What players today, inspire you to keep playing Guitar:

[Zap]

My top 10 in alphabetical order:

Brad Paisley (gotta have a modern Tele player in there)
Eric Clapton (he may phone it in now, but songs like "Layla" and "Steppin' Out" had a HUGE impact on me when I was younger)
Eric Johnson (favorite shredder, and he uses Strats!)
Gary Moore (slow and melodic all the way)
Jeff Beck (my FAVORITE of the old guns, sooo versatile)
Jimmy Page (can't go wrong with the guy who invented a genre with Beck)
Joe Bonamassa (slowed down and changed a bit in recent years, but still my favorite modern player)
Robin Trower (misunderstood as a Jimi clone, but I prefer him by a large margin)
Rory Gallagher (love the Irish influence on his blues rock)
Stevie Ray Vaughan (love his slow stuff the most - Riviera Paradise, Lenny, Chitlins Con Carne, and Tin Pan Alley FTW)

 

[Zap]

And because this thread can only be enhanced by pictures...

 

[Zap]

Final 4...

 

[skoora]

Agree with many of the classic mentions but I wish I could find a new player who perked up my ears. Guys like Govan and Wood are so technically proficient that there's a wow factor but it doesn't translate to making me want to play. I can't possibly begin to emulate them so it goes right over me.

The one guitar player who always knocked my socks off and has only increased his vocabulary and ability over time Is Brian Setzer. Listen to the live recording of The Stray Cats, Rumble in Brixton. Just an endless barrage of styles and techniques played effortlessly while singing. Plus he has small hands which really pisses me off ...Plus his tone just kills me.

A player who's melodic choices in his playing I love is Mike Ness (Social Distortion). Not a virtuoso by any means but an innate sense of rhythm and melody that's great to me.

I've been re-discovering one of my Australian teenage fav's, Cold Chisel. Ian Moss was, and is, an amazingly tasty strat player. Has some of the best recorded strat into Marshall tones I've ever heard from the early 80's.

Tasty licks, great song and nice, slightly jazzy outro solo at about 3:48

 

[D-Nastee1]

Landau, Ford, Gales, Beck, Henderson

 

[skoora]

Landau, Ford, Gales, Beck, Henderson

Ford rocks

 

[Anonymous]

Tomo Fugita
Eric Johnson
Carl Verheyen
Andy Timmons
Scott Henderson

and inspite of his tendency to wear frilly lacy shirts, collect Ferrari's, and eat a lot of Krispy Kreme Donuts:

Yngwie Malmsteen

 

[Enjolras56]

Landau, Ford, Gales, Beck, Henderson

Ford rocks

 

[dstroud]

Yngwie and Michael Schenker for me. It's not that they inspire me to keep playing - I'm sure I would do that regardless. But everytime I hear them it inspires me to try to be better - and I hear things from them that I want to improve in my own playing.

 

[bonedarrell]

Top 10:
1)Gibbons
2)Gibbons
3)Gibbons
4)Kossoff
5)Aldrich
6)Haynes
7)Perry
8)Whitford
9)Deleo
10)Young

 

[SFW]

Who inspires me to play? Well, when I was younger it was guys like Gary Moore, Ace Frehley and Steve Vai. These days I draw inspiration for guys like Bonamassa, David Grissom, and Keith Urban. I also dig a lot of the younger bands that are coming out now that can seriously play.

Truthfully though, I get inspired when I crank out an A5 chord through a good sounding amp. I just love to play. I listen to a lot of music that I enjoy, but in the end it's the sound of the guitar itself that truly inspires me to play it.

 

[sixstringking713]

who is this guy....?

i've seen him in vids but I don't know his name. I remember him having an awesome tone!

Hmm... you may be joking, but just in case you aren't... it's Nuno F'n Bettencourt!

Never heard of him....??

Again, in case you're joking.
Check it out.

lol..

Yeah I've heard of him, just couldn't put his face to a name... I remembered seeing him in this vid:
What is his rig like?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NIFhEAEcMEg

(HOW DO YOU EMBED A VID?!)