Interesting topic, Steve. I guess the role of ALL instruments is constantly evolving. Stick is just so much newer to the scene. Saxophones haven’t been around all that long and it took a while for them to find their way, especially in classical music. And really, a sax is a whole lot closer to a clarinet than a Stick is to a guitar.
I guess the parameters of range, tone and technical capabilities all have to align with a music-cultural moment in time which is amenable. I’m glad there are people like you who are actively pushing the boundaries of what the instrument can do.
Re: Johnny B Goode, Chuck’s playing is his trying to make his guitar do the things that sax players and boogie pianists had been doing. The right thing at the right time.

I've worked out good performance arrangements for tunes ranging from Kashmir and Fool In The Rain to tunes by Tears For Fears, Sting, Metheny, Santana, AWB etc. But some tunes are difficult to play with integrity, meaning the intended feel of the song. The challenge is to take music written for other instruments (which is everythingbesides KC) and present it on The Stick, not just playing the correct notes, but offering a musical flavor, groove and feel that has expression as intended by the song at hand. War Pigs, Master of Puppets, Four On Six, Helter Skelter, Purple Haze....on Stick? Why not? Cocktail versions excluded.

SA