Would agree that Jeff Beck is probably both a more innovative and technically better guitar player than many-including Clapton-but asking who is the best guitarist is fraught with the same issues as asking who is the greatest painter or footballer. Aside from questions of personal choice and technical ability v artistic flair, it's very much about genre too.

I like and listen to quite a broad spectrum of music but guess my personal preferences are for more Blues based guitar players and so find Clapton "easier on the ear" than Beck. As a player I can appreciate the skills and dexterity of many accomplished guitarists-but I don't necessarily like everything they do!

For myself I like classic electric Blues and Blues based rock players such as BB King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, SRV, Clapton, Rory Gallagher, John Lee Hooker, Gary Moore and (of course!) Chuck Berry and Hendrix. But I also enjoy jazz players like Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery, rockabilly guitarists like Brian Setzer and Darrel Higham, classical guitarists John Williams and Julian Bream, acoustic folk players like Paul Simon and soul/funk guitarists like Steve Cropper, Cornell Dupree and Nile Rodgers. There are many others too from various genres including Johnny Marr, Ali Farka Toure, Samantha Fish, Randy Rhodes, Mark Lettieri and Mike Dawes. The list can become pretty endless!