Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

[SirJackdeFuzz]

WE ALL KNOW THIS ONE !

Stay long enough on music forums, and you would have seen this type of question at least once a month on various forums all over the the net.

I always said, i would rather take the $550.00 guitar/$2500.00 amp set-up, as apposed to the $2500.00 guitar/$550.00 amp set-up.

But it does not have to be that way any more.
These days, you can get VERY good, albeit USED, gig-worthy amps for $550.00.
Peavey 5150 combo, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Marshall Vintage Modern (sub $500.00 in my case), and, and and.

So these days your amp can be cheaper than your guitar, and you can still have a BRILLIANT gigging rig !

 

[dominus]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

True, but I can put together decent guitars for $150ish.. so $550 amp and $150 guitar or $150 amp and $550 guitar?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

Good tone is good tone. Sometimes the expense is worth it, sometimes it's just a name. Is that sufficiently vague?

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

True, but I can put together decent guitars for $150ish.. so $550 amp and $150 guitar or $150 amp and $550 guitar?

True . . . very rue.

My brother's GF, wanted to go electric (been playing acoustic only, since the age of 18) but have no knowledge of electrics.

So my brother and myself started to look int cheap electrics for her.
Squire makes some bloody good guitars, once you do a decent research on the subject !

Eventually she bought this one :

http://intl.fender.com/en-ZA/squier...stratocaster-rosewood-fingerboard-surf-green/


Right now, she is using my 'lil 5watt Marshall Class5.

And she gets a sweet tone from this stock (for now) Squire and little Marshall.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

I'd still prioritize my money on amplification, pedals and pickups over raw guitar.

Used/new, for the mental exercise to work it has to be a flat playing field. That being said, I do agree that the quality of overseas production has increased at an astronomical rate, and that a Squier/Ephiphone through an export (mostly Mexico, right?) made Marshall/Fender is on par with the old traditional country of manufacture Marshall/Fender with a US made guitar. Its a good time to be a beginner buying gear, that's for sure.

Back to the original post though, I think playing a 10-top through Joyo and Bugera is kind of goofy.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

How 'bout a $1,050 guitar and a $2,000 amp?
Or a $1,800 guitar and a $1,250 amp?

 

[Jeff5]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

Agreed, I'd prioritize amp and cab over guitar. Amp/cab have way more influence on your sound. However, there are so many good options at every price point for guitars, amps and cabs, that the point is almost moot these days.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

I have always been a cheap guitar and cheap amp by necessity
But I have gone to mid level / mid level lately
I do believe that the amp is the greatest part of tone

But EVH playing a bullet into a bandit would sound great

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

Good amp over good guitar any day. I deliberately avoided using the word "expensive." An amp need not be expensive to be good. For me, a $250 (street price) Ampeg Jet II or Fender Blues Jr. is a "better" amp than a multi-thousand dollar Mesa Boogie heavy metal half stack. My main amp for over 20 years now has been by Jet II. It was like $350 or $400 new, and is worth $200 to $300 now. Only thing that has ever broken was a $35 reverb tank. (I replaced the speaker a few years ago just because I wanted to, not because it crapped out.) The tone of the thing puts most amps to shame, yet I'm into it only around $500, or $25 per year.

 

[TRex]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

If I have a grand. I would spend about 400 on guitar/pups and 600 on pedals (basic ones) and a decent amp.

But I have heard my teacher play through a Fender frontman? Amp and it sounded good with his upgraded American strat.

 

[regan]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

5e3's & 5f1's were originally 'cheap' amps, how many classic sounds on classic records were they responsible for?

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

My '77 Bassman 70 head was $450. You don't need to spend a lot for a great amp. Then again, throw on ~$100 in parts to maintain the amp (that's buying parts at cost, my work is a dealer for electronic component distributors, and I do it myself to avoid labor costs), ~$500 to my cost for all the Bogner pedals, then ~$350 to make a homemade 2x12" cabinet made out of 1/2" marine-grade baltic birch plywood and Celestion G12 Century Vintage speakers. **** adds up fast.

If I had half the budget I spent on my amp gear, I'd probably get a used Fender Blues Deville 2x12 and a treble booster or fuzz and call it a day.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

I'll prioritize the amp before the guitar every time. It's not about price, it's about desired outcome.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

Crap in = crap out. Better pickups will only do so much for a crap guitar, and boutique pedals into a crap amp won't make it sound better. By the same token, a weak guitar into weak pedals into a strong amp will not sound any better than a moderate guitar into moderate pedals into a moderate amp.

With the guitar, it's generally more than the pickups that are a problem. It's the overall construction. The bridge, the neck, the quality of fretwork, and the overall build quality. Can't get the action or intonation right, the neck warps every time someone opens a window, etc.

With an amp, the circuitry may be solid but the speaker is the problem, or the speaker is quality but the circuitry is not.

With pedals, it may sound good for a week, but then shows signs of crapping out. The switch doesn't always engage, the controls are twitchy, and there's this prevailing "noise" or other issue with it.


When considering either a guitar, amp, or pedal, look at the overall cost, not just the initial expense. Will it need new components/mods to improve it, or merely to tweak it? How much will those mods cost in total? Obviously if you're able to do the work yourself and get the components for a price you deem reasonable (wholesale, etc), then the issue is reduced somewhat. As well, the overall outlay may not happen or be required in a lump sum, but spread out over time. However, the end-result total expense is the same either way (disregarding sales/deals). If you can forego the instant gratification and instead save up for better all-around, you'll lay out roughly the same amount of money.

However, once you start down the road of saving for this or that, you could end up going too far down the road and save for what you perceive to be better this and better that, and get nothing accomplished in the interim. If your goal is a USA Les Paul Standard into a Marshall JCM800, you could end up going for the PRS 10 Top and Soldano or Rivera, or the Custom Shop boutique guitar and boutique amp.
Then you've become a Blues Lawyer, and no one wants to be a Blues Lawyer.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

Crap in = crap out.

However, once you start down the road of saving for this or that, you could end up going too far down the road and save for what you perceive to be better this and better that, and get nothing accomplished in the interim. If your goal is a USA Les Paul Standard into a Marshall JCM800, you could end up going for the PRS 10 Top and Soldano or Rivera, or the Custom Shop boutique guitar and boutique amp.
Then you've become a Blues Lawyer, and no one wants to be a Blues Lawyer.

:laughing:

:laughing:

:laughing:

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

I've found that it's the amp that makes the biggest difference. I used my old SUNN SOLOS II solid-state 212 combo for two decades before moving back to Fender and Marshall tube amps. The SUNN was very finicky...it didn't like most humbuckers at all; much better with Strats, Teles and P-90s. I didn't realize it at the time, but it really affected my guitar selection for many years.

The Fender amps I began to acquire were much better in that department, but the JCM 800 could be finicky too. But that was something I noticed right away with the first Mesa I bought: my big Mark III Coliseum head sounded fantastic with every guitar and every pickup I tried with it. And every Mesa in my collection is the same way. Even the pawn shop prizes my friends and I have tried have produced usable, if not great tones.

So I definitely think that having a great amp is terrific asset to one's musical endeavors. A top of the line guitar can't hurt, but plugging it into a cheap amp is not going to serve you well.

Bill

 

[Buckman]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

This is a great time to be a guitar player. Quality gear is at an all time high.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

The most expensive amp I've owned was a Mesa Boogie DC-5 and while I miss it, it was over the top for my and my Hot Rod Deluxe fits me better and takes pedals better IMO.

I paid $525 for the Ibanez Prestige that I traded even up for a MIA Fender Deluxe Strat (main ax) and traded a $400 MIM Fender Strat for my MIA Hot Rod Deluxe...so under a grand for my main gear. Doesn't fit your model but it was acquired via trades.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

The most expensive amp I've owned was a Mesa Boogie DC-5 and while I miss it, it was over the top for my and my Hot Rod Deluxe fits me better and takes pedals better IMO.

I paid $525 for the Ibanez Prestige that I traded even up for a MIA Fender Deluxe Strat (main ax) and traded a $400 MIM Fender Strat for my MIA Hot Rod Deluxe...so under a grand for my main gear. Doesn't fit your model but it was acquired via trades.

Yes, great bargains can be had, if you are patient and willing to keep a hawk-eye on the used columns/forums/sites.

Gibson SG Special - $550.00

Peavey 5150 60W combo - $550.00

One or two choice pedals (used)

And you have an awesome, respectable gigging rig.

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: Expensive guitar/cheap amp vs. Cheap guitar/expensive amp !

Lets put it this way. IMHO in a cage match Good Guitar/Bad Amp vs Bad Guitat/Good Amp the good amp wins.