Tone really is in the hands of the player. (Page 1 of 3)

I know that's some fine playing, but people are all set to shoot down guitars like this...I have my first Squier still...it sounds great. I've played some 80s Squiers that I would choose over the USA Standards. Most guitars today are a total and utter rip. There's no two ways about it. Get a good solid guitar you're happy with and get gigging...have fun. There are millions of guitars out there...and most now...are very good. Improve the playing before buying that PRS.

Yeah I still have my 1995 Squier (MIM model with the Squier Series word printed in tiny letters are the end of the headstock).  I replaced the PUP's with Lace Sensors in 96.  Still gets  a lot of play.

usa doesn't always mean the best , my jb gold aged custom shop top was not the best gibson iv ever owned , (now sold)!! sorry joe!

There is some truth to this, because the elements of tone are a complex thing.  First there is the player and how he/she "hears" the music.  Then there is attack, and how a player feels that day, and about the music, as related to the way the note choices take place and how hard the strings are hit.  Of course, the choice of picks and/or playing finger-style.  By the time we get to this part of the equation of tone, well, I think 85-90% of it is covered.  The rest of it certainly influences the tone as well; I play LP style guitars much differently than Strat/Tele guitars; this may be because of bias in terms of historical sounds, but things like fret height and fretboard radius (not so much material), and neck shape make a giant difference in how i play the instrument.  Then there is amp choice, and whether or not pedals are used, which could take and has taken a giant amount of time in this forum alone.  We love that discussion!!  I think that the recording in the video is not the best and that if you were out on the crowd, watching and listening with your eyes closed, meaning, without a brand bias, you would be floored and not question the choice of gear for that day.  I happen to know Jack owns several nice Gibsons and G&L's, and also owns/plays through nice boutique stuff.  Did he sound his best that day?  Maybe, maybe not, but nobody with open ears can sit here and say "his tone was bad".  I think in the general case scenario, a great expensive guitar, and a great expensive amp, become altogether a great expensive banner of how good a player is.  Put a great player behind great gear, you get greatness; put a mediocre player behind great gear, he/she will still sound mediocre, but just more "loudly". 

i think we also have a visual bias.  a lot of us, not all of us, but a good majority (you know out there in the world and not necessarily here) we see great gear and we think "that sounds great".  I am blessed that through the years I have owned a lot of great stuff, that has come and gone and nowadays i only have what i need and use.  I remember in the 90's I used to go see bands, and if they had great gear I would not even listen, because it meant they were not playing hard enough (you know, at local club shows).  I was wrong then, and constantly learn. 

I plugged my old Fender Squier in just yesterday for some pedal reviews I am doing, and granted over the years i "improved" it.  Lace Sensors went it, then vintage style locking tuners, and a vintage bridge and large trem block, upgraded.  But ultimately, beside the pickups, the improvements did change the tone (at least the sonic aspect of it), but not how it played and made me feel on the hands. 

whoa... I just ranted a bit.  not an angry rant though, but just wanted to share some of my points and things i have learned after playing guitar for over 25 years.

I'll give you the exact formula and it's free:
The tone is 62.5% the player, 33.456% the amp, 3.88699% engineering skill and 2.48827789749% down to whether venus is in capricorn and a dwarven-goblin-fish-monster walks counter clockwise around a mandrake root at midnight... And that's for the really great players, cause it makes more than 100
Now, joking aside, next year will be my 25 year since I started and I owned and still own cheap instruments, amps, effects that do sound great,but this particular clip doesn't sound good to me. Maybe it is me:) YMMV. Else, I do fully agree that tone is mostly in the players hands. Gear - Whatever makes you happy. At the end it's the music, not the tools.

90% (or a high percentage) of the tone is in the hands and yes he is a fine player. He could be much better sounding with better gear.

yep! funny thing is that I bet if it was JB doing the same thing that everyone here would say "OMG no matter what JB plugs into it sounds amazing and just like his tone and blah blah blah"... sigh.  my level of annoyance with this kind of behavior really has reduced my visits to this forum from a daily basis, to a weekly basis.  doesn't matter really in the grand scheme of things.  turning into TGP this is.

Not sure I get your point? Doing the same thing?