Technique/ material or both???

ok then, although hendrix is a better guitarist in terms of technique, me and my mate where discussing that although this is true, jimmy page was a better guitarist because of the material he wrote for guitar. When picking the all time greatest guitarist, should it also go on the amount of quality material the guitarist has wrote??

Actually, I'd rate Jimmy Page as the better guitarist technically but I'd rate Hendrix as the better songwriter because he wrote good songs/guitar parts/solos that I think were better than Page(except for Star Spangled Banner - I hate those weird noises he does). Castles Made of Sand is a great example of a melodic intro that Page could never match IMO.

Well, I guess that there are two different kinds of guitarists: the guitarists, and the musicians who happen to play the guitar.
The guitarist thinks about what he's gonna shove in the 12 seconds of soloing he has in the dang song...
The musician writes the song, and makes it beautiful with his guitar.
Now, it's not one or the other, I guess we all have some of both guys... I think Jimi and Jimmy both have achieved balance. People can hum their tunes, I guess that's a good start for being a songwriter...