I just read it and the only thing I have to say is: wow. Absolutely. Bloody. Wow.
My 2 cents: As an engineer, scientist, and musician, I regularly come in contact with people of all walks of life looking to speak the "geek speak." Sure, the degrees of the geekiness varies but it all depends on how much weight people put on the innards of their gear. Personally, I put SOME weight in the design because I have an engineering background and i am quite the curious bloke, however, as a musician, first and foremost - I focus on how the gear sounds because everything has their characteristic sound. Of course a Twin can't sound like a Plexi - it doesn't take a PhD to tell you that!
And, to ask, outright, if your FINGERS make one amp sound like another as a rebuttal is just, well, elementary (and simplistic) as far as arguments go.
'twas a good read, though. I admit that. I was very, very amused especially with the points made under intonation and the tone = money equation. A talman not being musical? Talmans are probably made out of Alder, maybe Ash - the very same stuff a LOT of strats are made out of. Setting the intonation has nothing to do with the body wood. Rather, this is a resonance property because alder resonates differently than, say, mahogany, my wood of choice. Intonation depends on how the parts of the guitar are set up to help the guitar resonate properly as a whole piece. Also, I was very drawn to the claims of the inability to record. Now, I have played and recorded in a variety of situations and settings. From experience, none of the players I know will ever claim that recording media - digital or analog - will never be able to capture the character of an amp. THAT is complete cr@p and anyone worth his salt as an engineer knows this.
