Well said, ake...
I have students come at me all the time telling me stuff like "My friend said that I need a Mesa Boogie amp and a Gibson Les Paul (definitely not the cheapo Epi's) in order to sound good."

What I like to do to them is pick up their Squier strat, plug it into a 200 dollar amp, and rip open with it. I feel it's important for guitarists to realize that the gear is not the be-all end-all of their sound. A good guitarist can pick up just about any reasonable piece of gear and sound like themselves.

You should play what feels good and allows you to be true to yourself and your playing. I own 14 guitars... not a single Gibson in the bunch. Is it because I hate Gibsons or cannot afford them? No, it's because I just don't feel comfy on a LP. Closest I get to a LP is my MusicMan Axis (which is not close at all).