Most Influencial Guitarists

I just want to see who inspired you to pick up a guitar and play. List maybe 5-10 guitar players who really turned your knobs. Here's my list:

01. Randy Rhoads (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne)
I would be nowhere without him, that's for sure. He was my favorite from the time I heard the opening riff in Crazy Train and the facemetler in Mr. Crowley. He was the only guitar player that stuck out to me when it came to improving skill constantly.

02. Stevie Ray Vaughan (SRV and Double Trouble)
He really reinvented the blues guitar. In my opinion, he played faster than Jimi did. My first guitar was also an SRV Stratocaster. I don't play it much anymore but it's probably my most prized possesion. My father also named me Barron Vaughan after him.

03. Pete Townshed (The Who)
If there's any guitar player out there who I play the most like, it's Pete. I don't go for blistering solos or lightning fast riffing, it just keep it simple, yet intricate.

04. Angus Young (AC/DC)
Angus is arguably one of the best rock guitarists in history. It was basically blues guitar with distortion cranked up to f--king 11. Yeah, he plays great solos, but he does it because it adds charisma to the songs not because he wants to show off to the world.

05. Slash (Guns N Roses, Velvelt Revolver, etc.)
The reason I play a Les Paul to this day. He doesn't give a damn about sweep picking or converting to the 'religion' of heavy metal guitaring. He sticks to rock and roll and that is what I respect.

Comments

[MetalNova]

Mine:
1.Jimmy Page
2.Jimi Hendrix
3.Eddie Van Halen
4.Les Paul
5.Randy Rhoads
6.Paul Gilbert
7.Steve Vai
8.Joe Satriani
10.John Petrucci

[BillR87]

1. Dimebag Darrell
2. John Petrucci
3. Daron Malakian
4. Eddie Van Halen
5. Jerry Cantrell
6. Big Jim Martin
7. Eric Clapton
8. Martin Barre
9. Kerry King
10. Kenny Hicky
\m/

[thetoasteroven]

1.paul gilbert
2.randy rhoads
3.dimebag darrell
4.buckethead
5.morgan Håkansson
6.chuck schuldiner
7.mark morton
8.jerry cantrell
9.ihsahn
10.adam jones

[J.R. Legrasse]

1.) James Hetfield
2.) Tony Iommi
3.) Dave "Stuck With Romney" Mustaine
4.) Chuck Schuldiner
5.) Max Cavalera
6.) Mille Petrozza
7.) Dimebag Darrell
8.) Christopher Parkening
9.) Jamie Hince
10.) Greg Ginn

[bandsunnyside]

mike mccready
hendrix
page
froosh
rhoads
cantrell
slash
dean deleo
clapton
kyle gas

[Callum feeble]

Matt Bellemy
Angus Young
Josh Homme
John Fruciante
Jack White

[Evan.S.Beard]

1. Buckethead, for his ability to write awesome music in any genre basically. His songs just get to me.
2. Chuck Schuldiner, The man who essentially began a genre of music. His unique guitar solos and fast riffing make him an amazing metal guitarist. Not to mention his slow, emotional solos are just as great!
3. Andy Mckee, This guy has taken acoustic guitar music to a whole new level, combining lead, rhythm, and percussive tracks with a single guitar. Its complex yet so relaxing at the same time. Perfect music to fall asleep to at night.
4. Chris Letchford, composer/primary lead guitarist for my all time favorite band, Scale the Summit. His playing style is just beautiful, very innovative, and just all around impressive. Definitely play a good show too!
5.Mark Tremonti, I know he isn't the best, but i'll admit hes damn good. And essentially, he is the reason i ever picked a guitar up to begin with (Pity for a Dime's solo specifically). That and creed got me in to music basically.
6. Paul Gilbert, He taught buckethead...nuff said
7. Randy Rhoads, his RR series guitars are the sex! And considering how good he was at such a young age...I envy this man. It's a shame we will never hear how much better he could be today.
8. "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, king of groove metal! His solos are mind blowing, and those signature dive bombs he does...how can you deny the awesomeness of that?
9. Marc Rizzo, Badass shredder, and can play flamenco like a boss...nuff said
10. Noah Carpenter, guitarist for skinless/armor column, but i like him for his work in skinless. Personally, my favorite riffage comes out of this band and i hate that they had to break up D:

[Showiddlydiddly]

1. Gary Rossington
2. Allen Collins
3. Jimmy Page
4. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
5. Jack White
6. Dave Murray
7 Paul Gilbert
8. Stevie Ray Vaughn
9. Eric Johnson
10. Martin Barre

[webber243]

1. Slash
2. Keith Richards
3. Noel Gallagher
4. Jimmy Page
5. Joe Perry
6. Angus Young
7. Ronnie Wood
8. George Harrison
9. Pete Townsend
10. Paul Weller

[Schofey]

1. Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom)
2. Robb Flynn (Machine head)
3. Matt Heafy (Trivium)
4. Matt Tuck (Bullet For My Valentine)
5. Phil Demmel (Machine Head)

[DamnBastard1224]

I know I shared my top five in the article, but here's the top ten without any descriptions.

1. Randy Rhoads
2. Stevie Ray Vaughan
3. Pete Townshend
4. Angus Young
5. Slash
6. Ritchie Blackmore
7. Jimmy Page
8. KK Downing
9. Tony Iommi
10. Brian May

[yteslax]

1. Rory Gallagher
2. Tony Bourge (Budgie)
3. Petri Walli (Kingston Wall)
4. Criss Oliva (Savatage)
5. David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
6. George Harrison (The Beatles)
7. Brian May (Queen)
8. Angus Young (AC/DC)
9. Glen Tipton (Judas Priest)
10.Jake E Lee (Ozzy Osbourne - Badlands)

I am afraid I will feel guilty if I don't mention :
Jon Uli Roth (Scorpions)
Mark Kendall (Great White)
Vivian Campbell (particularly Dio era)
Jeff Waters (Annihilator)
Robin Trower
Andy Scott (Sweet)

[Silverpack]

Wait, your first guitar was a SRV strat ?? Sounds like a rich boy...

[DamnBastard1224]

I'm gonna find the troll that voted all of out comments down and kill him.

[DamnBastard1224]

Yeah, I grew up with a lot of money because of my dad's accident settlement.

[badfish_lewis]

1. Jeff Buckley
2. SRV
3. Jimmy Page
4. Jimi Hendrix
5. Jeff Beck
6. Adam Jones
7. BB King
8. Les Paul
9. Neil Young
10. Eric Johnson

[Diran123]

1. Slash
2. Eddie Van Halen
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. Tom Morello
5. Zakk Wylde

[g.k]

1.Tony Iommi
2.Eric Clapton
3.David Gilmour
4.James Hetfield
5.Dave Murray

[dayman317]

1. Slash
2. John Frusciante
3. David Gilmour
4. Jimmy Page
5. Jimi Hendrix
6. Charlie Christian

[TheFly_1990]

1. Robert Fripp (King Crimson)
2. Buckethead
3. Peter Frampton
4. The Edge
5. Josh Homme
6. David Gilmour
7. Eddie Van Halen
8. Tony Iommi
9. Les Paul
10. BB King

[channtastic]

1.Johnny Ramone
2.Jack White
3.Pete Townshend
4.Jimmy Page
5.Jimi Hendrix
6.Kurt Cobain
8.Thurston Moore
9.Billy Corgan
10.Damien Rice

[kdarr03]

zakk wylde
dime
rhoads
iommi
hammett
cantrell
gibbons
slas h
smith/murray
downing/tipton

[Cody Mazza]

1. Jimmy Page
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Todd Potter (Bubble Puppy)
4. Jack White
5. Eric Clapton
6. Stephen Stills
7. David Gilmour
8. Peter Frampton
9. Don Ross
10. Ray Montford

Not in that order, I just listed them as they came to my mind.

[Cody Mazza]

My second list..

1. Ted Nugent
2. John Frusciante
3. Les Paul
4. B.B King
5. Andy Mckee

[DaMarsbarPerson]

1. Jeff Beck
2. The Edge (from U2)
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. Ron Wood
5. Mark Knopfler
6. Rick Parfitt (from Status Quo)

The top 6, Jeff B is definitely number one, and the rest are just put in there in any random order really

[maidenbridge666]

1. Andy Mckee (cuz he has such a beautiful sense of melody)
2. Mark Tremonti (cuz he's just a tank!!)
3. Jerry Cantrell (amazing riff writer!!)
4. Joe Satriani (genius composer)
5. Dave Murray (the reason i picked up a guitar in the first place)

[kmanjax]

Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker
and Michael Schenker

Could list some others, but really, MS is the real reason that I wanted to start learning and now when I hear him play it is my motivation to keep on learning.

[p_a_morgan]

LOL@thislist.

[Nitnatsnok]

Brian May
Ritchie Blackmore
Dave Gilmour
Slash
Santana

[Josh2k69]

Matthew Good
Noel Gallagher
Tom Delonge
Dave Grohl

[Wraithbound]

Tosin Abasi- I try to emmulate his playing
Benjamin Burnley- My Idol
Jesper Stromblad (In Flames)-I emmulate his riff style
Adam Jones (Tool)- Love his little tricks
Kirk Hammett- My first solo was by him.

[Wolf_At_TheDoor]

John Frusciante
Tom Morello
Adam Jones
Jack White
David Gilmour
Keith Levene
Jon Mclaughlin
Omar Rodriguez Lopez
Greg Ginn
Buckethead

[Minivirus2]

I couldn't pinpoint any specific guitarist and I onwed a guitar before I ever really got into their music, but Jesper and Bjorn of In Flames are my absolute ****ING idols! They're my driving force for continuing on with the instrument and knowing upwards of 15-20 of their songs (Whoracle pretty much front to back) speaks to my devotion to their music.

Aside from them:

- Dave Mustaine
- Oli Herbert
- Matt Heafy
- Daron Malakian
- Matt Tuck

My taste has since grown far beyond my original influences, but a big part of picking up the guitar also came from the show Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad. J-rock has some astounding playing, that we'll almost never hear of in NA.

[theSman727]

-Dave Mustane
-James Hetfield
-Kirk Hammett
-Eddie Van Halen
-Slash
-Stevie Ray Vaughn

[axeslinger0u812]

1) EVH- reason I ever picked up a guitar. I could play the hot for teacher intro before I knew any proper scales. Including pentatonic. Not a good way to go about it, though. Lol.
2) satriani- his legato pretty much killed me when I learned what it was, and what he was doing. It's a big part in how I play, but I think I got into the technique before I should have. My actual right hand/left synchronization is pretty awful.
3) Hendrix- one of the only blues guys I ever really got into, he had a unique way of approaching his compositions while writing leads. Some of the rhythm stuff was hard to play over, but his leads always fit.
4) Thrice (teppei and kensrue)- the first post-hardcore band I ever heard had a huge impact on my songwriting. Illusion of safety and artist in the ambulance were just epic. Not having much Internet access at the time, I always assumed it was one guitarist, that was playing the rhythm and lead lines at the same time (like evh did), with overdubs for harmonies. So that's what I started trying to do. Extremely influential for me, even if I was wrong.
5) avenged sevenfold- I know they are a hate them or like them band, but I grew up in Hawaii, and the first time i heard waking the fallen, limp Bizkit was the biggest band on radio. They were a breath of fresh air, and the harmonies and solos were uniquely intriguing to my ears.
Ben moody- not ability, but songwriting. He is similar to evh in that he took things that were heavy, and somehow mde them have enough hook that it became a massively successful sound. Nothing technically impressive, but identifiable.

These aren't my necessarily my favorite guitar players, but the ones that had a huge impact on my actual playing. I love me some buckethead, vai, etc., but I can't say they influence my sound or how I approach the guitar. These six did, and still do.

[sparkeyjames]

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Eddie Van Halen
3. Jimmy Page
4. SRV
5. Jeff Beck
6. Joe Satriani
7. Slash
8. David Gilmour
9. Eric Clapton
10. Les Paul

There are 3 era's of the electric guitar, 1. The Les Paul era, 2. The Jimi Hendrix/Jimmy Page era, 3. The Eddie Van Halen/SRV era. Those being the utmost influential of their times in Rock n Roll. Since then you could consider Slash and Joe Satriani but I don't think anyone else comes close.

[Jacobk4n3]

1.) Steve Vai (how has nobody mentioned him yet? wtf?)
2.) Joe Satriani
3.) SRV
4.) Hendrix
5.) Eric Johnson
6.) Yngwie
7.) Dimebag
8.) A.J. Novello (

)
9.) Pat O'brien
10) Satan

[Jacobk4n3]

I somehow forgot Dave Mustaine and Rusty Coolley.

[comeee]

1: Ritchie Blackmore
2: Yngwie Malmsteen
3: Jimmy Page
4: Eddie Van Halen
5: Kirk Hammett
6: Tommy Iommi
7: Dave Mustaine
8: David Gilmour
9: Randy Rhoads
10: George Harrison
These lists are personal so there's no real right or wrong answer

[dmperr]

Some very good choices, but can't believe noone mentioned Chuck Berry. His licks are found everywhere in rock.

[shiggityswah]

The 5 that really got me into guitar are definitely:
1. John Petrucci
2. Dave Gilmour
3. Joe Satriani
4. Steve Vai
5. Paul Waggoner

If I had to list guitarists that I consider extremely influential to guitarists, I'd have to include Chuck Berry, Hendrix etc. The people who really pioneered guitar and made it what it is today. Not just shredders from the 80s onwards.

[Oilers442]

I'll do a top 5 but a few of mine will be guitar teams as well due to both guitarists being equally influential in their band:

1. Scott Ian/Rob Caggiano
2. James Hetfield
3. Merritt Gant/Rob Cannavino
4. Bobby Gustafson
5. Jeff Waters (my biggest influence of them all!)

[jpohl]

tony iommi
dave mustaine
tony iommi
kirk hammett
dimebag
tony iommi
kyle gass
kk downing/glen tipton
tony rombola
oh yeah, and tony iommi

[sassyrocks]

Here are my top 5:

1.Angus Young (AC/DC0
2.Malcolm Young (AC/DC)
3.Chuck Berry
4.Pete Townshend (The Who)
5.Jimmy Page (Led Zep)

[Your Mirrors]

Eric Calderone????

[prashanp]

1) Kirk Hammett
2) Slash
3) Andrew (stigmata)
4) Dave Mustaine
5) Marty Friedman
6) Jimmy Page

[GlacierMan]

Hendrix
Paige
Gallagher
Townshend
Iommi
Van Halen
Richards
Vai
Petruchi
A. Young

[dudokrs_tdh]

John Petrucci
John Dinopol (Urbandub)
Mike Elgar (Rivermaya)
Mike Einziger
John Frusciante
Herman Li
Steve Badiola & Pakoy Fletchero (Typecast)
Nigel Hendroff
Paul Gilbert

[The Ghostwriter]

In no particular order:
Jack White
Tony Iommi
George Harrison
Muddy Waters
Son House (I still struggle with slide though)
Robert Johnson
Chuck Berry
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Johnny Cash
Markus Adoro

[killektrika]

In chronological order:
1) James Hetfield
2) Dave Mustaine
3) Dimebag Darrell
4) Chuck Schuldiner
5) Adam Jones

That's all folks!

[Derwin94]

Can't believe no one has said Tommy Emmanuel, he is by far my favourite guitarist of all time.

[TJ1991]

1) James Dean Bradfield
2) Slash
3) John Frusciante
4) Synyster Gates
5) Johnny Marr

[Danjo's Guitar]

1) Randy Rhoads
2)Rudolf Schenker
3) Stevie Ray Vaughann
4)Killrbuckeye (Even though he's not really famous, I get a lot of my riffing from him)
5) John Frusciante

Kinda an interesting mix.

[wenbalters]

In no particular order
Mark knopfler (Sp)
Saul Hudson ( slash)
Dave Mustain
Brain May
EVH
Dave Murray and Adrian Smith
Jack White

[stoic]

1) Randy Rhoads
2) Jake E. Lee
3) Slash
4) Brian Setzer
5) SRV

[headbanger32594]

Mikael Akerfeldt
Steven Wilson
John Petrucci
James Malone
George Harrison
John Lennon

[DarkWolfXV]

1.Bill Steer
2.Dave Mustaine
3.Chuck Schuldiner
4.Eddie Van Halen (After i heard Eruption i was like omgwtf this guy is the best guitarist in the world)
5.Mitch Harris

[craaig]

1. Matt Bellamy
2. Pete Townshend
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. Tom Morello
5. Kurt Cobain

For me, anyway

[brighteyes577]

1..George Harrison vs. John Lennon (basically all Beatles guitar)

2.Jerry Garcia
3.Bradley Nowell (Sublime)
4.Jimi Hendrix
5.John Frusciante
6.David Gilmour
7.Eddie Van Halen


Kind of surprised I'm the first person to post with Jerry in my list, but it's a matter of opinion, and he was really important to my decision to first pick up a guitar.

[Mikethespud]

1. John Petrucci
2. James Hetfield
3. Kirk Hammett
4. Scott Ian
5. Tony Iommi
6. Dave Mustaine
7. Joe Satriani
8. Daron Malakian
9. Alex Skolnick
10. Bill Kelliher/Brent Hinds

[Aays]

Tosin Abasi (my lord and saviour)
Brent Hinds (his weird chicken picking style is incredible)
Mikael Akerfeldt (essentially taught me fingerpicking, properly soloing, and riffing in plain old standard tuning)
Andy McKee (one of the great acoustic players of our time)
Ron Jarzombek (Blotted Science is just incredible. Wields a 7-string like no other. And that damn 12-tone system)
Chuck Schuldiner (created a genre and was an incredible player)
Muhammed Suicmez (his solos are godly)
John Petrucci (...no description required
Steven Wilson (more for his production than his guitar playing though)
Fredrik Thordendal (his precision to weird time signatures is inhuman)

That's all that comes to mind at the moment.

[mikeysteve]

1. Alex Lifeson
2. Jimmy Page
3. Kim Thayil
4. David Gilmour
5. James Hetfield/Kirk Hammett

[nirvanica17]

1) HENDRIX!!
2) SRV
3) John Frusciante
4) Kirk Hammett
5) George Harrison
6) Tony Iommi
7) The Edge
8) David Gilmour
9) Ted Nugent
10) John Petrucci

Bonus: Kurt Cobain (he showed that you didn't need to have a lot of technical skill)

[BornToLooze]

1. Billie Joe Armstrong/ Frank Iero (The main reason I started playing guitar)
2. James Hetfield
3. Mike Ness
4. Hank 3
5. Leda (Deluhi)

[Revocati0n]

1. Dimebag Darrell
2. Rob Arnold
3. Jeff Loomis
4. Dino Cazares
5. Frederik Thordenal/Marten Hagstrom
6. Trent Hafdahl/Justin Lowe
7. Bill Kelliher
8. Kerry King/Jeff Hanneman
9. Adam D/Joel Stroezel (?)
10.Michael Ammott

[sabbathfan15]

For me
1.Tony Iommi (his riffs made me pick up the guitar)
2.Randy Rhoads
3.Dave Murray
4.Luca Turilli (his insane sweeps are awesome)
5.Craig Goldy

[dementedthrashr]

For me personally but not in any order
1.Kirk Hammett
2.Jerry Cantrell
3.Kerry King
4.Pat O'Brien
5.Synyster Gates
6.Alexi Laiho
7.Dave Murray
8.Jeff Loomis
9.Mark Morton
10.Mick Thomson

[CptJackWest]

Matt Bellamy (Muse)
Chris Cheney (The Living End) Look at E-boogie by the living end.
Angus Young (ac/dc)
Brian May (queen)
Tommy Emmanuel

[RandomLetters95]

Jason Becker
Paul Gilbert
Randy Rhoads
Hetfield/Hammett (purely because they inspired me to learn guitar)

Quite surprised by the lack of Becker... Never been a fan of sweeps until I listened to Altitudes, definitely a guitar player who knows how to add feeling to his songs. Very shit how ALS robbed him of his amazing skills but you can really tell that he's a great musician from his albums that he made when he was paralysed.

[nico_9550]

1) Brian May
2) David Gilmour
3) Mark Knopfler
4) Slash
5)Joe Satriani

[proudtodrown]

1.) Ben Weinman
2.) Kurt Ballou
3.) Dr. Know
4.) Jonny greenwood
5.) Joey Santiago

[gunnersandmash]

1. Jonny Greenwood - phenomenal guitarist, encouraged me to vary my sound much more then I was before
2. Brian May - Same as above
3. Jack White - The reason I play any blues, showed me not to worry that anything musically complex enough
4. Matt Bellamy - Showed me there's more to life then power-chords
5. Alex Turner - Not the best guitarist technically but came up with some great riffs
6. Kurt Cobain - After I was up in the air trying to play like Bellamy showed me how effective the power chord can be if used right

[Mr Y]

1) James Dean Bradfield - influenced me to pick up a guitar;
2) Jack White got me into the blues.
3) Matt Bellamy taught me how to play good solos.
4) Jonny Buckland not the coolest guitarist but his skill at using alternative tunings influenced me to experiment.
5) George Harrison because he's a total legend.

[nirvanica17]

Who the **** is putting thumbs down for these? There arent any wrong answers..

[wag89]

No order.

-D. Boon
-Bob Stinson
-Paul Westerberg
-Neil Young
-Lou Reed/Steve Morrison/Doug Yule
-Steve Jone
-Joe Strummer
-Mick Jones
-Elvis Costello
-Johnny Thunders

[Tarsplitter]

John Lennon. and Richie Sambora.

They influenced me to pick up the guitar. My other influences came after I had picked it up. But that's not the question here.

[kratos379]

Jimi Hendrix
Dave Mustaine
Paul Gilbert
Alex Skolnick
Guthrie Govan
Tom Morello
Mike McCready
Kim Thayill
Jimmy Page
SRV

[Jesse0315]

My top 10 In no particular order
John Petrucci
Mikael Akerfeldt
Chuck Shuldiner
"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott
Alexi Laiho
Robb Flynn
Rany Rhoads
Eddie Van Halen
Zakk Wylde
Slash

[northbeach]

1. Buckethead, because BH simply is not music, it's Buckethead, it is the 2nd dimension of music.
2. Synyster Gates and Zacky V, because none of you can play half of what they can.
3. James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, because they basically made todays music what it is.
4. Slash.
5. JB and Brent from August Burns Red, theyre wild.
6. Tosin Abasi, you can't explain that.
7. Jeff and Luke from Parkway Drive.
8. Zach, Alex and Ben from Whitechapel.
9. Andy James.
10. Jacob and Jason from Chelsea Grin.

BH is the 1st, the others in a random order

[ZeroBassist]

1. Eric Clapton
2. Dallas Green
3. Keith Urban
4. George Harrison
5. John Frusciante
6. Brad Paisley
7. Brian May
8. Jack White

All of these players influence how I play. Some are not the fastest, but that's not what this list is about.

[jedke]

As soon as I saw the title I was like Randy Rhodes better be on there. You have great taste

[jacobbeahm]

in no order

The Edge
David Gilmour
Robert Fripp
Vini Reilly
Steve Jones
Keith Levene
Robert Smith
Bernard Sumner
Andy Othling

[HardAttack]

For me, I think it would have to be (in no particular order):

Dino Cazares
John Donais
Mick Thompson
Mark Tremonti
Daaron Malakian

Those are the ones who influenced me to play and who shaped the style of music I play. I would not count that as the most influential of the world nor the best ones in the world. (Hoping to avoid a flame war.)

[6-String_Madman]

dudokrs_tdh wrote:

John Petrucci
John Dinopol (Urbandub)
Mike Elgar (Rivermaya)
Mike Einziger
John Frusciante
Herman Li
Steve Badiola & Pakoy Fletchero (Typecast)
Nigel Hendroff
Paul Gilbert

Obviously, you're a Filipino. Try Death Angel and Metallica. You will know what I mean.

My list of guitar heroes:

Richie Sambora
Michael-Angelo Batio
Yngwie Malmsteen
Steve Vai
Joe Satrianni
James Hetfield
Kirk Hammett
Alexi Laiho
Willie Adler
and the Iron Maiden trio...

[intheshadowplay]

Jebus, could this article have picked five larger cliches?

1) Joe Strummer
2) Bernard Sumner
3) Ron Asheton
4) Bob Mould
5) Earl "Chinna" Smith

[60's&70'sRules]

Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
John Frusciante
Tommy Bolin
Carlos Santana
Ritchie Blackmore

For me, Jimmy Page and Hendrix are the most influential in the history of rock...

[mustaine42]

Mark Tremonti
Steven Wilson
Buckethead
Dave Mustaine
Mikael Akerfeldt
Eric Friedman
Antoine Dufour
Angus Young
Adam Jones

[BlueLabel]

1. Paul Gilbert of Mr. BIG
2. Eric Johnson
3. Pete Lesperance of Harem Scarem
4. Tommy Shaw of STYX
5. Brad Gillis of Night Ranger
6. Bruce Kulick formerly of KISS
7. Stevie Ray Vaughn
8. Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen
9. Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
10. Dan Huff of Giant

[metalmagic_187]

1.Dimebag darrell
2.Max Caverlera
3.SRV
4.Jimi
5.Zakk Wylde
6.Kerry King
7.Tony Iomi
8.Glenn Tipton
9.Kirk Hammet
10.James Hetfield

and many many more

[bspitler]

Jake E Lee
George Lynch
SRV
Al Di Meola
Albert King
Albert Collins
Paco De Lucia
Billy Gibbons
Dave Mustaine
Shawn Lane
Vivian Campbell
John Sykes
Buddy Guy
Django Reinhardt

[blizzboy]

1. Billy Joe Armstrong - I know, wtf, right? Started listening to green day in 1996, so whatever.
2. Alexi Laiho - Got me thinking more about playing leads and solos.
3. Steve Vai - Got me into the more melodic, lead/guitar-based instrumentals, and the emotion he can put into a single note!
4. Satriani - Taught Vai and Hammett. I forgive that he looks like Voldemort.
5. Andy McKee - Started my weird-tuning phase with my acoustic. Didn't touch my electric for months because of this guy.
6. Petrucci - His riffs sound like an adventure and I love it.

[Reagar]

Agree with Pete Townshend. He basically invented modern rock guitar playing. The distortion, power chords, everything about it has influenced so many people

[norflesh]

1) Michael Romeo
2) Andy Timmons
3) John Petrucci
4) Alexy Laiho
5) Angus Young
6) All Iron Maiden guitarists
7) Paul Gilbert
8) Eddy Van Halen
9) Slash
10)John Uli Roth
Not in this order

[red-mosquito]

1.) noel gallagher
2.) Stone Gossard
3.) Mike McReady
4.) Dave Grohl
5.) Chris Schiflet

[JakeViolater]

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Jimmy Page
3. Angus Young
4. Slash
5. Mike Mcready
6. SRV
7. Joe Perry
8. John Frusciante
9. The Angels guitarist
10. The Black Crows' guitarist

[krok937]

1. Rory gallagher
2. Joe Bonamassa
3. Jimmy Page
4. Angus Young
5. Steve vai

[INSULIN]

ok george harrison-cause it's the beatles.chuck berry.keith richards -great song writer.jimi hendrix-duh.jeff beck-jimmy page-ritchie blackmore-eddie van halen etc too many

[INSULIN]

dam forgot pete townshed-thank him for marshall amps and great song writer.he keep getting jim marshall to make louder amps ha ah

[DamnBastard1224]

It's been two or so weeks since i posted this, and I feel the need to once again explain that this isn't a list of my favorites, just the ones who made me want to pick up a guitar. Jesus.