In terms of the actual soud you hear, pickups, pedals and amps are going to make the most difference. In terms of whether you want to listen to it, technique r

In terms of the actual soud you hear, pickups, pedals and amps are going to make the most difference. In terms of whether you want to listen to it, technique reigns. The best gear in the world won't make you a good player and a good player can make even crap gear sound ok, but I'm not sure I agree with technique being most important to tone. Not saying that technique isn't important (obviously it is), but the same player with the same technique is going to sound completely different on a single coil going into a vintage combe versus an active humbucker going into a hi gain stack.