Seems to me, based on this thread, that most people's favourite style of guitar is electric single string rock lead guitar. Yet funnily enough it's probably one of my least favourite styles. There aren't that many rock lead guitarists who can hold my attention (Blackmore on occasions, Hendrix often. Schenkar in his UFO period. Dickie Betts, Lowell George, Ry Cooder often. But not many more). What I do like, unsurprisingly, are finger-pickers and jazzers and country pickers and acoustic bluesmen and gypsy jazzers. Looking back, there have been a couple of finger-pickers mentioned, but very few. Martin Taylor got mentioned in the jazz world. But few folkies or old bluesmen (Robert Johnson got one nod, I know), no blue-grassers, only Django in that Django style...
So here are a few more from my list in these other genres.
I took lessons with Bryan Sutton (flatpicking) and Jimmy Bruno (Jazz) and both are world-class, simply the best there is. David Grier, the flat-picker, but who plays in a rolling string-skipping cross-picking style is one of the best and most inventive players on the planet. Richard Smith, the boy genius who floored Chet Atkins as a lad, is just one of the finest finger-pickers out there, but he can play gypsy jazz too. Talking of gypsy jazz - how about Bireli or Stochelo Rosenberg or (my favourite) Angelo DeBarre? Back to Jazz - how come no-one has mentioned Wes Montgomery or George Benson or Charlie Christian? Old blues guys like Blind Blake and Rev Gary Davies have never been bettered in their style. I love country pickers, too. Glad to see Albert Lee getting a nod, but there are some red hot Nashville Pickers who are every bit as good - check out Brent Mason for a start. Jerry Reed is a personal favourite - but the level of pickers in Nashville is apparently so hot that my choice from earlier on in this thread, Pete Huttlinger, was once told by a producer that there were dozens of players as good as him just a phone call away (Pete had supposedly asked for a pay-rise!). It beggars belief and blows the mind. Modern acoustic pickers too - Leo Kottke is genius. As is John Fahey. Pat Donohue will blow your mind at fingerpicking, too. As will Duck Baker. Bert Jansch got a mention but let's not forget Wizz Jones and John Rebourne. I don't now much about Brazilian or Classical or Spanish guitar but I'm sure there are many players in those genres deserving of a mention in the thread too.
Hey ho. Just chilling after driving home from my gig :-)