Is tone in the fingers?

A large part of me says its definitely in the fingers and small part says gear at a 80:20 split for sure. I might even consider 90:10.
My reasoning is this;
(Sayonil – I noticed you used Vai as a reference as soon as I finished this!) Steve Vai plays Ibanez, he is known for Ibanez, specifically the RG styles and the Jems. When Vai plays a 6 string, he has that distinctive tone that screams at me “Vai”. When he moves to a 7 string, that element of distinctiveness is still there. The guy could be playing a 10 string Djent guitar and you will hear Vai. He may also even pick up a Sitar or maybe even an Oud, and its still going to sound like Vai. On a more comparable level, he will pick up a strat and his sound will still be there, but with more of a twang.
Same applies for loads of players.
If you get someone who has never played before and they play Steve’s favourite Ibanez 7 string Jem…it becomes a case of the workman is blaming their tools.

I believe tone is 100% in the fingers. First because of listening experience, and secondly because of playing experience. When I played on Syn’s rig I could NOT, for the LIFE of me, get that guitar to sound good. It didn’t matter what I played, it sounded awful. Yet he picks it up and it sounds like the most amazing thing on earth. And it doesn’t matter the complexity of what’s being played, either. Syn has a lot more control over how easily he can play things compared to me. You take us both simply arpeggiating a C major chord and he will sound better than me, regardless of the rig we play on. I believe too, that tones are best for different styles. Like a telecaster through a vox amp would be ideal for maybe something like blues or country, but put me playing a metal riff of mine on it and it will sound silly. If you know what you’re doing, nothing will sound bad. I remember being upset that my rig wasn’t good enough, and then a friend of mine asked if he could play on it and damn, he got that guitar to sound in a way I never thought possible. Metal Mike said it best, “That’s great kid, you got all this gear and you know all of what it does. But your playing still sounds like shit.”
Sometimes I think guitarists focus more on gear knowledge than their actual playing ability.