Eddie Lang
Charlie Christian
Wes Montgomery
Jimi Hendrix
Who’s Eddie Lang? The first GREAT guitar player. The first guy to play a chord solo, a brilliant side man, the first person to play classical music on a steel string guitar with a pick, and the highest paid side man IN THE UNITED STATES until his death. He and Joe Venuti inspired Django and Stefan, who then copied their style. Charlie Christian for being the first great electric guitar player, and Wes Montgomery for being melodically a true genius. And then Jimi for being Jimi. My personal favorite will always be Albert King for teaching me how much can be done with how few notes. He is also almost impossible to duplicate pitch wise. Try it sometime.