Just a short story 4 perspective:

I 1ce worked with Blues Saraceno a few years back, who has been a "guitar hero" since the age of 18.

He was playing a simple beat-up Ibanez (with a broken bridge...) str8 in2 a JCM 800 with an Orange cab - THAT'S ALL.

The tones coming out of the amp were nothing short of amazing.

I asked him y was he playing a 600$ gtr, when he could endorse ANY brand name and get any gtr he wanted and he replied:

"I played them all, and I can get any tone I want from whatever gtr I play. I could play a better gtr, but this would make the tone come out of that gtr, not my playing. THIS way, I know that it is ME producing that tone, so I have 2 work harder, and thus produce better music."

Just 2 let U know, the guy wasn't BS'ing. He would change pickup position /volume /tone with every phrase, and even between consecutive notes.

My assistant and I were "playing it cool", but 4 the next 2 weeks on other sessions with "regular" guitarists, the gtr trax sounded funny 2 me.

This was an important lesson, and since then I started focusing on the PER4MER, rather then the INSTRUMENT.

Peace,

Zooot