ladies, ladies...
this discussion is worth nothing, really. it's only a matter of time every known guitar-player is mentioned in here.
so what is it good for? to put down each others idols?
"all bluesers are overrated" - that's something like the conclusion so far. great, really. maybe it's because everyone thinks he/her can play the blues, maybe it's because blues is one of the first chapters in our guitar-books. after you worked thru it you might think you're better than all those old blues-players... not all of us, but I'm sure like 90% think they are (and I think some of them actually really are).
there was a time when I thought hendrix was a wuzz... that was when I had been playing for two years. I didn't think I was better but I thought it wouldn't be long anymore until I could play like that.
as for b.b. king: I'm sure he hasn't got great technique and you (I don't speak to YOU GUYS personally

) would polish up his playing by including sweeping and cool modes BUT he makes his lucille SING. try to immitate this, E. v. Halen (I bet Hendrix could)! By the way B.B. does some cool runs at live situations, mostly at the end of a song. so it's not just about 3 licks he does over and over again.
There's something I have to say about "old-days-guitarists" anyway: does anyone think back in the 50's someone seriously wanted to play any flashy lydian sweeping-licks? I guess the musicians of those days tried to play cool tunes - no matter if they were made out only of 8th notes of the pentatonic scale.
ok - they weren't great guitar-players when technique's in demand. so this leads me to the question: what is a good guitar-player? according to the entries I've read so far it's ONLY about technique, but that's half the deal.
maybe the thread-tilte should have been "most overrated guitar-technician". if it's about "guitarists" "musicianship" plays a bigger role than one might think. for me, a good guitarist adds a most suitable something to a song. that's all.
what does this mean? you can't compare guitarists, only technique.
... and this leads me to richie sambora, who I have to defend. first of all: how can he be overrated? did anyone anywhere say his technique is one of the finest (big-t*tted blonde groupies don't count

)? to call him overrated is the typical "I hate Bon Jovi"-attitude. Is he overrated because he wears a cowboy-hat now and then? Everyone who has seen him live knows that he's a great musician, a solid player and - few might know - a lightning-picker (not to mention his acoustic-playing). the "problem" is, he is a real blueser tending to understatement... then some jerks hear his easy solos and think that's the peak of his technical abilities.
ok, I do not want to take it any further here and most of all I don't want to say wich guitarists ARE overrated (in my eyes/ears)

.
cheers
six