Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto has shared the results of a survey identifying the most overplayed guitar riffs across its stores. Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' tops the list, ahead of classics from Guns N' Roses and the White Stripes. The findings highlight consistent patterns in customer noodling nationwide.
Guitar Center conducted a survey among store leadership to pinpoint the most frequently played riffs, revealing striking consistency across locations and regions. 'We went out to our stores leadership with survey and said, ‘Write your most overplayed songs and tell us about any anecdotes, whatever you have,’' Dalporto told Rolling Stone. The effort was inspired by years of managing repetitive play, including a former ban on Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven,' which Dalporto lifted last year alongside musician Døvydas in a public performance. The top 10 list features: 1. Metallica’s “Master of Puppets,” 2. Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” 3. The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” 4. Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” 5. John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,” 6. Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” 7. Tool’s “Schism,” 8. Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” 9. Nirvana’s “Come As You Are,” and 10. Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” Metallica and Nirvana are the only acts with two entries each. Dalporto noted surprises, such as the absence of Jimi Hendrix tracks, Pearl Jam’s “Alive,” or “Stairway to Heaven,” despite its cultural association with guitar shops. He expressed empathy for staff enduring endless repetitions, often imperfectly played, but highlighted the stores' design for experimentation. 'These songs are played a lot. They’re often not played well. So you hear the songs over and over, but when someone nails it, you can tell,' he said. Spontaneous jams occasionally emerge from the chaos, like when skilled guitarists synced on “Master of Puppets,” drawing cheers from onlookers, according to Dalporto.