I know they talk about how technically good you have to be to be a great guitar player. But in reality there are many of the greats who weren't considered technically the best players. But that's not what made them great. There were some great old blues players who were never taught or even took a lesson, and they didn't have fleet fingers that can play a fretboard at a mile a minute. Yet they are considered some of the greatest of all time. B.B. King was born in a cabin on a cotton plantation. He never took a formal lesson in his life. He picked it up by hanging around Bukka White. Technically he's far from perfect. But he's the number 6 guitar player of all time on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar players. B.B. King and all of the other greats had one thing in common, they had a signature sound. I saw a lot of different guitar players mentioned in the Greatest Guitar Players thread. But for me, the one common thing all of the greats had in common is the minute they picked up a guitar and played, you know exactly who it is by their guitar tone or style. There is a reason why SRV, Roy Buchanan, Sonny Landreth, Eddie Van Halen, Santana, Buddy Guy, Hendrix among others are considered the best. We know immediately who it is playing the guitar just by their signature guitar tone.
I agree here. What makes each musician "great" is their unique style.
Whether it's a guitar, piano, violin, sax, it all comes down to having a unique style; however, that's something that happens through time, practice and not fretting about following known conventions (you don't have to reinvent the wheel, but don't be afraid to explore "beyond" standards). In the end, it's pretty much as with anything else, do it because you enjoy it and dedicate time to it; if both criteria are met you'll find yourself doing things in a unique way that others will consider to be "impressive".
P.S. Don't force that unique style; just play around looking for different styles while adjusting them to fit what you're playing/composing and you'll eventually come up with a style of your own (possibly even before you know you've found it).
