who are your influences?

[Inazone]

Guys like Vernon Reid (Living Colour), James Hetfield, Slash and Dime inspired me to play, but aside from Slash were not especially influential on my playing.

Jerry Cantrell - AIC
Dave Mustaine - Megadeth
Eric Peterson - Testament
Jon Nodtveidt - Dissection
Mike Amott - Carcass/Arch Enemy
Kenny Hickey - Type O Negative
Anders Bjorler - At the Gates/The Haunted
Christofer Malmstrom - Darkane/Non-Human Level

[ambitotpuphang]

Mick Thomson
Pat O'Brien
Buckethead

[thesoloist]

Paul Gilbert
Steve Vai
Marty Friedman
Jason Becker
Buckethead
Vinne Moore
Yngwie Malmsteen
Rusty Cooley
Jeff Loomis
Dave Mustaine
Dimebag

[slashrox]

Steve Clark (Def Leppard) & Slash (GNR & VR) influenced me to pick up a guitar.

Listening to EVH Playing Eruption made me want to learn it.

[circle of the tyrants]

Reasons I started playing:
Ace
Tony Iommi
Angus
Billy Gibbons
Keith Richards

People who have most influenced me in recent years:
Buzz Osborne
Scott Weinrich
Jerry Cantrell
Page Hamilton
Kurt Ballou

Like most others, I could list a million different guitarists whom I've admired over the years, but these have had the most overall impact.

[surfreak]

Django, Jeff Beck and EVH.

[charvelguy]

I don't have any influences.. to quote a line from 'Time Bandits', ...
"I created myself"

Ok, on a more serious note.. this question pops up from time to time on the JCF. Just about anyone who has something to say can influence me one way or another, but when I started..I grew up in an era where there was a broad diversity of music that was 'popular' and the shift of what was 'in and the new' for frequent airplay.. it went from 50's-60's-70's rock, or 'acid rock' to disco in a matter of a couple years. Thankfully, guitar rock never really died off in the mid 70's.
Music tends to go thru waves.. someone comes in and is the epicenter of a tsunami and that creates alot of ripple effect for the next herd.

to many to even mention really..

[heartfielder]

Billy Gibbons
Eddie Van Halen
John Sykes
Steve Vai
Jeff Beck
David Gilmour
George Lynch
Warren DeMartini
Nuno Bettencourt
Gary Moore
Al Di Meola
Steve Lukather
Akira Takasaki
Ace Frehley
Larry Carlton
Jimi Hendrix
Keith Richards
Tak Matsumoto
Frank Marino
Leslie West
Jimmy Page
Robin Trowers
Pat Travers
Uli Jon Roth
Joe Perry
Brad Whitford
Allan Holdsworth
Django Reinhardt
Albert King
Eric Johnson
Reb Beach
Steve Hackett
Richie Blackmore
Paco De Lucia
Yngwie Malmsteen
Michael Schenker
Jake E. Lee
Trevor Rabin
Brian May
Richie Kotzen
Greg Howe
Doug Aldrich
Michael Hedges
Steve Stevens
Leo Nocentelli
Alex Lifeson
Chris DeGramo
Vito Bratta
Stanley Jordan
Slash
Ted Nugent
Wes Montgomery
Robert Johnson
Steve Morse
Neal Schon
Jagori Tanna
B.B. King
Ty Tabor
Steve Howe
Frank Zappa
Chet Atkins
Lee Ritenour
Chuck Berry
Allen Collins

C'mon Endrik, I'm sure you can think of someone !?!?!

[CharvelRocker]

While I have tones of influences, to many to list really, these guys are the basis to my playing style (an 80s Hard Rock/Meta style)

Eddie Van Halen
Randy Rhoads
Steve Vai
Both guys from Iron Maiden (cant think of their names at the moment)
Slash

Of course I play other styles when playing other songs, but when Im just jamming I always think of those guys and can just go to town.

[Racerx2k]

I guess my first influence was actually my father. Every Saturday, I woke to the smell of pancakes, and the sound of the old man, blaring his Silvertone Twin Twelve, with my mother yelling at him to turn it down. At that age, I thought that was the greatest thing in the world.

......pancakes rule!

[Guitardude86]

I guess my first influence was actually my father. Every Saturday, I woke to the smell of pancakes, and the sound of the old man, blaring his Silvertone Twin Twelve, with my mother yelling at him to turn it down. At that age, I thought that was the greatest thing in the world.

......pancakes rule!

Here's to musical dads and yelling mothers! And pancakes

[MikeStrat]

Top 3:

Ace Frehley
Mathias Jabs
EVH

Then all the other 80's guitar players.

[Dale]

In no order:
Randy Rhoads
Criss Oliva
Steve Vai
Yngwie Malmsteen
EVH
John Petrucci
Kirk Hammett
Dave Murray & Adrian Smith
Glenn Tipton & K. K. Downing
Zakk Wylde
George Lynch
Joe Perry
Ace Frehley
Warran DeMartini

[Racerx2k]

Here's to musical dads and yelling mothers! And pancakes

Amen, brother. Just FYI, I make the pancakes in THIS house! Oh, yeah, she does the bitching, but I make the cakes!

[Snoogans]

The guy who made me want to pick up a guitar was Ritchie Blackmore. I subsequently got my ass kicked into gear by Rhoads, Schenker, Malmsteen and Vai.