Ratio of Guitar : Amp budget . What's your priority ?

martin8708

Just interested to know what people spend on their amps relative to the cost of their guitar ? 

What do you feel is a good balance ? 
At the moment I probably have a guitar worth double my amp , but for bass playing I would say I invest more in cabs and amps than I would pay for a bass guitar ,so it's it's easily 50:50 spend with bass.

Obviously this excludes peripherals like pedals and leads ,etc .

Funkfingers

Cheap, nasty amplification brings all instruments down to its level. For brand new gear, 40:60 or 50:50 is about right.

iheartreverb

I would assume most amateur players especially younger ones would guy a more expensive guitar and the amp almost seems as secondary (I saw a band about a year ago gigging with Vox Valvetronix 40’s) however I agree with the above. A cheap amp will just always sound bad no matter how nice the guitar. A great amp can make anything sound good.

stickyfiddle

Really good amps are underrated, and ultimately if you skimp too far on either it's annoying, but when it comes to "new shiny" I'll go guitar every time - there's more of a personal connection there

Dan_Halen

If you play at home, nice guitar. If you gig, nice amp.

CasperCaster

One kidney : One kidney for me!

John_A

All depends what you play and what you can afford.  IMO if you are short on cash more money should go on the guitar, but obviously it's daft to spend 2K on a guitar and leave yourself £30 for an amp

I know a local guy who plays a Strat through a Roland Bolt that looks ready for the bin and he sounds fantastic

mkendall

I love amps - but you can get some good deals. Depends on the sound you're after. For me paying more for a guitar gives you a better looking, feeling, more usable tool rather than just improving sound. Amp makes most difference to sound. 

Cabicular

Depends on the overall budget
1k 50;50
2k 60:40 in favour of the amp

Lebarque

A crap guitar can sound great through a great amp, whereas a great guitar will sound crap through a crap amp. However, you actually hold the guitar, so you want it to feel good and play well. Tough question, but I'd always spend more on an amp. 

octatonic

It is usually a 50/50 ratio.

dindude

Harley Benton Tele and a Katana for me, once the drums kick and audience has had a drink yada yada yada......

dindude

In truth - 33% Guitar / 33% Amp / 33% Pedalboard

Fuengi

Guitar 15% Amp 15% Pedals 70%. 

meltedbuzzbox

I've had 2 amps in 20 years of playing...

p90fool

I have no relevant opinion on this since I discovered Jet City, my £1600 guitar through my £270 amp is the best gigging rig I've ever had. 

kt66

My first love is HIFI and there the golden rule is source first, translating that to guitars, that would make the guitar (or the player) the source, but my own experience massively differs, I am very lucky to have an incredible sounding 63 AC30TB, and so far it makes everything sound fantastic, from £200 Revelations to Gretsch Pros, I have yet to hear anything bad sound through it. 

martin8708

mkendall said:

I love amps - but you can get some good deals. Depends on the sound you're after. For me paying more for a guitar gives you a better looking, feeling, more usable tool rather than just improving sound. Amp makes most difference to sound. 

I am coming round to this line of thought , when the amp becomes more interesting than the guitar .  I suppose if you are happy or content with your guitar , focussing on the amp side does open up a whole new world of sonic possibilities .

digitalscream

Guitars first, for me. I've had expensive-ish amps - Soldano Decatone, Framus Cobra, Victory Kraken etc - and they've never really made me sound any different.

If I was going for an amp-based setup, it'd be £1k+ on guitar and £250 on a Jet City amp.

As it is...I have a Helix LT (~£700) and a Matrix NL212 (£500) with <any old amp in between>. Sometimes I use the Rocktron Velocity 120 (which cost £30), sometimes the R&R SOLO (~£350 in a trade), but it doesn't actually make much difference which I use. Sometimes, I only use the Helix.

By comparison, most of my guitars are £1500+, the cheapest being one of Jaden's Salvo guitars at around £900.

The guitar is the user interface for the rig; as far as I'm concerned, that's the most critical part. As long as I can get the right levels of gain out of the rest of it, I'm happy.

Garthy

I know fuck all about amps, don't know what's good or bad nor know enough to know what is good advice or bad advice either.

merlin

I think of the electric guitar and amp together as the instrument.