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Sapir-Worf and the Guitar

I've never been much of a believer in strong versions of the Sapir-Worf theory of human language. Although it seems true that culture and language are connected, it doesn't seem to make sense to talk about determinism. Both language and culture changes with human experience, or is there something innate in the German language that allowed Einstein to express the ideas of relativity?

That said, the guitar and amplifier that I have — and the conditions under which I play — have certainly affected the music that I can play.

I've got a "Super Strat" style guitar, with single coil pickups at neck and middle positions and (fatter and louder) double coil pickups at the bridge position. Because I dislike the brighter bridge pickup tones, I've normally stuck with using the neck and middle positions.

This would be an okay setup for Jimi Hendrix style rock, but...

After being unhappy with the amplifier that came with the guitar, I purchased a Fender Pro Junior — which is a decent small tube amplifier but still very loud (even at just 15 amps). I normally have the volume at '2' — which sounds pretty and mellow, but doesn't have the wild/angry distortion of psychedelic rock. But even if I could play loud, I don't have a lot of effects pedals that are often used to color sound in rock and heavy metal.

Finally, I'm not very good. A lot of the music that I like and thought I'd want to play is very complex. I have a huge respect now for metal and rock guitarists.

All of these constraints have led me is some interesting directions musically. Where I thought I'd be playing Iron Man I've recently been grooving to a fingerstyle (without a pick) double-stop arrangement of Amazing Grace, inspired by a much richer version (that I can't play yet) by David Hodge. And yes, this isn't really supposed to be played on an electric — but I dig the sustain.

Where is this all going to lead ... I'm not really sure — Celtic maybe?