Most personally influential guitarists?

[grywolf627]

So, as a counterpoint to that sham of a thread from yesterday, maybe we can show a little respect for guitarist again. This isn't a "who's your favorite guitarist?" thread, but a "what guitarists influenced your playing the most, and why?" thread. Some of my favorite guitarists...Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen (from yesterday's disputed thread), and modern guitarist like Petrucci and Loomis...while they may be some of my favorites, they didn't really directly influence my playing that much. So, who did?

List as many as you like, and if possible, give a reason why. BUT, there will be no guitarist bashing here. Just because YOU didn't like or appreciate a guitarist doesn't mean they didn't inspire OTHERS.

Here's mine. And yes, I'm older than a lot of you, as you will see from my list. These guys were paving the way for things...at least for me.



Paul Dean - laugh if want (if you even know who he is), but taught me the use of effects for sonic textures.

Alex Lifeson - for melody, and also the use of effects/sonic textures.

Vivian campbell - for helping me discover the minor scale (and too many other things to mention..a major eye opener for me).

Brad Gillis - for legato, whammy bar gymnastics, & feedback/sustain (and creating my love for Mesa Boogie).

Steve Stevens - more sonic texture stuff.

Yngwie Malmsteen - for waking me up to neo classical staples (arpeggios, diminished scales), and for that nice, wide vibrato.

John Sykes - more of the proper technique and usage of vibrato, and effectively using long, sustaining notes to sing out in solos.

George Lynch - probably the biggest influence on my playing, from legato, to pinch harmonics, vibrato, picking technique...pretty much everything that is part of my playing today.

Tony MacAlpine - for combining beautiful, well constructed melody with tasteful shred.

Joe Satriani - more whammy bar stuff, and expressiveness in general.

George Lynch - (see above)

Eric Johnson - for showing me that pentatonic scales are more than just for beginners. And also for making me buy my American Strat (that I really miss at times).

Stevie Ray Vaughn - for showing that Texas blues can rock, and for showing the power and expression you can have behind just a few notes, making me love that single coil sound.

Oh...and did I mention George Lynch?


So, who influenced you? Go!

 

[JMarz]

Good idea for a thread

I'd say..

Michael Romeo

Jeff Loomis

Jari Maenpaa

Alexi Laiho

Dimebag Darrel

SRV \m/

annnnd Marty Friedman

 

[ahjteam]

Lenny Kravitz - The reason why I bought a guitar was this guy. Let me assure you - its fucking HARD to do as simple stuff as he does and still make it groove like a moose.

 

[JamieK]

Yngwie Malmsteen - One of the first guitarists I was influenced by. My dad had an instructional by him, and it blew my mind, still does.

Kirk Hammet - This was when I was a little guitar noob, a couple of friends introduced to Metallica, and I instantly worshipped them,
I then went off on my little metal adventure, discovering new guitarists and new metal genre's, when I came back to Metallica, i realised Kirk is crap,
but at the time, he was the best guitarist in the world to me.

Alexi Laiho - Old stuff, only the first three albums, the most recent CoB albums are crap, he sold out.

John Petrucci - I don't think I need to give an explanation.

Jari Maenpaa - He is my most influential guitarist and musician, Wintersun changed what i think about music forever.

 

[mts1979]

Alright, I'll play...

Chuck Schuldiner - Not sure what to say except I became a much better guitarist by learning Death stuff.

James Hetfield - kind of an obvious choice, but I learned guitar by playing along with Metallica CDs, just like everyone else. Super tight rhythm playing and good songs (well, until 1995 or so).

Tony Iommi - Self explanatory -- he pretty much invented the game. I always liked his actual playing too.

Ihsahn/Samoth (Emperor) - These guys showed me that you can do a lot more with 2 guitarists musically than the usual Iron Maiden type harmonies. Also, watching Ihsahn sing while playing some crazy complicated guitar stuff is pretty cool.

Ken Andrews (Failure) - Not "metal" by any stretch, but he does a lot of weird cool things with guitar, both playing-wise and effects/textures/layers wise. Great engineer/producer too. Look him up if you don't know who he is.

David Gilmour - It's cliché, but he really does do more with one note than any shredder can with 1000.

I'm sure I'm leaving out a bunch (Dimebag, Rhoads, Amott/Steer, etc) but that's all I got right now.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Joe Satriani- The most complete guitarist I've heard in my life. When it comes to lead guitar, I consider phrasing, note choice and intonation to be far more important than pure speed.
Joe has THE best phrasing ever IMO. His vibrato is always in control and expressive, his command over bending is stunning and his note choice shows what a well developed ear he has.
The icing on the cake is his insane chops, especially his expressive, ultra insane legato licks.

Steve Vai- I don't like his playing as much as Joe's, but his unique style and expressiveness sets him apart from so many guys and continues to inspire me

Mikael Akerfeldt- As a metal guitarist myself, I hold this man in extremely high regard. Not only does he churn out amazing riff after riff and his fingerpicking stuff is awesome, but his lead playing is incredible.
No, he doesn't shred 10 million notes per second.
What he does have that 90 per cent of shredders don't is an ear for good melodies, vibrato and general intonation and note choice in his solos.

David Gilmour- I could say "enuff said", lol. Super expressive and versatile guitarist, been one of my favorites for years and always will be.

Dimebag Darrel- The day I started to really listen to Pantera changed the way I looked at the guitar and music in general forever. It was the day I learnt you could crush skulls and have massive groove at the same time. RIP.

Tom Morello- When everyone thought everything had been done with the pentatonic scale, here comes Morello. Some of my favorite riffs ever are RATM riffs. His playing is as tight as fuck and despite not using much gain, his playing is fucking heavy as shit.
Most people with 100 effect pedals couldn't make 1/1000th of the noises and sound effects he made and revolutionized from using purely his guitars, a few stomp boxes and an amp.

Randy Rhoads- Not only some of the most badass riffs ever, but some awesome composing skills to boot. His solos are always blistering, yet full of intense emotion. RIP

Marty Friedman- Almost For his work on Rust In Peace alone. I learnt some of my vibrato technique from him and also learnt how to "work outside yet somehow sound right within the context" from and incorporate that into my solos.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez- His playing really influenced the post hardcore style of my playing, with the chord, the rhythms, the textures and the attitude.

Aaron Turner- Taught me the value of letting your compositions breathe more and that as long as your musical ideas are strong, you can use many repetitions and let things build slowly rather than always constantly needing to bash your listening over the head with full force for non stop.

 

[grywolf627]

Good stuff so far. I haven't heard of a few of these guys, so now I've got some new guitarists to research.

 

[Felix Neumann]

Very good thread! Conciliatory as well, after the catastrophe yesterday

Chuck Schuldiner & James Murphy (I grew up with "Spiritual Healing"), Adrian Smith (Somewhere in time) & Chris Poland (Peace Sells).

 

[Jackal_Strain]

I'm really not a lead player so it's a pretty easy choice. James Hetfield. I was the biggest Metallica fanboy when I was younger, and I tried really hard to be James Hetfield
Anyway, as I learned more about the guitar I realized what a great player he is and he still inluences me to this day.

 

[grywolf627]

Very good thread! Conciliatory as well, after the catastrophe yesterday

Exactly what I had in mind. We have to make amends to the guitar gods after yesterday.

 

[Felix Neumann]

Exactly what I had in mind. We have to make amends to the guitar gods after yesterday.

Hahaha yeah absolutely, dude

 

[greyskull]

Tom Morello - the riffs.
Ian D'sa - Fruity Chords
Ben Weinman - I wish i could play like that
Jonsi birgisson - For the atospheric stuff
Eddy Van Halen - One of the most tasteful widdly guitarists.
Dave Gilmour - Feel

 

[Executioner213]

Tony Iommi
James Murphy (no, not just because he's on the board. The Gathering/Convergence/Feeding The Machine/Low/Spiritual Healing really did a number for me)
Jeff Loomis
John Petrucci
Randy Rhoads
Al DiMeola...not that I can play as good as him, but he is da man.
Marty Friedman
Alexi Laiho
Alex Lifeson
Michael Romeo
Jason Becker
Dave Mustaine
Andy LaRocque
Dime
Tipton/Downing
Steve Vai
Skolnick/Peterson
Chuck Schuldiner
Joe Satriani
King/Hanneman
Hetfield/Hammett
Zakk Wylde (more NR4TW/NMT-era than anything else)
Jake E. Lee
Uli Jon Roth
Smith/Murray


It might be a laundry list, but they have all directly affected my playing at various points of time.

 

[STINNETT]

Eddie Van halen is the reason I wanted to play guitar as a kid. Have to include him.

Marty Friedman - His exotic melodies and unique approach to bending were a huge influence on me.

Greg howe - Just his overall style and approach. I find myself sometimes trying to think of what Greg Howe would play in a certain situation. The man is just overflowing with style.

Allan Holdsworth - Still trying to get my legato to sound like his. It'll never happen.

Chuck Schuldiner - I also spent a lot of my formative years learning Death riffs. It really elevated my playing beyond the Metallica riffs that I started with!

Steve Vai - I love his whammy bar excursions. That has rubbed off on me a little (but not too much).

Scorr Henderson - A master improviser and very quirky fusion player - two things that I strive for.

There are definitely a lot more....but I'd have to think about it.

 

[Metaltastic]

John Petrucci BEFORE Train of Thought
I'm done citing all the examples of how incredibly soulful and tasteful he can be; those who know, know, and those who don't will just ignorantly and incorrectly think of him as another wanker for the rest of time, and all I can say is I pity them cuz they're missing out!

Per Nilsson
Man, I haven't even been listening to SS for a full year yet, and he still steamrolled his way into my list, god what a player

Alexi Laiho
Still has such an immediately identifiable and awesome style, and has written some incredibly melodic solos (and some wailing ones that just make me lose my shit)

Jani Liimatainen (Sonata Arctica)
Now for this dude I think I will provide some examples, cuz I keep mentioning him and people don't seem to get it. Similar to Alexi, he can just fucking wail but play with such taste in his note choice; highlights include the solos in "Weballergy" (especially his second one), "The Cage", "Black Sheep", and the solo explosion in "Ruins of my Life"

Peter Wichers
Love the guy's solo'ing, note choice, etc.

George Lynch
The epitome of all that was awesome about guitar solos in the 80s IMO!

Neal Schon
VIBRATO, jesus christ, and just an awesome wailer

Dave Suzuki (Vital Remains)
He's at the bottom only because he doesn't get nearly enough chances to shine in VR, but MAN can the guy play and write some amazing licks (just listen to that sweeping break in "Dechristianize", FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU)

And an honorable mention to Tony Macalpine; Mark, I actually bought the whole "Maximum Security" album, and even though I thought I'd never listen to another Shrapnel record for the rest of my life, looks like I was wrong!

 

[Splat88]

Alex Lifeson - nobody's melodies, solo or rhythm, have moved me quite as much as his
Geordie Walker - Killing Joke (his chordwork is absolutely amazing)
Peter Wichers
Devin Townsend
Tommy Victor - Prong
Mikael Akerfeldt
Frederick Thordendal
Justin Broadrick - simple, yet haunting dissonant rhythms and atmosphere with Godflesh. HUGE influence on my writing.
Alex Skolnick
Dino Cazares
David Gilmour
Marty Friedman
Dave Mustaine
Neil Schon
Eric Johnson

 

[Decimator]

Tommy Emmanuel - The Master! He's got the groove and he plays it with a melody at the same time and makes it look effortless. Have you ever tried to play one his songs? It's hard as hell :zombie: Well, it's fun to learn although it takes a lot of time.

Nuno Bettencourt - Master of the riffs! His solos are also great, melodic and not just average wankery. Very inspiring player.

Alex Skolnick - Plays great memorable solos. Some of my favourites are from 'Electric crown' and 'Return to serenity'. Check out his jazz cover of 'Electric eye'. It's awesome

Mattias IA Eklundh - Plays some crazy shit with odd tunings (C#sus4, Bbm13, etc.). Really got his own distinctive sound and style. Great singer and songwriter too.

Guthrie Govan - Amazing player who can handle lots of styles. He is also a great songwriter.

Mark Knopfler - Really got the feel in his playing.

 

[Torniojaws]

Muhammed Suiçmez - If you've seen him live, you cannot have any excuses for saying "my riff is too hard to play while singing" (or the other way around)
Dino Cazares - Machine gun riffing to a cool double kick groove is fun
Joe Satriani - Cool and flowing lead guitar melodies are much more interesting than ridiculously technical, but completely non-musical hyperspeed lead shreds
Tony Iommi - The man's been writing killer riffs for 40 decades, while others struggle to make killer riffs during a solid 4 year period
Arnt Ove Grønbech - Just listen to some of the faster riffs on Keep of Kalessin's Armada!
Vegard Sverre Tveitan & Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen - Such invention in the harmonies and the classical touch
Fredrik Thordendal & Mårten Hagström - Now that's groove!

 

[Metaltastic]

Actually, I gotta post something highlighting mah boi Dave - the thing with Vital Remains is most of their music is just absolutely narcolepsy-inducing boring death metal, and then these random ridiculously infectious melodic breaks just spring up out of nowhere, and that's usually what I skip to in each song whenever I listen to 'em! Case in point:



Go to 3:29, and then 7:35

 

[grywolf627]

...Mark, I actually bought the whole "Maximum Security" album, and even though I thought I'd never listen to another Shrapnel record for the rest of my life, looks like I was wrong!

Good man. You should also check out the M.A.R.S. Project: Driver CD. (MacAlpine, Aldridge, Rock, & Sarzo). Tony's solos have a definite Lynch feel to them (well, parts of some of them). The solos (main solo and fade out) of "Slave To Your Touch", "I Can See It In Your Eyes", and "Fantasy" still give me goosebumps.