The most important complement is...

[subversion]

greetings friends

just wanna know what everyone thinks is the most important complement to one's guitar. some of us feel the amp is rather integral & shouldn't be overlooked to establish some good tones to begin with. others are of the opinion they can make do with an average sounding amp & focus on other features namely pickups, strings & cables. do share what you put priority on.

i'm leaving effects out of the picture as these are rightfully supplementary to our needs- yes they get things going for us but without them, we can still go on (or can we?).

thanks for your time

 

[naviros]

It would most definitely be my amp. Without my amplifier, my guitar's voice won't be heard ^.^ At times, a good amp is all I need

 

[loldude333]

Most definitely the amp. Like the old adage goes: 'A 6k guitar will sound like crap thru a $100 amp while a $100 guitar can sound good thru a 6k amp.'

 

[subversion]

the contemporary view when it comes to amps these days is that it's quite unnecessary since the guitar can be monitored through the computer. Question: are we ready to let this take over?

 

[EugeneSmasher]

I'd take a good old amp over a computer anyday. I voted amp because it directly produces the sound. At least, that's how I feel.

 

[Godspeed64]

I need a good amp! If you're talking going direct I'd still say a good amp!

 

[Weiht]

amp n cab setup definitely... no way computers can reproduce the dynamics and overdrive of the tubes, or the way the speaker is pushing air or breaking up... thats just my thoughts

likewise, did line 6's guitar of the next generation take of??? I think either we are not ready for it, or they are few steps ahead of everyone including themselves

 

[fgl]

as for me ... have played over the years in various venues for club & show gigs -I have learned tolive with and adapt to the amps we are usually supplied with

For me the two fundementals for my actual guitars are Tuning machines & pick ups. They need to stay in tune well and of course good ( not necessarily expensive) pups make all the diffirence.

After that I go for good body woods, neck woods / profiles and quality bridges

 

[naviros]

Computer only emulate what an amp is born to do. Amp all the way~!!!

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

he contemporary view when it comes to amps these days is that it's quite unnecessary since the guitar can be monitored through the computer. Question: are we ready to let this take over?

hehe, geetar folks mostly are loyal to technologies from yesteryears, due to the majik in sound they hear from those. It will be hard for physical hardware to be left behind. And for those who embraces technologiy, its prolly due to having needs which have that space/opportunity to use those.

Both, will co exist with supporters mainly from 2 different camps with different needs.

Anyone who can easily jump to conclusion without having any indepth usage of both are prolly just looking at these gear in over simplistic way without addressing the context or needs of the end users.

imho

 

[subversion]

likewise, did line 6's guitar of the next generation take of???

he he...

they did a re-think & offer the option to operate as an ordinary guitar

 

[junhao405]

My view is a $100 guitar won't sound good with a 6k amp.. so PICKUP is the king.. any shit guitar with reasonable good piece of wood with the right pair of pickups can sound heavenly.. Like a TGM strat over EMG Active Pickups through a fender frontman 15 watt amp.. Awesome tone!

 

[subversion]

you are one of the very few people i've come across in this school of thought

but if it works for you, we can certainly learn something from it.

 

[lemonade93]

actually to me its both pickups and amps but to me amps are first, played through my crappy Laney LG20 at home and at church, played a Marshall Valvestate 100. The difference was INCREDIBLE

 

[subversion]

the different amp types provide immediate differences, that's the crucial bit IMO. i used to only own a 15W Peavey amp when i had a DiMarzio Tone Zone in my Ibanez & there was no marked difference to be heard so the immediate conclusion was that the DiMarzio was dud. but subsequently, when i acquired some pedals & plug them all into the same Peavey, i still hear this characteristic shrill coming from the amp. moving on to another guitar, i still hear that dreaded voicing until it dawned on me that the amp needs to be replaced. no disrespect to Peavey of courese, i still admire the XXL model, period.

 

[naviros]

My view is a $100 guitar won't sound good with a 6k amp.. so PICKUP is the king.. any shit guitar with reasonable good piece of wood with the right pair of pickups can sound heavenly.. Like a TGM strat over EMG Active Pickups through a fender frontman 15 watt amp.. Awesome tone!

I think the leap from passive to active pups makes quite a significant change, but not as much as changing from a $100 amp to a $6000 amp. Try playing the same TGM strat on a Fender Princeton, versus the Frontman.

 

[Whitestrat]

I think the leap from passive to active pups makes quite a significant change, but not as much as changing from a $100 amp to a $6000 amp. Try playing the same TGM strat on a Fender Princeton, versus the Frontman.

1. The princeton is not a $6,000 amp.
2. I HAVE played a stock TGM thru my princeton. It still sounded good.
3. The amp CAN make you sound good, or sound bad. It all depends on the volume you're playing at. At high enough volumes, when the tubes are really being pushed to the point of breaking up, the amp will magically transform whatever tone your "crappy" guitar might have into mojo. But at low volumes where the amp isn't even warm, even the best sounding guitar would be poorly represented.

Actually, the guitar-pickup-amp relationship should NEVER be exclusive. For discussion's sake, even Sub's previous suggestion of software replacing amplifiers can be used. The software/interface used must be of good quality before it can deliver you any decent recreation of the guitar/amplifier model. So the quality still matter here, and I'd match the modelling software against the amp as being in the same category.

The guitar produces the base sound. The pickups interpret that sound into an electrical signal. The amplifier then interprets that signal into something more audible. A bad guitar, no matter what, will not sound as good as it should without a proper setup. The pickups, will be the ones to transform that vibration into a current. That transfer is important, but not the end-all-be-all. Tone is subjective. The amplifier, on the other hand, is the one that shapes the voicing of the tones you hear from the speaker. Without a good amp, no matter how good your guitar or pickups are, the guitar will still sound bad.

 

[junkiemanxl]

No one mentioned the player?

With those options, It's the amp for me.
nothing is more important than the amp itself and for me, that is the real difference maker.

Pickups, guitar, cables and etc are secondary to make a good sounding tone even better.