Which guitarist(s) do you feel play at the peak technique-wise while still serving the song?

[chinnybob]

Came here to mention Guthrie but since he's getting so much love already I'm going to give a shout out to Brian May. Saw Queen last week and he was unreal, near the end of the gig he had a 5+ minute solo, no backing whatsoever, and it was utterly captivating.

Also Synyster Gates. Big fan of his phrasing. Very musical and I've never felt he was shredding for the sake of it.

 

[squids]

Robby and Cameron from The Contortionist write some pretty incredible music, not top shredders like steve vai and the like but its totally different. Will Swan from dance gavin dance also writes some interesting stuff, really difficult to play at times.
Jakub zytecki is great as well, i'm gonna add a curveball i haven't seen mentioned, Josh Martin from Little Tybee. the guy has more chops than most and totally blends into the song. https://www.instagram.com/p/BThaRLVgkyC/?taken-by=koalanights this is one of my favorite clips but if you look through his instagram, you'll see that he is indeed a shredder.