Guitar Influences??

[pluto]

I was just wondering what guitarists have influenced you a lot and which guitarists continue to inspire you today. As for me, Michael Schenker and Uli Roth were and still are my greatest influences. Schenker's sense of melody and Roth's technical abilities are the reasons why I like them so much. I love listening to other players from Paul Gilbert to Joe Pass to Greg Howe to Eric Johnson to Jimmy Page, but for me, Schenker and Roth will always be my favorites of all time.

[John Price]

For me it has to be Eddie Van Halen! I grew up with him all my life from when VH II came out and hearing Dance the night away on my local radio station which made me run out and buy the 45 (Record), I then purchased the full album and fell in love with this incredible tone and feel, this was something I never heard before and made me want to play the guitar! I figured there must be a VH 1 if this is #2 so I prchased that as well and was completely blown away, and I'm still Blown away Today!!

Some other major influences are:
Jimi Hendrix
Allan Holdsworth
Pat Metheny
Steve Morse
Robben Ford
Steve Vai
Joe Satriani
Gary Moore
Randy Rhoads
Zakk Wylde
Frank Gambale
Scott Henderson
Andy Timmons
Bill Washer
This could go on forever!

I can't forget about all the local players that I work with, they give me a reality check every time I hear them play!!

I respect anybody who can play this instrument!!

Wow! That was too much!!!!

[Tom Gross]

Some old-school names here:

Terry Kath
Billy Gibbons
Jim McCarty
early Page
early Frampton (Humble Pie)
Jeff Beck
McLaughlin
DiMeola
Tommy Bolin
Jan Akkerman
Ronnie Earl
Emily Remler
Denny Dias
George Benson
Shawn Lane
Danny Gatton
Michael Bloomfield
Robben Ford
Albert King
Ollie Halsall
Matt Smith
Larry Carlton
Scott Henderson
Philip Catherine

[Stan Malinowski]

I'll show my age....

Tom Johnston, Doobie Brothers (Got me to take up guitar in 1973)
Jeff Beck
Billy Gibbons
Rory Gallagher
Rick Derringer

More Modern Influences
Walter Trout
Scott Henderson
Scott Holt
Buddy Whittington (John Mayall's Present Guitarist)
Tommy castro

[Domer]

Helloooo!!!

My influences here:

SRV
J. Hendrix
Gary Moore
J. Satriani
S. Vai
J. Petrucci
Steven Stevens
Tuck Andress
Eric Johnson

[Stan Malinowski]

How could I have forgot about Stevie Ray....

[Stys]

Jeff Beck, Neal Schon and Lindsey Buckingham for me!!

[SteveK]

George Harrison
Keef
Eric Clapton
Albert Collins
SRV
Gary Moore
Al DiMeola
Jeff Beck
Steve Howe
Richie Blackmore
Pat Travers
Neal Schon and...
Robben Ford !

[100watt]

Steve Vai, Eddie VanHalen, Jimi Hendrix, SRV

[jimmieb]

George- For great voicings, flawless meter, unmistakakable slide.

SRV- Pure grit and soul, How much bending can one man do with 13's? Stevie could have used SS frets.

Edge- The keeper of perfect meter, it pays to always play with a delay. How many patches does he have stored in his midi pedal...
a billion?

Eric- Not because he's God, but because his troubled soul resonates with how I feel. Tone, Tone, and more Tone. I can still remember the first time I heard Creme... Thank you 'Slow Hand'

Robert Johnson... soooo Blue

Eric Johnson- Flawless execution connected to his soul

Eddie- That summer you stopped playing out changed the face of guitar playing. Showed me what practice can deliver.

Jeff Beck- Proof of life on other planets... no human fingers can
get those sounds.

Keaggy- The most humble great man I've ever met. Phil does so many styles great. First take in the studio. The worlds finest finger style player, minus a finger.

Luke- Though he is so foul... I can always pick out his style.
Helped me like Power Pop.

Landau- The coolest chorus tone

Robben Ford- Modal blues.

BB King- Because he, "Don't play chords." One note has the power to make a grown man cry. See Websters under 'soul'.

Carlton- Created new modes, First time I heard 'Aja', What key is this guy playing in? Amazing recovery from near death.

Keef- Best stance while playing, best use of cig holder, 'oo needs dis bloody top string'. Thanks for open 'G'. Converted me to Boogies. I for one am glad 'keef can't be killed by conventional weapons'.

[dpeterson]

Jimi Hendrix - made me want to play
Ace Frehley - made me want to rock
Eddie Van Halen - made me practice harder
Yngwie Malmsteen - gave me chills, showed it pays to practice

others along the way: warren demartini, george lynch, paul gilbert, nuno bettencourt, stevie salas

those were my growing up players.. now i dig:

Ty Tabor (king's x) - great sound, fluid, always plays the right thing..

I'm becoming more song oriented instead of flashy guitar for guitar sake.

Dave

[nickdahl]

For years, it was EVH. Now, it's Hendrix. But there's been a lot of guitarists that influenced my senses.

Nick

[tom]

first guitar hero was dick dale, saw him when i was 8 yrs old.
first real rock concert was jimi, yikes that was hard to follow up.
in the late sixties it was clapton and beck.
pete townsend got me exited about playing live shows. got to make guitars for him back at schecter, that was a highlight.
then larry carlton although i never really played like him. jeff baxter and tom johnston kept me going through the 70's.
phil keaggy on acoustic through the 80's. we had our kids in the 80's so i missed most of the shreaders from that era.
robben ford from the early days with tom scott and joni mitchell through the present has always been a good listen.
these days it takes a good song that has something to say to get my interest.

[Stys]

I've been too many Phil Keagy shows at the local churches in our area. I'm amazed at how many different CD's he has available. I heard a story that Hendrix once said Phil Keagy was the best guitarist he has seen.

As for my influences - lately it's been Jeff Beck and Neal Schon solo material. I would love too see an Anderson Sea Foam Green Classic in Beck's hands.

Perhaps a Cobra in Peter Frampton's hands. A plain maple top Cobra in Jimmy Page's hands and Lindsey Buckingham playing a Crowdster. Then, get Eric Johnson to play a tobacco burst Classic w/maple neck.

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by Stys
...and Lindsey Buckingham playing a Crowdster.

how about Paul McCartney on a Crowdster...now THAT would be an upgrade to his current stable of Martin's and Olson's

[tom]

i have seen phil several times, and was blown away each time. i don't think any of his records capture what he does live, all by himself.

[Stys]

I agree. And if I recall, Phil Keagy has a finger that is crippled or damaged.

[mbrown3]

The tip of his right hand was cut off by a water pump when he was a kid. I agree that even Beyond Nature doesn't compare to his live concerts. Just awesome.

[jimmieb]

Originally posted by mbrown3
The tip of his right hand was cut off by a water pump when he was a kid. I agree that even Beyond Nature doesn't compare to his live concerts. Just awesome.

Actually Phil's middle finger is missing on his picking hand. the right one. Still he's choosen by Acoustic Guitar readers as one of the worlds finest finger picking guitarist every year. He is one of the kindest, humble, loving persons I've ever met. He used to come into the music store where I worked when he lived in Orange County. I miss him and his soft spoken, kind, Jesus-like nature. He shows up at Namm From time to time. He's probably the most versatile players I can think of. There's a tune of his called 'Happy' on his Passport album (maybe), anyway the song opens with 4 or 5 different solo styles over the same rhythm track. From funk to slide to rock to blues to a Metheny jazz thing, it's really cool. My favorite album is 'Sunday's Child' where pulls out a Ricky 12 string and does the best Beatles album since 'Revolver'. He is amazing in the studio. He can create a very intricate solo on the spot and instantly recreate it, verbatum, it's unbelievable. He plays a Zion guitar, I wonder if he's played an Anderson?

Jimmie B

[mbrown3]

Oops, sorry, my post should say, "The tip of <i>the middle finger on</i> his right hand..." Sorry about that. I doubt he's played an Anderson, though he may have. He tends to prefer LP style guitars for electric.

[tom]

i have met phil several times, and i would echo evry good thing that has been said about him. he has a strat with emg's and the zion. i have not pushed to try to get a guitar to him because he already has a relationship with ken hoover of zion. i would not want a business thing to get in the way of my friendship with ken. jim olson has a couple of my guitars, so phil has played them. phil still plays his olson from the 80's even though he has had others.

[jimmieb]

Originally posted by tom
i have met phil several times, and i would echo evry good thing that has been said about him. he has a strat with emg's and the zion. i have not pushed to try to get a guitar to him because he already has a relationship with ken hoover of zion. i would not want a business thing to get in the way of my friendship with ken. jim olson has a couple of my guitars, so phil has played them. phil still plays his olson from the 80's even though he has had others.

Very cool, I appreciate your integrity. I guess I would expect no less from you.

Jimmie B

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by pluto
I was just wondering what guitarists have influenced you a lot and which guitarists continue to inspire you today. ... I love listening to other players from Paul Gilbert to Joe Pass to Greg Howe to Eric Johnson to Jimmy Page...

Eddie VH - innovative techniques in a musical context, tone, riffs
Randy Rhoads - classical phrasing infused w/ 5 chords and Marshall/MXR tone
Yngwie - pure technique, improvisation, and harmonic minor scales
Akira Takasaki/Warren DiMartini - EVH tone w/ Randy technique
George Lynch - phrasing
Larry Carlton - playing outside the typical modes
Mike Stern - introduction to jazz standards, phrasing and playing in a groove
Eric Johnson - amalgamation of rock/blues/jazz styles, technical brilliance and tone - the complete guitarist
George Harrison - melody, phrasing and playing to fit the tune

[Casper]

I started playing in 1978...my tastes have not changed much over the years....

George Benson
Terry Kath
Steve Lukather
Grant Guisseman
Mike Landau
Jay Graydon
Tommy Tedesco
Boz Scaggs
Chris Pinnick

and more recently, the guy who was part of the Funk Brothers who played the telecaster....REALLY dig his tones and chops. I am really into the Motown thing right now...

[guitarfreak217]

Here's my list of influences. and it's very diverse

Matt Slocum
Joe Satriani
Sean Watkins
David Crowder
Lindsey Buckingham
Adrian Belew
Lincoln Brewster
Eric Clapton
Brian Setzer
James Taylor
The Edge
BB King

[Scott Peterson]

Brian May
Alex Lifeson
Jeff Beck
Eddie Van Halen
Randy Rhoads
David Grissom

[Stan Malinowski]

Scott,

What do you think of Alex and his sons little brawl on New Years Eve?

[Scott Peterson]

Originally posted by Stan Malinowski
Scott,

What do you think of Alex and his sons little brawl on New Years Eve?

Truly?

I think his son was being a drunken jerk. I think Alex saw his son being threatened and then reacted; and I think in the end it will knocked down to a misdemeaner and all will pass. He had his nose broken; if you saw the interview footage that was on the web the next day, Alex's shirt was just *covered* in blood. I think his "battery" on the female officer was nothing but him defending himself. He obviously got the worst of the ordeal.

I bet after all is said and done, the whole thing was a tempest in a teapot and an unfortunate episode.

Alex has been around in the public eye for well over 30 years; nothing of this sort has ever happened before. There is no history of any such behavior.

In my opinion, there was a drunken night that got out of hand - for whatever reason. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Stan Malinowski]

Scott,

Sounds like a logical explanation, I do indeed hope it blows over (which I think it will). I was as surprised as anyone when I read the story.

It is incidents like this which have convinced me that spending New Year's Eve at home with a few close friends is definetly the best option.