I’ve always taken the phrase “sounding like me” to be irrespective of the eq, if it’s a J, P, MM etc. their ‘musical voice’ rather than the ‘tone’ they refer to. How they play, hand placement etc all impact but I see it as similar to handwriting. We can use a cheap bic or a Mont Blanc but once we get over the quality of the tool we're using we’re still either gonna have a beautifully elaborate style or functionally legible scrawl - yes I’m talking to you G.P.’s and doctors 😀
I like to think of it as Punk’s ‘ALL CAPS’ to the flowing cursive of a classical piece. If you’re gonna play well and have your own voice it’ll translate regardless of the tool and if your gonna hit bum notes they’ll sound bad no matter how high end the gear MM or otherwise.
I have figured this out from painful live experience 😀