Which guitarists do you think is the best? I have to go with

Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix, the Hendrix Experience)
Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)
Slash (Guns N' Roses, Slash's Snakepit, Velvet Revolver

But my VERY favourites are:

David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave)
Bob Dylan (He puts his soul in his playing, not the most advanced guitar!)
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
and John Petrucci (Dream Theater)

Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme)
George Lynch (Dokken/Lynch Mob)
Kirk Hammett (Metallica)

3 Words... Pete Freaken' Townshend!! Also, Eddie Van Halen pulled off some mean guituar solos when he had to. And David Glimour and Slash were good, too.

Cheezy, you've just become my favorite person on this whole board.

Also, regarding the OP's mention of Bob Dylan: you're right, he typically doesn't attempt anything a 2nd year guitarist wouldn't be capable of, but check out (if you haven't already) the unaccompanied acoustic albums he did in the late 90s. Good as I Been To You is one, and World Gone Wrong is the other. (WGW is also, truly, one of the best things he's ever done, and that's saying something.) He really rips into a lot of those songs, and you realize that Dylan's got some serious acoustic chops that we don't get to see often.

And fair enough...Dylan's appeal is in his lyrics, and the best way for him to get that across is by keeping the music appropriate and simple. GAIBTY and WGW are albums of covers, and he seems a little more open to being musically expressive when the lyrics aren't his own.

Definitely check them out.

I respect Gilmour's styling back before Roger Waters left Floyd and it sank into a pool of mediocre spacey prog-rock, but I'd have to say that Jeff Beck is the most remarkable guitarist of all time, were I forced to choose one. I don't really listen to a whole lot of guitar solo driven music anymore, but when I do, Jeff Beck never ceases to amaze.

Clapton was fantastic back the in the day, in particular with Cream, but also on the Derek and the Dominos album. Ever since about the time he switched to a generic strat sound in the late 70's / early 80's, however, he's been pretty boring. The unplugged album has some nice gems, though.

I guess I should also mention my favorites...

Pete Townshend
Neil Young
Trey Anastasio

Pete Townshend windmilling all the way!

@Chicken Brutus

I'll tjeck 'em out, definately

Oh, how could I forget Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan!? And not to mention Andy McKee

My personal favorites are John Frusciante (RHCP) and Paco De Lucia (Flamenco Guitarist - Flamenco guitarist's don't recieve the recognition they deserve as it takes some extreme skill to play guitar like they do)

No way this list is complete with guitarists like:

Randy Rhodes (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot)
Yngwie Malmsteen (god of sweep-picking)
Jason Becker (Cacophony)
Joe Satriani
Marty Friedman (Cacophony, Megadeath)
Andy Larocque (King Diamond **rediculous vibrato**)

Nice to see Petrucci on here though

MY GUITAR TEACHER!!! I know he's not but to me he is!

The late , Great Jimi Hendrix .End of!! Everyone else is just an imitator. Except Pete Townsend of course but he's a different kind of genius.

Right on!