who are your influences?

[horns666]

Coroner is probably my #1 influence. Their prog-thrash riffing and soloing is still too unique and bad-ass and had a big effect on me when I first heard it.

Plus the usual........Dimebag, Randy, EVH.

HUGE influence on me!! That's THE band that made me get into much heavier styles. Ironically when I met Jeff Loomis he never heard of them. I demanded get that shit (start with Mental Vortex/No more color)!!!

[tonemonster]

I am influenced by sexy women with vaginas. that's what makes me play guitar. the power of the patch.

[Mazrim]

I suppose there was always a musician/extrovert/arsehole in me from an early age but it wasn't until I was 14 I picked up a guitar. My older brother and sister listened to a lot of different stuff (The Smiths, Killing Joke, Japan, Human Legaue, Siouxie and the Banshees, Bowie, Kate Bush...it was the early 80s) and whilst a lot of that rubbed off on me it was heavy rock that really excited me. Slah made me want to be a guitar player or at least was the latest influence before I picked up a Hohner Les Paul copy from Argos one christmas.

From then on I was practicing GnR, Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Ozzy, Judas Priest, King Diamond etc furiously but soon got into thrash and then the fun really began. Through a love of Megadeth I discovered Cacophony and from there all the shrapnel stuff and back to Racer X and the arch shredgod Paul Gilbert. I've also flirted with all kinds of stuff from Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ozric Tentacles and Genesis to High on Fire, Bathory and Cannibal Corpse. I also love classical music. Mainly the epic sounding stuff.

Its all influenced me one way or another and whilst I could be listening to anything from Prokofiev to Carcass on any given day, my main love is 80s thrash and shred shit. And that's where my playing and writing is at, more or less.


Anyway, my favourite guitarists. Ready?

Paul Gilbert (blessing and peace be upon him), Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, Yngwie Malmsteen, Scott Ian, Chris Poland, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Jason Becker, John Sykes, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Loomis, Eddie van Halen, Jake E Lee, Randy Rhoads, Tony Iommi, Ed Wynne, Downing and Tipton, Guthrie Govan, James Hetfield (before his alien abduction in the early 90s), Alex Skolnik, Chuck Schuldiner, Richie Blackmore, Dave Gilmour, Mike Kineally, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Uli Jon Roth, Kerry King, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Andy LaRocque, Jeff Waters, Vinnie Moore, George Lynch, Tony MacApline, John McLaughlin, Greg Howe, Buckethead... and many many more.

[SARJ]

MICK MARS! Hands down. He did it! It's all his fault! Next would be Ace for sure cause I got my first KISS record, Love Gun, in 1977. Dave Murray of course. He MADE me love Strats and then when all hell broke loose in Metal, Kirk Hammett. He continued my interest in guitar. John Christ, The Misfits guitarists and then of course Kerry King. Without him I would have never learned how to play fast and mean. But, Mick is the man. he got me serious because Motley Crue was my life. My influences now are Jinxx and Jake Pitts, (dodges projectiles). Those guys gave me a whole new interest in my playing and shredding became interesting again.

[horns666]

Sarj is one..I wrote a song called "Long Live and Suffer". His dad used to always say that. So I loved it and ran with it.

Sometimes you just needs a tiny spark to set ablaze.

[SARJ]

Thank you so much. You just made me feel a ton better. Pops has the "All over the body cancer" and at this point to hear the Horn man give a nod to me is an honor to my dad as well. Thank you Bill. I wish I could give you a killer riff to that one. Chances are you already have one that kills!

[horns666]

Sorry about your dad Sarj. I know it's hard to see your beloved family..your blood..withered health in much pain. I'm taking care of mine, and I can barely move myself. But we must go on for people that love and need us..so we breathe.

A great riff was always the escape I've ever needed.

I'm throwing the horns of the best power I can for you and your father.

Bill Z

[vector]

If I were to distill my "style" down to it's basic essence, I'd have to cite Hendrix, Vai, Malmsteen & Van Halen w/ a touch of Ace Frehley at the core of it. (when ya think about it, with the exception of Frehley, each is an innovator, from whom most others have "borrowed" their chops and style) Not that I play at the level of any of them but their influence is definitely there.

[Bryan]

To pick up the guitar in the first place:

Phil Collen ( Basically the Pour Some Sugar On Me video)
David Gilmour

Influences:
Phil Collen
David Gilmour
Vernon Reid
Eric Clapton

Players who inspire me to play even though I'm nowhere near their level.

EVH
Eric Johnson
Steve Vai
Joe Satriani
The Edge
Buddy Guy
Brad Paisley
SRV
Steve Lukather

[horns666]

Satan

[ginsambo]

Just like to say this thread is great. Half of the people I have never heard of as I'm not very worldly. Talk about a pool of research for inspiration...

My influences who taught me my Blues Rock Chatter: Buddy Guy, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Glen Buxton, Rick Nielsen, Chris Holmes, Angus Young and Slash.

For the inspired metal runs and speed technique: Randy Rhoads, EVH and Chris Holmes and Malmsteen.

And who continue to aspire me from time to time: Chet Aktins for being a radical and Jerry Donahue for his crazy chicken fingerpicking bends, the stuff he does always blows my mind. But I got to check out these pages...

For first turning me on to the guitar....Mark Knopfler.

[ginsambo]

Just found this great Uli Jon Roth Masterclass.... I am saying nothing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvCTXXZn20&feature=related

[petez0r]

good thread

james hetfield
mikael akerfeldt
david gilmour
slash
kurt cobain
jerry cantrell
karl sanders
chuck schuldiner
EVH

[hunterkolb]

People who made me pick up the guitar, I think Johny Ramone did it for me. Then getting into metal, James Hetfield made me want to play fast and hard. But then it was Randy Rhoads who made me want to play solos, every solo i heard of his was magical at 12.
After that it was:
Alexi laiho and Roope Latvala
Marty Friedman and Jason becker
Jeff Loomis and Chris Broderick
John Petrucci
Paul Gilbert

no particular order, but most came in pairs lol.

[axmann]

I started playing because of Hendrix and went deeper with Tony Iommi, Randy California and Johnny Winter. Then came some local guys John Masino, what a player and Jon Rogue master of traditional metal. Along the way picked up one of my all time heroes, Frank Marino. After seeing him one night many things changed. I have too many on the list that drove the inspiration from there as I really started getting into all sorts of metal and also more articulate playing.Alot of them listed above.