Which contributes more? Amp or guitar?

[subversion]

Nothing beats a cranked tube high gain amp, because a)when close to full output tubes produce natural harmonics and overtones which give the tone "life" and b)the speakers also have a distorting threshold; if you drive them hard you will get a better sound. But realistically speaking, cranking any tube amp is not a good idea unless you're gigging or at a jam studio. Or don't live in an apartment, heh.

And another thing, if you want metal, it has to be a humbucker equipped guitar. Single coils just can't produce the type of sound you want to get out of them.

1. There's this fallacy that tube amp output sits above the solid state tone nirvana- good sounding tone should transcend any circuitry limitations. a good tone is a good tone; tube-propelled or otherwise. there are exceptional solid state units out there to out-tone (Peavey's XXL & Sound Drive's SG-612R, among others...) the tubes in terms of drive.

yes, drivers (speakers to the rest of us) do have an inherent displacement tolerance, however, driving them harder would not neccessarily lead to a better outcome. it depends on the overall performance of the driver, more of what a certain manufacturer has packaged for you.

2. Would you let 'i'm living in an HDB apartment' limitation prevent you from getting a good tone?

3. The humbucker is a preferred pickup type for high drive settings. the frequency cancellation of this pickup type means you get less top-end prick for that bottom end chug. if you love single coils & would wish it'd be on par with the humbucker in terms of 'metal' type distortion, there are devices out there that would boost the single coil for a wider tonal application, one being:

 

[optisailor2002]

sound proof your room and then get a stack xD

 

[six-string]

WHY TEH AMP OF COURSE

i can plug any kuching kurap guitar into my 5150 and im still in metal heaven mang.

lolz

but yes the amp.

AND ITS BS WHEN PPL SAY YOU NEED A HALFSTACK TO PLAY METAL, a 2x12 CAB WILL DO JUST FINE. the difference in volume is very little between a 4x12 and 2x12. Just make sure its celestions. Vintage 30. Or 40's, but then again only petrucci can get those.

 

[subversion]

i feel that there's much hype with the Vintage 30- then again it may not be my cut of tea. this driver does better for blues crunch where its early break up helps to accentuate mid-level gain (nothing to high/ low).

 

[Xypher]

I built a booster and it really helps in improving my amps chugg..At high gain it sounds a little darker too!..

 

[gsonique]

NEITHER ... ITS THE FINGAZ :twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted:

 

[almondx]

the smaller speakers can match the bigger siblings' performance in numbers- you'd be surprised how bassy a quartet of 10" drivers can be. yes, it's the law of physics...

Haha unfair comparison Though yes in numbers of course the volume of air pushed will be greater.

 

[almondx]

WHY TEH AMP OF COURSE

AND ITS BS WHEN PPL SAY YOU NEED A HALFSTACK TO PLAY METAL, a 2x12 CAB WILL DO JUST FINE. the difference in volume is very little between a 4x12 and 2x12. Just make sure its celestions. Vintage 30. Or 40's, but then again only petrucci can get those.

It's not bs. It's simple mathematics. Half the number of drivers = half the volume of air pushed. And volume of air pushed is directly proportional to the amount of "thump" you're going to get while chuggachugging. Not so much regarding volume here. Btw, celestion vintages are voiced more towards classic rock and not metal. Have you even played a proper 4 x 12" before? You come across as a little.. clueless?

There are certain oversized 2 x 12" that would give you the rear end of a 4 x 12" such as those by bogner though.

 

[six-string]

and I was talking about volume mang!

well PERSONALLY i liek v30s for metul

 

[almondx]

It is a personal choice, it's really great when a guitarist finds something that he likes as there's just so many different tones out there =)

 

[loldude333]

I'd say the amp. As mentioned by the gd ppl here, pickup boosters can help u acheive a humbucker tone w/o swapping pickups. But the amp and the driver cannot be 'boosted'. A 4x12 cab can push waaaay more air than a single 12' driver. My recommendation wld be 2 get a studio grade sound system, a PodXT or X3 Live and either 1 of the pickup boosters. Walah, ur in metal heaven!