Oddly enough Mark Knopfler was the first guitarist I really noticed. I'm sure my dad spun some Dire Straits albums and I remember just loving the dude's groove and the feelings he created. Within the next few years, my ass was kicked by three albums that are still in heavy rotation at my house today: Europe's Final Countdown (Norum), Whitesnake's Whitesnake/1987 (Sykes), and Winger's Winger (Beach). I SO wanted to play just like those guys, but whatever I did just sounded like Slayer. That's not a bad thing, but certainly not what I wanted
I sat the guitar down, and didn't pick it up until a few years later when I was a freshman in HS. FWIW Nirvana's Nevermind had just dropped, and unlike anything in the '80's, I could play everything that Cobain wrote

So, in a way that kinda makes me shrug my shoulders

, I must give Kurt credit for being my biggest guitar influence. The fact that even my cat could play his songs gave me that little bit of confidence that I needed to start playing and crafting songs.
Present day influences are mainly punk characters, Greg Hetson, Fletcher Dragge, Brian Baker, Billy Graziadei, Vincent Capuccio, whatever...