To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

[richard parker]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

Most people forget that amps are actually the second most contributing factor to tone. In this order Effects> Amps> Pickups. I'd take your guitar down to a shop and test out different amps. For all you know (the vox isn't that great), the guitar has potential, it just isn't being tapped into.

Check this video out to see why effects are more contributing to tone than amps and pickups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heHx03YdXEM

That is a ridiculous argument for claiming that a pedal is more important than an amp. Unless you want your guitar to sound like total arse all the time.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

A rather belated bump. This was put off for a while since I was frustrated with the lack of cashflow.

Well, come Christmas, I should have £500 or thereabouts, £600+ if I opt to sell my laptops. All of which is being dropped on upgrades, of course. Just trying to decide whether I should go for a new guitar, amp, or both.

I plan to carry at least some of my pickups over into the new guitar should I take that route. Pickups in question are:

-Seymour Duncan Slash A2P bridge pickup (currently in the neck)
-Seymour Duncan Hot Rails bridge pickup (currently in the middle)
-Tonerider Generator bridge pickup

I'm really wanting a sunburst Strat right now, something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400341529209?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 Is it worth budgeting £200 for the body/neck (should get me some quality stuff considering I already have electronics right?) and £300 for an amp (if only a decent cab and save up a bit more for the head).

After a thick kind of sound for Nirvana covers, and also needs to be very comfortable (the RGX121Z could not be more uncomfortable!)

Oh yeah, slightly poor pic of the Yamaha beast:

Thankyou all very much in advance, and hopefully I can find a tone I'm satisfied with at last!

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-Fend...224&pid=100033&prg=1011&rk=2&sd=261128347925&

Oh my word this is actually perfect. Does anyone know how much customs fees would be for importing into the UK? :/

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

Bump!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

Recently purchased a Warmoth body. HMRC wanted forty five quid.

What sort of money would you hope to get for the RGX minus pickups?

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

When it comes to the question of upgrading guitar, the body or the amp, body is the winner. Better body = more chicks.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

Recently purchased a Warmoth body. HMRC wanted forty five quid.

What sort of money would you hope to get for the RGX minus pickups?

Damn, that combined with needing the bridge/tremolo would put it over my budget. Best wait for one in the UK.

Wasn't gonna bother selling it originally with it being so bad, plus the tuners are shot on the neck that came with it and there are a fair few scratches on the body from a broken pick. Was thinking I might put all the stock stuff back in and sell it cheaply if I could be bothered haha.

When it comes to the question of upgrading guitar, the body or the amp, body is the winner. Better body = more chicks.

Deffo thinking I'll buy the guitar first.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

Let me put it as simply as possible, A guitar that sounds appreciably better through a cheap amp will be MUCH more expensive than an amp that makes a cheaper guitar sound good.
So, as long as it's not a completely dead piece of wood that sounds much like how concrete would sound, you buy a new guitar to get sth that you like better visually, feel-wise and setup-wise. The guitar is what makes you play more comfortably and express yourself better.
If you want to improve the sound you start with the amp and end with the pickups. There are some real improvements in tone with other upgrades but that's perhaps a 10% with all of them combined as opposed to the 70% that is the amp and the 20% that are the pickups and guitar.

You change/upgrade an existing guitar if you like it enough already but feel that it needs one or two things to be perfect for you. The usual suspects are the pickups and electronics, then the tuners and the bridge. You avoid upgrading more than two of those things unless you intended that guitar to be a project from the get go and you are sure that you'll love the end result because by that time you'll be married to that guitar as you'll never get back even half of what you paid for it with the upgrades.

You never, EVER change the neck OR body on a mediocre guitar. You might keep a neck you like a lot and swap the body if the body is damaged and/or cr@p but you do so knowing full well that it'd be cheaper to just buy a new guitar unless you have all the rest of the hardware just lying around. You never "upgrade" the neck on a cheap guitar with/or a cr@p body.

The best way to upgrade your rig is to first buy an amp that you like and can easily adjust to the tones you're after, ideally play-tested using your guitar that you are familiar with so as to better hear the differences between the amp you have and the one you're buying; then get a guitar you like the way it feels and is set up (ideally played through your amp or a similar one).
THEN you can tinker with guitar and pedal upgrades to get that 10-20% we geek over for as long as you'd like.

With all that said, I remember that in your age no matter how much good advice I got from people about sensible purchases/upgrades I thought I knew better and did what I thought best anyway so I am pretty sure that you'll end up doing what you set up to regardless.
Just FYI, all of the above information was learned the hard way i.e. by doing most of the things I advise against (well, except for upgrading a neck or body, AFAIC, these two are the guitar).

 

[Aceman]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

Crap guitar, good pickups, awesome amp = pretty darn good.

Crap amp, weak pickups, and guitar of the gods = crap.

Get a better amp, get the guitar set up as best possible.

 

[Aceman]

Re: To upgrade first: Guitar body, or amp?

Crap guitar, good pickups, awesome amp = pretty darn good.

Crap amp, weak pickups, and guitar of the gods = crap.

Get a better amp, get the guitar set up as best possible.