I have been hearing statements like this all my life:
"That guy could be a champion; with any rifle in his hands, With any bow in his hands, with any guitar in his hands."
I have had the great privilege of knowing a few champions in various fields.
Hmmm? Yes, there are some cases where the person performance outweighs anything else. It depends on the mode in which they may be competing.
However in general, from my experience, there are not too many cases where the equipment does not make a defining difference. Where the equipment does not help make the champion. Have you never seen a favorite artist perform with terrible setups, and they did not meet your expectation? I most certainly have. I have seen performances for all my favorite artist that in one session or another did not live up to what I had hoped.
For Guitar players who play lots of notes quickly, it may be true that for their style it may not make much of a difference what guitar they have. Their music is based on notes per second. But there are other players who's format is based on Tone. They are still talented guitarist, but there music is based on quality of tone. And that quality makes them. If you have a song with just a simple strum every 10 seconds.....the importance of that strum becomes paramount. As we are listening mostly to the tone. Richie Havens pounding away on his guitar....tone may not be as much of a criterion. We become involved in the the Rhythms.
The best archer I have ever known, 8 times national champion, used only one brand of archery gloves. He would use a special leather oil and oil it for 30 days straight before ever using that glove to loose an arrow. And I can tell you other stories of people who place great importance on the quality of their equipment.
In my humble opinion, for some people it makes a difference, for others not. There is no absolutes.
|