Billy Rhomboid wrote:"I could play Stairway to Heaven when i was twelve. Jimmy Page didn't write it till he was twenty-eight. I think that says a lot." - Vim. Bad News.
All this bit about those old rock guitarists couldn't match the new gods technically is a load of rot.
The innovators were at the cutting edge of technique for their time, and then pushed beyond it. Those that came after learned the results of their work and built on that.
To say the latest generation is the best because they can do more than their predecessors is like saying I am a better mathematician than Archimedes or Galileo because I understand their shit and relativity as well. (actually none of that last bit is true but YKWIM).
Quoted for truth.