Enjoying the choices so far. I’m stuck with limited connectivity or might geek out for a while on this topic ;).
I submit Jimmy Page’s solo at the end of the soundscape bridge section of Whole Lotta Love. Perfect.
I would point to Lindsey Buckingham’s single-note stinger at the end of the lead on Don’t Stop. I don’t know how long the overall solo is, but his work on that one note says more than 99% of guitar leads.
The solo in the Manic Street Preachers “Drug Drug Druggy” is just so fluidly beautiful. Skip to 2:20
The solo in The Feelies “On the Roof” is a masterfully subtle little piece. Skip to 59 seconds.
The first one that popped into my head was Eric Claption’s solo in Forever Man. Clocking in around 23 seconds, it’s just a quick, passionate blast of Clapton genius.
Another +1 for Cars guitarist Elliot Easton. I always thought it was his excellent guitar work is what set the Cars apart.
I didn’t clock it but my favorite of his solos is from My Best Friend’s Girl.
The main lick and solo is more of a country and western tinged romp that wouldn’t appear to fit into the electro-punk-pop sound of the rest of the song.
Instead it works perfectly.
Agreed. Easton is a great, versatile player who brought a ton of journeyman experience to the Cars. He’s a complete guitar geek; hangs out on guitar message boards, has had an auctioned a great collection of left handed guitars.
That lead on BFG is a bear; I’ve faked my way through it in gigs dozens of times but can’t approach his technique. I should check YouTube for a How To clip…
Hmm, maybe you’re right. I was just hoping to exclude what I think of as “showcase” solos, longish bouts of showing off: “Hotel California” (2 minutes), “Sweet Child o’ mine” (1 minute), and very especially “Free Bird” (4+ minutes, holy shit) are good examples.
These are all fine, but I was thinking instead of great exercises of guitar brevity - get in quick, make a great, perhaps very technical statement, then out and done, boom!
Adrian Belew’s solo in Talking Heads’ “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)” may actually be too long for this thread because it’s around 35 seconds long, but I’ll nominate it anyway. I think it’s a very cool, exciting, weird piece that adds a lot to the song.
Ler from Primus has a couple of these. It’s kind of hard to decide where they start and end, but he does some great air sculpture stuff in “Hamburger Train” - although if you count the whole song it’s very long.
lol, I had the wrong song.
Bad Religion’s Modern Man kicks off with a blazing, simple, brief solo that is exhilarating.
It’s probably the best punk solo of all time.
I love the little guitar part in the original “Jingle Bell Rock.” Only a couple of notes each time, but it sells the song.
Mick Ralphs’ intro to “All the Young Dudes”.
So, then Zappa’s guitar work on “Willie the Pimp” and “Son of Mr Green Genes” would not be candidates for consideration, then? 
No. Fantastic works, seriously, but no.
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on Steely Dan’s “Rikki, Don’t Lose That Number.”
A great little solo, but a skosh long at 37 seconds. I’d substitute Peg’s solo at 26 seconds.
This one just came up on shuffle: Andy Taylor with the Power Station on Get it On (Bang a Gong); it’s about 15-20 seconds long.
That’s a new one for me, and quite awesome. Nice.
Wow, I listened to the whole song twice and had trouble telling when an actual guitar was soloing. Definitely weird, and definitely Belew. 
Wow, 10 seconds, holy crap – excellent little solo!
There are soloes of all lengths on The Wall, for instance the microsolo in Young Lust right before “will some woman in this desert land” Four notes I believe. I count it as a solo because it’s musically as good as many complete full-length soloes. Gilmour could pack a lot into one note.