Guitarist who got you interested in becoming one.

[mdubya]

Jimi Hendrix.

Foxey Lady, specifically made me want to play guitar from the time I was about 3 years old.

 

[Duane_the_tub]

My cousin, Tommy. When I was a kid of eight or so, he had a black Ibanez LP copy that we used to play along to Black Sabbath records in his bedroom.

 

[Thundermtn]

My Grand Dad.

He always had a three color strat or his 335 out on a stand when we went to visit him. I was probably five years old when he told me he used to play in a band. I was pretty much hooked.

Player wise Jimmy Page and Slash cemented the deal a few years later.

 

[electric head]

Carl Wilson for me

He was a dorky looking kid and guitarist but evolved into a pretty good player and a pretty good dude..

Kind of like me

 

[prs97]

Eric Clapton
Pete Townshend
David Gilmour
SRV
Alex Lifeson

When I was a kid, I used to listen to my oldest brother's CD collection (when CD was the new hotness) full of these guys.

First concert was Eric Clapton on the Journeyman tour.

I had really good seats for Rush when in high school and immediately signed up for lessons when I got home.

 

[archey]

My dad. Also Brian May of Queen.

 

[MenaceMartin]

My brother (5 years older than me) when he was playing in a talent show with his band in high school. They won it two years in a row.

 

[PeteK]

Metallica was the first band where I realized "whoa, music is cool!". Prior to that I never really listened to much other than whatever was on the radio in the car when I was a kid, but my parents picked the station. But I remember hearing Metallica and thinking it was cool, but I'd never be able to learn that.

Then along came Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. That was when I thought "whoa, music is cool and I think I could learn that".

 

[I Break Things]

Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance.

 

[brianbzed]

Two guys named Peter....Frampton and Townsend...

 

[sonar1]

Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance.

That ain’t no Hank Williams song!
-Bob

 

[I Break Things]

That ain’t no Hank Williams song!
-Bob

I love me some My Chemical Romance. I love all of their albums, and there's not a single song on any of their albums that I don't like. That song in particular is one of my favorites, and I probably ought to learn to play it. I ought to learn to play by ear too. I'm lazy as hell and always use tutorials on YouTube and tabs.

This is one of my favorites from his solo project:

 

[DavGrape]

 

[dc007]

When I heard All Right Now on the radio I knew for sure.

 

[Tim Plains]

Iommi.

 

[Whom]

It was probably the buildup of Kiss, followed by Styx.

I've never learned a single Styx song, but the timing was good in my life for the double-guitar work of JY and Tommy Shaw to change my life.


But this... THIS was the scene that made me want to be a player. This one scene. I killed the knees in more than a few pairs of pants duplicating this sort of thing.

The spectacle of it all. On-screen at the midnight movie.. surrounded by older kids, drunks, and burnouts.... when I saw this I went from loving music to loving music playing.

I would go decades before I ever got a real guitar after seeing that. And even more time would pass before I found out the real lead guitar player of The Who was John Entwhistle.

 

[Leee]

It was probably the buildup of Kiss… I've never learned a single Styx song, but the timing was good in my life for the double-guitar work of JY and Tommy Shaw to change my life.

Very well put.
I would have to agree 100%.

Kiss made me want to do that.
Mick Ralphs and Bad Company made me want to actually figure out how to do it and play like THAT.

“Hold the Line” by Toto was a pivotal song for me.
A pop song with ripping Les Paul.

Kiss, it was both Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley.
Same with AC/DC, it was both Angus and Malcolm.
I’ve always been more of a rhythm player anyway, I love the riffs!

But get ready for this…

Billy Squier.
I was on the floor at the stage, first time for me at a big concert, on his first big tour.
I got to actually watch him play, and his guitar player.
I was blown away at how little they actually moved their fingers around!
I thought to myself, “I can DO THIS!

I got home after the concert in the wee hours, and stayed up all night picking apart Billy Squier songs on my acoustic guitar and that set me in motion.

 

[CarreraSL]

Ritchie Blackmore, Angus Young, Billy Gibbons and some others

 

[Roxy13]

Probably no one at first. I was like 4 or 5 when I saw guitars hanging on a wall in a music store and knew immediately I wanted one.

And I would stare at them in the Sears catalog lol.

I was almost 13 when I got my first guitar. It took me a year to save up for a crummy strat copy but my dad told me if I saved up for it I could have it. I think he didn't think I would though because when I finally had the money and showed him the one I wanted in a giant ad in the Sunday newspaper, and asked him to take me, he was pretty surprised. But, he did.

 

[gibsonguitar1988]

Joe Walsh on the 2nd half of the solo to "Hotel California" by the Eagles. Don Felder's solo was cool and polished but Joe's had this "rip" to it and I loved the more edgier playing style and I knew I wanted to do that.