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What matters more, guitar or amp??


Iwak Kobong

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In order of importance:

 

1) Amplifier and quality tubes

2) Speaker and Power Transformer (huge affect on sound and power)

3) Guitar Pickups

4) Guitar Body (Solid, Hollow, etc.)

5) Guitar Wood and Finish (Body and Neck)

6) Effects

 

Change any of the first 4 items and it could be as different as switching between a violin and a banjo in sound differences.

 

The personal touch will improve the sound quality in terms of refinement and style and the treble content due to finger style or pick type, material and thickness.

 

I used to play a Fender Bassman ('64 Blackface) dead and speaker with a '79 Strat and here's what I have learned: Changing tubes and pickups would affect harshness/sweetness (power tubes) and distortion and compression (preamp tubes) which resulted in a better feel playing. But changing the speakers blew me away! All of a sudden my sound started cutting through any situation and my 30 watt amp sounded louder and better than 100 watt modern amps.

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I would say the guitar. At the end of the day, the guitar is the actual instrument that a musician uses to express themselves with. The amp is just a color palette to paint pictures into a listeners mind.

 

Then again, that's just my personal opinion.

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I have to agree with those who said that both are important. Electric guitar is nothing without an amp, and an amp is nothing without a instrument to plug into it. They work together as a system, and the system is only as good as its weakest component. Plug in a cheap intermittent cable and see how bad both guitar and amp suddenly sound...

 

Of course, a truly great player can coax beautiful music out of equipment that would appear to be rather junky, and that mere mortals would have a hard time getting a passable sound out of... David Lindley comes to mind.

 

Those who picked prolly assumed the amp/guitar system and given that, I for one picked amp as the formant of the system.

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The starting point of amps and guitars was to amplify the sound of guitars above the cacophony of all other loud instruments in the bands and loud music clubs, bars and ballrooms.

 

They were created with simple electric and mechanic knowledge and were very well focused sonically Lo-Fi instruments. That's where their uniqueness, fascination, and great sound comes from.

 

If you have ever played a great electric guitar, you know 3 things: if feels great in your hands, it has a very expressive sound, it cuts through the mix. I had a beaten up '70s start full of mods that sounded so good that I could go direct on the mixing board and still have a good sound.

 

If you haver had or tried a great amp, you will know that a good tone can be easily dialed in, its sound has a strong presence, pressure and responds greatly to dynamic variations, distorted sound are natural, round and full.

 

I still prefer to think that the amp is the strongest link in the chain. Have you tried to get the same sound you can get on a Deluxe Reverb with an AC30? They are two different instruments. On the other hand, connect a Strat and a Les Paul to a twin reverb and the difference is less evident.

I would say, taking the musician out of the equation, 65% amp and 35% guitar.

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I am a strong believer in that I don't want to hear the amp, I want to hear the guitar. If I play something, and someone comes up abnd says, "that sounds like a Paul thru a Marshall" then I screwed up somewhere. If they say, "that's a great sounding Paul!" then I am happy. So, for the most part, guitar comes first.

 

That being said however.... I LOVE the tones that come out of Roland amps, and feel that the JC 120, (and it's JC series offspring) are the perfect clean amp.

 

Actually, it's that wonderful mixture of both that matters most.

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It's all about "natural harmony" of the ears. One experiences this journey as a true quest to conquer and in the end the reward is a big smile. I hope this helps you understand your question that can bring an understanding of the true meaning, "does it really matter to anyone else but me".

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