Who is the best guitarist?

Eddie Van Halen - Eruption

Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks from The Allman Brothers

Robert Randolph, incredible on the Pedal Steel

Nels Cline from Wilco

Jake Cinninger from Umphreys Mcgee

Jimmy Herring from Widespread Panic

Al Schnier from moe.

Jeff Beck, the most famous

oh, that's going to get some arguments going. However, you apparently mean of all time, not just living. I'm going to choose Tommy Emanuel, not so much for any one piece, but his body of work. Many others I could pick, including Jerry Reed, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Glenn Campbell, Carlos Santana, and one guy you never heard of, also named Carlos, from a band that was called Switch. Zappa ... well I don't know, love Muffin man tho. David Gilmour, sure, Lil Wayne? Does he even play anything? How did he sneak in with real musicians?

Bob Mould - New Day Rising

Bob Stinson - We're Coming Out

Johnny Marr - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Jonny Greenwood - Airbag

Peter Buck - Begin the Begin

Thurston Moore - Shadow of a Doubt

Eric Clapton. Tommy Emmanuel. George Harrison. Keith Richards. Jimi Hendrix. Dave Davies. Mark Knopfler.

Some of my favourites.

EDIT: Ooops, how could I forget Jimmy Page?

Charlie Christian.

One of the first people to play an electric guitar as a lead melodic instrument. If he hadn't done that, it is likely you'd never have heard of any of the people anyone has listed here.

Maybe not the "best" guitar player, but certainly one of the most important to the development of the instrument as a melodic one. Before he started doing it, saxophones and trumpets were the only instruments that ever played melody lines.

Yup David Gilmour

Ace Frehley - Shock Me off of Kiss Alive 2. Best solo.

@anthony - Good choice. Though I wouldn't call him the best, but Prince is a good guitarist/musician/writer (whether you like his style or not). I don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

Jimi Hendrix of course. Pretty impossible to pick his best single piece- maybe Machine Gun from the Fillmore NYE show.

I love Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Mark Knoffler and people like that.......