For the gigging guitarist the loss of the more subtle nuances of tone is probably a price worth paying in order to have a simple but effective setup that works well in most venues, especially the more acoustically challenging ones.

However I do agree that if you're going to have your very own TV special you might think of going for a slightly better sound than the "elastic bands on a shoebox" approach that Bert took. I mean it's not as if he's jumping round the stage or having to compete with the juke box in the main bar, is it?