Actually, that's not really true.

As it turns out-- especially live-- it's certainly possible to get pretty much exactly the tone / sound on a given song.

You have to develop:

1) The fingers / hands

2) The ear

3) The ability (if effects are involved) to hear what is in the sound and how to get it

No, you can't do it with pre-packaged "band tones" or just buying X or Y pedal or guitar. I don't think anyone with any experience does that.

But it's absolutely the case that you can study a particular style, tone, or guitarist, and achieve that.

The trick is that you basically have to study them. You can't just plug and play. Which means that you essentially have to get as good as them. Or at least good enough to play their parts as they play them.

This won't be a popular response. People actually love your argument, because it means that when they sound like shit trying to get X or Y guitarist's tone down, they can punt to what you're saying.

It's not that simple. Or straightforward.