On guitar sites who's better goes on endlessly. Jimi did a lot of stuff first, Eddie brought new techniques to the fore. Both very influential, but Jimi more so. The first time I heard Eddie, my jaw dropped, but the first time I heard Jimi I fell down. BUT, (I always get flamed for this), Jimi went to England, hung out with Jeff Beck for a while and came back a guitar god. Jeff Beck is the most underrated player ever. Inconsistent, irascible and utterly brilliant when on his game. If only he and Rod Stewart could have made it work we would have had probably the greatest blues rock band ever. Yes, Page stole the Led Zep sound from Beck, Frampton stole the vox box, and every Jazz fusion player must bend his knee to Beck.
BTW, "Kind of Blue" is never very far from my cd player.