Portal:Guitarists

Jump to: navigation, search

The Guitarists Portal

Image:guitaristsbanner4.jpeg

Welcome to Guitarists Portal!

Who is your favourite guitarist? Did you stumble upon a new and really great guitar player lately? Or maybe you have re-discouvered someone that has been on the shelf for some time? Tell us all about it here!!

As we see it, a guitarist is someone playing guitar. It can be Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai or Slash. It can be your guitar teacher, the guy at the local music store trying new models of guitars and amps, or your beginner cousin. And of course, YOU are probably an aspiring guitarist yourself!

If you'd like to help use writing wiki articles, please check the Wiki Guitarist Poject. If you write some articles, you can gain a Wiki badge in the forum and maybe, one day you'll have your own portal under your command!

Guitarist Top 5!

Vote Here!

Guitarist of the Week

Steve Vai

Steven "Steve" Siro Vai, born June 6 1960, is a famous guitarist and composer. He is famed for his incredible technique and extremely fast shredding. In 1974 Steve took guitar lessons from fellow guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani. He attended the Berklee College of Music and toured with Frank Zappa. Steve Vai often tours with Joe Satriani, his former guitar teacher, on the G3 tour. Vai has performed on the tour from 1996-1997 and 2000-2006. More...


Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton "Slow Hand" is a famous English guitarist, singer and composer. He excels in blues, and was ranked nº4 in Rolling Stone's "100 Guitarists of all time". He has released or taken part in over 50 different albums, either on his own or in the different formations he has taken part in his large career. He also belongs to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame three times: for Cream, The Yardbirds and his solo albums. He is nº53 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". On top of that, he also belongs to the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, England, in 1945. His father abandoned his mother and he never got to meet him. Later on, his mother left him to be raised by his grandparents. He started playing guitar at the age of 13, he was self-taught... More...


David Gilmour

On 6 March 1946, David Jon Gilmour was born in Cambridge England. He was the second child of Douglas and Sylvia Gilmour. His father was a lecturer in Zoology at the University, and his mom was a teacher. Both of his parents were involved with education, which might explain why David also attended school until (or a bit before) he was 20 years old. He first went to “The Perse School” on Hills road in Cambridge, where he met Syd Barrett and Roger Waters. Those three would later form the basis for Pink Floyd, the band that made Gilmour famous. Gilmour later, together with Syd, studied modern languages up to an A-level and got himself into a band called Joker’s Wild in 1962. More...


Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson is a guitarist and songwriter born August 17, 1954 in Austin Texas, USA. Although best known for his solo work, Eric Johnson is also associated with other projects and appearing on many other records such as "Distant Star" by Steve Morse and "The Washing Away of Wrong" by John5. Eric Johnson has been widely appraised for his guitar skills by many guitar magazines including Guitar World and Total Guitar as well as other well known guitar players such as Joe Satriani, Allan Hodsworth, Steve Morse, B.B King and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Eric Johnson has also appeared on the G3 tour with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. More...



Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton is a british guitarist who has had a long solo career and also worked extensively as a session musician and was also a founding member of Humble Pie. Undoubtedly he is probably best remembered for his 1976 live album Frampton Comes Alive which is the fourth best selling live album ever. It has sold over 16 million copies worldwide. The only live albums to have sold more are Double Live by Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band Live and The Eagles Live. He is also closely associated with his use of the Talkbox guitar effect.Recently he has set up a company which produces hand made and high end guitar effects including the Peter Frampton Talkbox. Among his clients are Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi. More...


Guthrie Govan

Guthrie Govan (born December 27, 1971 in Chelmsford, Essex, England) is a guitarist known for his work with the bands Asia (2001-2006), GPS, The Young Punx and The Fellowship as well as Erotic Cakes (a vehicle for his own music). He is a noted guitar teacher through his work with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music and currently the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. He is also a former winner of Guitarist magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition. [...] Govan began playing guitar aged three, encouraged by his father but initially learning mainly by ear. At the age of nine he and his brother Seth Govan played guitar on a Thames Television programme called Ace Reports. He then attended King Edward VI Grammar School (Chelmsford) where he was exposed, via older classmates, to ‘shred’ guitarists of the time. More...


Dimebag Darrell

Darrell Lance Abbott was born on the 08.20.1966 in Texas. He spend most of his youth in his Father's Country Studio but his real heroes were Eddie Van Halen, Tony Iommi and Ace Frehely. He started to play guitar along with his brother Vinnie Paul who plays the drums. At the age of 16 Dimebag was already good enough to win every local Talent contest. The Abbott brothers founded their band Pantera already in the 80's, they have just not been popular until 1990. Pantera used to be a Hair-Glam-Metal band and released four records. Dimebag called himself Diamond Darrell during this time. In 1990 they changed their style from ground up with their new singer Phillip Anselmo. Pantera was now playing neo-thrash-metal and revolutionized the heavy music scene. Pantera existed till 2003, when Phil Anselmo left the band and the Abbott Brothers founded their new Band Damageplan. On the 8th of December Dimebag Darrell was murdered on-stage during a Damageplan gig in Columbus/Ohio by a mentally disturbed fan with multiple gunshots. More...



Kirk Hammet

He was born in San Francisco to a Filipino mother and an Irish Merchant Marine father. As a child and teenager, he showed great interest in his older brother Rick's extensive collection of guitars and hard rock records, including material by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Status Quo, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and UFO. One of his biggest influences was Jimi Hendrix. He took up the guitar for the first time at the age of fifteen.Hammett's musical interests eventually drew him into the fledgling thrash metal genre. In 1982, he formed the group Exodus with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt, bassist Geoff Andrews, and drummer Tom Hunting. More...


Paul Gilbert

Carbondale, Illinois, that's the name of Paul Gilbert´s hometown and there is where he was born (6th november 1966). Paul first picked up a guitar at the age of 5, even though it only was a toy guitar it surely started his interest for music. His main influences back then were bands such as The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Another huge influence he had was his blues-playing uncle, Jimi Kidd.

Today Paul is not only one of the fastest metal guitar players out there but also considered to be among the most technical ones. More...


Brian May

Born on the 19th July 1947, Brian Harold May is probably best known for his part in the Rock band Queen. He is also a qualified Astrophysicist. Famous for using his own hand-built guitar, ‘’’The Red Special’’’, he has been responsible for writing many Hit Records including:- "Tie Your Mother Down", "We Will Rock You", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "Hammer to Fall". Although he lives in Surrey, England he is the current Chancellor of Liverpool John Moore’s University, taking over from Cherie Blair in 2007 and he was officially installed in 2008. In 2005 he was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his ‘Services to the Music Industry.’ In Rolling Stone magazine’s list of ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’ May was ranked 39th. More...



Adrian Vandenberg

Born in Netherlands, on January 31st 1954. He started playing guitar at the age of 17 and is best known for his time with the legendary band Whitesnake fronted by ex-Deep Purple singer David Coverdale. His style is versatile and can shred with the best, yet also he`s melodic, playing with great feel and expression. [...]Once joining Whitesnake he helped to complete the 1987 album, after a successful World Tour he co-wrote all of the music for Whitesnakes "Slip of the Tongue" album, unfortunatly Vandenburg was never to play... More...



Michael Angelo Batio

Michael began his recording career with a group called Holland and their first album called Little Monsters was met with moderate success. He is the Most famous for his solo records such as No Bounderies Batio is also known for the fact that he taught Tom Morello while attending college. He also supposedly gave lessons to guitarist Mark Tremonti. Michael Angelo Batio is an incredible guitarist and is well know for using guitars with two necks and sometimes even four necks. I dont think I could ever do that myself... He often uses a custom dean guitar. More...



Bradley Nowell

Music was an important part of Nowell's upbringing. Nowell's mother, Nancy Nowell-Watilo, had perfect pitch, which Bradley himself inherited, and Brad's father, Jim Nowell, was fond of Jimmy Buffett and often played guitar during family gatherings. On holidays, Brad often played guitar and sang with his father and uncles for hours. Brad was often able to play a song on the guitar after hearing it only once. Bradley grew up with the stigma of attention deficit disorder and the associated (incorrect) assumption that he wasn’t very clever. Coupled with his parents’ divorce made for a difficult childhood. More...




Vivian Campbell

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland 1962 on August 25th full name : Vivian Partick Campbell Biggest influence , Gary Moore, Vivian`s style in early years reflects that of Garys in many ways, lightening speed with pinpoint accuracy. Joined his first band in 1978 at the age of 16, "Sweet Savage" , he was to tour as a support act with Thin Lizzy and Motorhead, whilst on tour he had attracted some attention from bass player Jimmy Bain who was forming a band with rock legend singer Ronnie James Dio & drummer Vinnie Appice. Dio required a power metal guitarist, and Vivian at the age of 19 was asked to audition. More...



Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was given the name Johnny Allen Hendrix by his mother, which his father later changed to James Marshall Hendrix to honour his dead brother. Jimi's childhood was unstable, since his mother was an alcoholic, and he grew up partly with his grandmother in Canada. She was very close to Jimi and tought him to be proud of his Afro-American ancestry. He had two younger brothers (Leon & Joseph) and two sisters, but his mother left the family when Jimi was about eight years old, and he grew up being a shy and quiet boy. He was attending something so unusal - at that time - as a ethnically mixed school, and he had good grades except for an F in music 1959(!). He was deeply into blues and R&B music and listened a lot to B.B. King and Muddy Waters, whose records his father owned. More...




B.B. King

B.B. King is a legendary American Bluesman, gifted guitarist, composer and singer.
King has taken part in more than 60 albums, with different artists or on his own. He has won 14 Grammys and received dozens of awards and honors over the years, and he still performs several nights a week. He belongs to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, and stands in the 3rd position of Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".Riley Ben King, known as B.B. King, was born the 16th of September of 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi. His father abandoned the family and his mother died when King was just 9 years old, so he spent the rest of his childhood living with his grandmother in Kilmichael, attending... More...



Angus Young

Angus Young was born on March 31, 1955 of William and Margaret Young in Glasgow, Scotland. He was one of nine children. He and all his siblings were brought up in Syndey, Australia. Angus started playing guitar when he was five years old. A local child had one and Angus would play it during visits. He got his own guitar by taking a banjo his family had lying around and restringing it like a guitar.
Angus did not get into guitar playing seriously until his family moved from Scotland to Australia in 1963. He had been playing on an old Höfner guitar he inherited from his brother Malcolm, until he bought a Gibson SG, after seeing it in a friend's catalogue. More...



James Hetfield

James Alan Hetfield was born in Downey, CA (a suburb of Los Angeles) on August 3, 1963, to Christian Science parents, a religion he would dismiss later on. During high school he started to play drums but quickly changed to the guitar His main influence was Aerosmith, and he has said that they were the reason why he wanted to play guitar. Other bands such as Black Sabbath, The Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy also had a major influence on him.Together with Drummer Lars Ulrich he formed the future biggest Metalband of the World METALLICA as a contrary to the dominating glam Metal movement. Ulrich turned Hetfield on to the sounds of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement (Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Diamond Head, Venom, Saxon, Angel Witch, etc). In the early days, Hetfield did not have an interest in being a lead vocalist, that is... More...



Frank Marino

He was born Francesco Antonio Marino on November 20, 1954 in Montreal, Canada. Half Italian and half Arab, Frank is one of five children. He grew up in the time of peace and hippie movement, therefore he only spent seven years in school. It was during those days that his experimentation with LSD would lead him to what was later to become the definition of his life.
The name Mahogany Rush, was a description of a certain sensation that he was having on the trip. More...


Steve Lukather

Steve Lukather was born Steven Lee Lukather on October 21, 1957 in San Fernando Valley, California. He started out playing keyboards and drums and then learned himself how to play guitar at the age of seven when his father bought him a Kay acoustic guitar and a copy of The beatles album Meet the Beatles. This is one of the reasons that Steve was influenced by George Harrison. In seventh grade, Steve formed a power trio with friend and classmate guitarist/bassist Ron Sarian. Kevin MacKenzy and Ron’s brother Donny Sarian switched off on drums. In this band, Steve made his first studio recording in 1970 when he was twelve. It was a single with two songs on it, Grass, written by Ron and Leave It written by Steve Lukather himself. More...



Allan Holdsworth

Allan Holdsworth, born August 6, 1946 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is son of a skilled amateur musician, that in early ages was taught music theory and began to play the saxophone, but switched to guitar at age 17, probably due to the lack of work for saxophone-players at that time. He states Django Rheinhardt and Wes Montgomery as his first role models, but the biggest impact on him was actually horn players like John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. He stated in an interview that when John Coltrane died, he locked himself into the bathroom and cried for hours. Influences also included Charlie Christian, Joe Pass and Eric Clapton. Rumours had always told that Alan was a violin-player, cause of his violin-like sound on the guitar, but that's not actually true, even though Allan bought a violin from a pawn-shop and practiced it for some years. More...



Joe Bonamassa

Joe Bonamassa is a widely regarded American , blues rock guitarist. He has been described by Guitarist Magazine as “the new king of the blues” . He has described his influences as the great British blues rock players like Eric Clapton, Paul Kosoff, Jeff Beck, Rory Galagher and Peter Green. He has played alongside many of the greats including Clapton and B.B. King. He recently played a concert at The Royal Albert Hall in London which sold out very quickly and which was very well received. At various times during the concert he was joined on stage by guest musicians including Eric Clapton and Paul Jones (blues harmonica player ex of The Manfred Mann Group). Joe described the night as one of the best of his life and a recording of the show is available on DVD. More...


Slash

Saul Hudson, or as most people call him, the legendary Slash, was born July 23, 1965, in West Hampstead, London, England. He was born to Tony and Ola Hudson, and has a younger brother, Albion Hudson. Most people know him as the former lead guitarist of the famous band Guns N' Roses, and is now currently shredding with Velvet Revolver. He is heralded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. (...) Saul Hudson was born on July 23, 1965 in West Hampstead, London, England. His African-American mother, Ola Hudson, worked as a costume designer for David Bowie among many other actors and musicians, and his British father, Anthony Hudson, was an artist who created album covers for musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. His mother, Ola Hudson, died on June 5, 2009, from lung cancer. More...


Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is born on the 24th of may in 1941 in Minnesota with the name Robert Allen Zimmerman. He is an american Folk- and Rock-musician, painter and also a poet. He plays the guitar, the piano, the harmonica and sings. He is said to be one of the most important musician of the 20th century. He began in the 1950s with Folk-music and turned in the mid-1960s to Rockmusic. Besides his music, the lyrics he wrote a very special; as they were influcend by the Folkmusician Woody Guthrie in his early times, they were influenced later on by symbolist poets like Charles Daudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Dylan Thomas. But since the end of the 70s the bible became an growing influcene on his writings. His oeuvre has – as his real life has – changed very often and there are many bursts in his works, that the audience did not like all times but have all times been a new source of inspiration for him – an handi n hand for the whole modern music. More...


Jennifer Batten

The 80’s was the time of the male dominated ‘Shred’ genre of Guitar Playing, but with one notable exception……… The fleet-fingered and digitally dexterous Jennifer!!!
Jennifer was born in Upstate New York. She got her first Guitar at age 8, having been inspired by her sister who already owned one. Other big influences from around that time were The Beatles and The Monkees. At age 9 her Family relocated and she found herself in San Diego, California.
In 1979 Jennifer enrolled at the Guitar Institute of Technology. It was here that she met and became good friends with another aspiring student Steve Lynch (later of Autograph) and it was through him that her interest in the newly practiced form of ‘Two Handed Tapping’ was acquired. More...



Zakk Wylde

Born on the 01.14.1967 in Bayonne, New Jersey as Jeffery Philip Wielandt, Zakk Wylde has become a great influence in the Music world. He started playing guitar at the year of 8 but lost interest and picked the guitar up again at the age of 14 after trying out his friends Les Paul with a Big Muff Distortion Pedal. First he covered Black Sabbath and ZZ Top songs with his band Stone Henge, at High school he joined several other bands, including Zyris. While he was with Zyris he changed his name to Zachary Wyland. Without any hope of success he applied to the post of the replacement of Jake E. Lee in Ozzy Osbourne's band More...



Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius (born John Francis Pastorius III) was one of the most influential electric bass players in all times. He inspired a whole generation of bass players with his unique sound and an extremely good technique. He is most known for his work with fusion pioneers Weather Report and his own band Word of Mouth. He was killed in a bar fight 1987, and is an all-time legend amongst all serious bass-players. He was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania on December 1, 1951, but the family moved to Fort Lauerdale, Florida when he was about 7 years old. He died September 21, 1987 after the injurys in the bar fight. More...



Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly was one of the early pioneers of rock and roll, along with Chuck Berry he helped shape the future of modern music, paving the way for The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones and all that followed. Whereas Elvis had a great voice and stage presence, he was mot a great instrumentalist or songwriter. Holly was among the first to concern himself with all aspects of his music, including recording. He was a prolific songwriter and though equipment was primitive at the time his guitar playing was innovative and along with Chuck Berry he can be credited with making the guitar the most important instrument in all genres of modern music. More...



Steve Stevens

Born in Brooklyn, New York on May 5th, 1959, Steve Stevens is a Songwriter and Guitarist. His real name is Steven Schneider. As a Guitarist he is more well known for his position in playing alongside such people as Billy Idol, Michael Jackson and Motley Crue's Vince Neil. Although he has also performed in his own, critically acclaimed, solo projects, notably Flamenco-a-go-go and The Atomic Playboys and also collaborations such as:- Bozzio Levin Stevens, a.k.a. Black Light Syndrome. He is still sought after and held in high regard as a Session Guitarist. More...



Pat Metheny

Pat Metheny is one of the leading voices in the field of contemporary jazz, and had also made a great success in the fusion genre, written music for film scores and collaborated with most of the great jazz musicians of our time. He is regarded as creme a'la creme amongst musicians, and has a distinguished sound and an unique composition style. He has been awarded 17 Grammys in different genres during the years (10 for PMG) , and is still touring between 120-240 day's a year. More...


Glenn Hughes

I'm proud to announce we have a new wiki:er, Staffy! Here's on of his articles:
Glenn Hughes (bass/vocals) was born 21 august 1951 in Cannock, Staffordshire, England. He is most known as a member of the legendary hard rock band Deep Purple between 1973-75, but has made several solo albums as well as beeing the lead singer of Black Sabbath between 1985-86. Glenn is possibly more known for his vocal abilities rather than his bass playing and is, as stated on his homepage, considered a "singer's singer" amongs other players. More...


John "Sco" Scofield

John "Sco" Scofield is stated as one of the "Big Three", now living jazz guitar players. Along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell he has pioneered the sound of modern jazz since the seventies, influented by soul, blues and fusion. Considering himself as a post-modern be-bop player, he states that Joe Henderson is one of his role models. His sound as well as phrasing and bluesy influences, makes him an unmistakeable voice in the art of jazz. After his work with Miles Davis he won the Down Beat 's International Critics Poll in 1986, both matters leading to international fame and recognizion as one of the top players around. John is married to... More...



John Williams

John Williams is a classical guitarist of note and should not be confused with the other John Williams who composes music for countless movies. John is probably best known for his version of Cavatina played on classical guitar which was a massive hit and was used as the theme song to the film The Deer Hunter starring Robert De Niro and for his work with the rock/classical fusion band Sky. More...


Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck is an innovative English rock/blues/fusion guitarist, who has released 24 albums on his own or in the different bands he has taken part in. He has won four Grammy Awards, is ranked 14th on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time" list, and belongs to the "Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame" due to his career along with "The Yardbirds" . [...] Geoffrey Arnold Beck, known as Jeff Beck, was born on 24th June 1944 in Wallington, England. He grew up listening to the radio and hearing his mother play piano, and he tried to build his own guitars until he bought his first real electric guitar. After leaving school he went through several jobs like decorator and car painter before starting to work as a session musician. More...


Ace Frehley

Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley, born April 27, 1951,is an American guitarist best known as an original member and lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of 'Spaceman' when the band adopted costumes and theatrics. Frehley played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley embarked on a moderately successful solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour. His second tenure with Kiss lasted until 2002, when he left at the conclusion... More...


Les Paul

**Rest in Peace**
Lester William Polfus (born on June 9,1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin),better known as Les Paul is an American guitarist. He is known to be one of the most important figures in the development of modern electric guitars and recording techniques. Les Paul is also known as a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar, Multitrack Recording, and various reverb effects. Most people mistake him with his biggest invention: The Gibson Les Paul solidbody guitar. More...


Portal News

New Articles!

Hello Wiki readers! A lot of new articles are being written right at this moment! GuitarMasterClass.Net is always searching for wiki writers. Everybody can write an article, it can be just a few lines, or a few pages, it's all up to you! If you feel interested in some guitarists, this is the way to go. Just go online, search information of this person and write a short (or long of course) article. You can create a new article just by searching (in the left top of the screen) for the exact title of your article, and then click "Create this Page". To see how you can use Wiki templates, check this article and press Edit on the right top to see how the coding works, it's really easy! I'd hereby like to invite YOU to write the article you want, and if you need help, just make a topic on the forum!
Thanks!


New Article: Marty Friedman

An article that should have been in the wiki for ages is finally here! MonkeyDAthos captured Friedman in a new article. Marty Friedman, born December 8, 1962, is an American Guitarist, known for having been the lead/rhythm guitarist of the Thrash Metal band Megadeth for ten years. Before joining forces with Megadeth, Friedman played with other bands such as Cacophony and Hawaii. Marty Friedman formed the band Hawaii back in 1982. It was a Heavy Metal/ Speed Metal band. Although Hawaii was one of the most notable bands from Honolulu, they only last 3 years... More...


New Article: Richie Kotzen

A new article again! This time MonkeyDAthos wrote an article on Richie Kotzen!Richie Kotzen (born February 3, 1970 in Reading, Pennsylvania) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is known for being the guitarist of bands such as Mr.big, Vertú and Poison, plus his amazing solo career. Kotzen entered in the world of music on the early age of 5 with the piano but only after 7 years, after hearing the band Kiss, Kotzen knew that his life and guitars were bound. More...


New Article: Janick Gers

Fran has written another killer article in his Iron Maiden guitarists tour. Last, but certainly not least, Janick Gers! Janick Gers was the lead guitarist of White Spirit before joining Deep Purple's vocalist, Ian Gillan, on his homonymous band, Gillan. Before ending up in Maiden, Janick had the chance to play with two of their vocalists: Paul Di'Anno and Bruce Dickinson. Paul was Maiden's first singer, and Gers played with him in his band Gogmagog. On the other hand Bruce Dickinson left Maiden for a few years to release a few solo albums, and Janick was his guitarist for "Tattooed Millionaire". More...


New Article: Keith Richards

Fran's on fire! A new cool article on the famous Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards!
Keith Richards was born in Dartford, Kent. He took interest on music and guitar early on thanks to his grandfather, who played jazz. His mother got him his first guitar (an acoustic), and he listened to Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Scotty Moore.
Even though Richards and Mick Jagger attended the same Primary School (and knew each other) it wouldn't be until years later that fate would re-unite them again. Keith had to move with his parents, years went by, and his interest and skills as guitarist became remarkable. He even took part in a choir at Dartford Technical school, which he eventually left to attend Sidcup Art College. More...


New Article: Adrian Smith

Fran has put his hands together for a new series of articles on the coolest guitar players out there! For starters, Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith!
It was Dave Murray and Adrian Smith excellent connection that provided Maiden's signature sound, with their dual leads played at the same time creating perfect harmonizations and riffs that forged some of the best albums in the history of New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Although both guitarists rely heavily on legato, Smith's style is flawless and deeply based on the blues, with a perfect control over modes, arpeggios and overall song structure. As such, he is widely regarded as on of the best heavy metal guitarists. More...


New Article:Carlos Santana

Sensible Jones has once again written a cool article on a very influential guitar player, this time it's Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born 20 July, 1947) is a Mexican-born American Grammy Award-winning rock musician and guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a blend of rock, salsa and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin percussion such as timbales and congas. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. More...


New Article: Tommy Emmanuel

I'm proud to present to you, the one and only Tommy Emmanuel, now in our wiki! Sensible Jones has made a great effort and brought you this article. Tommy was born in the Upper Hunter in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia. He received his guitar in 1959 at the age of 4 - being taught by his mother to accompany her playing lap steel guitar. At the age of 7 he heard Chet Atkins on the radio. He vividly remembers this moment and says it greatly inspired him. By the age of 9, in 1964, he was a working professional musician. Recognizing the musical talents of Tommy and his brother Phil, their father created a family band, sold the family home and took... More...



New Article: Slash

It's finally there! Sensible Jones has finished a once started article on Slash, the God of Rock! From now on everyone can read about the life of the guitarist who has influenced many players with his style. Saul Hudson, or as most people call him, the legendary Slash, was born July 23, 1965, in West Hampstead, London, England. He was born to Tony and Ola Hudson, and has a younger brother, Albion Hudson. Most people know him as the former lead guitarist of the famous band Guns N' Roses, and is now currently shredding with Velvet Revolver. He is heralded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. More...



New Article: Alex Lifeson

NoSkill made, again, a new article on Canadian guitarist! RUSH's guitarist Alex Lifeson is now in the wiki!
Alex Lifeson,(born Aleksandar Živojinović; August 27, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known for his work as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. Lifeson founded Rush in the summer of 1968, and has been an integral member of the three-piece band ever since.

For Rush, Lifeson plays electric and acoustic guitars as well as other stringed instruments such as mandola ...More.


New Article: Rik Emmett

NoSkill keeps prolonging his Canadian serial, this time guitarist Rik Emmett, most well-known from the trio Triumph. Richard Gordon (Rik) Emmett (born July 10, 1953 in Toronto, Ontario) is a vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of the Canadian rock band Triumph. Rik Emmett is unquestionably one of Canada's greatest musical gifts. Taking his first guitar lessons at age 12, his diverse playing styles of today could have been predicted in his childhood, with a wide array of influences, including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix, as well as blues, jazz, flamenco and classical. More...


New Article: Randy Bachman

NoSkill has, once again, written a cool article on a cool guitarist! Randy Bachman (BTO) is featured in the Wiki from now on! Randolph Charles Bachman, (born September 27, 1943) was lead guitarist, songwriter and a founding member for both the 1960s-70s rock band The Guess Who, and the 1970s rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Bachman was also a member of the band Brave Belt with Chad Allan and a band called Ironhorse, and has recorded numerous solo albums. More...


New Article: Guthrie Govan

This man has been in our Guitarist Top 5 for the past months, but didn't have his own article until now. Sensible Jones wrote this article on request, and he did great! Guthrie Govan (born December 27, 1971 in Chelmsford, Essex, England) is a guitarist known for his work with the bands Asia (2001-2006), GPS, The Young Punx and The Fellowship as well as Erotic Cakes (a vehicle for his own music). He is a noted guitar teacher through his work with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music and currently the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. He is also a former winner of Guitarist magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition. More...



New Article: Ry Cooder

Once again, we have a famous name covered in our Wiki, this time Sensible Jones let his fingers hit the keyboard and made a cool article on Ry Cooder! During the 1960s, Cooder briefly attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, after previously having worked with Taj Mahal in the Rising Sons. He also played with Randy Newman at this time, including on 12 Songs and possibly Newman's first album, Randy Newman. Van Dyke Parks worked with Newman and then with Cooder during the 60s. Parks arranged Cooder's "One Meatball" according to Parks' 1984 interview by Bob Claster. More...



New Article: Ali Farka Toure

Sensible Jones has, again, wrote a cool wiki article on a guitarist! This time it's Ali Farka Toure. Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré (October 31, 1939 – March 7, 2006) was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese’s often quoted characterization of Touré’s tradition as constituting "the DNA of the blues". Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. More...



New Article: Kurt Cobain

Fran has been busy again, and made a new wiki article for us! Kurt Cobain will be featured from now on! Kurt Donald Cobain was born on the 20th of February 1967 in Hoquaim, near Seattle but his family soon moved to Aberdeen, Washington. His parent's divorce at the early age of seven had a severe influence over his life, making him feel angry and anti-social, which later reflected in some of his best songs.

New Article: Frank Marino

Whitesnake's first ever wiki article is a nice one! Here is, Frank Marino, Mahogany Rush guitarist. Frank Marino is the guitarist of Mahogany Rush. He was born Francesco Antonio Marino on November 20, 1954 in Montreal, Canada. Half Italian and half Arab, Frank is one of five children.He grew up in the time of peace and hippie movement,therefore he only spent seven years in school. It was during those days that his experimentation with LSD would lead him to what was later to become the definition of his life. More...



New Article: Trevor Rabin

NoSkill wrote a new article, this time South African guitarist and vocalist Trevor Rabin. Rabin was born Trevor Charles Rabin and comes from a family of classical musicians in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his father Godfrey was lead violinist for the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Educated at a public school in Johannesburg, he took formal piano training before discovering the guitar at age 12. His parents encouraged his talents toward rock music, although Rabin would maintain his interest in Classical music throughout his career. Rabin also briefly More...



New Article: Steve Hackett

NoSkill has written the last article in his Genesis serial, this time Steve Hackett! new article, this time Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970. Hackett remained with the band for eight albums before leaving in 1977 to pursue a solo career. In 1986, Hackett co-founded the supergroup GTR with another progressive guitarist, Steve Howe of Yes and Asia. The group More...


New Article: Daryl Stuermer

NoSkill continues his Geneses serial with this time Genesis guitarist Daryl Stuermer. Stuermer was born on November 27, 1952 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Discovered playing with his Milwaukee band Sweetbottom, Stuermer auditioned for and won a spot backing up jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty in 1975, with whom Stuermer recorded four albums. In late 1977, Stuermer on insistence of friend Alphonso Johnson was recommended as a replacement for Steve Hackett when Hackett left Genesis. He joined up with Genesis as touring guitarist and bass player at first and retained that More...


New Article: Mike Rutherford

No Skill starts a series of three Genesis guitarist, part one: Mike Rutherford. Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950 in Guildford, Surrey) is an English musician. He was a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist, 12-string guitarist, and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of guitarist. He also fronted Mike + The Mechanics. More...


New Article: Billy Gibbons

Sensible Jones wrote, once again, a new article, this time about Bily Gibbons from ZZ top! Billy F. Gibbons (born December 16, 1949), nicknamed the Reverend Willie G, is best known as the guitarist for ZZ Top. He is also the lead vocalist and composer for many of the band's classic songs. A Houston native, Gibbons is known for playing a 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar he calls Miss Pearly Gates. He is known to play his guitar using a quarter or a peso as a pick, lending a distinctive sound to his playing, and for his extensive use of harmonics. More...



New Article: Ace Frehley

NoSkill, GMC member, wrote a new article for the Guitarist Project! The subject, Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley! Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley, born April 27, 1951,is an American guitarist best known as an original member and lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of 'Spaceman' when the band adopted costumes and theatrics. Frehley played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley embarked More...



New Article: Tony Iommi by Fran

The man himself, Fran, wrote a new article for our wiki! The subject, this time, is Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. Tony Iommi was born on February 19th in Birmingham, England. He started playing guitar as a teenager, going through several rock/blues bands before he decided to start his own band "Earth" along three guys he knew from school: bassist Terry "Geezer" Butler, drummer Bill Ward, and singer John Ozzy Osbourne.

One sad event was to take place early on Tony's life though, one that almost deprived the world from one of the best known guitarists: working in a metal factory, a machine sliced off the tips of his right hand, and being Tony left More...


New Article: Django Reinhardt by SJ

Jean "Django" Reinhardt was born in Belgium on 23 January 1910 and died in France on 16 May 1953.

One of the first prominent European jazz musicians, Reinhardt remains one of the most renowned jazz guitarists due to his innovative and distinctive playing. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli he cofounded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, More...


New Article: Peter Green by Sensible Jones (SJ) once again!

Peter Allen Greenbaum (aka Peter Green) born:- 29th October 1946 in Bethnal Green, London, UK. Founder member of Fleetwood Mac and a prominent figure in the British Blues Movement of the 60's. BB King once said of Peter:- "He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats."
This is SJ's first article with his new Wiki Badge!More...


New Article: Shawn Lane by Sensible Jones... Again!

Shawn Lane was born in Memphis, Tennessee. At the age of eight he accompanied his sisters on the piano, but did not play guitar seriously until he was ten. Lane progressed very rapidly on the guitar, and he found it to be his natural instrument. At thirteen, he began to practice heavily, developing his technical abilities. Word began to spread around Memphis about a talented young guitar player More...


New Article: Vernon Reid by Sensible Jones

Vernon Reid born August 22, 1958.

Vernon is an English guitarist, songwriter, composer and bandleader. Best known as the founder and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Living Colour. Reid was named #66 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.More...


New Article, again from Sensible Jones, this time: Female guitarist Jennifer Batten

The 80’s was the time of the male dominated ‘Shred’ genre of Guitar Playing, but with one notable exception………The fleet-fingered and digitally dexterous Jennifer!!! Jennifer was born in Upstate New York. She got her first Guitar at age 8, having been inspired by her sister who already owned one. Other big influences from around that time were The Beatles and The Monkees More...

Things You can Do!

We always need new articles in our guitarist section! You can write new articles on the bands you like, or write an album review. If you want to be active on this wiki page, you can also contact me (Kaznie_NL) or Fran so you can start converting forum album reviews to our wiki! If you want forum membership, you can gain it by writing wikis, more about it in this thread. So, as a little summary:
  • Write new articles to become a member of our forum
  • Write about your favourite bands
  • Convert album reviews from the forum to the wiki

But most important.... Read!