Historically speaking, a lot of musician who've breathed life back into rock were often using "the wrong tools". The rest was simply riding on a wave.
Like you said above, Hendrix first used a strat because he could afford one. The rest is history. In fact, he used to say that a lot of the stuff he played was the result of him trying to imitate a horn line or whatever - talk about using the wrong tool.
The Doors didn't have a bass player and had to rely on the keyboard player for a bass line. The White Stripes didn't even have a keyboard player to play the bass. The Beatles had Ringo for a
drummer!
Necessity s the mother of invention.
When they can afford the "right tools", it's usually not long before it gets too comfortable and rock goes back to sleep.
Ultimately, the "right tools" are a standard - and rock is (partly) about going against the grain.