My distaste for it has nothing to do with me thinking it doesn't take skill. It's just boring, it's frequently lacking taste or any sort of real musical interest outside of "wow, man!", and it's very, very rare that you hear a shredder who doesn't sound just like every other shredder. Not to mention good luck differentiating which shredder is better when they all play the same crap and play at such outrageous speeds that no one can tell which is fastest besides people using high-sensitivity technical measurement devices. Michael Angelo, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, stereotypical prog/power metal wank guys, etc all are very obviously talented but none of them are particularly inspiring and most are exceedingly one dimensional. Petrucci is probably my favorite cause I liked dream theater back in the day and he can effectively solo in more than two styles, but the fact remains he's still pretty bland and one dimensional. I don't think I've ever heard the man fingerpick, even (besides maybe the uber-simple "hourglass").
My favorite metal guitarists are Fredrik Thordendal and Mikael Akerfeldt. Both are pretty decent soloists, but both really shine in their wildly creative riffs and writing styles. I definitely have taken more influence and inspiration from them than any other guitarists, and it's entirely their riffs, not their solos.
Also, Pat Metheny is one of my favorites. See, now this guy is varied, even if he can't shred - his material ranges from nearly prog metal (In the Heat of the Day) to absolutely gorgeous acoustic fingerpicking (anything on "One Quiet Night" or "Beyond the Missouri Sky."). My one gripe with him is his electric tone is a bit too smooth for some of the styles he plays in - I saw him live a month or so ago with the Metheny-Mehldau quartet, and when they played straight ahead up-tempo jazz his guitar tone was a bit too smooth for it, imo. Still, a great guitarist.
As far as actual best guitarists go, the hell if I know, probably some obscure brazilian jazzer or another, they tend to get the best and most creative non-classical musicians.
