If you watch an interview of Eddie Van Halen on Youtube (Van Halen - unleashed part 2) Eddie says that Eric Clapton is the best of all-time and he says that Hendrix is "great", but doesn't care for his sound. So I do not know where you get the idea that Eddie says Jeff Beck is the greatest.

Perhaps he did say that. He has made many comments regarding guitar players he admired. He did say, "I feel like a beginner compared to Jeff beck" All I can say in my 25 years of playing is that Eddie sounds like Beck and not Clapton. Who influenced who? You can hear Beck's techniques and sound in Van Halen's guitar playing. Beck created techniques that are standard in rock today, many people are not aware of them because they are so common now , but the originator of this sound is Beck, hammer ons, thrills, bending, staccato, vibrato, and most important of all-FEEL- comes from the maestro Beck. Of course others have used these techniques, but the WAY they are played today comes from Beck. Listen to "I'm Going Down", You can hear about a dozen techniques in just this song. His influence in rock is inmense-but only a few people know this-most of them guitar players themselves. Beck like Einstein always tried to break the rules and opened up new worlds for us. These are the true "Originals."

Les Paul said "I made the electric guitar and Eddie Van Halen has made it the monster that it is today". Les Paul also said that Eddie is his favorite guitar player, because Eddie also makes his own guitars, pedals and amps. Les Paul said this on a tribute show to him and Jeff Beck and a lot of other legends were there as well, so what is the truth? Now all the things I have said you can go to YouTube and see it from the horses mouth, whereas I have tried looking up your quotes and have found nothing, help me out if you can.