Originally posted by iiholly
...But I don't see how you can establish which is a better guitarist, because that my friend... is a matter of opinion...

I have to agree.
A faster guitarist,just plug them into a beat counter(if such a gadget or software exists) and count their bpm.
Fast is a definite,measurable thing.But some other things are hard to quantify.Not hard to prefer,but hard to quantify.
and most of all,I regard music as an artist telling his/her story.Each story is it's own.It's the story,the emotion,that I try to take out.and there's no saying that these feelings are better to express than those.
For your info,I barely know any Clapton songs besides Layla.And I wouldn't recognise a srv song if I heard it.