Top 5 Guitarists, with a twist

  • Thread starter Deleted member 5962
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 5962

Guest
So we have the thread asking for your top 5 guitarists. In that, it's left at your interpretation as to whether you list just your favorites, or the 5 you think are "best," which can be two very different things. What I want to know here is:

What are the top 5 guitar players that actually influenced YOUR style? Easy example, I think Holdworth is an off the hook genius level musician and player, but I can't play anything like him. So he ALWAYS makes my top 5 list, but he hasn't influenced my style "much." I can do some legato but seriously, he's from a different planet than anyone else. Beck, same thing. Blown away by what he does, but NOBODY else can do that, and neither can I! Di Meola... I used to work on both electric and acoustic tunes of his, going for perfect "note for note." When I'm not specifically playing his stuff, I don't play that style music. But, he has a huge influence on me because whenever I wanted to impress someone I'd not do the Yngwie thing of pick one note and play three, I'd do like Di Meola and pick every note. It's much harder. So, while I"m not much of a Jazz of Fusion guy, Di Meola had a huge influence. Now, if we were just impromtu jamming and you were playing a hard rock type rhythm, you'd probably hear more Frank Marino style (really fast riffs) and Morse/Di Meola (fast scales) and while I'm totally a VH fan and used to play almost all his songs, I play a lot like his style, but really don't tap much at all any more. I'd like to think that if you laid down some blues I'd cop a pretty good Hendrix and Trower vibe, but... well I need to practice and get in that "mindset" before I can really do that well. I used to get it pretty good when I'd play along with their albums. If just jamming with others though, I tend to do that for a while then get bored and throw in some faster riffs. Being a lifelong Rush freak, and playing most of their tunes back in the day, Lifeson of course was an influence.

So, the top 5 guitarists that influenced your actual playing style. Mine,

Van Halen
Marino
Di Meola
Trower/Hendrix
Lifeson

(and Michael Schenker, Yngwie, Satch, and lots of 70s hard rock and 80s metal guys. Oh, and since I'm here, where he's practically a mythical god, of course I have to mention Reb Beach! :D
 
Oooh I like this question. While I like a lot of the greats, a lot of the crazy instrumental guitarist (Vai, Satch, etc.) don't really influence the stuff I write that much.

I have to say:
  • Chris Robertson
  • Mark Tremonti
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • David Gilmour
  • Adam Tanbouz (severely underrated; not the most technically skilled, but a very creative songwriter)
  • Honorable Mention: John Mayer
 
Last edited:
Nice way to put this!

Johnny Cash - without him, I don't know if I ever pick up the guitar to have a playing style
Ace Frehley - my introduction to hard rock/metal
Pete Townshend - the bedrock of my rhythm playing
Randy Rhoads - for pushing me further (even though I can't cop most of his stuff)
Frank Zappa - for thinking outside the box

Bubbling under and occasionally swapping places with those five would be Mike Keneally, Ted Nugent, Michael Hedges and Tommy Emmanuel.
 
Can of worms, open! Bait everywhere!!

This will take some “Sheldon Cooper” thinking, ‘cos like Ross Geller the list has to be laminated!!:D

I’ll be back sometime in the year!
 
Yeah, I don't get into the "who's best" discussions because there is no best, so my answers in the other thread apply here as well.
These are the 5 (err, 7) guys who have most influenced me over the years. There are many, many more, but these guys are probably the top inspirations. If you hear my playing, you probably can hear a bit of them.

1. Ritchie Blackmore - DP and Rainbow
2. Steve Morse - Dregs, SMB, DP, Kansas, Flying Colors
3. Gary Rossington/Ed King/Allen Collins/Steve Gaines - Lynyrd Skynyrd
4. Tommy Emmanuel - solo
5. Tommy Walker - C.A. Worship Band
 
I like a twist. Here they go in about the order I started caring about incorporating elements of what they do into my own playing.

BB King - first guy I really loved
Hendrix - oddly, I listened to his character before I particularly paid attention to his guitar
Randy Bachman - can you tell I’m Canadian?
SRV - I’m a blues guy at heart
Paco

I’d like to say Jeff Beck, but I can’t even pretend to use a trem like him, though I periodically give it another shot.
 
Dickey Betts - I love his melodicism, whole note scales, and the way he sounds like an adventurous post-bop horn more than a guitar half the time... and almost always just running his guitar straight into the amp, as clean as the fallen snow.
Eric Clapton - That warbling vibrato and the little turnarounds he uses to string lines together just grabbed me early. When I was a little kid, like 4 or 5, I used to listen to my mom's Cream albums on my little plastic clamshell book-and-record record player, so Slowhand definitely got in my brain earliest on.
Billy Gibbons - I love his imagination inside that A minor pentatonic box he lives in, the epic pinch harmonics, and his rapid, angry-wasp-stinging vibrato is a great tool in the kit. I went to GC to try out an amp intending to bang out some AC/DC, and ended up mostly revisiting Rio Grande Mud.
Peter Green - He's always played only the notes he felt, exactly the way he felt them at that moment in time. Honesty and economy, and one of the most arresting tones in recorded music. As an aside, I made myself a phone ringtone out of Greeny's solo on "Another Kind of Love" off the Bluesbreakers "A Hard Road" album.
Freddie King - I love the playful rake-ups and rake-downs, the flashy blurts, his unique blend of rockabilly stabs and Chicago half bends, and his great instrumentals.
Rudolf Schenker - I spent the first couple years of learning guitar hashing out Scorpions riffs, mostly because I quickly figured out that Van Halen was a little out of reach for me. I love his staccato syncopation, and the way he leaves plenty of space for Klaus's vocals and for Matthias and Hermann to add fills.

Whoops, guess that's six. Dagnabbit.
 
Last edited:
Well, you certainly took my question to a new level. Cool! Being more of a experimental guitar player, I don't have the chops to play like anyone on my list, although I like to think I will some day. Gillmore and Rothery stand on the top as the players who inspire me the most. I love long sustain and slow melodic tones, something they both have mastered.
 
Love it! This was a consideration as I pondered who I might list in the other thread. This is actually an easier list for me compared to who are my favorites to listen to.

Top five influences on my style are likely:
Dickey Betts
Duane Allman
Eric Clapton (particularly Bluesbreakers, Cream, Derek & the Dominos)
Warren Haynes
Robben Ford

Honorable mentions to Jimi Hendrix and Steve Vai for teaching me whammy bar abuse.
 
Funny you put it this way because I employed that "twist" in my reply in Wakester's thread, I tend to connect my musical roots to what I like in a player. So my reply is the same:
Santana
DiMeola
EVH
Metheny
Benson

........but this gives me an idea.......... :cool:
 
These are probably the top 5 for me, although I could make a case for swapping Eric Johnson, Michael Hedges or Al DiMeola in at #5.

Jimmy Page
Alex Lifeson
Andy Summers
David Gilmour
Neil Young
 
Being an old timer, here's 5 that influenced me most:

1. John Lennon
2. George Harrison
3. Jimmy Page
4. Andy Summers
5. John McLaughlin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
Aldimeola Prism - Tuner Machine
Replies
15
Views
283
sergiodeblanc
sergiodeblanc
J
  • Poll
PRS SE McCarty 594 Singlecut or Double Cut?
2
Replies
32
Views
322
Mikegarveyblues
Mikegarveyblues
I
New here, and just got a Modern Eagle V
Replies
8
Views
181
Tedder
Tedder
FatFingerBlues
I want an S2 DGT
Replies
0
Views
55
FatFingerBlues
FatFingerBlues
SteveGlitch
The best PRS tone you’ve never heard
Replies
16
Views
342
ruger9
ruger9
Back
Top