Fretting with the Thumb - how to get started?

You know who agreed on this? Merle Travis. And his son Thom Bresh also. You try to play that style of guitar with barre chords, it’s not gonna work. Here’s the thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Gibson neck, a Fender neck, an acoustic neck,…I cannot for the life of me figure out how to use my fretting thumb and still play comfortably. On ANY guitar. But if you can, then more power to you.

This is exactly what I was thinking, a horizontal neck is good for the thumb over the top, and a more diagonal neck is good for the thumb on the back!

I can’t play barre chords because I tune in 4ths, but I think electric guitars that aren’t in their “clean” setting don’t sound that hot after (say) 4 strings in a chord, hence the barre chord has very limited utility to me.