Guitar and Technology

I think I could walk into any music shop anywhere and with a guitar off the rack,

 a couple of basic pedals and an amp I could sound just like me. There's no devices, customized or otherwise, that give me my sound. David Gilmour

Personally, I don't know too many guitar players that could make this claim in the present age. Technology offers an endless horizon of options for guitarist and we spend a great deal of time and money in a never ending cycle of developing our sound through a revolving door of guitars, amp, and pedals. 

While many of our guitar heroes had their own historic tone journeys, they all seemed to stumble onto a path of realisation that their fingers held the secret to their success and to their uniqueness in the world of guitar and music.

In a world of a somewhat unlimited technology boom, test your mettle by regularly plugging straight into an amp and using your fingers to create multiple tone options and dynamics. Play a gig with little or no effects and you'll see that it challenges you to problem solve the role(s) of the guitar in a music context without artificial ambience, texture and dynamics. 

In a world of all these endless choices I still play a '62 reissue strat through a plexi-style amp and I never tire of the sound. Just some thoughts to wrestle with the next time you go to the music shop.