Its probably a matter of opinion, but which is more responsible for producing a "good" sound? The amp or the guitar? I was at a music store today and somebody told me that any guitar can sound good through a good amp. What do you guys think?

To me , a good guitar with great tone and playability is the most important. If I had to choose either (1) a Gibson Les Paul Std thru the worst amp on the planet or (2) a horrendous Les Paul copy through the world's greatest boutique amp, I would take (1) all day long. To me, there is just no getting by a bad guitar regardless of the amp. Just my opinion.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

any guitar will sound better through a good amp maybe.
honestly, its a working relationship between the two.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

AMP_AMP_AMP_AMP_AMP_AMP_AMP A good feeling guitar helps play comfort but sound is more amp related. Quality and settings change a lot.
More so now that pickups are just one of a thousands of the same thing not like hand wound one trick ponies where there holy grails and slight nuances between each.

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Player. A good player can make a crap guitar sound good yet a bad player can make the greatest gear sound like crap.

As for amp v guitar, that depends. If the amp is a Twin, the guitar is more important as imperfections will be heard very prominently. If it's a high gain Mesa though you can get away with using a lesser quality instrument and still sound good.

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i would say it is a 50/50 split. For i have heard many great amplifiers sound worse (i would not say bad but worse) with a low end guitar. The same story with the guitar. i also have heard great amps with great guitars sound like crap cause the person playing is not very good. As well as bad equipment sound okay (cause bad stuff can only be so pleasing to the ear). However i think the key to great tone is ability and inspiration of the player not the instrument or equipment. because i have never listened to a guitar play itself well or an amp dial in the perfect tone by itself. But back the question; it all is opinion and opinions are formed by asking these questions to people. However much like my answer to your question asking and getting answers is only half of the opinion forming process, the other half is trying out your theories for your self and seeing what happens. think of it this way; people put the ideas (so to speak) in your brain like a person playing the guitar and their idea is the tone. but wait to get the idea out and see if the tone is good you need an amp! the amp is you and the amps tone is your experimenting with the ideas. So with this long winded rant coming to an end and with both pieces of equipment proven to have tone by many people; the simple fact of the matter is. No amp no amplified sounds, and no guitar no sound being amplified. So 50/50 split.


This rant is a product of a Saturday night spent listening "truly listening" to Miles Davis.

Amp all the way. Seriously. In fact it's not even close.

Example: My cheap Korean Strat through my Rivera Fandango
vs.
My American Deluxe Strat through my Blues Junior.

Fandango wins every time. Any guitar I own, good or bad. No exceptions.

When I do it the other way around, both guitars A/B'd through the same amp? Not nearly as much of a difference regardless of which amp I use for the experiment.

When comparing guitars of similar type, let's say single coil bolt necks? It's always the amp.

Compare a PRS to a Les Paul to a Tele and quite naturally the tone(s) will differ.

If a Strat sound is what I want then I'd much rather have a great amp and a so-so Strat than a top notch Strat and a cheap amp.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I completely agree with this. I think that technology has brought all the pickups and electronics so close that comfort and craftsmanship are now the big selling points

If I had to choose between using a great guitar and a poor amp or a poor guitar and a great amp I would pick the former.A good guitar will still allow you to play well no matter how bad the amp is yet a poor guitar that is out on intonation,poorly set up etc. will be a hinderence and really have a detrimental effect on your playing.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

^That, exactly. Working in a guitar store I see it all the time. Some great players walk in and play the $200 Squier through the $100 Marshall MG practice amp and it sounds great. Others walk in and grab an American Special, plug it into a tube amp and it sounds like poop. It's all in the hands.

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a good guitar player playing with a good guitar through a crap amp
sounds exactly like it is, a good guitar player playing a good guitar through a crap amp.
it makes no sense to not have a balanced rig. why play a $250 piece of crap guitar through a $700 amp? a well balanced rig is what you should aim for when selecting gear.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

While I agree with both of the above "slinger"s and acknowledge some very valid points made by both they didn't address the issue. An inexpensive guitar does not, by virtue of it being inexpensive, mean it is compelled to exist for eternity having never been properly set up. Likewise spending more on a guitar does not guarantee it is properly set up. All guitars, regardless of price point, require setting up. To use this example in a discussion of amps vs. guitars is like comparing televisions to turkey basters. So while the setup point is valid and very correct it doesn't address the reason for the thread. The same goes for the comment about hands. While hands are an extremely important part of tone we have to assume that it will be the same hands (namely, the OP's hands) used in all aspects of the comparison otherwise the results of the amp/guitar debate are skewed and therfore meaningless. Caddilacs and Mixmasters. Excellent points both but ultimately irrelevant to the discussion at hand.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

The amp is most important for the listeners and the sound heard . The guitar is the input device. A nice set up and playing guitar that sustains and is easy to play will allow you to express threw your hands . A amp will define your tone more then the guitar. Turning your gain knob will affect the tone more then if you play a 6000$ custom shop fender strat or a 250$ squire strat thew that same amp. Buy the best playing guitar you can .

I think I missed the OP's point by seeing the title and assuming I knew what he meant.

The answer is no, a $99 First Act will not sound as good as a an American Strat through the same good amp. The cheap guitar will still sound like a cheap guitar. Now, some players will be able to make that cheap guitar sound good. But in their hands they would make the good guitar sound even better. A good amp has a tremendous impact on tone, but it can't always mask everything. And BMW-KTM has a very good point about set ups. A cheapo guitar set up properly can sometimes rival a much more expensive guitar in playability. I have a Squier with Texas Specials and personally I'd prefer it to some much more expensive guitars. But on the other hand, compared to an SRV signature model Strat or an Eric Johnson, you can really tell the difference between it and a pro quality guitar.

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TGS

i must have missed something, did you not get your HW1 guitar???

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."