so many better guitarists around
it's outrageous.

Not sure who my favourite is. For blues, I'd probably say Joe Bonamassa.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 19 Jan 2011, 14:15, 1 reply, 15 years ago)

For Blues? Yeah, Bonamassa's good, but I find a bit over-twiddly on occasions
He's probably not in the same league for technique, but for tone, melody and passion I'm inclined to go with Son Seals.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 19 Jan 2011, 14:17, Reply)

he can be over twiddly
his tune blues deluxe is hilarious for it. Really really slow number with passages of ridiculousness that start and stop very suddenly. Makes me laugh.

I find it hard to pinpoint favourites because there are a lot of great ones out there who are excellent for different reasons.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 19 Jan 2011, 14:20, Reply)

This is also true
(And then do you go for a slide player or a regular fingerstyle player?)
It just seems a little ironic to rank blues guitarists on their technical ability, for a genre which is still very musical but derives so much from the raw passion in the playing - it's the only genre I can think of where two guitarists could play a one-note solo and one somehow play it better than the other because he was "feeling it" better.

EDIT: Although, to contradict all that, Ritchie Blackmore's well-thought-out playing on some of Deep Purple's bluesier numbers is also excellent, so who knows?
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 19 Jan 2011, 14:28, Reply)

I prefer fingerstyle on the whole
not to say that I dislike slide, but I don't dig it quite so much.

I get where you are coming from. Because I mostly come from playing rock and metal, and these days play a lot of blues based stuff it's tricky to seperate the two. It's a different approach. I'm only really now getting to the point where I'm good enough (and confident enough) that what I'm feeling comes through nicely, without sounding shite or like I'm rubbish.

One of my very favourite guitarists is Jerry Reed (of Eastbound and Down fame). Check out a video on youtube of him and Chet Atkins playing a tune called Jerry's Breakdown. Fucking marvellous. Then watch the video of two guys playing it on one guitar.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 19 Jan 2011, 14:34, Reply)

Blackmore is one of those who is a law unto himself
see also: Jimi, Dave Gilmour
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 19 Jan 2011, 14:35, Reply)

Or to bring it back to the blues theme,
see also Buddy Guy.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 19 Jan 2011, 14:55, Reply)