There are so many guitarists that I admire, but the guitarist that I most admire for skill and personality is Mark Knopfler. He is a superb player and songwriter and he always gives ample room to all the others in his band. He is both humble and thoughtful in interviews - an outstanding musician.
Another influence is Jeff Beck. In addition to his excellence on guitar, he always encourages younger musicians and doesn't appear to suffer from an inflated ego.
There are so many...best stop here!
cheers,
Alex

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......it's a topsy-turvy world when noses run and feet smell...

If I could distill all my favorite blues players into one guy, it would be Eric Clapton.

Most interesting: Jimi Hendrix.

And I really love that funky Stones' sound.

at the moment , Rory Gallagher but also Hendrix and Zappa , Clapton , burnet , james ect , cheers
Alan

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SRV, John Fruchante, Tommy Emanual Robert Johnston, TBone, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jimmy Hendrix. And i'll stop there or the list will get really long.

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i don't know about you alan but i'm really into the album Rory Gallagher at this time. also i'm back into the Taste albums lately. also have you seen the article about the 1963 recordings of the Fontanna showband with Rory. they say it's his first recording. i heard one on-line and it was great. he was only 16 and his voice was super.

I have so many that I admire. But the one who stands out to me time and time again is Steve Vai.

Sadly, I'm not playing any Ibanez RG guitars these days. I had to make a personal choice between 21 or 24 fret guitars, and my decision was to go with 21-frets exclusively (or 22, same thing basically). Otherwise, I get cross eyed when soloing on the higher frets if I switch from one to the other. It happened to me a few times live, and I said "that's it, chose one or the other".

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Felix Pappalardi, and Jack Bruce stand out for me as players.

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Am. Std. Jazz / Maple / Olympic White
D'Addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewound Strings
Hartke LH500 head / Acoustic B410 cab

I have many, but my biggest idols would have to be Jack White and Dallas Green (City and Colour).