Just to bring the thread back to favourite guitarists, one of mine is jazz player Martin Taylor. His solo stuff is breathtaking. If you haven't seen him play, check out this vid. I confess to being a pretty mediocre guitar player, but surely to play in this way must take more skill than just shredding as fast as possible - bass, rhythm and lead all at the same time - genius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i71TUDfdcoo&search=martin%20taylor