http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Hammett

Born in San Francisco California to a Filipino mother and an Irish Merchant marine father, he later attended De Anza High School in El Sobrante, California when his family moved to the East Bay. As a child and teenager, he showed great interest in his older brother Rick's extensive collection of guitars and hard rock records, including material by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and UFO. One of his biggest influences was Jimi Hendrix and Hammett was quoted as saying he wanted to be Jimi. He has also performed parts of Hendrix's songs during his guitar solos. He took up the guitar for the first time at the age of fifteen, beginning with a Montgomery Ward catalog special and little more than a shoebox with a four inch speaker for an amplifier. After picking up a 1978 Fender Stratocaster, Hammett attempted to customize his sound with various guitar parts, eventually falling for a 1974 Gibson Flying V. He even took a job at Burger King to raise funds for a Marshall amplifier.