re: Best guitarist in the world

Let's assume "best" is going to be subjective and concede that, for all the cats who played guitar after him and even some contemporaries, Jimi was one of the most influential of his time, maybe the guy playing in the late 60s with that level of influence.

I think it should go without saying that Les Paul (the guy, not the guitar) is probably the starting point for influence. Then you have that whole next wave of cats, Ike Turner, Chuck Berry, Scotty Moore and Buddy Holly. The 60s saw the rise of The Stones (Keith and Mick), The Beatles (mainly George, but all 3 guitar players influenced literally everyone afterwards), Clapton, Townsend, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Hendrix.

And these are just the guys the record companies let you know about. Hendrix was so influential that he even altered the way Bob Dylan performs his own damn song (All Along the Watchtower) to this day.