Display MoreI think what's important to point out from the previous comments is that an amp absolutely changes your tone and some guys, including myself, hear a tone inside their head that they just haven't been able to completely capture. Perhaps it's unattainable, but it's nonetheless a preoccupation.
I spent years being content to play through any amp that was put in front of me. And I mean any amp. I was of the mind that my hands would compensate for the sound and would make everything sound "like me". While this was helpful in many ways and I certainly got by, there came a time when I got tired of fighting equipment. What I realized is that each different amp responded differently and thus my playing responded differently. There's no denying that when I pull up a profile of a Mesa Dual Rectifier, I play completely different than I do with an AC30 or even an old Plexi.
It's symbiotic. Your playing and your amp create your tone. If the amp weren't so consequential, there'd have been no reason EVH fried the tubes in his old Marshall's over and over to try and capture the sound he heard in his head. The Brown Sound we know today wouldn't have existed were he playing with a Fender Bassman. Likewise, the most expensive tube amp in the world won't save you if you can't play guitar for shit.
I'm grateful that for years I worked on my playing to compensate for my lack of equipment. It taught me a lot as a player. At this stage I bought a Kemper because I hear something in my head that I want to try and find and it's a great tool to experiment with.
Yup.
I can't help but think a lot of the "the tone is in you hands" come from the situation where somebody is trying to EMULATE another guitarist - but that's another aspect of tone.
I think we need to define specific terms for this to clear up future discussions:
"TONE" (as in the tone control on equipment):
what the amplifier, pedals and guitar supplies, disconnected from the playing. Other aspects could include type/size of pick, type/size of strings,etc etc.
"TOAN" (as in "that's mah TOAN!"):
what the fingers and hands supply, disconnected from the amplifier and guitar
- hereunder how hard you hit the strings and where you hit the string (closer to head or closer to bridge), influence of palm muting etc etc.
Then there's TECHNIQUE - vibrato, tremolo picking, whammy bar use, harmmer-ons/pull-offs etc etc - which I don't consider part of tone nor TOAN 
