[frankmcr]

So, was somebody saying "Oh, you're not a real guitar player if you don't use your thumb to fret!" ?

I mean, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were the case, because goodness knows there are plenty of people around who enjoy laying down the law --"You're not a real [whatever] if you don't [do whatever]" (or "... if you do [do whatever])."

But if somebody did say that (recently, anyway) I missed it. (Which is fine with me.)