Gear is important if it is genuinely used to promote musical growth or to put one's music before an audience in the best possible fashion. It is not important if it's used for musical masturbation.

I own several nice guitars. They're important to me because they make me want to play more often which, hopefully, makes my music grow and sound better. I also own a wah-wah pedal. About once a year, I'll hook it up and fool around until I get sick of it. It's not important. I freely and openly admit that my use of it is musical masturbation. That's not to say that all use of a wah-wah pedal is musical masturbation. There are plenty of players for whom its use is an integral part of their style, but it's not part of mine.