What's more important Guitar or Amp?

**kenbennett** · 12-22-2010, 08:12 PM

It seems that the answers are starting to revolve around money instead of quality.

So, that's a good question:

Which is cheaper, a good guitar or a good amp?

**lpdeluxe** · 12-22-2010, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by kenbennett

Which is cheaper, a good guitar or a good amp?

I have to say, a good amp. I have a nice Blues Jr NOS I got new for around $550, and a great Band-Master VM head with a Weber 15" cab that I've got less than $850 in, but my electric guitars have evolved into a blonde 335 that I got used for $1750 (and I count myself lucky). I'll pay more for a guitar because I don't cradle the amp in my arms by the hour.

Others: a '63 Silvertone 1484 I paid $40 for, back in '74; a Deluxe Reverb reissue I got used for $600; and a really fine Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight that I bought new for around $1200.

The 335 is my perfect guitar, at a time in my life when I don't have to settle for "bang for the buck," and I know from my own experience (40 years and counting, 34 instruments and counting) that anything less will not even qualify for second best.

**kawa** · 12-22-2010, 09:21 PM

1. Guitar Tone

2. Speaker Unit Tone

3. Amp Unit Tone

Value is not money

**cjm** · 12-22-2010, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by kenbennett

It seems that the answers are starting to revolve around money instead of quality.

It almost has to for most people. Few people have the resources to say, "Money is no object." It comes down to, "How can I achieve something that is good enough -- knowing that it falls short of perfection -- but that is possible within the constraints of the resources available to me?"

Never the less, I argue that a $300 Washburn played through a Polytone mini brute will deliver a better "jazz sound" than a $15,000 Benedetto played through a pawn shop Pignose -- without regard to the cost of each rig.

**lpdeluxe** · 12-22-2010, 10:33 PM

I've had some further thoughts on this issue, based on my experience over the last few years as a gigging bass player. During that time I have gone through 8 basses and an equal number of bass amplifiers, all name brand, and here's what I've found:

If a bass didn't sound good through one amp, it wouldn't sound good through another. If a bass sounded great through one, it pretty much sounded great through all.

The basses included a Carvin LB20, a G&L L2000, a Jazz fretless, a '51 Precision reissue, a Squier II Precision, a Classic '50s Precision, a fretless Precision, and an American Vintage '57 P. Amps were a '63 Ampeg B15N, an Ampeg B100R, a Music Man HD-130 with a Hartke 410 XL cab, a Hartke HA2500 with 1x15 and 2x10 cabinets, a Fender Bassman 400 2x10, a Mesa/Boogie Walkabout Scout 1x15 and a Genz-Benz Shuttle 3.0 with two 1x10 cabs.

The Carvin never got there; the G&L was a major step up; the Jazz started cookin'; and the Precisions kick ass. This was true regardless of the amplifier, which included all tube, all solid-state, and hybrids of various degrees (the Mesa/Boogie has a tube pre and a solid-state power amp; the Music Man had a solid-state/tube pre and a tube power amp) and speaker configurations of every sort (neodymium drivers, cabs with compression horns, "classic" 1x15s, the M/B's 15 + 10" passive radiator etc).

The same thing seems to occur with guitars, although I play a lot less guitar these days: the killer guitar will work through most amps (assuming a minimal level of quality) but a crappy guitar will forever sound like a crappy guitar.

My philosophy has always been, "you can't add tone." Tone has to be there from the start, and all an amplifier can do is enhance (or detract from) what is fed into it. Obviously, those who rely on heavy processing will disagree, but, hey, we're talking JAZZ here, aren't we?

**kenbennett** · 12-23-2010, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by lpdeluxe

I have to say, a good amp. I have a nice Blues Jr NOS I got new for around $550, and a great Band-Master VM head with a Weber 15" cab that I've got less than $850 in, but my electric guitars have evolved into a blonde 335 that I got used for $1750 (and I count myself lucky). I'll pay more for a guitar because I don't cradle the amp in my arms by the hour.

Others: a '63 Silvertone 1484 I paid $40 for, back in '74; a Deluxe Reverb reissue I got used for $600; and a really fine Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight that I bought new for around $1200.

The 335 is my perfect guitar, at a time in my life when I don't have to settle for "bang for the buck," and I know from my own experience (40 years and counting, 34 instruments and counting) that anything less will not even qualify for second best.

Good answer, seeing as how it had to be a 335.

**P.J.** · 12-26-2010, 08:19 AM

A guitar w/o strings is not playable so I'm gonna go with...guitar.

PJ

**RoyaleT** · 12-26-2010, 09:50 AM

I had voted for the amp earlier and here's my thought. A quality amp is what it is, and is more expensive most times to upgrade than an average guitar. A setup for the proper strings and perhaps one pickup swap and you can very often have an excellent guitar for a comparable pittance.