I have been a Van Halen nut since I was a wee little dude (about 4-5). At that age I just knew it was cool, because my dad cranked it. Then around the age of 12, I got VH1 off my Dad, and I put that thing in my CD player, and as soon as the intro riff to Runnin' With the Devil kicked in, it hit me like a {censored}ing brick wall. At that point, I was just getting into the guitar, and from that point all I wanted to play Van Halen stuff. So, Eddie was a huge influence on me since I was 4 or 5. What he does with that guitar is amazing. He can still out play any guitarist I have ever heard. You know right away when it's Eddie on the guitar. The tone. It's so signature. Nobody else does as good as Eddie. Eddie is the definition of a guitar hero.