Who Plays Guitar? Exploring the Love and Influence of Musical Instruments

[GomezMan91]

Well all I can say is that I love my guitar, no other word could describe the feelings I have towards my guitar. It's not the best looking or the best brand guitar but when I play it, everything stops, I stare into space and unfold all the curtains that obscure or mangle my thoughts. It may sound weird for someone to have such strong feelings for an inanimate object, but believe it or not I am 100% serious. Those who play musical instruments will know what I mean.
So my question to you guys is who plays guitar? Tell me about your guitars, styles, musical influences. It doesn't even have to be about guitars as there is an endless amount of musical instruments that fill everyone's lives with joy.
I play a Squier Stratocaster (like I said, nothing big but it's a decent guitar). Would probably say I play blues more than anything but I can't really classify what I play since I improvise most of the time. Hendrix, Page, Slash, Clapton, Santana... the list of influential guitarists would go on forever (well not really, I just can't think of them all right now). My one biggest influence ever however is Hendrix. His music can even be labeled as a drug. The electric gypsy king was and will continue to be a true guitar legend until infinity.

 

[Poop-Loops]

I play guitar and bass, although I'm considering dropping bass all together.

Right now I have more guitars than I deserve. I have a Washburn X-30, a Hamer Explorer, an Ibanez Artcore, and I had a Tokai Explorer that I actually sold last night.

For Basses I have an SX Jazz Bass copy, a Dean Edge 5 string fretless, an Ibanez Sound Gear... forget which model exactly. It's a 6 string and I haven't touched it since summer. For Christmas I got/bought a Peavy Cirrus 5 string. My new baby. :)

My influences are mainly metal. That's what I want to play and what I listen to mostly.

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=5ESBWK2B (the kid at 3:50 is amazing)

The catch? My guitar teacher is mainly a jazz/blues guy, so he's teaching me that stuff. I love it, though. I started listening to more and more jazz/blues and it's very fun to play, even if the piece is boring to listen to.

My influences are from where ever I can get them, regardless of genre or instrument. Even if a musician doesn't include the guitar in their songs, I can still get good ideas on chord progressions, song structure, rhythms, etc.

 

[B. Elliott]

I have a Jim Beam edition Gibson electric, a Peavey Raptor Plus EXP electric and a Washburn acoustic. I guess you could say I have two Washburns since my sister never played the one I bought her and just left it at the house.

I know what you mean about the zoning out part. After playing around for about twenty to thirty minutes I start to get a slight euphoric feeling. Don't know that's a good word, but if anything, any worries and troubles seem to just drift away and get replaced with an overall good feeling. That's not even playing anything in particular either... just making sounds that flow well and carry out. I absolutely love the ethereal sounds you can get out of an electric. I just wish I had started at a younger age so i'd have an even better feel for it than I do now.

My favorites are jazz and blues with classic rock right behind. My favorite artists are BB King, all eras of Pink Floyd early to late... mainly Gilmours stuff though. Anything classic rock... 50's up to the 80's. I also enjoy classical symphony orchestras and can sometimes even be found, don't know if I should admit it... watching an opera. The latest I saw was the Marriage of Figaro.

 

[oedipa maas]

I've played guitar since I was 18. I have two Seagull acoustics - one has a mic and a pick-up for when I play out. I wish I had an electric - I'm learning to play some slide guitar and it's way more satisfying on an electric. I also play a little fiddle and I'm trying to learn some piano. I'm a bit of a folkie and I generally like pretty melodies and wordy lyrics. I'm also pretty into the "croaking toad" quartet of Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen.

My favourite guitarists:


Bruce Cockburn - Foxglove
I just learned to play this one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF61W7SGNxU&feature=related
Richard Thompson - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning


Leo Kottke - a medley with a slide


Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi
unfortunately the camera never backs away from her face to show what a great guitarist she is!

 

[hypatia]

I play a 70 Les Paul gold top custom, when the mood strikes me. But mostly I grab up a 1932 Stella flat top and just play around with it while I wait for dinner to cook. I also have 2 Starfields{Starfield became Ibanze} from 1972, one is electric and the other hollow.
My biggest influence has been the band YES, the Beatles and early Motown.

 

[rewebster]

I had to sell my Gibson Hummingbird and Epiphone semi-hollow body quite a while back. I still have the 1970 grade 1 Garcia, an old Harmony acoustic with a three digit serial number, and a Harmony flying V. I'll pick one up now and then 'to escape', or, yeah, when the mood strikes, but haven't played much in about 15 or 20 years.