Budget VS Boutique

[guitfiddle]

Some folks have to have the 65, or the Matchless, or the Two rock or the Bogner.

Some folks have done just fine for years with a Fender/Vox/Marshall/Ampeg/Peavey right off the shelf and have still gotten killer tones.

I've always gone with budget, because if it's built to take abuse and sounds great, then I'm done. I could chase an extra 5% of tone for the rest of my life, and might not ever get any better than my Music Man or my Peavey C-50. Or, I might be missing the boat.

Is is worth it to buy boutique? Or should you just get a good amp and rock on?

Which do you prefer and why?

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

The general thinking out there is that a booteek is going to be a bit more bullet proof, mostly because they dont' use circuit boards. Now some companies like Rivera use very thick and high quality circuit boards that dont' break. Many booteek guys, myself included, hand test each resistor and cap that goes into the amp. Each switch and pot are inspected closely. Many booteek guys will treat each amp as an individual so even if it's the "booty" model, each time he brings a "booty" model to life, he tweaks things a bit to maximize the tone. Furthermore, many builders test using various style guitars. I actually picked up a Gretsch because 1. I wanted one. 2. I was building an amp for a guy that owned one too. It helped me quite a lot.

And, then there's premium parts, especially the trannies. I believe much of the magic sauce of any amp has to do with the transformers. (credit that one to curly)

These amps are made one at a time by hand. The quality is often much higher than what a factory is putting out en masse.

But, you have to pay for that quality and craftsmanship. And even in the booteek world, there's guys making amps at reasonable prices and many making them at nutty prices.

But if you only have 500 bucks, then you either save more to get a lower priced booteek.

If not, you go out and find an older vintage classic for 500 bucks. It might be beat up a bit, smell like smoke, torn cloth, hums a bit or more than a bit. Then you learn how to fix it up and be a doityerselfer.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

And to follow up, I've owned just about them all.... Two Rock, Fender, Marshall, Vox, Bruno, Carr, Mission, Heritage, Matchless, BadCat, ... I'm probably missing some more...

My point..... once you're tried a few of these amps from differnet booteek makers, you'll start to see somethings that are congruent to the great tone they all get.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

The general thinking out there is that a booteek is going to be a bit more bullet proof, mostly because they dont' use circuit boards. Now some companies like Rivera use very thick and high quality circuit boards that dont' break. Many booteek guys, myself included, hand test each resistor and cap that goes into the amp. Each switch and pot are inspected closely. Many booteek guys will treat each amp as an individual so even if it's the "booty" model, each time he brings a "booty" model to life, he tweaks things a bit to maximize the tone. Furthermore, many builders test using various style guitars. I actually picked up a Gretsch because 1. I wanted one. 2. I was building an amp for a guy that owned one too. It helped me quite a lot.

And, then there's premium parts, especially the trannies. I believe much of the magic sauce of any amp has to do with the transformers. (credit that one to curly)

These amps are made one at a time by hand. The quality is often much higher than what a factory is putting out en masse.

But, you have to pay for that quality and craftsmanship. And even in the booteek world, there's guys making amps at reasonable prices and many making them at nutty prices.

But if you only have 500 bucks, then you either save more to get a lower priced booteek.

If not, you go out and find an older vintage classic for 500 bucks. It might be beat up a bit, smell like smoke, torn cloth, hums a bit or more than a bit. Then you learn how to fix it up and be a doityerselfer.

And to follow up, I've owned just about them all.... Two Rock, Fender, Marshall, Vox, Bruno, Carr, Mission, Heritage, Matchless, BadCat, ... I'm probably missing some more...

My point..... once you're tried a few of these amps from differnet booteek makers, you'll start to see somethings that are congruent to the great tone they all get.

Great food for thought, here. Thanks, Scott.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

I tell folks that they have to go play a lot of booteek stuff and unfortunately, there's very few places where you cna go and test out a lot of them.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

I tell folks that they have to go play a lot of booteek stuff and unfortunately, there's very few places where you cna go and test out a lot of them.

I'm lucky in that regard...Louisville, Co is really close and Wildwood Music is there. They get in all kinds of high end stuff so I've tried a few boutiques.

But I have a kid and the $$ sure as shootin' don't go to new toys for me unless I sell something.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

It's simple. I'm not a professional, so I can't afford to buy boutique stuff. Doesn't mean it's not nice, but I don't have any reason to drop thousands of dollars on it, as understanding as my wife might be.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

I do own some boutique stuff, but I tend to go for budget stuff most often. Most of my off the shelf stuff has been modded because I'm addicted to the smell of solder. I usually make 'em sound better too...

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

Both, I think????...Fender Blues Jr and a Mesa Boogie.

Are Mesa's still booteek? :dunno:

 

[scottish]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

the amp i use these days is a fender blues jnr that has been heavily modded/upgraded. Its now a phenomenal amp and i cannot ever see myself spending thousands of dollars on amp.

Guitars on the other hand...i just cant help myself sometimes.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

WHat is budget though. I don't really consider Marshall or Fender budget as they are way more expensive then alot of brands here. I'd say budget is the MIC breeds like Tiny Terror, Night Train and other VOX's (not Heritage), Bugera and then smaller cheapish companies. Obviously smaller amps are cheaper because of components so I guess the Fender Juniors and the Epi Valve Junior too. I think the 65 Amps, Matchless etc have their own tone that you can't get with Fender, Marshall,Vox and vice versa although the crossover is there. I'd like to try the Hayseed 30 and some other non Matchless boutique AC30 things as well as that new Mesa. But I consider my Frenzal Boutique and Cheap as it isn't mass manufactured yet isn't overally expensive when compared to the boutique brands.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

Are Mesa's still booteek? :dunno:

I think the Mark V manual has a statement like "though we are no longer the latest boutique darling".

I would classify them as boutique, because they are very professional products designed and made in the US to sound good in context and at proper volume, not a bedroom. Their prices are very reasonable for what you get.

 

[Stratfan]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

Right now all I have is a Fender Blues Junior. When (and if) I can afford it, I'd love to get a higher-quality hand-wired small (12-20 watts or so) amp. But, I won't spend a lot for one... my talent level wouldn't justify it! I'm sure that I could pick up something new or used for less than $1000, and have an amp that sounds better and is more reliable than the Junior.

The Blues Junior is nice for what it is, a budget amp. However, for a few hundred dollars more you can buy a much better amp. The only problem, like someone stated above, is that music stores around here will never have or stock anything "boutique". The amps are out there. My guitar tech introduced me to his amp tech two years ago. This guy built amps as a hobby; all hand-wired with military-spec parts and NOS tubes. I bought a 25 watt 2-10 combo for just $650. It was a blackface circuit, and I just didn't bond with it so I sold it. BTW, before anyone asks if they can get one the answer is no; the guy died last year.

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

Well, for me it is a matter of tone to price point. I have some boutique, vintage and "budget" here. I have no preference save how it sounds these days. I use 3 amps when playing someplace these days. Richter, Fender LTD or the Traynor Bass Master II (~70) get the call about 99% of the time. One is boutique, one is mass produced and the last a vintage. Of these, 2 are PTP and one PCB. I have more PTP as I have a couple of other vintage style amps. For recording I have been using a Killer Ant as it does really well at home studio friendly volumes. However, the Richter sees a fair bit of time in the home studio as well.

So ... all of the above.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

I just work within my budget, plain & simple.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

I'd rather have one good car than all the Power Wheels in Toys R Us.

Boutique for me.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

I'd rather have one good car than all the Power Wheels in Toys R Us.

Boutique for me.

Truth

I don't have anything but old amps right now, but it's awful hard to beat handwired amps. I regret selling 2 of my 3 Zs, but I plan on getting some more. They were hardy and had a special kind of magic in them.

Luke

 

[Got_tone?]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

The last two post are right but, that only applies if you have the coin. I'm sure if all of us had it, we'd have super high end Gibsons and boutique amps.

For those who can't afford we use what's in our budget. All I know is that when I'm done with school, I'll be getting my CS Gibson and at least one boutique amp.:bling:

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

I'm sure if all of us had it, we'd have super high end Gibsons.

You must not be paying very close attention to some of the threads here.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Budget VS Boutique

Budget!

I have had so much budget gear that it'll make your head spin!

I embrace cheepnis, wholeheartedly.

As Frank Zappa said, "Cheepnis has nothing to do with the budget... although it helps"

$109 SX STL50

$269 Epiphone Dot Studio (with $100 worth of upgrades)

$99 Squier '51 (with approx. $250 in upgrades)

$250 PRS SE Soapbar

$150 Blackheart Little Giant (now gone) + $140 1x12" (now gone)

$180 VOX AD15VT

I have had more budget gear in my life than nice stuff, although, to be fair, I have always had 2 really nice guitars (not specifically pictured), and I can still play better than half the geeks with the $3000 guitars and the $2000 amps.

I had fun with my budget gearhounding ways, a lot of fun --- I got to try out a buttload of stuff at very little cost to me (I sold and traded a lot, so most of these deals were break-even or close).

Now I am settled in with a boring American-made Fender tube amp and a pile of guitars with pricetags from 4 digits to 2, but I honestly love my budget gear. Every piece in my collection needed to be upgraded in some way, and I got to do it, on my terms, with my skills.

As I always ask, what's the reason for the price difference on most cheap guitars vs. the higher end guitars?

Answer: skilled American labor, and good hardware.

I have skilled American labor right here in these hands, and I can order the nut / bridge / pots / caps / knobs / pickups / switches for chump change from online shops or through trading with forum bros.

Every guitar I buy, I put the best parts money can buy and tens of hours of skilled American labor into it - who cares if that happens in a factory or in my basement?

-Hunter