Which 3 guitarists have most inspired/influenced you?

New thread, different to the who is your favourite or who is the best or fastest etc.
So which 3 guitarists have given you most inspriation to get to where you are now and influenced you in your development as a player?

Mine are:
1) Jason Becker (single most important influence for me for injecting feeling into 'shred')
2) Marty Friedman (for his unique sound and exotic scales)
3) Joe Satriani (more so than Vai for me, memorable hooks, cool tones and well contructed pieces)

Probably something along the lines of:

1) Joe Pass
2) Wes Montgomery
3) Pat Metheny/Al Di Meola


These aren't necessarily the people who have influenced me the most though.

Hmm. Interesting question.

1) Stevie Ray Vaughn

2) B.B. King

3) Eric Clapton

I would have to say inspired more than influenced since I can't play anything close to the way these guys play/played. :D

1) Kirk Hammet (He's the reason I even began to play guitar or get into metal)
2) Marty Friedman (very unique way of playing, and hes basically a genious)
3) Yngwie Malmsteen (one of the first shredders I saw. Started my transition into sweep picking/speed playing)

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. David Gilmour
3. Angus Young

There are others.. but these 3 would have to be the top 3.

1. Kurt Cobain
2. Chet Atkins
3. Thurston Moore & Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth, you can't really have one without the other.)

Yeah, I'm all power-chords and lazy fingerpicking and unusual harmonic tunings. That's me.

1) Joe Satriani
2) Richie Kotzen
3) Eric Clapton

Clapton for inspiraing me to pick up a guitar all those years ago. Satriani for showing me what I could really be doing with it, and Kotzen for doing it different. Fourth place would have gone to Vinnie Moore....

My answer would probably be different tomorrow... so many amazing players. Satch comes in at number one for having total command of the instrument and playing with feel.

1. Paul waggoner ( the guitarist and musical genius behind between the buried and me)
2.dusie waring (also of between the buried and me)
3. christopher bradley (of beneath the massacre)

My Inspirations;
1. Michael Schenker
2. Randy Rhoads (RIP)
3. Dave Murray

Schenker was the first guitarist that I saw Live in Concert. Soon after I saw EVH, which was insane, but then seeing Rhoads took on a different turn because he was an underdog playing for a Huge "Ozzy" Name and just shocked everyone with his natural Talent.... Mouth dropping talent.....
Murray = (Just plain sweet)......

Ry Cooder

Duane Allman

Tony RIce

Um ......

Jimi Hendrix is the main, but i can't pick the rest because its a number of great guitarists and a very open subject.

Originally Posted by: dvenetianMy Inspirations;
1. Michael Schenker
2. Randy Rhoads (RIP)
3. Dave Murray

Schenker was the first guitarist that I saw Live in Concert. Soon after I saw EVH, which was insane, but then seeing Rhoads took on a different turn because he was an underdog playing for a Huge "Ozzy" Name and just shocked everyone with his natural Talent.... Mouth dropping talent.....
Murray = (Just plain sweet)......

+1 for both Randy Rhoads and Dave Murray. Rhoads was amazing and definitely one of the great pioneers. Everything he played was brilliant. Murray is one of those under rated guys, his solos are so well constructed and memorable, very melodic. My favourite Maiden album for song structures consistant quality and especially production has to be 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' - have to admit Adrian Smith complimented Murray perfectly. I just went off Maiden after that album, like they lost the 'greatness' that got them to the top of the pile.

Edit: 'I must spread around some rep before giveing it to Dvenetian again...'

Originally Posted by: Superhuman+1 for both Randy Rhoads and Dave Murray. Rhoads was amazing and definitely one of the great pioneers. Everything he played was brilliant. Murray is one of those under rated guys, his solos are so well constructed and memorable, very melodic. My favourite Maiden album for song structures consistant quality and especially production has to be 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' - have to admit Adrian Smith complimented Murray perfectly. I just went off Maiden after that album, like they lost the 'greatness' that got them to the top of the pile.

Edit: 'I must spread around some rep before giveing it to Dvenetian again...'

I agree with you after "Seventh Son", they got off track with some of what made them so unique. I do like some of new tracks off their latest "A Matter of Life and Death" Album. Some of that "Greatness" shines on that album.
Hopefully they go in that direction again........

1) slash
2)angus young
3)joe perry


all amazing but slash was the one who made me want to pick it up. he is self taught so he doesn't have a "style" and wrote rock songs in all sorts of genre's "sweet child 'o mine" is a country style etc.

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Jack white
3. John Lennon

granted these are more singer songwriter guitarist but its the whole sha bang from each of them that makes tehm so good :cool:

i would have to say that mick thompson, james root and kramer vanguard are my major inspirations to play guitar and always will be.

Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, and Paul Gilbert.

hehe..

I'm going to have change one of my influences to Eric Johnson now. My music style is really sounding like him now.. I've had a few people say to me and I didn't realise until I compared it myself.

If you like fast, technical guitar with lots of exotic scales, whammy bar, sweep picking, crazy legatto etc that manages to stay uber melodic with excellent sound production, check out 'Imhotep' by David Valdes. Brilliant second release, his first cd 'Paradise Lost' is the best all round instrumental cd I've heard since Jason Beckers 'Perpetual Burn'. And 'Imhotep' is even better.
This guy is going to be huge, I highly recommend both of his cd's to anyone interested in instrumental guitar - not just a load of arpeggio sequences lifted from Bach and Malmsteen, this guys playing is really interesting and progressive. Check him out on youtube to see that he can actually play as cleanly live as he does on his cd (which is insanely clean for the level of difficulty and techniques employed). I havent bought an instructional dvd in a LONG time but I'm thinking of getting his, they are so cheap and seem to have the basics for all of the runs and sequences he uses.
Here's his website, loads of sound bites and vids etc:
http://davidvaldes.net/videoenglish.htm

jeez... not one person mentions Van Halen??

This is going back aways, but the first album totally influenced my playing technique... not to mention the cleanliness of his playing.

And the tapping was a complete mystery that I had to learn.