who are your influences?

[joshulator]

Believe it or not, my parents made me (read, forced me to) pick up guitar. They also bought me a Gibson Les Paul Custom when I was a kid. I was lucky and didn't know it.

Anyway...

Vai is a definite idol.

But I want to sound like Yngwie J Malmsteen and John Sykes.

[paulbag]

Slim Whitman, Boxcar Willie, Menudo...

[MadJack]

Pick it up? Childhood friends Doug and Greg Wiedeman. They had a band and I wanted in. I was 8. I never got to play with them but that's how it started.
Influences were many but to keep it simple:
Stage 1
Tony Iommi, Angus Young, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore
Stage 2
Eddie Van Halen, Dave & Adrian, Tipton & K.K., Alex Lifeson, Randy Rhodes
Stage 3
Malmsteen, Chastain, Hammett, Friedman, Michael Harris!!!!
Present
Vai, Satriani, Batio, Petrucci, my nephew Matt, God

[Robotechnology]

Yngwie J. Malmsteen
Al Di Meola
Scott Henderson
Vinnie Moore
Alex Scholnick
John Petrucci
Steve Morse

In my playing there is a page or two stolen from each of the above in no particular order.

80's Hard Rock/Heavy Metal in general made make want and start to play guitar. Judas Priest, Slayer, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osboure (Jake E. Lee era), Motley Crue, Megadeth, Scorpions, & Iron Maiden were the bands to be exact.

[dusty_saturn]

who are your influences?

Reb Beach (Winger, Dokken, Whitesnake)
George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob)
Matthias Jabs (Scorpions)
John Sykes (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder)

[Bengal]

Ace Frehley made me pick up a guitar...

Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham made me want to learn guitar...

Steve Vai makes me want to put the guitar down...

[sonicsamurai]

i guess the person who made me pick up a guitar was van halen..and ain't talkin bout love was the first riff i ever learnt...its hard to describe my influences because i like so much from blues to hair metal to pop to dance to thrash to death - everything. but i'd say if i was to jam a riff or make one up it would be very 80s maybe van halen or dokken showing through....my heavier band i take alot of influence from classic 80s thrash and death metal...sodom, deicide, destruction and exodus probably....soloing hmmm....i'm not sure i like harmonic minors so thats a maybe on the malmsteen influence but i've never learnt any more than a few excerpts...i like sweeping i think coz of malmsteen and jason becker and tapping coz of van halen i tend to alternate pick my modes (impelliteri?) and i legato my pentatonics alot and i do like using them just as much as anything else so i guess there's a classic / 80s rock influence there maybe scott gorham / billy gibbons....but again i like a little bit of eveything rather than lots of one person so my style isn't really influenced by any particular person...

[Brick]

Freidman becker loomis galder,

[kmanick]

Tony Iommi and Jimmy Page made me want to pick up a guitar. then Joe Perry /Brad Whitford (I'm from Boston they were huge back then).
then Frank Marino ,Jeff Beck, Robin Trower and Al Dimeloa.
then EVH (of course) and all those 80's guys.

Current day influences -Greg Howe, Joe Satch, Jeff Loomis, Tony Mac, Vinnie Moore, Guthrie Govan, Ritchie Kotzen, Vai, Paul Gilbert, Shane Gibson, Patrick Carllson, Derryl Gable Bret Garsed,John Petrucci, Joe Pass,
god there are so many good shredders out there,
there's an italian duo (Russo/Stravato) that have a real kick ass instrumental shred CD out that I listen to all the time.
I try to learn something from all of them (if I can) and incorporate it into "me".
but now I'm really into 7 stringers so I'm leaning towards those guys more and more. (Loomis, Broderick,Smyth, Santiago Dobles from Aghora (he smokes), Shane Gibson, Planet X, Toshi Iseda, Dave Weiner, Tom Kopyto,
Rusty Cooley etc.
just listening to this guy, pretty good (a Carvin player)

http://www.myspace.com/gregrapaport

Andy James
check him out great, great player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61_-QWRhIcI&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0MAKNpfkSs

[Top Jimmy B]

I have to throw some praise out there for Billy Gibbons. The riff in, Just Got Paid, had me groovin' at an early age. The man is righteous and just has that swing.

[jdr94]

influences:
james murphy
chuck shuldiner

made me wanna play:
hetfield before he started singing!!LOL
skolnick
and all other guitarists better than me

[Dimebag]

dimebag darrell
marty friedman
zakk wilde

[destructin_od]

guys who made me pick up a guitar:

1. dave mustaine (rust in peace album was the first time i started listening metal)
2. james hetfield

influences:

1.marty friedman
2.dimebag darrell
3.zakk wylde (especially riffs)
4.yngwie malmsteen

[tmmsjm]

George Lynch, Warren DeMartini, John Sykes, Akira Takasaki, Randy Rhoads, Van Halen, Jake E. Lee, Rudolph Schenker, Mathias Jabs, Michael Schenker, Vivian Campbell, Dave Murray, and Adrian Smith.

[Svart]

made me pick up the guitar: Hetfield/Hammett

influences:
Marty Friedman
Dave mustaine
Jeff Loomis
Steve Smyth
Bill Steer
Peter Tägtgren
Chuck Schuldiner
Martin Buus