Topic: Best guitarists
I think this one is very hard to define as what makes a best guitarist?
It's definitely not the speed at which they play,sure people can play fast but that is not music. That may qualify for the award of fastest guitrist.
I personally think the best guitarists are really the best musicicans. The best guitarists are those who create music with their guitars whether it be with their chord progressions or with their solos.
THis is why there is not definitive best guitarist. Sure Steve Vai creates strange sounds with his guitar and very fast instresting phrases but then Joe Satriani creates intrigueing melodies (still with fast solos)
Then you have Brian May who is not only a great live guitarist but has the ability to harmonise his guitar with delay pedals to create and orchestra.
Kyle Gass from Tencious D to me is a unsung guitar hero. take things back to basics - this guy can play the acoustic in a lovely manner.
So there isn't a best guitarist. A lot comes down to taste in music.
If you are new to guitar then I would say speed is not everything - I wored hard to get good speed to find that it was not what I had hoped - Make music not a fast blur of meaningless notes