i'm going to cut to the chase on this one. the answer is "no" with a caveat of "yes". the end. you can stop reading now.
if for some reason you're still reading, let me just state the obvious to get it out of the way before i get into the subtleties; gear does matter on some fundamental level. like, if you want to play loud-ass hard rock, then an acoustic bass isn't the right choice. if you want to play classic jazz standards in a coffee shoppe then a 1000-watt head with an overdrive pedal into an 8x10 cabinet is also probably a poor choice. okay, so there is it, there are some circumstances (these are not the only ones) where gear does matter. so let's take a look at an apples-to-apples examples. now i don't know my ass from my elbow when it comes to jazz and other acoustic styles so i won't even talk about them. i'll stick to the electric rock band arrangement because that's what i know.
okay, so you're a bassist in a rock band, i'm so sorry. you're scrolling through Reverb looking for another piece of gear that's going to complete your life. you're looking at amps, pedals, basses, even pickups and cables... hell you even looked at one of those string wraps that goes down around the nut to presumably eliminate errant string noise. we've all done it... i still look. hell, i was just looking at some nonsense. but why do we want to buy more stuff in the first place?
reason the first, because we want something. i think it's obvious and likely too obvious to be the first answer to the question. plain and simple we just want a thing. great, buy it. support capitalism, materialism, escapism, stuffism, brief-but-fleeting-dopaminism. all valid.
reason the second, because it's a crutch for our lack of... something. this is the reason probably most heard in response to the why. it's the thought of "if i just get this one other thing then i will play better or sound better". well, like it or not, and regardless if we actually can admit it, it's for the most part wrong, it is a testament to the power of marketing to play one ones' insecurities and FOMO. buy it, you'll sound awesome. also, it looks really good in your hands.
reason the thirdth, it would also appear to have a degree of perhaps having a piece of gear might earn you some degree of respect or recognition and may ingratiate you with a certain group of people. i've seen it in action in my own young brain. when i was a kid i'd go to local shows and when someone pulled out a super nice guitar or expensive tube amp, my dumb brain would think, "well, they must be super good/serious/professional/etc. if they have that". also, i can see this being the case based on aesthetics, too. if you go to some black metal show and pull out a gretch hollow-body, i don't care how good it might sound, it just doesn't look the part and might have a negative affect on the audience. just get the pointiest V, hot glue some spikes on it you got from Hobby Lobby, and you'll be fine.
reason the 4th, because it does something that we can't do with our existing gear. this can share a lot of the same space as reason the oneth, but is functionally different. a good example is you want to start a Funkadelic cover band so you might need an envelop filter. it is a very distinctive sound and you either have it or you don't... if you don't, go buy it. or maybe you join a metal band and they tune to X so maybe you should thinking about that active multiscale 5-string. trying to tune your passive j-bass down to drop Qb is probably not going to work. it's functionally just different. so buy it.
okay, so let's talk about gear overlap, because this would likely be the case for reasons 2 and 3, with a little of 1 and 4. you have a bass, should you get another one? you have brand X amp, should you get brand Y? you have 6 delay pedals, should you get 6 more? well, let's consider the reasons.
if you're viewing it through reason 1, then yes, just buy it. you want it and you should have it. you work like an adult and you need to pay yourself first... then rent. then the guitar center gear card.
if you're viewing it from the second reason, well, ouh boixx... you certainly can and likely will but it doesn't matter what it is, it will never make you better. it might make you sound better though. i will concede to that. but it's not addressing the underlying issue that's motivating the purchase in the first place. gear doesn't make you better. period. well, except for REDACTED
the third reason... well, you gotta be careful with that one. i can absolutely see buying that pointy V for your blackmetal band or the hollow-body for your jazz gig. or that tele for your country and/or mid-west math-rock indie band. i get it. you want to look the part and fit in, go for it. buying the gear to project an appearance of skill seems insincere and phony. i can't spot it in other people, but they know why they bought it.
alright, so that's my $0.02 on gearstuffs. by all means, buy stuff, play stuff, buy stuff and immediately out in on a shelf, look at stuff and plan on buying stuff. hell, i may have sent an offer on Reverb while writing this. by bottom line is be aware of why you're buying stuff, it may help guide your purchases or may shed some light on your own motivations.
