Which is better? Really good guitar or really good amp? [Archive] - Guitar Discussion Forum

View Full Version : Which is better? Really good guitar or really good amp?

birv2

March 12th, 2009, 10:56 PM

A pretty good guitar through a really good amp, or a really good guitar through a pretty good amp?

Just wondering,
Bob

markb

March 12th, 2009, 11:24 PM

I'll take the former if I can't have really good guitar and really good amp. On the whole given the fact that we try to make any amp sound the way we want it to (well, I do) it's a close call. A MIM strat with standard pickups can sound great through a nice silverface Fender. But change the pickups and whoooaaa!

bigoldron

March 13th, 2009, 04:45 AM

A pretty good guitar through a really good amp, or a really good guitar through a pretty good amp?

Just wondering,
Bob

Yes! :D

Actually, I really can't answer that, because all I've got are pretty good guitars and pretty good amps. If you can PLAY (unlike me...), then it doesn't matter. That person can make a Walmart special sound good.

Robert

March 13th, 2009, 07:14 AM

A pretty good guitar through a really good amp - fo sho.

oldguy

March 13th, 2009, 08:21 AM

A pretty good guitar through a really good amp - fo sho.

Ditto.........

Spudman

March 13th, 2009, 09:02 AM

tunghaichuan

March 13th, 2009, 09:04 AM

Algonquin

March 13th, 2009, 09:10 AM

but the chain is only as strong as the weakest link.

tung
Someone call me? :wave:

Rocket

March 13th, 2009, 09:12 AM

A good guitarist can work wonders with a cheap guitar but can't do it thru a lousy amp(h).
Bad tends to be cummulative... weak guitarist -> cheap guitar -> lousy amp = bad experience for all!

tyoc

March 13th, 2009, 10:33 AM

ah, I liked that thing about bad being commulative, I take it!

oldguy

March 13th, 2009, 10:52 AM

I'd prefer a great guitar first along with a so so amph. If it doesn't feel good in my hands, which is the first point of contact then I'm not going to be happy and that will translate through any amph.

"Great" is not a choice (in the hypothetical world of our thread).
"Pretty good." "Really good."

Neither was it a "lousy" amp. Pretty good, or really good.
Thus I chose pretty good guitar, really good amp, and in our make believe situation it's a moot point whether or not I'm a good guitar player, it's illusion.

street music

March 13th, 2009, 02:12 PM

Oldguy, we had all heard your recording, there is nothing bad about your playing. I really hope that I can someday play that well.

street music

March 13th, 2009, 02:16 PM

Having said what I did above, I'm still in the decision stages of GAS attack.
I could buy an cheaper guitar brand and might end up with as good as sound as a well known Brand name of the same style, and still be able to afford a better amp than I currently have, or I could spend more bucks on the name Brand guitar and play it through my Fender Princeton that I have now.
KInda along the same lines of question? Which way do you go?

Robert

March 13th, 2009, 02:24 PM

Keep the amp and get a good guitar, Street M.

mrmudcat

March 13th, 2009, 02:28 PM

Better amp

markb

March 13th, 2009, 03:09 PM

Street, keep that Princeton or you'll always regret selling it. We are talking about a real Princeton here and not a Princeton 112+ or something, I assume?

just strum

March 13th, 2009, 04:16 PM

It's subjective when it comes to the use of "pretty good" and "really good". What I define as "pretty good" would drive me to the conclusion of a really good amp and a pretty good guitar. I consider my guitars as pretty good and I could live with that.

tot_Ou_tard

March 14th, 2009, 06:59 AM

Street, keep that Princeton or you'll always regret selling it. We are talking about a real Princeton here and not a Princeton 112+ or something, I assume?
H3ll yeah. If that is a real Princeton. Keep it...or send it to me :).

I'd say really good amph, pretty good guitar.

Keep the amph & then get a better guitar when you can.

birv2

March 14th, 2009, 08:01 AM

Thanks to everyone for your answers. I should have set it up as a poll, but it looks like it's very much in favor of pretty good guitar and really good amp.

Of course, I had a reason for asking. I have 2 guitars: an Affinity Squier Strat, and a Jimmie Vaughan strat. My amp is a Pro Jr. Since I can't afford to just go out and buy a really good amp, I sometimes wonder if I should sell my JV and get that really good amp. The Squier plays and sounds great, and I always get people staring at the headstock because they can't believe it's a Squier. It's definitely a Pretty Good Guitar

My dream Really Good Amp would be a Mesa Heartbreaker. I haven't made any decisions, but I wanted to see what my fellow fretters thought.

And truthfully, I get the same reaction to my PJ, which sounds very good. So I may just keep everything as is.

Thanks again to all who contributed to the thread.

Bob

Robert

March 14th, 2009, 08:22 AM

The Pro Junior IS a very good amp to my ears! No bells and whistles perhaps, but DVM has a cure... ;)

birv2

March 14th, 2009, 09:43 AM

The Pro Junior IS a very good amp to my ears! No bells and whistles perhaps, but DVM has a cure... ;)

Now I'm curious. What's the cure?:whatever:

Bob

tunghaichuan

March 14th, 2009, 09:51 AM

The Pro Junior is a very good sounding amp right out of the box.

The one complaint I've heard is that it can sound kind of boxy, which is due to the 10" speaker and smaller cabinet.

One easy mod would be swap the speaker out with a better one.

Another would be to change out the tubes with JJ EL84s and EH 12AX7EH tubes. If you want more clean headroom for use with pedals, I would use a NOS 5751 or a 12AY7 for the first 12AX7.

To make your tubes last, you may want to install the Bill M bias mod as found on this page:

http://machrone.home.comcast.net/~machrone/bjr/pjmods.htm

This mod will cool the bias down so that the amp doesn't cook your tubes.

HTH,

tung

tot_Ou_tard

March 14th, 2009, 09:51 AM

I sometimes wonder if I should sell my JV and get that really good amp. The Squier plays and sounds great, and I always get people staring at the headstock because they can't believe it's a Squier. It's definitely a Pretty Good Guitar

The JV gets rave reviews everywhere. I'd keep it.

birv2

March 14th, 2009, 10:14 AM

Tung -- thanks for the suggestions. I've actually done most of them. Swapped out the stock speaker for a Ragin Cajun. Also put JJ's in, which I got from the guy at Eurotubes.com. He is not a fan of the Billm mods, so I haven't done that because his reasoning makes sense to me.

tot_ou_tard -- I do love my JV strat. But it's amazing to me how many compliments I get on my Squier. I'll probably keep them both for now.

Some of my amp GAS is probably due to some issues I've had lately with my PJ -- static, crackling, cutting out, etc. I finally took it to the local amp doctor, and he said the Hot Rod series always needs something done by the time you replace the tubes -- resoldering, fixing the input jack, etc. So maybe it's just time for some maintenance.

But I agree that the PJ is a h$ll of an amp for its size, and with the upgrades I've done, it's even better.

tunghaichuan

March 14th, 2009, 10:25 AM

birv2,

Tung -- thanks for the suggestions. I've actually done most of them. Swapped out the stock speaker for a Ragin Cajun. Also put JJ's in, which I got from the guy at Eurotubes.com. He is not a fan of the Billm mods, so I haven't done that because his reasoning makes sense to me.

Just out of curiosity, what doesn't he like about the Bill M. mods? I can see the bias mod as being useful as it prevents your amp from prematurely wearing out the power tubes.

Some of my amp GAS is probably due to some issues I've had lately with my PJ -- static, crackling, cutting out, etc. I finally took it to the local amp doctor, and he said the Hot Rod series always needs something done by the time you replace the tubes -- resoldering, fixing the input jack, etc. So maybe it's just time for some maintenance.

But I agree that the PJ is a h$ll of an amp for its size, and with the upgrades I've done, it's even better.

One of the best things you can do is take the amp to a competent tech and have him "shotgun" all of the solder joints. A lot of mass-produced amps suffer from iffy soldering joints due to the manufacturing techniques used.

tung

birv2

March 14th, 2009, 01:17 PM

Just out of curiosity, what doesn't he like about the Bill M. mods? I can see the bias mod as being useful as it prevents your amp from prematurely wearing out the power tubes.

You can read what he says here (http://eurotubes.com/euro-l.htm#1).

I'm not a tube expert, so I can't vouch for it. But I do think the PJ has some extra "juice", as he says.

Bob

tunghaichuan

March 14th, 2009, 01:56 PM

You can read what he says here (http://eurotubes.com/euro-l.htm#1).

I'm not a tube expert, so I can't vouch for it. But I do think the PJ has some extra "juice", as he says.

Bob

Thanks for the link. That makes sense. It occurred to me that Bob from Eurotubes might sell graded tubes that would work better in the amp than the stock tubes after I posted and that link confirms it.

Sounds like you're good to go on the amp.

tung

markb

March 14th, 2009, 02:55 PM

The Pro Jr deserves the "torture chamber for tubes" nickname it's picked up. It's not just the bias, it's also the mechanical pounding they get being so close to the speaker in that little cabinet. They do sound good though. I had a tweed one which I stopped using and put up for sale. when the guy came round to pick it up I plugged in my MIM Clasic tele to check it over. My first though was "what have I done?". I think there's a somewhat smug review on HC from the guy who bought it.

birv2

March 14th, 2009, 04:07 PM

Evidently all those Hot Rod amps from Fender are torture chambers for tubes. Bob at Eurotubes says the Deluxe is the worst. I know there are repair issues with all of them. But yeah, the PJ is one nice-sounding little sucker. Better than the Blues Jr, I think, though I wish it had reverb.

street music

March 14th, 2009, 05:05 PM

borv,
Thanks for getting this thread and glad we both got some good advice. I will hang on to my Princeton 65 for now, I do get some great tones out of it. I was the guitar store again today, play a new MIM Tele, it felt pretty good but so did the Squier Affinity Tele. They have ordered a few of the new Squier Vintage Vibe series and I'm waiting till I can play one of them before I purchase. I know the quality has improved greatly in the Squiers.

birv2

March 14th, 2009, 05:30 PM