Yeah, that whole California sound was something a lot of people were playing at the time. I remember an episode of Electro Woman and Dyna Girl where they had a guy playing very similar to Eddie.
That doesn't really take anything away from the band but I always get a chuckle when I hear that Eddie was some far out there pioneer that was doing something no one had ever dreamed of etc.
He certainly mastered the technique but for my money Randy Rhodes left him so far in the dust it isn't even funny.