Sorry to throw a left field answer into your "modern" opinions, but I have a couple more bland guitar heroes to mention. On the acoustic, I am rather fond of John Denver. His intro to the song Rocky Mountain High is incredible. I wish I could pick like him. On the electric, I like Rick Springfield. He proves his worth on many "unsingled" songs like Living In Oz. I just wonder if, after all these years, Rick got around to learning how to play the guitar riff from Jesse's Girl. (It was originally done on the single by Pat Benetar's husband Neil G.)