Best Electric Guitarists in the World
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker. Since the output of an electric guitar is an electric signal, the signal may easily be altered using electronic circuits to add "color" to the sound. Often the signal is modified using effects such as reverb and distortion.
Invented in 1931, the electric guitar became a necessity as jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound. Since then, the electric guitar has undeniably become one of the most important instruments in popular music around the world. It has evolved into a stringed musical instrument that is capable of a multitude of sounds and styles. It served as a major component in the development of rock and roll and countless other genres of music.
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing. The guitarist controls an extremely versatile instrument. By using techniques such as bending and vibrato, the guitarist can make the guitar express a near vocal quality. While with an ensemble, a guitarist can take the role of rhythm (playing with bass in the ensemble) or lead (playing on top of the bass in the ensemble) guitar. A guitarist can also play along with a harmonica as a second instrument.
Know about some of the most famous and best Electric Guitarists in the World as below:
Devin Townsend
Devin Garret Townsend also known as "HevyDevy", was born may 5th,1972, from Westminister B.C. Canada and is best know for being the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for the progressive death/thrash/industrial metal band Strapping Young Lad. Along with his solo career The Devin Townsend Project, a experimental, ambient, progressive rock style. As well as being a record producer for his own label HevyDevy Records. Townsends influences are that of, KIng's X, Grotus, Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, Zoviet France, The Young Gods, Ravi Shankar, Ween, Morbid Angel, Fear Factory, Meshuggah, Judas Priest, Frank Zappa, Wasp, Broadway musicals, classical composer Igor Stravinsky, Tom Waits, and Yes.Buckethead
Brian Carroll (born May 13, 1969), better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a guitarist and multi instrumentalist who encompasses several genres of music. He has released 32 studio albums, four special releases and one EP. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists. His music spans such diverse areas as progressive metal, funk, blues, jazz, bluegrass, ambient, and avant-garde music. While performing in his theatrical persona, Buckethead used to wear a KFC bucket on his head, emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker that reads FUNERAL in capital black block letters, and an expressionless plain white costume mask. More recently, he has switched to a plain white bucket no longer bearing the KFC logo. He also incorporates nunchucks and robot dancing into his stage performances.Buckethead has cited many influences such as Larry LaLonde, Mike Patton, Michael Jackson, Parliament-Funkadelic, Shawn Lane, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Louis Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Jennifer Batten, Eddie Hazel, Randy Rhoads, The Residents, Eddie Van Halen, and Angus Young. He also cited many non-musical influences as well, such as George Gervin, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
Carroll has played with many artists including Les Claypool, Serj Tankien, Iggy Pop, and Bootsy Collins.
John Petrucci
John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He is also a backing vocalist for Dream Theater. Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarists. In 2009 he was named the No. 2 Best metal guitarist by Joel McIver in his book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. He was also named as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time" by GuitarOne magazine. John Petrucci is best known as the guitarist and founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He is also the band's producer and main lyricist as well as an original member of the acclaimed Liquid Tension Experiment with Tony Levin. John is a long standing veteran of Joe Satriani's prestigious G3 tours along with Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Paul Gilbert.Petrucci became affiliated with the Ibanez guitar company (even lending his name to his own signature series), before switching to the Ernie Ball company later on, and once more, launching his own signature series. Dream Theater continued to issue albums on a regular basis throughout the '90s and into the early 21st century -- retaining a large and loyal fan base even after MTV/radio stopped playing them. In addition to his Dream Theater duties, Petrucci has played with a variety of other projects (all in the prog metal mold), including Explorer's Club, Liquid Tension Experiment (which also included Portnoy, bass master Tony Levin, and eventual Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess), as well as supplying music to the Sega Saturn video game called Necronomicon. 2000 saw the release of a collaboration between Petrucci and Rudess, An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess, while Petrucci joined forces with Vai and Satriani on tour as part of their annual G3 tour during the summer of 2001.
Muhammed Suicmez
Muhammed Suiçmez (born November 28, 1975) is a German-Turkish guitarist and the frontman of the technical death metal band Necrophagist. Muhammed Suiçmez was born in Karlsruhe to Turkish Muslim immigrants. Around the age of 10 he began listening to death metal, and took up an interest in music. At the age of 14, in 1989, Suiçmez wrote the lyrics for Onset of Putrefaction. Inspired by Carcass at the time, the lyrics were gory and dark. His soloing style is influenced in a large part by Malmsteen and his neo-classical style, as can be seen with his extensive use of the harmonic minor scale, and use of legato techniques and sweep picking. When he was 20, a second self-titled demo was released (1995). This one had four tracks, and all the music and lyrics were written by Suiçmez. There were many line-up changes to the members of the band which impeded the progress Suiçmez sought for Necrophagist and finally, in 1998 he took it upon himself to begin recording a full length album where he would perform and record every instrument (except for the drums, which he programmed), as well as produce it all himself. Suiçmez first released and distributed the recording by himself and without a label, but a year later, Onset of Putrefaction was released on Noise Solution Records (1999).In the summer of 2007 Necrophagist teamed up with drummer Marco Minnemann to headline the Summer Slaughter tour. Though according to Necrophagist's Myspace, they have now parted ways with Marco, and have recruited French drummer Romain Goulon.
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani (born July 15, 1956 in Westbury, New York) is an Italian American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, and some of his former students have achieved fame with their guitar skills (Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan, Alex Skolnick). Satriani has been a driving force in the music credited to other musicians throughout his career, as a founder of the ever-changing touring trio, G3, as well as performing in various positions with other musicians. In 1988, Satriani was recruited by Mick Jagger as lead guitarist for Jagger's first solo tour. Later, in 1994, Satriani was the lead guitarist for Deep Purple. Satriani worked with a range of guitarists from several musical genres, including Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Larry LaLonde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May, Patrick Rondat, Andy Timmons, Paul Gilbert, Adrian Legg, and Robert Fripp through the annual G3 Jam Concerts. He is currently the lead guitarist for the supergroup Chickenfoot.He is heavily influenced by blues-rock guitar icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Jeff Beck, but possesses his own easily recognizable style. Since 1988, Satriani has been using his own signature guitar, the Ibanez JS Series, which is widely sold in stores. He has a signature series amplifier, the Peavey JSX, although he has since returned to using Marshall amplifiers as the result of a breakdown in the relationship between himself and Peavey; a signature VOX amPlug headphone amp, and signature VOX pedals The "Satchurator" distortion pedal, The "Time Machine" delay pedal, The "Big Bad Wah" wah pedal and The "Ice 9" overdrive pedal.
In 2008 he revealed his new band Chickenfoot which involved former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummmer Chad Smith. They released their self titled album in 2009. In 2010 Satriani took part in the Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour playing music inspired and written by Hendrix. Satriani's style includes many techniques such as legato, two-handed tapping, arpeggio tapping, volume swells, harmonics, and extreme use of the whammy bar. During faster passages Satriani favours legato but is also capable of sweep picking and rapid alternate picking.
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante (born March 5, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film producer of Italian descent. He is best known as the former guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he recorded five studio albums. Frusciante has an active solo career, having released ten albums under his own name, as well as two with Josh Klinghoffer and Joe Lally as Ataxia. His solo recordings include elements ranging from experimental rock and ambient music to New Wave and electronica. Influenced by guitarists of various genres, Frusciante emphasizes melody and emotion in his guitar playing, and favors vintage guitars and analog recording techniques.Frusciante joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers at eighteen years old, first appearing on the band's 1989 album Mother's Milk. The group's follow-up album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), was a breakthrough success. However, he was overwhelmed by the band's new popularity and quit in 1992. He became a recluse and entered a long period of drug addiction, during which he released his first recordings: Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994) and then Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997). In 1998, he successfully completed drug rehabilitation and rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers with the album Californication (1999). His album To Record Only Water for Ten Days was compiled in 2001. On a creative spree, Frusciante released six solo albums in 2004; each album exploring different recording techniques and genres. In 2009, Frusciante released The Empyrean and again parted ways with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frusciante has produced and/or recorded with the Wu-Tang Clan, The Mars Volta, George Clinton and others.
Frusciante has received critical recognition for his guitar playing, ranking at #18 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003, and he was voted the best guitarist of the last 30 years in a 2010 BBC poll called "The Axe Factor". Frusciante’s most popular guitar is his 1962 Fender Stratocaster which he has owned and used since joining the Chilli Peppers although he claims his most prized guitar is his 1957 Gretsch White Falcon. For his acoustic work Frusciante predominately uses a 1950s Martin 0-15. His guitar style is heavily influenced by the guitarists of the 1960s and is characterised by its rhythmic patterns and intense emotion.
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello (born May 30, 1964) is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club. Tom is also the co-founder (along with Serj Tankian) of the non-profit political activist organization, Axis of Justice, which airs monthly on KPFK 90.7FM in Los Angeles. He is best-known for his use of guitar effects, his innovative guitar solos, his use of tapping, and his heavy riffs. He was ranked #26 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." In 1991 Morello formed Rage Against the Machine after his previous band Lock Up disbanded. In 1992 they signed to Epic Records and released their first self-titled album which was followed by a further three. In late 2000 lead singer Zack de la Rocha left and their fourth album ‘Renegades’ was a collection of cover songs from contributing artists.Following the de la Rocha’s departure the remaining members teamed up with singer Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to form Audioslave. Audioslave produced three albums, of which the first reached triple platinum and the second platinum before the reunion of Rage Against the Machine at the Coachella Music Festival on April 29th 2007 before visiting England to headline the Reading and Leeds festivals in 2008.
During his tenure with Audioslave, Morello played with folk band The Nightwatchman from 2003 onwards. Morello claimed of The Nightwatchman that it ‘is my political folk alter ego.’ His songs have been inspired by the terrorist attacks of September 11th as well as the war in Iraq.
Following the breakup of Audioslave, Morello formed Street Sweeper Social Club in 2007 with Boots Riley of The Coup. In addition to these numerous projects, Morello has recorded with late singer Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, and The Prodigy as well as featuring on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which features his trademark guitar sounds.
Uli Jon Roth
Ulrich Roth (born 18 December 1954), more commonly known as Uli Jon Roth, is a German guitarist and one of the earliest contributors to the neo-classical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Academy and inventor of the Sky Guitar. He is the older brother of fellow guitarist and artist Zeno Roth.Much of Roth's writing from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s was in a classical style, leaving rock & roll behind altogether. For example, the 1991 piece Aquila Suite (later issued as part of the three-disc From Here to Eternity package) was a set of 12 etudes composed for solo piano, in the style of the Romantic era. Also in 1991, Roth was tapped by German television to direct the tribute special "A Different Side of Jimi Hendrix," which also featured bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Simon Phillips, among many others. In 1993, Roth returned to German television with the "Symphonic Rock for Europe" special, in which he performed his first rock symphony "Europa Ex Favilla" (plus several other pieces) backed by the Brussels Symphony Orchestra. Some of those compositions later turned up on Sky of Avalon: Prologue to the Symphonic Legends, Roth's 1996 return to recording, which featured his new backing band Sky of Avalon. Prologue was the first of a projected four related symphonic recordings spotlighting the sky guitar. In 1998, Roth played his first straight-ahead rock concerts in quite some time, joining the European leg of the G3 guitar-virtuoso package tour with Michael Schenker and Joe Satriani. In 2000, Roth released Transcendental Sky Guitar, a two-CD set of recent live and studio material (including selections from a special 1999 concert in Vienna) that was split into classical and rock-oriented halves.
Slash
Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N' Roses, Slash formed the side project Slash's Snakepit. He then co-founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver, which re-established him as a mainstream performer in the mid to late 2000s. In 2010, Slash released his eponymous debut solo album, featuring an all-star roster of guest musicians. Slash has received critical acclaim as a guitarist. Time named him runner-up on their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009, while Guitar World ranked his solo in "November Rain" No. 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" in 2008, and Total Guitar placed his riff in "Sweet Child o' Mine" at No. 1 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Riffs" in 2004.
After deciding to form a band with friend Steven Adler, Slash decided to pick up the bass guitar as Adler had declared himself lead guitarist. Slash stopped in at Fairfax Music School and told the receptionist he wanted to play the bass, and at that time met his teacher Robert Wolin. Wolin told him that in order to learn he would need a bass of his own. Slash went home and asked his grandmother and was given a worn-out, single stringed flamenco guitar. After hearing Wolin play "Brown Sugar" by ear, Slash realized that the guitar was his calling. He subsequently dropped out of high school to focus on music. In a Rolling Stone magazine article, he remarked:
My big awakening happened when I was fourteen. I'd been trying to get into this older girl's pants for a while, and she finally let me come over to her house. We hung out, smoked some pot and listened to Aerosmith's Rocks. It hit me like a fucking ton of bricks. I sat there listening to it over and over, and totally blew off this girl. I remember riding my bike back to my grandma's house knowing that my life had changed. Now I identified with something.
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lars Mikael Akerfeldt (born 17 April 1974) is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel. He is known for his progressive rock-influenced songwriting style and his frequent use of both clean and growled vocals. Mikael and Peter Lindgren were ranked #42 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of all time by Guitar World. Akerfeldt was also ranked 9th place in the book "Top 100 Heavy Metal Guitarists".
Åkerfeldt style of song writing and playing, beautifully demonstrates brilliant songs that manifest into lengthy and elaborate master pieces, producing their distinct sound, with elements of dark progressive death metal with melodic acoustic passageways. Combining styles of heavy metal, symphonic/psychedelic rock, blues, and jazz, which a lot of comes from his influences; Morbid Angel, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Death, Entombed, Ritchie Blackmore of (Deep Purple), Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Michael Schenker, Ingwie Malmsteen, The Beatles, The Zombies, King Crimson, Scorpions, Carlos Santana, and his "Idol" David Coverdale of Whitesnake, along with countless others.
Opeth has been said to be our generations "Pink Floyd", but it is unquestionable they are a sound entirely of their own. Mikael also plays guitar on many different albums with many different artist, including; Katatonia, Porcupine Tree, Ihsahn, Sorskogen, Steel, Road Runner Records 25th anniversary album " Road Runner United: The All Star Session", as well as appearing on Devin Townsend's upcoming album "Deconstruction" on the song "Stand", as well as many others. Mikael and Peter Lindgren were ranked #42 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarist of All Time by GuitarWorld. As well as ranking 9th place in the book "Top 100 Heavy Metal Guitarist". He is also known for being the basis character Toki Wartooth from the popular heavy metal cartoon Metalocalypse.
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai (born June 6, 1960) is a three time Grammy Award-winning American rock guitarist, composer and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. After starting his professional career as a music transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai recorded and toured in Zappa's band for two years, from 1980 to 1982. The guitarist began a solo career in 1983 and has released 8 of his own solo albums since. Apart from his work with Frank Zappa, Vai has also recorded and toured with Public Image Ltd., Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake. Vai has been a regular touring member of the G3 Concert Tour which began in 1996. In 1999 Vai started his own record label, Favored Nations, intending to showcase, as Vai describes, "...artists that have attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments."Steve Vai has released 19 solo albums – the latest being “Where the Wild Things Are” released in 2010. He has also won three Grammy awards and has appeared on numerous other albums with other artists. Today Steve Vai is married to Pia Maicco– the bass player of the Vixens. They have two children and he keeps bees as a hobby.
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 1952 – 6 February 2011), better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer.In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teens, leading him to membership with the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy on three separate occasions. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King, Colosseum II, Greg Lake and Skid Row (not to be confused with the heavy metal band of the same name), as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high profile musicians, including a cameo appearance playing the lead guitar solo on "She's My Baby" from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
Gary Moore was acknowledged as one of the finest musicians that the British Isles has ever produced. In a career that dated back to the 1960s, there are few musical genres that he had not turned his adroit musical hand to, and has graced the line-ups ever several notable rock bands, Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II and Skid Row to name but three.
Moore died of a heart attack in his hotel room while on holiday in Estepona, Spain, in February 2011.
Zakk Wylde
Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt (born January 14, 1967), best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory, who released one self-titled album in 1994 before disbanding. As a solo artist he released Book of Shadows in 1996.
Zakk Wylde is well known for his distinctive guitars. He usually plays a Les Paul custom model with a bull’s eye design, painted on in red and white. The bull’s eye graphic was supposed to look like the spiral from the film Vertigo; however, a mistake from the guitar maker made the image resemble a bull’s eye, which Zakk Wylde actually preferred. He has used the bull’s eye design as a trade mark ever since. Zakk Wylde has other signature guitars, including a custom flame red Gibson, a black and white antique style Les Paul, an orange buzz saw patterned Les Paul and a camouflage model complete with mother of pearl inlays and a camouflaged bull’s eye paint job. Another celebrated guitar is a white Les Paul known as “the Grail”.
Dimebag Darrell was a close friend and he ordered a custom-made bulls eye Dime Series razorback (Flying V) as a present for Zack Wylde, shortly before his death in 2004. Zack Wylde custom guitars have been featured in the game Guitar Hero and his performance of “Fire it Up” also reproduced for the game.
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse (born 28 July 1954) is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs, and the guitar player in Deep Purple since 1994. Morse's career has encompassed rock, country, funk, jazz, classical, and fusion of these musical genres. In addition to a thriving solo career, he enjoyed a brief stint with Kansas in the mid 80s.Steve Morse is best known as the guitar player for the band "Deep Purple" and is also the founder of the band "Dixie Dregs". He also made his own band called "The Steve Morse Band" in the early 1980's and played briefly with the rock band "Kansas" in the mid 80's followed by the creation of the band "Living Loud" in 2003 with fellow musicians Don Airey, Jimmy Barnes, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake. Steve Morse is a famous American musician growing up mainly in Tennessee, Ypsilanti and then Michigan.
Steve Morse has been well known through his career for using harmonics and improvising them in songs during live performances. He can play highly complex chord structures in classical sequences, as well as being able to play fast- alternate picked arpeggios.
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is an American guitarist and recording artist from Austin, Texas. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, New Age, gospel and country and western music into his recordings. Johnson also composes and plays vocal pieces, and is an accomplished pianist. Guitar Player magazine has called Johnson "one of the most respected guitarists on the planet". Johnson's stylistic diversity and technical proficiency with the guitar have been praised by Bill Hicks,. His critically acclaimed, platinum-selling 1990 recording Ah Via Musicom produced the single "Cliffs of Dover", for which Johnson won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.Over time, Johnson experimented with music by joining various short-lived fusion and psychedelic rock bands, until turning to becoming a session guitarist. Somehow he caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records, though that discussion is still disputed over. Eventually he became more recognized and won a grammy in 1991 for his song "Cliffs of Dover". He continues to produce albums, experiment, and tour.
Johnson is best known for playing Fender Stratocasters and Gibson ES-335's. He typically uses Fender, Marshall, and Dumble amplifiers. For effect pedals he uses a wide variety from the Ibanez Tube Screamer to the Line 6 Echo Pro Studio Modeler. He has been given tributes in liner notes and songs by Alex Lifeson of Rush and Steve Morse. He has made many albums, but continues to mostly to compilations and guest appearances to this day.
Michael Angelo Batio
Michael Angelo Batio also known as Mike Batio or MAB (born February 23rd, 1956) is a guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. His work has encompassed many genres, notably metal and metal subgenres. Batio was voted the "No. 1 Shredder of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine in 2003. He was also listed as one of the "Top 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time" by Guitar World Magazine, for which he wrote the column Time to Burn, and one of the "20 Greatest Shredders of All Time" by Total Guitar Magazine, both in April 2008. Batio also won the 2009 Guitar World Magazine Readers Choice award in the "Best Shredder" category.Prior to the “Quad Guitar,” Batio invented a very unique double guitar. Instead of the double-necks that consisted of one neck above another, such as those favored by artists like Jimmy Page, Batio’s design featured a twin-necked flying V with necks jutting out in both the right and left hand positions. With this guitar, Michael Angelo was able to show off his ambidextrous skills, playing both necks simultaneously! For an even greater challenge, Batio then went on to develop his “Quad Guitar.” The original version of this guitar was made by Gibson, and it featured two top necks with seven strings each, and two bottom necks with six strings each. The entire guitar is arranged as a star shape. In 2009, Dean Guitars, which also put out the phenomenal MAB-1 (Michael Angelo Batio Signature Guitar), began manufacturing the latest incarnation of the “Quad Guitar.” This incredible piece of equipment can be purchased through Batio’s MACE Music.
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English guitarist, composer and record producer best known for being a guitarist for, and the only constant member of, progressive rock band King Crimson. His work, spanning five decades, encompasses a variety of musical styles. His complete discography includes more than seven hundred releases. Fripp was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" (published August 2003). In 2010, Fripp was ranked #47 in Gibson.com’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.Robert Fripp is best known for his work with the Prog Rock group King Crimson – as the founder, driving force and as the bands only constant member. With a career spanning over 40 years Robert Fripp has collaborated with many of the best musicians in the world and is rated number 42 on the Rolling Stones list of “greatest guitarists of all time2 compiled in 2003.
In between work with King Crimson, Robert Fripp has worked on numerous collaborations with artists including Brian Eno, David Bowie on Heroes, Blondie, Taking Heads, local friend and Police member Andy Summers and notably David Sylvain with whom he produced some of his best guitar work. Robert Fripp has also worked as a solo performer on a series of soundscapes. This is music created by digital musical synthesisers played via the electric guitar and is a technique that Fripp invented. The most recent recording was “Sound Sculptures” in Brazil 2007. Rober Fripp used two Gibson Les Pauls during his early work with King Crimson and has a signature Les Paul named after him. Rober Fripp is married to 80’s singer Toyah Wilcox.
Yngwie Malmsteen
Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (born June 30, 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing approach in heavy metal music which became a new musical style in the early 1980s. He is considered by many to be one of the most technically gifted rock guitarists of all time and a pioneer of shred guitar.Aside from technical prowess, distinctions of Malmsteen’s guitar style include a wide, violin-like vibrato inspired by classical violinists, and use of such minor scales as the Harmonic minor, and minor modes such as Phrygian, and Aeolian. The Malmsteen signature model Stratocaster made by Fender is based accurately upon this combination. Malmsteen himself has said he learned most from Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar riffs and solos as a beginning guitarist. Also, jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin used scalloped fingerboards long before Malmsteen came on the scene. The highly accurate, delicate yet controlled touch required to play properly with Malmsteen’s modified Stratocaster is elusive for most, and an integral part of Malmsteen’s technique.
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola (born Al Laurence Dimeola July 22, 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date. Albums such as Friday Night in San Francisco have earned him both artistic and commercial success with a solid fan base throughout the world.Born into a family of Spanish flamenco performers, Paco de Lucia came to the international guitar arena with a background rich in colorful history, artistic passion and centuries of mesmerizing guitar technique. A traditional flamenco performer from the mid Sixties to the late Seventies, he crossed over to fusion, jazz and world music audiences via virtuoso collaborations with Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell. What De Lucia brought to the party was the rhythmic fire of flamenco, a stunning five-finger picking style and a dizzying repertoire of rasgueados, picados and other flamenco techniques. His forays into jazz, classical and other genres have also enriched his expressiveness within the flamenco idiom. In any genre, Paco de Lucia can make those nylon strings burn like molten lava.
Di Meola grew up in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and attended Bergenfield High School. He is now a resident of Bergen County, New Jersey.
Ron Jarzombek
Ron Jarzombek is an American guitarist best known for his work with Austin, Texas progressive metal trailblazers WatchTower, '90s madcap trio, Spastic Ink, technical extreme metal band Blotted Science, featuring Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster and ex-Behold... the Arctopus drummer Charlie Zeleny, and most recently Terrestrial Exiled, an all-star instrumental quartet, featuring Obscura members Christian Muenzner and Hannes Grossmann, as well as Spastic Ink bassist Pete Perez.
Jarzombek has also guested with a number of artists ranging from fellow guitarists Marty Friedman and Jeff Loomis to death metal outfits Obscura and Odious Mortem, and collaborated with Cynic off-shoot Gordian Knot as well as Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler. He also teaches guitar in San Antonio, Texas.
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