i guess the 1st thing is ur fingers....thats wher ur tone is
steve lukather use to say, "u can giv me eric johnson's gita, and stil sound myself"

then its the gita...the wood...the strings...the pickups....and parts...
expensive guitars are mostli due to WOOD and workmanship
gud WOOD gives u good TONE....

den the cables and effect pedals....if u go direct gitar-amp
ul get max tone, provide wit gud cable...

amp comes last