Another thing to take into account is that the guitar is modular. And an electric guitar at the bare minimum includes a guitar, a cable and an amp.

With a Les Paul type guitar, you're stuck with a body and a neck, but most of the other parts can be swapped out for something different: pickups, bridge, tuners, strings, nut, frets, etc.

With Fender style bolt on guitars you have even more choices to swap out with the neck being detachable from the body.

The amp is the same way. You can swap out the tubes, the speaker and the transformers to start. You can also swap out parts on the component level: caps, resistors, pots, sockets, etc.

The modular nature of the guitar can be a great strength, but it has really turned into a huge curse. Guitar players get so consumed in their tone quests that they lose sight of the original purpose of the guitar: to perform music.

What I'm getting at is just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should. (By "you" I mean all of us, I'm just as guilty as anyone of doing this.

And like a lot of guitarists, I'm guilty of this because I'm not that good of a player, but rather than work hard to develop some real skill, it is easier to change out my gear. It is a quick fix, but ultimately unsatisfying.