Jump to content

Are more expensive amps Always better?


fist

Recommended Posts

  • Members

i recently saw a comment one here saying if you were gonna get a more expensive guitar, you should get a better amp thats around the same price or you wont the full potential out of the new guitar

 

I was going to get a highway one, MIJ, or amereican strat/tele, but if im upgrading my guitar, should i upgrade my amp too? Atm, its a Roland Cube 60.

 

If anyone owns a roland cube 60 (or any other similar solid state amp) as well as a higher end, perhaps tube, amp, their thoughts on how the Cube compares will be much appreciated.

 

Also, since im going to a guitar store anyway, can anyone recommend a good amp that goes with the fenders^ so i can try it out? (i play mostly rock - no metal, and am keen for a great clean sound, and then get dirtier sounds with pedals)

 

thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yeah, no matter what sound you're after, you'll always get closer to it the more money you spend on any amp. I thought that was obvious?

 

 

 

Not necessarily. In this case -yes- a good or even competant valve amp will be WAY better than the cube.

 

BUT

 

If you have something like a VHT CL or Boogie Loanstar etc (just plucking amps out here) are they really THAT much worse than an Ecstacy, Engl SE etc - and are they that much worse than a Two rocks, Dumble etc??

 

I think the rule of "Diminishing Returns" applies here - where you have to pay more and more for smaller and smaller improvements.

 

Anything around the $1500 (or

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

No way. More money doesn't ALWAYS equal better sound. Especially these days where people will charge more because they know people will think it's better if they do.
If you're looking for good cleans, Fender amps are the way to go. I would say that any of Fenders decent tube amps would be a step up from the Roland. You just have to try them in the store and see which one you like. I prefer 30 watts or below.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

if you were gonna get a more expensive guitar, you should get a better amp thats around the same price or you wont the full potential out of the new guitar

 

that sounds like salesman talk.

 

Are you gigging? If not the roland cube 60 should be just fine for you if you like the tone. The cube 60 is actually giggable too, as long as your drummer isn't a basher.

To answer the questions more directly, no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
No way. More money doesn't ALWAYS equal better sound. Especially these days where people will charge more because they know people will think it's better if they do.



I have noticed there are some amps on the market priced in the upper tier range with equal and/or sometimes worse build quality than amps priced in lower tier ranges.

In some instances the consumers are partly to blame, since if the amp sounds good and is reasonably reliable many will readily pay the high price and thus encourage the amp manufacturers not to increase build quality in their upper end products.

So many players participate as enablers in the current market, because they don't care about build quality only reliability and will pay any price. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Personally, I believe that your amp has more effect on your tone (good or bad) than your guitar ever will, provided your guitar is in good working order (not squealing pickups, etc). That's just from personal experience, but I feel across the board that a high quality (doesn't always = high buck) amp is much more crucial to a great guitar tone than a high dollar guitar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Do a search, look up all of the Classic 30 info (there's got to be 75 posts from the past 2 months), and you'll answer your own question. Whether it is good for you is another thing altogether. People are going to think that I'm nuts, but I sold my C30 because it didn't work for me. :freak:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

You by no means have to make sure that all of your gear is of equal value, so they "justify" each other. If you like your gear, then more power to you, and play on.

However, chances are if you own a $2000 amp and a $200 guitar (or vice versa), you will be happy with your amp but relatively unhappy with your guitar (or vice versa), and upgrade that next. I'm going to go ahead and guess that no one here has a Diezel and a Squier (as their main/only guitar). I currently have $1800 invested in amps, while my guitar cost me $500 (including a pickup upgrade). I'm going to get a new guitar fairly soon, but I still like mine and I'm not really in a hurry to :idk:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Tone is such a subjective subject, as is what guitar(s) are the "best".
What it boils down to is what you personally like to play on for a guitar and through for an amp.

It makes no difference what your personal choice is for a guitar...only that YOU like it for how it plays and sounds, and not what anyone else thinks or uses.

The same is true for amps. What you get your tone from that makes you happy is really all that counts.

I will say that the longer a person tends to play, the more guitars he/she has experience playing on or at least trying out. This may affect how you feel about tone, amps, and guitars as your experience is broadened by your playing experiences. It also may confirm your opinion that what you currently have is right for you.

My personal experience has been that as I have played longer periods of time, my tastes tended to change due to getting tired of the same sound all the time, so I exerimented with amps and guitars until I found exactly what pleased me. Some people stick with their current gear for long periods of time and some like to change up.

For me, this has lead to liking expensive guitars and amps, only because I have tried everything else and found that the guitars and amps I got my personal tone from happened to be high end gear, but I did not buy the gear because it was expensive. I wish, as do many here, that the gear they most desire was actually not that expensive. I bought it because I liked the tone I got from it, and was willing to pay for what I like the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

well it depends on what better is, i had a tsl602 and hated it, cost 1200euro, jumped when changed channel, reverb was crap, mid shift...i didnt like it....speakers crap, the only thing i liked was the deep switch. so i sold it and bought a laney gh50l for half the price and its the best thing i bought yet apart from my laptop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Not necessarily. In this case -yes- a good or even competant valve amp will be WAY better than the cube.


BUT


If you have something like a VHT CL or Boogie Loanstar etc (just plucking amps out here) are they really THAT much worse than an Ecstacy, Engl SE etc - and are they that much worse than a Two rocks, Dumble etc??


I think the rule of "Diminishing Returns" applies here - where you have to pay more and more for smaller and smaller improvements.


Anything around the $1500 (or

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

i recently saw a comment one here saying if you were gonna get a more expensive guitar, you should get a better amp thats around the same price or you wont the full potential out of the new guitar


I was going to get a highway one, MIJ, or amereican strat/tele, but if im upgrading my guitar, should i upgrade my amp too? Atm, its a Roland Cube 60.


If anyone owns a roland cube 60 (or any other similar solid state amp) as well as a higher end, perhaps tube, amp, their thoughts on how the Cube compares will be much appreciated.


Also, since im going to a guitar store anyway, can anyone recommend a good amp that goes with the fenders^ so i can try it out? (i play mostly rock - no metal, and am keen for a great clean sound, and then get dirtier sounds with pedals)


thanks!

 

 

Based on what you said, you owe it to yourself to try nice Strat through a Vox AC30. I think most will agree it will give you that "Great Clean" your looking for. It can do mild distortion nicely also. Add pedals to get the heavier sounds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

My choice was:

1. Spend $3500 on a brand new Triple Rectifier and have no money left over for a cab

2. Spend $700 on an older, two channel Triple Rectifier made 14 years ago, which is one of the fabled, pre-revision Rectifiers. Turns out it was worth more than the brand new one, but thankfully the seller didn't know anything about it.

More money =/ better tone. My modded Classic 30 is (in my opinion) a better amp than just about every other low-to-mid gain amps out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...