There’s a familiar refrain in music circles that gear doesn’t make the musician.. and it’s true to an extent, talent and creativity come first. But what if the parts musicians choose (the nuts, bridges, guitar knobs, pickups, and tuners) are the difference between sound and soul? For many players, hardware isn’t just technical detail, but it’s something that can be equally as important as the musicianship behind the instrument.
In rock and metal, two genres where the quality of parts often dictates playability and tone clarity, Alice Cooper’s lead guitarist Nita Strauss knows this well: she co-designed her Ibanez JIVA signature guitar and specifically choses her gear with intention. “Choosing a pickup was a trial and error process. I wanted something with a lot of body and sustain…” Her comment underscores how parts shape the sound’s personality and how it sings, sustains, and responds to a player’s touch.
Strauss has also compared guitar tone to voice: “I think your guitar tone is almost like your tone of voice. It has to express what you wanted to express in the way that you want.” That’s not a casual metaphor to musicians though, it’s a musician acknowledging that hardware choices affect emotional communication.
However, this idea isn’t limited to heavy genres. Grammy award winner, John Mayer has been outspoken about how deeply parts and construction affect expression within his music. While developing his PRS Silver Sky, Mayer explained that the guitar wasn’t about prestige or nostalgia, but about having an instrument that responded exactly the way he needed within its gear.
In another Guitar World interview, Mayer framed gear not as a collection of objects, but as a functional extension of creativity. “I wanted to get away from gear as a gallery. I just want a tool that allows me to get my sound quickly and easily.” His approach reinforces the idea that parts matter most when they disappear and that when hardware supports expression that the musician can focus entirely on feelings and emotion.
Ultimately, the conversation around gear isn’t about excess or obsession, but really it’s about intention. As artists like John Mayer and Nita Strauss have shown, the parts that make up an instrument help enhance the emotions they’re already trying to evoke. When hardware works the way a musician needs it to, the focus shifts away from fixing problems and back to creating moments… the moments that connect the fans closer to the music.
