We somehow delude ourselves into thinking that a new guitar or whatever is the answer.

Right! I think this cuts right to the heart of the "GAS" phenomenon. When you are unsatisfied with your productivity or the quality of your output it is easy to think that getting just one more piece of gear is going to fix the problem. The truth usually turns out to be that we just need to hone our craft a bit more or really sit down and figure out what exactly we are trying to do.

Sometimes we are trying to get a certain sound or effect, in the case of music production, but we haven't really fully hashed out in our heads what we really want - so how are we supposed to get to that goal even if we do buy more gear?

That being said, if it's a telecaster sound you want, you'll probably need a telecaster. Sorry if that triggered your GAS. lol! Coincidentally the only electric guitar that I own is a Fender Classic Series '69 Telecaster Thinline reissue that I bought from a friend in 2003 for $200. It was worth 1000s at the time, but Fender accidentally sent my buddy 2 instead of one, so he sold it to me for a tiny amount.