The Greatest Metal Guitarists - Part 1

Known as much for his regular TV appearances in his adopted home Japan as his work with seminal 90s metal giants Megadeth; Marty Friedman is as diverse as he is prolific. Friedman is, arguably, the single most notable metal guitarist to ‘throw away the rule book’ and rework the instrument to suit his own vision. His note choice and overall sonic approach have always leaned towards an eastern/world music vibe, with thoroughly unorthodox bending ideas and customisation of scales which result in lines less accepted by western ears. Friedman has also, readily, given the root of these influences as the most diverse sources such as Russian Ballets and Persian violin pieces.

Despite these rather outlandish musical leanings, Friedman is a master of melody and precision rather than dissonance for the mere sake of tension. His virtuosic technique is immediate but everything begins with a concise musical idea. Fans of Megadeth will, no doubt, have good exposure to Friedman’s original style, however, it is worth remembering and giving time to his instrumental work as one half of the duo ‘Cacophony’, which paired the young Marty Friedman with Jason Becker. Possibly one of the few musicians who could comfortably stand shoulder to shoulder with a player of Becker’s standard.

There is much we can learn from Marty Friedman; his musical mindset is certainly a good starting point. Over the years he has been vocal about the importance of starting all ideas with a simple, memorable melody and build outwards. This ensures that, no matter how adventurous our ideas become, they still retain their musical appeal. He has also stated that he values the quality of notes over technique, citing developing your vibrato, nuance and dynamics before worrying about the speedier aspects of the style. Try ’Tibet’ from his solo work for a perfect example of this. Listen to the way the melody deviates but follows the chord tones perfectly.

If you’re looking for a more immediate way to adopt the Friedman sound then try experimenting with the Hirojoshi scale, with which he is widely associated. This is simply your standard minor scale with the 4th and 7th intervals removed (in the key of A minor this would be D and G). He is also a big fan of crafting melodies from trails and arpeggios rather than relying on stock scales only.

The man himself admits to not giving much consideration to amassing tons of equipment and has stated that he leaves much of the gear decisions to his sound engineers. As for guitars, his weapon of choice has largely been Jackson, namely his explorer style Kelly KE-1 signature. These days his signature is a single cut model, the MF-1. In his early days, Carvin guitars made a big appearance. As for amps - 90s/Megadeth era tones came from a Custom Audio Electronics preamp with a Soldano SLO-100 and Bogner Triple Giant being the first choice when t came to head and cab setups. His current amp is his signature ENGL ‘Inferno’ following on from his use of the ‘Special Edition Powerball’.

Connecting with the music of Marty Friedman is a valuable reminder for us all to be brave, bend the rules from time to time and develop our own style.

If there’s one metal guitarist who consistently reminds us that the world is not over the pentatonic scale it's Zakk Wylde. With an aggressive style which stems directly from a country and blues grounding, Wylde is a valuable pioneer and reminder that we should not abandon our humble blues beginnings. He has stated that his focus on more pentatonic/blues-based ideas was a product of timing as much as it was choice; with Yngwie Malmsteen and Eddie Van Halen almost monopolising the guitar hero world during his development as a player, Wylde was determined to differentiate his sound from the leaders of the pack. This meant an avoidance of the 3 note per string-based style of Van Halen plus the outwardly neo-classical flavour of Malmsteen. What was left was a full exploration of pentatonic based ideas. The result was bluesy phrases and runs delivered with blistering speed and aggression, all topped off with Wylde’s trademark canyon wide vibrato and pinched harmonics. Not to mention his earth trembling metal riffs! To get a full flavour of Zakk at his finest, check out the track ‘Bleed For Me’ from Black Label Society’s ’1919 Eternal Album’. This is also, arguably, his finest vocal performance.

If you are chasing the metal technique dragon then there are few better champions than Wylde for setting the benchmark for you. It is useful to take inspiration from his aggressive alternate picking technique and note how he is careful to add dynamics through the use of punchy accents when executing any hyper-speed runs. This allows the fast passages to still retain musical interest and a percussive feel. He has often said that much of the secret to his speed, lies in the pure economy of motion - allowing only smaller movements from both his picking and fretting hands.

His use of chromatics is widely documented and Wylde combines linear/outside ideas with a more country-based approach, often taking lines which naturally occur when mixing major and minor blues scales.

As for his gear; Wylde is a true advocate of heavy-bodied Les Pauls into loud Marshalls, favouring his famous bullseye detailed Les Paul Customs loaded with hot EMG-81 and 85 active pickups. His amp of choice has exclusively been Marshall JCM800 heads, running into 4x12 cabs which house his own custom signature 300w speakers. For the killer levels of added gain, he uses an MXR signature ‘Wylde’ overdrive pedal with a touch of a chorus on his rhythm tone from and MXR signature ‘ Black Label’ chorus (possibly inspired by Randy Rhoads). His delays come from a humble MXR ‘Carbon Copy’.

Entering into the 1990s it appeared as if the limits of metal guitar playing couldn’t be pushed. This all changed with the emergence of Darrell Abbott. Seen by many as the single most important metal guitarist of all time, Dimebag took the post-thrash era of metal and transformed it into something new - bringing a groove and swing to the genre and giving metal, arguably, its first real guitar hero. His virtuosic playing already came with its own legendary status with the young Dimebag having become such a prominent force in his native Dallas, Texas that he was no longer allowed to participate in the states’ regular guitar contests due to skills which left other contenders without a hope of winning.

He had the technique, flair and chops garnered from his Hair Metal beginnings which easily compared with his prime influence of Eddie Van Halen. But it was his soulful playing, time feel and blues sensibilities which added the magic to his style. This is a great cue for taking inspiration from some simple uses of the major third within his solos as Dime would often land on or bend from this less conventional note. The solo for ‘Walk’ is peppered with major third lead phrases.

A possible, residual Eddie Van Halen influence also gave him an untethered approach to the fretboard with use of chromatics which would not be out of place in any bebop solo and his distinctive inclusion of symmetrical/non-conventional scale runs and patterns. Check out the live version of ‘Domination’ for a great insight into how he blends these ideas into his style.

Dimebag’s playing was not all gut and glory, however. He frequently showed his absolute command of melody and composition, creating themes and well-structured solos. His work on ‘This Love’ is a prime example.

Much like any other pioneer, Dime’s choice of guitar matched his personality and flair. Having won his first Dean at one of the aforementioned guitar contests, Dimebag started a long-standing affiliation with the brand. The prize guitar was sold to a friend then returned to Dimebag later having been modified to sport a Floyd Rose tremolo system, Bill Lawrence pickups and a blue lightning decal paint job. Thus, the Dimebag signature Dean guitar was born. There was a 10 endorsement with Washburn following the 1994 liquidation of the Dean brand, but Dime returned when the company recovers shortly before his death in 2004. As for amps, his mainstay was high gain, solid-state varieties, namely a line of Randall heads (having, again, won his first Randall at a state guitar contest) which were characterised by their brittle ‘crunch’. This saw a signature model the ‘Warhead’ hit production lines in 1999. The bottom-heavy tone was helped along by the use of a parametric EQ to thicken the bass response, boost the highs and scoop the mids. Dimebag was also famed for his use of a Digitech Whammy within his riffs.

For some bonus Pantera related trivia - did you know that the band wrote and recorded the theme song ‘Puck Off’ for hockey team the Dallas Stars?

Rhoads represents ‘group zero’ for many metal players. His background in and dedication to classical music sculpting a new take on the already shopworn world of metal and hard rock guitar. Rhoads took the knowledge gained from his classical studies, combined with likeminded influencers such as Uli Jon Roth and Ritchie Blackmore to create a style which pushed metal guitar into a whole new dimension. His rhythm work and riffing going on to form the basis for much of the hard rock and metal rhythm chops of the 80s and 90s.

Rhoads developed virtuoso stars in his early years due to his marathon practise regimes which caused his concerned mother to check with physicians for any long term damage this excessive playing may be doing to her son’s physical well being. Perhaps an interesting point is that he also began to teach from a young age and, at points throughout his career, cited his time as a teacher as instrumental in developing his musicianship. Stating that repeating concepts to students would cement them in his own playing more efficiently and help him develop his communication skills on the guitar.

His faster, scale based runs took their cue from his classical background by forming intricate sequences as opposed to the more formulaic pattern of his peers and would often break way into chromatic ideas and phrases. Check out his work on the Ozzy track ‘Over The Mountain’ for a good example of his scale based phrasing.

Despite finger tapping being a relatively new concept amongst rock players of the day, Rhoads sought to stay ahead of the curve and rework the technique to his advantage by adding bends and tapping behind his fretting hand. An obvious, but still perfect example of this is the solo from ‘Mr Crowley’.

If you are interested in chasing his tone in addition to his innovative style then his choice of Marshall Super Lead heads is a good starting point. These were run loud and driven harder in the front end with these of an MXR distortion pedal - Rhoads mentioned during an interview at the time that this pedal was ‘The only gadget I use a lot’. He also uses an EQ, flanger, and chorus. The latter of which he used as a subtle effect on his rhythm tone and contributes much to the signature Randy Rhoads sound.

His trademark guitars covered a rather broad spectrum but he is chiefly associated with his ’74 white Les Paul Custom, and his custom build Karl Sandoval Polka Dot V, the design of which was given to luthier Sandoval following Randy’s departure from his first band Quiet Riot. His last affiliation was with Jackson guitars who went on to produce a signature ‘Concorde’ V model. Rhoads never saw the fruition of this prototype as the guitar went into production at the time of his death in 1982.

So there we have it; 4 of the best? Perhaps. But, one indisputable fact is the need for us, as guitar players, to stop and listen from time to time. No matter which great guitar players you place in your top 4, they all claim to have achieved their goals by taking the time to listen to their heroes.