I will say Hammett was incredible up through the Black Album. Come on, his solo on The Unforgiven is not to be fucked with. THAT BEING SAID, he's gone way downhill in the past 15 years or so. It's obvious he puts in the bare minimum to squeak by, relying on improvising and wah for all of his new solos instead of really hammering shit down like he used to. His solos on Death Magnetic and Hardwired feel like they're there only to take up space, as opposed to being a part of the song. I mean, check out the solo he did on Exodus' "Salt the Wound". It's among the best solos he's done in a long time, yet it still falls short when directly juxtaposed with Gary Holt's solo, and it's not even like Holt is some Friedman or Skolnick-esque wizard (not talking shit, Exodus is my favorite band!).
I will never, ever, deny Hammett's early shit. Solos like Fade to Black, One, The Shortest Straw, Master of Puppets, etc. are ICONIC, and incredible. He just doesn't have it anymore, and he doesn't even seem particularly interested in getting it back.