Was Hendrix really the best guitarist of his day?

No question here. Hendrix was the best.

Hendrix was clearly the most talented and creative guitarist of his time. In an age of unbelievable guitar talent he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

Clapton and Pete Townsend said JH was the best. Nice endorsement.

Probably not from a technician standpoint (although he had a high level of technical skill - and a lot of it was self-taught). Where he shone was innovation. He was also an early "mad scientist" - particularly with the limited amp and effect selection back then. He was always experimenting with how to get the sounds in his head out in the real world.

There is a funny story during the time he was starting to break out in London via his live shows - Pete Townsend called Eric Clapton - out of the blue (the 2 didn't really know each other) and invited him to go see a film. So, they're in the cinema and the film starts, he leans over and says, "I've just seen this guy play guitar - and he's going to put us all out of work."

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I know you dislike LZ, but how do you feel about Hendrix?

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As it happens I actually watched "Wild Thing" at Monterey this afternoon

One thing I like about JH is his sense of humor: introducing "Wild Thing" as "our national anthem", and quoting "Strangers In The Night" during the solo

I don't much care for all the thudding headbangers he inspired and I find shredding boring, so I can't really call him a good influence. But him, himself, I like.

too much of a head case. Can't play with anyone.

What does best mean? He was probably the most innovative. Which is what everyone is talking about when it comes to Hendrix.

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I've always thought Pages' guitar playing was better.

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Not even close. Page was an incredible writer but so was Hendrix. Hendrix wasn't the most technical (like Blackmore from that era) but he was innovative and took a lot of risks that just worked. He was so unique being one of the first to play rhythm and melodies with lead lines and licks. All those double stops, hammer-on and pull offs and very fluid legato type stratty likes come from him. Great blues player as well, plus his tone was much better than Page's on a lot of his recorded material.

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And is he really worthy of being considered one of or THE best guitarists of all time?

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Absolutely. His guitar was the canvas and he was the artist.

Who was the top jazz/classical gtr player at that time - that person was probably the best.