The official forum for all things Joe Bonamassa, guitars and blues music
You are not logged in. Please login or register.
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Why do we spend more on our guitars then our amps?
Have you ever been playing a instrument $1000 or more and then playing through a $600 amp? I just never understood why we guitar player think oh I got to get say a Les Paul, but then when we buy an amp its like WOW $2000 for a 50 watt Tube amp no way! Does anybody else wonder this?
I don't.
Guilty!
Whenever I get enough money for some nice pedals and a nicer amp... I end up getting another guitar. I currently own three amps, and I keep thinking I only need one... even though you can play through multiple at a time. Meanwhile, my guitar collection keeps growing and growing and growing....
I'm not sure that's true...
Cool post - and very relevant to us gearheads. I used to install car stereos years ago, and people asked me all the time where they should invest their money - the head/amp or speakers. It's the same analogy. A $2000 head unit sounds like garbage through $20 speakers, but a $20 head unit can sound pretty good through $2000 speakers. The speakers, to me, were more important to the overall sound than the head unit. I always suggested investing 50/50.
Grab a $200 guitar and play through a $4000 amp. Still sounds pretty good, huh?
The guitar is the eye candy so we tend to lean that way when we have GAS I guess...hmmm my LP was $3k and my amp rig was around $3k. (MSRP - not what I paid) ...I never thought about that until now.
I think a great guitar inspires you to play more than a great amp. You make a physical connection with the guitar everytime and if its a great player you just play better. I have some great amps that I never play through for this or that reason but My les paul is played almost everyday.
Now why people spend tons of money on pedals and play shitty amps and guitars is beyond me. I know a few guys who spend big money on pedals to play through a solid state amp and a squire go figure and can't find "Their" Sound.
AD3: Great post, I just wrote/ranted about this very same topic recently. I was lost in the clouds for years by just buying guitar after guitar, pedal after pedal, all while pleased playing through a Tweed Blues Jr.....why didn't someone slap me..lol.
My new rule of thumb: Amp and cabinet investment should cost as much as "go to" guitar cost.....or at least close.
Great Amp Will Make a Bad Guitar Sound Good.... A Great Guitar Will Not Make a Bad Amp Sound Good.
Me personally I have found that you can play cheap guitars and upgrade the pickups and make them sound really good. Its hard to do that with amps though. Yeah you can upgrade the tube, or the speakers but when you get much more into it then that you could have just went and bought a high dollar amp from PRS or somebody like that. I'm playing Strats now that are less then $1000 bucks and have never been happier with my guitars and my playing, but my amps on the other hand... I have always been cheap on. I've had Gibsons and nice looking Fenders too, but money wise don't really notice much of a sound or playing difference in Standard equipment. Never owned a Custom shop anything, don't need it. I wonder if I'll ever debate that cheap amps are as good as custom amps?
Well I need to go back to work and make some money so I can test this theory now... 
Joe B: If reading this thread, please let us know your humble beginnings with guitar purchases versus amps and what you know today that you can pass down...intriqued to hear your take on amp cost/importantce to guitar cost/importance.
I just never understood why we guitar player think oh I got to get say a Les Paul, but then when we buy an amp its like WOW $2000 for a 50 watt Tube amp no way!
I agree with the general sentiment of thr thread, however, while I know people who play expensive guitars through cheap amps, I don't know anyone who feels that way about the cost. I think for a lot of people the feel and yes, look of the guitar is as important as the tone, whereas with an amp, its really only about tone so people are more willing to spend more on a guitar. Also, a lot of players aren't gigging (much) or recording, so whatever bedroom amp they have is "good enough," but they want to play a nice guitar.
Kind of related, I love my Dr Z MAZ 38, but I spend way more time playing through my $50 iGTR "walkman" headphone amp because the only time I get to practice is when the wife & baby have gone to bed, so I have to use headphones. There are a whole bunch of amps I'd like to own, it's just not practical right now. I'd never use them. A new Suhr carve archtop, now that would be totally practical!
well my feeling is that because the guitar is a tactile thing, the search for that perfect fit may take longer. It took me forever to settle on Firebirds as my guitar for best playability. that is after owning strats, teles, 335's, LP's...
My amp costs roughly the same amount as both of my guitars (individually). About $200 less. Don't see myself needing a new amp anytime soon, although I've always wanted a '57 twin or deluxe (fender).
DRRI ftw!
The main reason guitar players spend more on our guitars is that pretty much every USA made guitar from Gibson, Fender, or PRS is going to cost you at least $1000 just to get in the door. You can find a lot of mighty fine tube amps for around that or less. I'm in the camp of getting a great guitar, but focusing more on the amplifiers and rig itself. A great tube amp and quality pedals will make you sound worlds better than playing a $5000 Gibson R9 into a Line 6 Spider. Just my 2 cents.
I had a light bulb go off reciently and I sold off my three amps... a Fender Twin, Vox AC30 CC2, and a Vox AC15 CC2. I also got rid of a ton of effects and pre amps.
I got rid of it all so I could get a HW Vox AC15, and a Bruno Underground 30.
So I guess you can say that I decided that having a R8 Les Paul sounds good thru really great amps.
And yeah to me it doesnt make much sense to own a 3000 dollar guitar and to play it thru a 600 dollar amp. Unless that 600 dollar amp is giving you the tone you are looking for. Then I guess it doesnt matter.
I think I'm going to do away with guitar amps altogether and start going acoustic! My band I'm in is always falling apart, so I think solo acoustic is the way to go. Guess now I can buy a really expensive acoustic.
It's all subject to opinion. Great guitars can be had just as great amps for a small price tag. For me it's always been if I really truly want it, I save up and get it no matter how much it is. Would a Gibson LP be cool? Of course. But for the $700 I've put into my one main Epiphone, I would take it over a Gibson any day. The price is all about name now. Gibson sells guitars for a few $K because they CAN, not because it's worth that. You're really going to try and tell me a hunk of wood with some pots and capacitors in it is worth $4000?
Off of my Gibson rant....the tone lies withing your hands and the guitar. It's always been said that if it sounds good acoustically, it'll sound good through an amp. So, an amp is merely an extension of what's coming through your hands and guitar. It doesn't need to be as expensive because you aren't touching it for 3 hour long shows. You could even go as far to say it isn't nearly as personal as a guitar becomes once you have spent many long nights playing and writing music.
As someone mentioned earlier I believe: I've never heard a great stereo receiver sound good through junk speakers...totally disagree is a nice way. Amp has more to do with tone than a guitar and fingers....this will always be a long debated topic.
Would love to hear Joe B's opinion.
I think you misunderstood my comment as far as car stereos go. It was an anology - but a bad one I guess. The point was SOME people wanted the flashy do it all deck (guitar) in their dashboard but didn't want to invest enough money into the amp and speakers in the back...the deck was just the signal...the amp and speakers projected the sound. I would take a junk deck and great speakers/amp all the way. Give Joe an Epi goldtop and you wouldn't notice a difference (he would). Now take away the amps and let him play through a solid state Line 6 Spider and you would definitely notice. That's my point...kinda...sorta...Joe would still sound so good I would run out and buy a Line 6 Spider but maybe he's a bad example... 
As someone mentioned earlier I believe: I've never heard a great stereo receiver sound good through junk speakers...totally disagree is a nice way. Amp has more to do with tone than a guitar and fingers....this will always be a long debated topic.
Would love to hear Joe B's opinion.
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Why do we spend more on our guitars then our amps?
Powered by PunBB, supported by Informer Technologies, Inc.
Currently installed 2 official extensions. Copyright © 2003–2009 PunBB.