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Guitar Picks of the Stars

Guitar Picks of the Stars

See a sampling of picks used by famous guitarists over the years.

Allman Brothers Band - Warren Haynes & Oteil Burbridge
Yngwie J Malmsteen
Mastodon's Bill Kelliher
Deftones' Stephen Carpenter
Eric Johnson
The Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend
Thin Lizzy's Vivian Campbell and Ricky Warwick
Slash
Queen's Brian May
Def Leppard's Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell
Grace Potter
Maroon 5's James Valentine
Fall Out Boy's Joe Trohman
Buddy Guy
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Gary Rossington
Dave Matthews
Brian Setzer
Trivium's Corey Beaulieu
Sting
Anthrax's Scott Ian
Rush's Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee
Eddie Van Halen
Aerosmith's Joe Perry
Night Ranger's  Joel Hoekstra
Slipknot's Mick Thomson
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Geezer Butler
Earl Slick (David Bowie)
Zakk Wylde
Ted Nugent
Sepultura
Greg Koch
AFI
Disturbed's Dan Donegan
Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett
Slayer's Kerry King
John 5
Paul Gilbert
Velvet Revolver's Duff McKagan and Dave Kushner
Los Lonely Boys' Henry Garza
Megadeth's Dave Mustaine
The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach
Ritchie Blackmore (Blackmore's Night)
Megadeth's Dave Mustaine
The Cult's Billy Duffy
Kiss
Hoobastank
Exodus
ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons

Submit your own artist pick collections to rebecca@premierguitar.com for inclusion in a future gallery.

AEROSMITH guitarist and songwriter JOE PERRY is set to return to the road for a series of August performances with THE JOE PERRY PROJECT. The 8-date run kicks off August 13 in Tampa, FL and wraps August 23 in Port Chester, New York, with an August 19 performance in PERRY’s Boston hometown (see the itinerary below). For the North American trek—which marks the first solo shows for PERRY this year—the legendary guitarist will be joined by his Aerosmith bandmates Brad Whitford (guitar) and Buck Johnson (keys), along with The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson (vocals), and Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert DeLeo (bass), and Eric Kretz (drums).

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Classic counterpoint techniques that work for surf.

Intermediate

Intermediate

• Learn some time-honored guidelines of classical composition.

• Apply revered rules to more modern styles.

• Create interesting and complex surf lines.
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The term counterpoint scares many people who think it is a carefully devised process that strips you of creative freedom. This is partly true, because some individuals have pushed the practice of counterpoint as strict rules at some point without explaining its purpose. I disagree with the view that music theory is a rule. Counterpoint, like serialism or any other principle of harmony, is simply a recipe for an expected result. These music theory recipes are not baking recipes where exact measurements must be made; music theory is more like cooking, which is more malleable and open to in-the-moment modifications.

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This wonky Zim-Gar was one of many guitars sold by importer Gar-Zim Musical Instruments, operated by Larry Zimmerman and his wife.

The 1960s were strange days indeed for import guitars, like this cleaver-friendly Zim-Gar electric.

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