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$20k in Guitars, $500 in Amps


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Plus they are harder to paint crazy shit on and have it look good!

That's a word!
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The thing to bear in mind here is that it's easy (!) to have $20,000 in guitars as they're generally a lot more expensive than amps unless we're talking about booteek amps.

$2000 would be a lot to spend on an amp (to me) whereas I wouldn't consider it a lot for a guitar.

That certainly leaves room for even ore amps. B)
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I agree, I only have ONE electric in the house at the moment.

...in the house...

...at the moment...

Two qualifiers which pretty much guarantee that it is not the norm or the plan to continue as such.

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I am pretty even but would rather have a 2000 dollar amp and 500 dollar guitar than the other way around. Guitar price does not necessarily make it play or sound better but amps seem to be better as the price goes up in both tone and reliability.

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I am pretty even but would rather have a 2000 dollar amp and 500 dollar guitar than the other way around. Guitar price does not necessarily make it play or sound better but amps seem to be better as the price goes up in both tone and reliability.

I agree although I've got limits on prices , I'm happy at about $1000-2000 on guitars and $2000 - 3000 on amps beyond that I think it's a matter of diminishing returns , there's just no way a 40k guitar or amp sounds that much better than a 2k Guitar or amp , at least in the hands of 99.9% of us

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Danelectro + Supro = meh

Danelectro + Supro + Jimmy Page = awesome.

It's in the hands

It's in the hands, but it has to be in the brain first. You have to have a sonic image of how you want to sound, and then your hands find a way to make that sound. Some guitarists go to great lengths to create a signature tone--Santana, Billy Gibbons, Pat Metheny, Jimmy Page, many more--are examples. OTOH Joe Pass could make any guitar sound like Joe Pass playing a jazz guitar. But I maintain it's because Joe knew in his head exactly how he wanted to sound, twisted the knobs and adjusted his technique to make it happen.

And a Dano guitar and Supro amp don't have to be in Page's hands to make killer tone. I remember in 1998 my first visit to a predominantly vintage guitar store. One of the store hands was rippin' it through a Supro 2x12 and it blew me away. How had I never heard of this amp before?

Good musicians can extract better tone out of more instruments, but even they can't polish a turd. Supros are killer amps.

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Danelectro + Supro = meh

Danelectro + Supro + Jimmy Page = awesome.

It's in the hands

.....And a Dano guitar and Supro amp don't have to be in Page's hands to make killer tone. .....

That was pretty much a sweeping generalization in that I've heard crap gear sound tits and top shelf gear sound like ass. It's in the hands.

Or whatever body part.

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I'm hearing good things about VHT.

Hand-wired in the US (I'm assuming that means it is built somewhere else, but they do the final wiring in the US).

Claim to be "boutique" sound at very reasonable prices: sub-$1k for most of their models.

My other idea would be to acquire a Roland JC-120 because despite being solid-state, everyone seems to rave about its clean tone, and then using stomp-boxes for distortion and reverb.

Heck, another option would be to send my Peavey Classic 30 to someone to mod/hot-rod. That would probably be the cheapest option. And I'm already very pleased with the Classic 30 already, so maybe that's the route I should go. Could I come close to getting the "$2000 amp" results from that?

Thoughts?

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Get a Top hat or I'll spray ya with chemical (how many times do I have to post this)

Which model?

Where is the best place to get one? Guitar Center? eBay? the Hamer Fan Club For Sale board?

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I like the club royale 112. Light, small w amazing cut and throw, seems like a 412. Does not have reverb. Take a look at the site for verb amps. You can find them used at great deals. I see em on TGP often. Search JohnnyBs top hat comments, I concur w his opinion on these amps

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  • 9 months later...

Great thread! Have you made any changes?

I'll chime in again about VHT. I have a Special 6, made/handwired in China. I'd wager that those assembled/wired in the US are of Chinese origin. I really like it! For $299, I've never come across anything better. They are PTP wired, so easy to repair/mod/whatever. Tons of mods out there available for it, but honestly I really dig it.

My "big" amp is a Peavey Classic 50 (with some minor mods, like transformer upgrades, which I might add really added new life to it...you should consider that with your 30) and that rocks too. The most "fancy" I had was a Dr. Z Rt 66 and I really liked it, just found it to be too dark and out it went. I'd be into a Remedy! Those are nice!

(Did I say all this same stuff before when the thread was younger?)

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Great thread! Have you made any changes?

I'll chime in again about VHT. I have a Special 6, made/handwired in China. I'd wager that those assembled/wired in the US are of Chinese origin. I really like it! For $299, I've never come across anything better. They are PTP wired, so easy to repair/mod/whatever. Tons of mods out there available for it, but honestly I really dig it.

My "big" amp is a Peavey Classic 50 (with some minor mods, like transformer upgrades, which I might add really added new life to it...you should consider that with your 30) and that rocks too. The most "fancy" I had was a Dr. Z Rt 66 and I really liked it, just found it to be too dark and out it went. I'd be into a Remedy! Those are nice!

(Did I say all this same stuff before when the thread was younger?)

Lots and lots of changes.

I don't have the Peavey Classic 30 anymore. Great amp. Loved it. Would recommend it to anyone. But I finally got sorta Zen or Daoist about guitar tone, and realized I just need a credible distorted tone, and a credible clean tone...So I pulled the old Crate out of the garage were it was suffering in exile, cleaned her up and started rocking. It actually possesses some versatility and sounds decent. It doesn't make *all* my guitars sound heavenly like the Peavey did, but I also received my $350 back I had sunk into the Peavey to put into guitars. So, you know, I had that going for me.

I may have to do another "My guitar collection in 40 pictures" thread again soon, since there have been a multitude of changes.

I guess I'm waiting to get the MGD refinish guitar back before I do any guitar family photos...

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Sometimes amps give me too many options, so I sit and endlessly tweak knobs and try to dial in.............whatever it is that sounds good at the time. A modeling amp would be the death of me no doubt. My Mesa Heartbreaker gets so many good sounds it is impossible to leave it set one way and just play, so I actually spend the vast majority of my playing time unplugged and sitting outside in the sun. I don't like to carry amps either, unless it is my Laney LC15R or Micro Cube, so there is that.

Guitars all have their own charms that make me play slightly differently depending on what flavor they are. I am a dedicated "Strat Cat" and can get most of the sounds I like out of one of those (or variant thereof) plugged in or not. That said, when I pick up my Ibanez Artist or 70's Burny Explorer, what comes out is slightly different, maybe due to the scale length and lack of trem? I dunno. When I had a Newport I played differently still.

I guess what I am saying is that the guitar will dictate the mood, whereas the amp will get fiddled with until it sounds like, well, me I guess. One rule I do have however - NEVER trade a guitar for "gear", as in amp, pedals, drums, etc. Guitars are the living things with a soul and moods. The rest is just "stuff" that serves the needs of the star of the show - the axe.

Modeling amps can be the death of you. I do have too many choices now,

eatures / details:

5 separate modules: Tuner, Stomp effects Pedalboard, Amp Head, Cabinet + Microphones, post Rack effects.

Over 160 included gear models.

51 Stompbox effects.

31 Amp models.

46 Cabinet emulations.

15 Studio Microphone models.

17 Rack effects.

It is too much now. I find myself picking a fender blackface and a distortion pedal most of the time. Sometimes a high gain amp.

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Amps are by far more dangerous for me. I love fooling around with my settings on my maverick or even the Champ. I can get all sorts of different tones. One guitar can cover a broader swath of the tonal spectrum. And then there's the allure of vintage amps... I keep myself on a very short leash when it comes to amps.

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most of us really need more than a good 1-20 watt amp driving one miked speaker.

That is SO not true.

When its time to blow-out-the-carbon, then watch the fuck out mistah...

I survived my teen years with a lot of amplification and attitude.

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