The guitar`s output gives the raw signal which is then further amplified by the Amp in the signal chain. Bad stuff in - bad stuff out. I`d rather have a cheap Amplifier put out a crystal clear, fat guitar signal from a good axe than a boutique Amp put out the noisy, hum-loaded tinny sound of a bad guitar.

"guitar vs. amp"
"So now you know - VS means "Versus, against" - don't thank us"

like the juicer to the electrical outlet they work together
when reading the posts everyone is riding your wave Bro
I'll catch the next

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I'm for the better amp. I tried great guitars through bad amplification and it just does not sound good. But I must agree it is a balance with both for the better sound.

After and continuing decades at this guitar-picking thing, here's one more opinion:

With an acoustic instrument, there are two variables, the player and instrument. If you want more variance, toss in strings, but at a low percentage. Player is an enormous percentage, maybe 85 to 90% . Think Leadbelly with a wretched 12-string making music from Heaven.

Go electric and your signal chain becomes much more complex. The guitarist is (help requested, here) in this opinion, about 75% of the total sound. Amp, guitar, effects,cables, speakers, tubes...

...personally, 'think of the amp and instrument as the "legs" of the player; your brain and soul and hands are the rest of the "body."

And you know what's coming...if one leg is shorter, weaker, less flexible, you don't have "full fluidity" of "musical movement." If both are very weak, you are on "musical crutches," that is, almost everything can be done, but it will not be with "full musical body" efficiency."

Balance, as has been said before, is where this vote goes.

A well-set-up cheap guitar (meaning playability won't be an issue) through a good amp is the best choice for this scenario.

I have a 1995 MIM Tele Special that I had a luthier set it up to my liking, and the axe feels/plays great. After I performed some minor mods (changed neck pickup, 4-way Tele switching, No-Load tone pot) and had it set up set-up, the total cost of the guitar was less than $375.

When I plug it through my '63 Re-issue Vibroverb---oh, my! The guitar sounds like heaven. However, if I were to plug this axe in to a cruddy 10W buzz-bomb Radio Shack amp, it wouldn't sound as great as I know it does.

Likewise, even if I were to plug my (more expensive) MIA '62 Re-issue Stratocaster into the Radio Shack amp, it's not going to sound as good as it could.

Can I get some good sounds out of the cruddy amp? Sure. I'm a decent enough player to make it work for a living room jam...but I sure wouldn't go into the studio or on the stage with a truly cruddy amp.

Probably the best compromise would be to get a good cheap guitar (such as my Tele) and a good mid-level amp (Blues, Jr., Vox AC15, etc.); Then you can afford some effects pedals.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

No, dude, that is cheating. Definitely cheating. We are not talking nice mid-level instruments, especially Fenders where they are known to rival much more expensive instruments. We are talking "bad guitars" here ... a la, an old bone-stock Hondo Les Paul copy with crappy tuners, buzzy pickups, and intonation that never seems to be quite right. Would you rather have that into some real expensive sweet amp? Or a real Gibson Les Paul Standard into that Radioshack amp special you mentioned?

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

I like to cheat!

Well, to use TexasGuitarSlinger as an example, she plays through a Squire that was upgraded, and from what I've been told, she rocks; would that be "Legal" under the specifications laid out? It's an upgraded "budget" (no offense, TGS) guitar that fits her playing needs.

The best scenario, in my mind, is to balance between the two, but if I have to have the Hondo (some of which weren't terrible guitars), I would get it set up as good as possible and use it through a good amp. I've played some (other people's) crappy guitars through my good (63RIVV) amp, and it sounded pretty good; playability or bad pickups (both of which can be fixed or replaced) were the biggest problems.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

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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.

A great guitar will never sound good through a terrible amp.
A terrible guitar can sound decent through a great amp.

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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." Blazing Saddles...

amplifier.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

For acoustic guitar, a great acoustic amp amplify the total sound of any instrument. It also amplifies the good and the bad aspects of the total sound of the instrument and the player (the same can apply to touch sensitive amps like the old tweeds). A bad acoustic amp cannot capture all the dynamics of the great acoustic guitar. It will lack full range and not be able to duplicate the total sound at moderate to loud volumes.

Case and point.
Fender Acoustasonic Jr. VS. SWR California Blonde.
Decent Amp with 2x8” speakers VS. Great amp 1x12” speaker.
No bottom more mids VS. Balanced tone from highs to lows at moderate to loud volumes.
Turned up bottom farts out like a SS amp VS Bottom booms and punches like a tube amp.
Turned up highs are more compressed sharp VS Highs are fatter and more clear.

A Martin 000-28 and a bad acoustic will sound better through a CA Blonde any day of the millennium. It’s just that the better guitar will sound better than the bad sounding acoustic amplified or not.

There ya go,the guitar signal is only minimal,the output of an amp is the kicker....I've seen it too many times in 45 years of playing.

The amp gets my vote. I've played lots of cheap guitars and made them sound decent through a great amp. Even cigar box guitars. I've also played great guitars through cheesy amps and they sounded like arse. IMO, your amp is your voice. Look at all the amp arguments on this forum LOL. Without your amp, your solid body electric guitar is nothing.

A friend of mine plays a Cigar Box Low Bow through a Bassman RI and you would be floored by the sound. The most expensive parts are the strings and tuners. The pup is from Radio Shack.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

hey arent you making some cigar box guitars? somebody on here said they were gonna mess around with doing it.
ive never played one. i bet it would be fun.

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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."

My MIM Tele's sound good through about any amp I plug them into. I've had some expensive guitars that don't sound that good regardless what you plug them into.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?