SheerHeartAttack

All you people say Hendrix was the 'best ever'. No, but he was certainly one of the most creative and most influential. Nowadays, about anybody can play as well as Jimi, but they are just imitating the man. The most skill lies in the shredders, the most influence lies in the legends...but once a legend, there will be thousands of other people who will want to be like you, and more than likely many of them will become better at it than you (you didn't have yourself as a creative influence). Also, best is such a vague word. My favorite guitarists? Jimmy Page and Brian May, hands down.

Tom Morello is a joke. Petrucci owns Morello and most other guitarists mentioned and otherwise. So do Eric Johnson, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani, to name a few. In my opinion Eric Johnson is the greatest technical guitarist to ever live. He doesn't "need" distortion and other crap, as you guys accuse most shredders of, but he is very picky about his tone and style. You can't get the same sounds with an acoustic. It's not about being easier; an electric guitar is just a thousand times more versatile.