Better to spend more on your amp or your guitar?

[dalandan]

buy a brand new sweet sounding amp. so many to choose from with that kind of cash. then buy a nice guitar that you like with whatever's left over. you won't be disappointed.

[superhand]

If I had 2500 to blow on gear, I'd get me a Vox AC30, 2 or 3 more SX guitars and still have money left over for stomp boxes and what not.

[redddog]

Exactly.

Used.

I'd get a used Casino ($500), build a sweet tele ($650), grab a used AC30 cc1 ($700) and still have $650 left for GREAT pedals and upgrades to the Cassy and the Vox.

2 great guitars and a seriously versatile amp with great pedals. Under $2500.

Man, I'm jealous.

[BuddyLee]

You could get a nice early SF Fender Amp in the model of your choice and a nice '52 RI Tele or another similar quality Sig Series w/e for well under $2k without even hunting for a great deal.

$2500 is plenty of dough.

Personally I would probably get an early SFDR or Bassman+cab+Reverb Tank and a nice AVRI Tele, or GE Smith Used. I have GAS for all this at the moment, but I am in no hurry since I am flush with guits and vintage amps. I want to find killer deals on the right ones.

[3 Chord]

I don't think the poster asked what gear to buy, he asked where to put the money.

You never know where to put the money until you find the gear that pleases YOU.

But I agree with your thoughts, I would lean towards the amp. Amp prices go up because of the cost of components. Guitars go up because they have cool finishes and the cost of labor.

And as far as the "biggest effect on your music", we all know the answer to that one. I have played with lots of guys with crappy gear that get great sounds.

[dgabbear]

Another worthy investment is a good guitar cable. I never would have thought a cable would have made such a difference in my sound.

[allen st. john]

Here's another way to look at it.
In 1984, I bought a '66 Partscaster and a blackface Fender Princeton for $250 each.
The Princeton, which is really clean, is worth maybe $1500 today.
The guitar, which has loads of "problems" is worth at least $2500.
If I was smart and bought a real blackguard back for the same $500, that guitar would be worth twice as much as my car.
Don't "invest" in anything you plug in.
I'd buy a Blues Jr. and spend the rest on a guitar.

[tjalla]

MIM 50s Classic RI - $500
Pair of Twin Reverb RIs - $1700
Custom red sparkle leather jumpsuit - $300
Total domination of stage, audience and surrounding provinces - priceless.

[atroy]

Originally Posted by tjalla

MIM 50s Classic RI - $500
Pair of Twin Reverb RIs - $1700
Custom red sparkle leather jumpsuit - $300
Total domination of stage, audience and surrounding provinces - priceless.

+1!
Doesn't get any better than that!

[tele12]

Originally Posted by JosephB

id go half and half...if we're going specific...



$1250

&



$1195

Good combo, except that $1250 Jaguar now sells for about $1900. You can
still get the AC30 for $1195. Nowadays with Fender anyway you need to spend significantly more on the guitar than the amp.

[stevieboy]

Assuming I'm starting with nothing, I'd buy an Allen Accomplice and then use whatever is left for a guitar. I think shopping used I could wind up with the amp and a great guitar--a vintage hot rod tele would do the trick, or VHR 62 strat, or Heritage H535 or H137...

[tele12]

Since this is a Telecaster forum lets look at Fender telecasters and Fender tube amps.


Standard Telecaster $499 ................Pro Junior $399

Highway 1 Telecaster $699..................Blues Junior $499

Classic 50s or 60s Tele $749.................Hot Rod Deluxe $699

Highway 1 Texas $899.................Hot Rod Deville or PRRI $899

Baja Tele $1109...............DRRI $999

American Standard $1199...............Vibrolux $1199

American Deluxe $1749..............59 Bassman RI $1399

52 RI Tele $1839..............Fender Twin $1599


Bottom line is good amps cost less than good guitars. And if you want to leave Fender you can get all kind of great amps, ex. Dr.Z, hand wired Voxes with Celestion Blues Mesa Boogies ,small Riveras for less that a 52 reissue Tele.

[Jack Knife]

Amp, no question.

[atroy]

Originally Posted by tele12

Good combo, except that $1250 Jaguar now sells for about $1900. You can
still get the AC30 for $1195. Nowadays with Fender anyway you need to spend significantly more on the guitar than the amp.

Why do you think that? Just curious.

[backalleyblues]

I'd lean about 50-50, maybe 60-40, depending on the deal and what moves you... used Allens turn up occasionally, and would make a fine "no excuses" amp. Even new, it's not totally out of range, price-wise. By the same token, you can find plenty of good, gig-worthy amps for well under $1K (I kinda have my eyes on a Custom Vibrolux, and they pop up around 6-700 clams around here), leaving you with lots of play money for the guitar (AV52RI used can easily be had for under $1k as well), toy boxes, tube and speaker upgrades/changes, etc.

Yeah, roughly 50-50 for me...

Franc Robert

[tele12]

Originally Posted by atroy

Why do you think that? Just curious.

I think you have to spend more on the guitar than the amp from Fender because with the latest price increase guitars went up much more.

You can get a DRRI for $999, a Bassman
for $1199 but a 52 AVRI goes for over $1800.

[Warm Gums]

You also need to take into consideration what you are going to do with the gear, If you are planning on playing out, jamming in a loud situation you can spend 2k + on a 10 watt boutique amp & be disapointed (not loud enough, lacks head room..shoud have gone with a PV Bandit) or drop 1500 on a hand wired AC-15 & find it's too loud for your den (damn the $119 pathfinder woud have been the play) Also the items need to work well together, It's assumed that all "good" instruments sound great together; not true. There are examples of things that work at all price points.....

[scat4me]

I'd go $1000,00 0n the guitar $1000,00 on the amp and spend the other $500.00 on lessons from someone who can teach me things I don't know. Practice practice practice

[ASC67]

Spend more on the amp, there are lots of great fairly inexpensive guitars out there.

[atroy]

Originally Posted by tele12

I think you have to spend more on the guitar than the amp from Fender because with the latest price increase guitars went up much more.

You can get a DRRI for $999, a Bassman
for $1199 but a 52 AVRI goes for over $1800.

Was the increase across the board or just guitars? I don't remember. I'm still pretty ticked off about that increase for a variety of reasons that I won't go into here.

[openbar]

I was once an amp junky, just love all the aspects - the smell of tubes, the styling, the volume...new, vintage, boutique, junk. All lots of fun. Then it became evident that I had a room full of amps that all sounded like me. It's a great hobby, but I'm glad I'm not so seriously chasing it anymore.

So, by virtue of my confession, I vote for buying a better guitar. If you like it more, you will play it more, and you will get and sound better.

[tele12]

Originally Posted by atroy

Was the increase across the board or just guitars? I don't remember. I'm still pretty ticked off about that increase for a variety of reasons that I won't go into here.

The increase was across the board, but Fender lowered the prices on most of the amps, not so much the guitars. They tried to get $249 for a Champ 600 now its down to $149. They hiked the price of a Blues Jr to $599 now they are back to $499. And I think a DRRI went up to about $1200 now its back to $999.
With guitars the only price drops I know of are MIM standards from $549 to $499 and Hwy 1s from $749 t0 $699.

[millhouse]

I would have to say amp. You will end up spending more down the road, so I would say, find that ONE amp that gives you what you want, and then you can have multiple guitars that you can play through it as you add to your collection down the road. I find it easier to change guitars than amps, so I keep the amp numbers down.

Jason

[Artemio_Cruz]

used am. tele + upgrades for around $1000, $1000 for the amp, and $500 for pedals

[Maradona86]

buy an amp with great cleans like a TRRI; consider it like a blank canvas. Then have fun buying pedals and the guitars of your choice. There are tons of colors out there. The key is to have FUN!

[ryokan]

In my experience, the amp has far more impact on capturing a pleasing tone than the guitar. Get yourself a great amp, and it will make everything you put thru it sound better. I struggled and struggled with tone, changing elements about my guitar, thinking that would be the key to solving the problem. It wasn't. A quality amp was the solution.

And you don't have to spend a lot of money. Move away from the obvious targets (Fender, Vox, etc) and you'll find there are many wonderful amps that are still very affordable.

[drdos]

Originally Posted by JosephB

id go half and half...if we're going specific...



$1250

&



$1195

This would be my rig of Choice!

[JosephB]

Originally Posted by tele12

Good combo, except that $1250 Jaguar now sells for about $1900. You can
still get the AC30 for $1195. Nowadays with Fender anyway you need to spend significantly more on the guitar than the amp.

thats the 66 classic, not the AVRI...still $1250 all day. Fender 1966 Classic Jag

[woodman]

i'd buy a really good guitar to my specs for under a grand and go shopping for a Dr. Z.