' roots, and rediscovered zeppelin, not only did i grow up with 70's rock from my dad, but now i rediscovered that also there were kickass guitarists involved, like Page, Iommi etc. got me goin in rock, both single notes and chords.

3: Mårten Hagström - discovered Future Breed Machine when it was just released and i was 13 yo. it blew my mind as i was always really into rythms and how they could enhance melody (wich meshuggah had none of). been one of my most frequently played groups throughout my life. mårten and fredrik taught me all about tight polymetric djentleness.

4: as i was apparently a sucker for technical and progressive stuff, Dream Theater was just around the corner and i discovered them almost at the same time. i had heard them earlier but they sounded way to cheesy. now i had gotten good enough to recognize the awesome of petrucci and as i started deciphering DT songs and his style i grew several levels as a musician and guitarist. his instructional gave me alot in ways of technique.

5: Jerry Cantrell - in my mid-teens i headed deep into the grunge genre for a little while and discovered a great contrast to all this technical stuff i had been so obsessed with. i was already all into Shuldiner and the likes and when a guitarist friend who was older and i really looked up to, started talking about how very simple three chord songs could do so much i had a period where all i did was playing alice in chains and stone temple pilots songs.

nowadays im mostly into experimental music and technical death metal but i guess those above 5 dudes are the ones that i have spent the most time trying to analyze and those have probably shaped me the most as a guitarist, even if i dont listen much to any of them groups nowadays, except meshuggah

runner up guitarists that also influenced me alot and who i spent many hours playing along with:
Mikael Weikath (helloween), Jesper Strömblad (in flames), Head+Munky (korn), Amott Brothers (Arch Enemy), Anders Björler (at the gates, the haunted), Mikael Åkerfeldt (opeth), Kerry King (slayer)

later inspirations:
Brent Hinds (mastodon), Muhammed Suicmez (necrophagist), Daniel Mongrain (Martyr), Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath), Paul Masvidal (cynic), Nils Frykdahl (SGM, Faun Fables etc.)

 

[hairychris]

Mike Clark/late 80's Suicidal Tendencies
James Hetfield
Tommy Victor/Prong
Adam Jones

Er can't think of a 5th one. The first 3 were very influential in my playing when I started out as a thrasher in the 80s. I love Adam Jones's precision & style.

Possibly Page Hamilton/Helmet. Possibly Devin Townsend/SYL. Possibly Jeff Hanneman/Slayer. And recent ones... The Unearth guys, and I'm a relatively new convert to the joys of Paul Gilbert & his instructional DVDs.

 

[eaeolian]

That's actually pretty easy for me:

Ritchie Blackmore - my single biggest influence, although you don't hear it in the ways you might expect.

James Hetfield - I wouldn't have the right hand I have without learning the first four Metallica albums note-for-note.

Chris Poland - Apparently (from listening to my own playing) my most noticeable current influence. According to Noodles, anyway.

Tim Calvert - The guy I hear most in my own playing, especially the way I use arpeggios.

Dave Mustaine - Supreme weirdness in composition. Didn't influence my soloing, but definitely my rhythm playing and writing - at least up until Rust In Peace.

 

[AK DRAGON]

1. C.C. DeVille - this crazy guitarist got me wanting to play guitar.
2. Eric Clapton - Showed me that it wasn't all about how fast and how many notes I could play, it was all about the notes that were NOT played
3. Joe Satriani - Need I say More?
4. John Petrucci - the King of Prog. Had me looking at myself to how to improve my technique and theory
5. Steve Vai - the upside down ? with wild hair.

 

[DslDwg]

1. Randy Rhoads - This was my first concert July 4, 1981 - life altering watching this guy - 50,000 people in the Oakland Coliseum pumping their firsts in time with Crazy Train - I knew I needed to learn to play guitar.
2. Tony Iommi - I just love his style heavy and evil.
3. Dave Murry/Adrian Smith - I think they showed me that great rhythm playing could be cool.
4. Glenn Tipton/ K.K. Downing - Again loved the double guitars - showed me that you didn't need to be the next great shred meister to write/play great songs.
5. James Hetfield/ Kirk Hammett - I don't like the direction they've gone in recent years but saying that the first four albums didn't influence my playing would be a lie. For me it was the natural progression from Maiden and Priest and now speed it up - yipee .

Other Honorable mentions but probably not heard much in my playing (my fat little fingers just don't move fast enough)- Petrucci, Lifeson, Poland, Friedman, MacAlpine, Loomis.

 

[groph]

This list will include multiple players at once because I view a band as a whole most of the time.

In no order

1) Pat O'Brien/Jack Owen/Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse - I'll never forget seeing videos of these guys playing, warping my mind with how their left hands went all over the fretboard. Gore Obsessed and Bloodthirst are Cannibal Corpse at their instrumental prime. Credit also goes to Bob Rusay and Rob Barrett.

2) Ruben Rosas of Devourment - Devourment, IMO are the most intensely brutal band around and they have a unique style that breaks free from a cookie cutter sound. He influences my playing style a lot.

3) Kerry King/Jeff Hanneman of Slayer - I love Slayer. No Metallica for me.

4) Terrence Hobbs/Guy Marchais of Suffocation - Recently they're influencing my playing style. I love the raw, sloppy old school style.

5) Jean-Francois of Kataklysm - I love his really basic riffs. Kataklysm is also very unique sounding. Heavy = Simple in my books.

EDIT: Jesus Christ the last two people who posted are named Geoff and have RG7321's.

 

[Konfyouzd]

in no particular order

steve vai
akerfeldt
jeff loomis
jerry cantrell
stanley jordan