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Top 15 Most Influential Guitarists

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Joe Satriani
Paul Gilbert
John Petrucci
Steve Vai
Eric Johnson
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Chuck Berry
Randy Rhoads
Kerry King
Mick Thompson
Padge (BFMV)
Kirk Hammet
James Hetfield
Mikko Lindstrom
Dave Mustaine



i do like a bit of variety. :)
 
Hm I believe I missed this thread well I'm not sure if I have 15 but here's some of my influences (not in any order)

1. Daron Malakian
2. Kenny Hickey
3. Eddie Van Halen
4. Slash (overrated yes but he's definitely good)
5. Joe Satriani
6. Zakk Wylde (pre BLS era)
7. Pete Townsend
8. Marty-Wilson Piper
9. Adam Jones
10. Jerry Cantrel
11. Dave navarro
 
My List

not in any real order

-Jeff Beck
-Carlos Santana
-Jimmy Page
-Eric Clapton
-Billy Gibbons
-Pete Townsend
-David Gilmour
-Jimi Hendrix
-Stevie Ray Vaughan
-Terry Kath (Chicago, back when they were good)
-Frank Zappa
-Eddie Van Halen
-Brian May
 
Last edited:
Right guys - I'm really very new to this guitar playing, so I'm not yet at a stage of creating my own music! So I can't really say I'm qualified to say who influences me... Second, there is the fact that I don't recognise a lot of the names you guys have been posting - for instance I only found out recently the Django was the name of a guy famed for guitar playing!!!

(I also seem to be in the minority that doesn't enjoy listening to heavy metal!)

So the list I give you is a couple of decades worth of "critical listening" - here are the players who have moved me the most with their songs and their ability to either play amazing speed and technique (Steve Vai), or play tunes that hit me emotionally (Neil Young), or a bit of both (Carlos Santana, Ry Cooder).

No real order, just as I thought of them...

Mark Knopfler
Carlos Santana
Brian May
Neil Young
George Harrison
The Edge
Paul Weller
Mike Oldfield
Ry Cooder
George Harrison
Steve Vai
Kurt Cobain
Tim Farris
David Gilmour
Mark Hart

** Reserve the right ot edit **

Cheerz

Mark H
 
Rampant said:
Mark Knopfler
Carlos Santana
Brian May
Neil Young
George Harrison
The Edge
Paul Weller
Mike Oldfield
Ry Cooder
George Harrison
Steve Vai
Kurt Cobain
Tim Farris
David Gilmour
Mark Hart
Click to expand...

obviously a big influence since you put him on there twice. :D

not complaining as george is the reason i ever picked up a guitar.
 
Hrmm...well, I guess to date it would be these guys:

Slash/Izzy
Nick Drake
Ty Tabor
Noel Gallagher
Elliott Smith
Jay Farrar
Tim Wheeler
Jimmy Page
Angus Young/Malcolm Young
Jonny Greenwood
Phil Collen/Steve Clark
Dean DeLeo
 
Last edited:
OK I'll participate in this thread resurrection. I'm sure I'll leave someone out because 15 is a small sample.

Billy F Gibbons
Jimi Hendrix
SRV
Jimmy Page
Carlos Santana
Angus Young
BB King
Albert King
Joe Walsh
Joe Satriani
Tony Iommi
Robby Kreiger
Monte Montgomery
First 4 Skynyrd guitarists

I know I'm a cheater. I was running out of room. I have many more influences in a wider sense but those are the ones who most immediatly influenced my sound and playing styles.
 
Here's my 15, in no particular order:

EVH (my first influence)
David Gilmour
Gary Moore
Jeff Beck
Mark Knopfler
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
Yngwie Malmsteen
John Petrucci
Phil Collen and Steve Clark
Vinnie Moore
Alex Skolnick
Dan Fogelberg
Allan Holdsworth
 
Number one: Jimmy Page

The rest in no order:

Robin Trower
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
David Gilmour
James Honeyman Scott
SRV
Angus Young
Malcolm Young
Joe Satriani
BB King
Eddie Van Halen
George Lynch
Michael Hedges
Randy Rhodes
 
I wouldn't say that my playing shows influence from anyone (I wouldn't insult anybody with that), but there are some that have influenced either guitar/gear choices, or styles I'd like to learn. In random order:

Tony Iommi
Rick Nielsen
Rory Gallagher
Mark Knopfler
Michael Schenker
Duane Allman
Eric Clapton
EVH
David Gilmour
Brian May
Eric Johnson
Neil Young
Warren Haynes
Leo Kottke
Lou Reed

That'll do for now.
 
I'll play to keep this thread going.

My 15 most influential guitarists (and bassists):

Dave Fielding (The Chameleons, The Reegs, Coconut DF)
Julian Swales (Kitchens of Distinction)
Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order, Monaco, Freebass)
Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins, Violet Indiana)
Will Sergeant (Echo & The Bunnymen)
Robert Smith (The Cure)
Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins)
Mark Burgess (The Chameleons, The Sun and The Moon, Mark Burgess and The Sons of God, ChameleonsVox)
Simon Gallup (The Cure)
David J. Haskins (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets)
Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Electronic, Modest Mouse, The Cribs)
Graham Coxon (Blur)
Peter Buck (R.E.M.)
David 'The Edge' Evans (U2)
 
In no particular order and definitly some that timeline my listening tastes

Randy Rhoads
Paul McCartney (for his songwriting)
Jimi Hendrix
Neil Young
Bob Marley
Jimmy Page
James Hetfield
Mike Einziger
Jim Croce
Rory Gallagher
Robby Kreiger
BB King
Muddy Waters
Stevie Ray Vaughan
George Thorogood
David Gilmour
Joe Bonamassa
The Edge
Andy Summers

Woah! Just realized I could go on for awhile here! Randy Rhoads is the guitarist that inspired me to play guitar and it all rolls from there!
 
Kestrel said:
I'll play to keep this thread going.

My 15 most influential guitarists (and bassists):

Dave Fielding (The Chameleons, The Reegs, Coconut DF)
Julian Swales (Kitchens of Distinction)
Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order, Monaco, Freebass)
Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins, Violet Indiana)
Will Sergeant (Echo & The Bunnymen)
Robert Smith (The Cure)
Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins)
Mark Burgess (The Chameleons, The Sun and The Moon, Mark Burgess and The Sons of God, ChameleonsVox)
Simon Gallup (The Cure)
David J. Haskins (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets)
Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Electronic, Modest Mouse, The Cribs)
Graham Coxon (Blur)
Peter Buck (R.E.M.)
David 'The Edge' Evans (U2)
Click to expand...

I like your lists. I enjoy the different point of view. :thumbsup
 
In addition to practically every guitarist mentioned, I was influenced early on by:


Paul Kossoff
Leslie West
Peter Frampton (esp. Humble Pie era)
John McLaughlin
Bill Connors (Return to Forever era)
 
1. Glenn Tipton
2. Jason Becker
3. Yngwie Johann Malmsteen
4. Darrell Lance Abbott
5. Eddie Van Halen
6. Adrian Smith
7. J.C. Marín Carlitos
8. Paul Gilbert
9. Michael Angelo Batio
And #10. is Lita Ford for being so hot.
 
InterstateAssembly said:
1. Glenn Tipton
2. Jason Becker
3. Yngwie Johann Malmsteen
4. Darrell Lance Abbott
5. Eddie Van Halen
6. Adrian Smith
7. J.C. Marín Carlitos
8. Paul Gilbert
9. Michael Angelo Batio
And #10. is Lita Ford for being so hot.
Click to expand...

Finally pretty much guys I also know&affected my playing, for the most part....except...Abbott? Carlitos?
 
1. Slash
2. Jimmy Page
3. Kurt Cobain
4. Billy Joe Armstrong
5. Noodles
6. Dean DeLeo
7. Albert King
8. SRV
9. Eric Clapton
10. Shuggie Otis
11. Dimebag
12. Scott Ian
13. Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman...(hard to pick one over the other)
14. Kirk Hammett
15. Tom Maxwell-He's the one thats really got me going right now....I mean who use's a slide in metal?

Im going to do a short bass list cos I really enjoy playing bass to and I think those inspire my guitar playing as well.

1. Robert Trujillo
2. Flea
3. Robert DeLeo
4. Cliff Burton
5. Les Claypool
 
Jay Jay French
C.C. Deville
The guys from Warrant

Everyone ***** on them, but if I could play half as good as any of them, I'd be pretty stoked.
 
Commodore 64 said:
Jay Jay French
C.C. Deville
The guys from Warrant

Everyone ***** on them, but if I could play half as good as any of them, I'd be pretty stoked.
Click to expand...
You know, at least for C.C. Deville, I never quite understood why people kill him so much. He might not be very innovative, and he certainly seemed like an annoying person, but...it's not like I'm ripping out solos like his on a daily basis.

Coincidentally, I once read that C.C. was actually the one who did the guitar solo for Cherry Pie by Warrant. Ironic, huh?
 
I dunno, Eric, I never did hear C.C. much at all. I had to go and see a bunch of Youtube vids of his solos. And I can definitely see why people bash him...pretty much all his clips seem to have a satanically horrible guitar sound, insane gain and messý delay, and the also seem to consist of bursts of largely something like finger exercises shredded thru so-and-so with distortion and delay masking any mistakes there might be.

Still, I wouldn't go out my way to bash him, there must be a gazillion players worse than him out there.
 
deeaa said:
I dunno, Eric, I never did hear C.C. much at all. I had to go and see a bunch of Youtube vids of his solos. And I can definitely see why people bash him...pretty much all his clips seem to have a satanically horrible guitar sound, insane gain and messý delay, and the also seem to consist of bursts of largely something like finger exercises shredded thru so-and-so with distortion and delay masking any mistakes there might be.

Still, I wouldn't go out my way to bash him, there must be a gazillion players worse than him out there.
Click to expand...
That's probably a fair description. I still can't do finger exercises as fast as him, however.

I imagine the reason people bash him is because of all of the things you said + the fact that he was the lead guitarist in what was probably the most popular hair-metal band at that time. High profile = much scrutiny.
 
deeaa said:
Finally pretty much guys I also know&affected my playing, for the most part....except...Abbott? Carlitos?
Click to expand...

Abbott, as in Dimebag Darrell.
I only saw him once back in '81, opening for Ozzy (with Randy Rhoads).
Pantera was a new local metal band and was in their spandex era. I specifically remember someone completely shredding as a warm up/sound check before the concert started... He was already good as a kid.

pantera2.jpg
 
In no certain order (ok....Hendrix is always #1) >

Hendrix
Pat Travers
Rick Derringer
Ritchie Blackmoore
Iommi
Joe Perry
Keith Richards
Page
George H
EVH
Doyle Bramhall II
Joe Bonnamasa
TY Tabor
Kim Mitchell
Leslie West
 
Tig said:
Abbott, as in Dimebag Darrell.
I only saw him once back in '81, opening for Ozzy (with Randy Rhoads).
Pantera was a new local metal band and was in their spandex era. I specifically remember someone completely shredding as a warm up/sound check before the concert started... He was already good as a kid.

pantera2.jpg
Click to expand...

Yes, he sure was... I read or saw an interview with him where he told of his love for Dean guitars (especially the ML) and dreams of owning one, then he entered a contest and won, the prize was a Dean guitar. Later, because he was so good, he was banned from entering any more contests, I think this all happend before he was even 18!
 
Andy said:
In no certain order (ok....Hendrix is always #1) >


Pat Travers
Kim Mitchell
Click to expand...

Nice. Nobody seems to remember Travers or Mitchell. I listened to a lot of both of them when I was in my teens. I don't think Kim Mitchell got much airplay south of the Canadian border, other than maybe Go For Soda. I was fortunate enough to live close to the border, so I was exposed to a lot of Canuck rock.
 
Right, time for an update.

Tied for 1st:
Grant Nicholas (Feeder)
Charlotte Hatherley (Ash)
Tim Wheeler (Ash)

4: Ben Moody (Evanescence, We Are the Fallen)
5: Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars)
6: Morten Veland (Tristania, Sirenia)
7: Emppu Vuorinen (Nightwish)
8: Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
9: James Hetfield (Metallica)
10: Jesper Stromblad (In Flames)
11: Bjorn Gellote (In Flames)
12: Richard Z. Kruspe (Rammstein)
13: Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth)
14: Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead)
15: Dimebag Darrell (Pantera)
 

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