Duke,

Like so many of us I have spent a lot of time and money on guitars, strings, amps, pedals, and mods searching for the mystical "great tone" that I hear from so many great guitarists like you.  To my untrained ear I cant really hear the difference when trying them out between my $300 Squire and a $2,000 Fender, or between my $400 Dot and a $3000 Gibson 335. When I listen to recordings of Charlie Christian and T-Bone Walker I love the sound they got and they didn't have all the great modern equipment available to them. I realize that this is a very subjective topic. I frequently read that great players say that tone comes mostly from your hands. If you think this is true could you comment a little bit about what this really means? What is the main difference I hear between my tone and that of great guitarists, and how do amateurs even get close to approximating that?

Thank you for all the great lessons and advice on here!