52 guitarists, week 7—Marty Friedman

Back in the late 1980s, I was a massive Metallica fan. I loved plenty of other heavy metal bands, but few came close to Metallica for me. A close second was Megadeth. That was until 1990 when Rust In Peace was released with the new Megadeth lineup that included Marty Friedman. It was at this time and with this new material that Megadeth became the greatest heavy metal band ever in my opinion. Marty Friedman’s solo work was—and still is—mind-blowingly amazing.

Also, he had hair to die for. I’m man enough to admit that. … 52 guitarists, week 7—Marty Friedman

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52 guitarists, week 6—Tommy Emmanuel

Acoustic guitar playing is not my strong suit. Actually, electric guitar playing is not my strong suit. Wow … I just realised that blogging isn’t either. Someone who is without equal on the acoustic guitar—in my opinion—and is also damn impressive on the electric guitar is Tommy Emmanuel. I sure hope his website doesn’t show he’s a better blogger than me too. I’ve got to have something over him! … 52 guitarists, week 6—Tommy Emmanuel

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52 guitarists, week 5—Wes Borland

I expect this week’s article to make people question this list. I’m quite OK with that. Remember, this is not some top 50 guitarists of all time list. This is the 52 guitarists—in no real order—that have influenced me at some point in my guitar playing journey. Wes Borland is one of those guitarists. He influences me in ways similar to Adam Jones from my previous entry in this list. Wes is an artist—in many ways and mediums—and his approach to guitar playing and showmanship is one I admire greatly. Plus he can riff with the best of them. … 52 guitarists, week 5—Wes Borland

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52 guitarists, week 4—Adam Jones

Great guitar music—to me—complements what is going on in a band while still making it clear that the guitar is not only there, it’s a presence to be reckoned with. It’s a subtle mix between subtle and bold. It’s a rare mix to get right. Few do it right in my opinion. Well, to my personal liking at least. I’m no expert by any means, but one man that does it perfectly is Adam Jones from Tool. Not only is his guitar work an important part of the seriously impressive music Tool produces, it’s the part that blows your mind when the chords come pounding in at those all-important moments.

Adam Jones makes fist pumping guitar moments of passion and I love it. … 52 guitarists, week 4—Adam Jones

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52 guitarists, week 3—Dave Murray

It’s time to exit the timeline approach I’ve been running with these past two weeks and enter the realm of ‘whatever the heck I feel like doing’. It’s a realm that really needs a better name, but it essentially means I can write about any guitarists I feel like writing about. Which is OK because this is my website, my rules.

So if you could write about any influential guitarist in week three, who would you write about? Me, I’d look to a band with three guitarists and then choose your favourite guitarist from that band. For me that’s easy. Dave Murray from Iron Maiden. … 52 guitarists, week 3—Dave Murray

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52 guitarists, week 2—Eddie Van Halen

I’ve decided to stick with a timeline approach to my blogging for this series of 52 guitarists. For now, that will be the approach. Next week, who knows?! I’ve also decided that today’s post will have some profanity in it. You have been warned.

You may wonder what the two have in common. A timeline approach and profanity. Well, when you’re a fifteen year old boy and someone introduces you to the sound of Eddie Van Halen, there’s not much you can do but swear. Well, if you’re anything like me at least. … 52 guitarists, week 2—Eddie Van Halen

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52 guitarists, week 1—Ace Frehley

Another year and another weekly blog post commitment from me. For those who have been on this journey with me before—thank you by the way—you have witnessed my wishlists of 52 guitars, 52 amplifiers and 52 pedals. This year I’m trying something different—52 guitarists.

It’s safe to assume therefore that this is also not a wishlist like previous years.

Also, this series is not a top 52 guitarists list. There is no ranking system here. What I will be doing however is writing about 52 guitarists who have been influential to me personally. By the end of this list, there will be many guitarists who would normally feature in a top 10 or top 100 guitarists list. Once again though, this is not that list. This is personal. These are the guitarists who either influenced me enough to start playing guitar or to continue playing guitar decades later. For me, this list needs to therefore start at the beginning. It starts with the guitarist who made me realise that guitar-focused music was going to be my passion.

My list has to start with Ace Frehley. … 52 guitarists, week 1—Ace Frehley