Last night, I mentioned to a couple of seasoned recording-session guitar-players (one is primarily jazz/blues a la Larry Carlton, the other has roots mainly in Metal) this little debate of E. Van Halen vs. Jimi. In unison, they gasped, gave motion of nausea, uttered profanities, and shook their heads.
They said, "Jimi; absolutely no contest."
well, actually, one of them said, "only a musical idiot would think Van Halen comes close to Jimi in influence."