Guide to getting and playing better gigs
Get Your Own Sound
Whilst a certain amp and guitar will probably give you a sense of achieving that, it's by no means the answer. OK, it's great to sound like Hendrix and I may add takes a hell of a lot of talent to do this, but unfortunately it won't get you very far in the big game.
The main point is that most of a player's sound is in their own fingers. If you listen to Gary Moore, Hendrix, Stevie Ray and other "greats", you'll hear that most of them use a wide variety of sounds and effects, they have many signature sounds.
If this is a revelation to you, don't be too disheartened, because it means that you have your own unique touch in your own hands. But if you really must play like one of your idols, getting a similar tone is only a small part of the task. Expect to spend much more time analysing not just what notes they played, but also how they played them. We all have our own subtle approach and techniques, like timing variations, note attack, small bends and so on.
Certainly, many of us could do worse than sounding like Hendrix. Whether you like Hendrix' playing or not, he used the guitar in a radically different fashion than those before, and he was one of a handful of pioneers that demonstrated many of the techniques we take for granted today. But unless you're in a Hendrix cover band, why would you want to play like Hendrix?
If you're planning to emulate your guitar hero, learn from these great masters, but apply those learnings to your own music. For a start it's easier, but more importantly, its a way of continuing their great work, and a way for you to refine your own style and techniques.
Seriously copying a single artist in fine detail does not ultimately say anything new, and wastes the time you could use to develop your own character.
Start taping every jam you have, whether it's practising along with a backing track or with a band. Listen to it the next day as you will discover 1 or 2 riffs you played by accident that you didn't pick up on at the time - learn those accidents. Do this continously and you will start to "catalogue" a series of your own riffs to use for your improvisations.
You'll find you'll start moving away from the "you gotta use this new amp or pedal...you'll sound like Hendrix" syndrome (usually hyped by clever marketing professionals) and start discovering yourself as an individual player on the field, thus giving yourself an edge.
Appreciate and respect the great guitarists you admire, but search for your own thing.