If you took a poll I'm pretty sure Hendrix would win the title of GOAT, though not unanimously. So we have a clear winner for the number one spot but the field is quite crowded and muddled for second place honors.
    Page, Clapton, Stevie Ray, Beck, Van Halen, Lee, etc., etc..   I think that if you look at his entire body of work through what is now seven decades Carlos Santana is the man.  He's been shredding Latin/Rock licks since the sixties.  Again, there are many contenders for second and the contest is very close.  Who is your pick? 

Clapton is as good a place to start as any. Here’s my favorite solo from him which also just happens to have a fantastic solo from Chuck Leavell on piano.

https://youtu.be/vSHPkq6aYSs

I would also throw Mark Knopfler’s name in that hat. Everyone you mentioned you could make a solid case for though.

Well for me none of the people mentioned take out best guitarists, maybe rock guitarists is different but I truly believe that a lot of what has been done before is very easily achievable by guitarists these days. If I had to name one person as the goat I think Tommy Emanuel would be top of my list. He could quite easily play everything that’s written by above guitarists.

I’m assuming you play??

Although he's country, I'd put Roy Clark up there.

Mersa:  I played most of my life, from the time I was five. I lost my inspiration and put it down about six years ago.  Maybe someday I'll get it back. 

Bill:  Roy was an excellent musician who could play anything with strings. Earl Scruggs was also a master.  If we're going to go outside of Rock then Buddy Guy should be mentioned also. 

not a fan of hendrix - not even convinced he was a great all round guitarist.
I like the usual singles that always fet played. So one day I decided to listen to electric ladyland.
It's AWFUL !

Now maybe he was stoned too much in the studio, I don't know. But after listening to that album he fell right off any guitarist list I might compile. It's truly a cacophony with very few redeeming qualities.

Santana a rock guitarist ?
Not hardly.

Maybe it's a generational thing.

I think slash tales  a LOT of beating.
Yeah he's a stokie - but I won't hold that against him :-)

Clapton - definitely up there.

Tony iommi also has to be in the running.

I absolutely dislike led zeppelin and I think jimmy pages guitar has a lot to do with it.

And how on earth can you not mention the ever moody Ritchie blackmore.
Probably rainbow's best lineup !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpgu9wKJVbc
blackmore on guitar, dio on vocals, cozy powel on drums
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu8HiZepRWo
Ritchie blackmore was also  responsible for the most well known guitar riff of all time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikGyZh0VbPQ


Or ian gilmour - pink floyd have some of the best guitar driven songs of any band.

Or the hair itself Brian may !
Now there's a guy who can play Anything !

I'd rate all of those above santana and hendrix.

Okay not necessarily a rock guitarist - but waylon jennings was one of the true greats.
Originally one of buddy holly's crickets (not a lot of people know that) and just an awesome balls out musician.
Tribute to waylon from the coolest man who ever lived !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kRteWY2oiU&list=RD0kRteWY2oiU&start_radio=1

It's interesting, that whenever ratman starts one of these threads - I always disagree with his goat lol

I'd rate tyson over ali as a heavy weight boxer and thomas hearns would be my GOAT - 5 world titles at 5 different weights from middle weight all the way up to light heavy weight. Now that's a BOXER !

so back to guitarists :whistle:

Joe bonna massa - one of the better contemporary guitarists.
Then you've got all the old bluesmen: muddy waters, bo didley, chuck berry - some serious wailers there !
And I'd rate every single one of them over and above hendrix.
:-)

Curious Aardvark wrote on Jun 4^th, 2020 at 4:25pm:

It's interesting, that whenever ratman starts one of these threads - I always disagree with his goat lol :-)

LOL
   I anticipated your response.  That's why I didn't start this by saying that Hendrix is the GOAT.   What I wrote instead is:
"If you took a poll I'm pretty sure Hendrix would take the title of GOAT"

I agree that Slash is a decent guitarist.  He deserves mention here.  I would certainly pay to see him.

I don't know if he is the best guitarist ever, but this is the best rendition of an original song I've ever heard on the guitar, by John Butler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQjwkXrcUrs

I think RM is just trying to watch us fight :)
So many great guitarists.  How can you choose?! A few off the top of my head not yet mentioned:
... Joe Satriani, Jim Suhler, BB King
And if  you hadn’t specifically said “rock” I would include Jean Pierre Durand too

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jD8--0anPGc&list=OLAK5uy_nOOXTp4YjFwPyAKpKHyGHd1vK_jwaXKyU&index=1

No. I  refuse to pick.

Roy Clark played blues and rock, too.  He just got his fame in the Country Western style music. 

Curious Aardvark wrote on Jun 4^th, 2020 at 4:25pm:

Santana a rock guitarist ? Not hardly. :-)

 
    This is a small point barely worth debating but just the same.... Back when vinyl was still sold you'd find Santana's albums in the Rock section of the record store.  The same holds true for eight tracks, cassettes, and DVDs.  Santana always appeared at Rock venues and performed with many of the great Rock musicians.  I used to have a great bootleg of Santana, Hendrix, and Clapton doing After Midnight together.  Maybe it's still somewhere on YouTube. Also he performed with many of the not so great Rock musicians and singers to boost their careers. in 1998 Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Santana's music is definitely Rock with a Latin slant to it just as Lynyrd Skynyrd's music is Rock with a Country slant. 

    Speaking of Santana, I went to six Santana concerts over the years and actually saw him five times.  My first Santana concert didn't work out so well.
    I was sixteen and was going to the show with a group of friends... Bob, the guy who owned the car and his girlfriend Audrey, two buddies, Frank and Mike, and my very sexy blonde girlfriend Sharon Wilson.  Smuggling booze into the show was much more difficult than pot so we decided to drink on the way there.  Southern Comfort (Sudden Discomfort) and Seven was the drink of choice that night.  Everyone made a nice little drink and was sipping on it.  I grabbed the bottle and said something like "You all are a bunch of wusses who don't know how to drink! then chugged down almost a whole fifth.  Sudden Discomfort is one hundred proof and very sweet so it hits hard.  The last thing I remember is moving toward Sharon to kiss her and saying "Damn, this stuff hits fast."  The rest of the night was told to me later by those present and just about everyone at school over the next few days. 
     I barfed in Sharon's lap.  I barfed on Audrey's coat.  I barfed all over Bob's car.  I had the tickets and as obliterated as I was I knew that once the others got hold of them they'd desert me so I dove under the car.  As they were about to dig me out I'd craw under another car then another.  Finally Sharon was able to sweet the tickets from me.  They put me back in Bob's car and I guess I passed out because I stayed put.  The next thing I remember the show was over and it was time to go home.
    It was a very expensive concert for me.  Not only did I not get to see Santana but I had to pay for the cleaning of Bob's car and Audrey's coat, was a laughing stock at school for weeks to come, and that week Sharon dumped me in the coldest of ways. I don't blame her.  To this day I don't care for Sudden Discomfort.
     The second time I went to a Santana concert I actually got to see the show.  For some reason there was no singer at all that night.  It was completely instrumental.  They did fine without a singer.  There must have been thirty people in the percussion section.  Good show.

Lol!

IronGoober wrote on Jun 4^th, 2020 at 7:08pm:

I don't know if he is the best guitarist ever, but this is the best rendition of an original song I've ever heard on the guitar, by John Butler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQjwkXrcUrs

Wonderful!

joe satriani.

Well he does have his own niche.
There are two tracke of his that are frequently played on the radio:
1) summer song
2) surfing the alien.

I would defy anyone to tell them apart.
To my mind that's not the hallmark of a great guitarist.