New guitar or new amp?

Knifey Spoony

Right, so I've been playing guitar for the past 7 years or so. Started out with a Squire Strat pack, which came with an Affinity Series Strat (a black one that half the guitar playing population of the earth seems to have) and a Fender Frontman 15g. For a beginer this pack was fine, but now i feel it is about time I upgraded as I need something decent to play with in a band enviroment.

But, this is the problem: I don't have the funds to upgrade both the guitar and amp at the same time. So my question is, which would be of more benefit to upgrade first, the guitar or the amp? Like, if I get a new guitar, would I see an impovement in sound and tone out of the frontman? Or if I get the amp, would I not see any great benefit out of it playing with the Squire? Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

Also, it was this amp: http://www.thomann.de/ie/peavey_valve_king_112_gitarrencombo.htm
and this guitar: http://www.xmusic.ie/Ibanez-S320-Wk-p-18001.html
that I have been looking at. Anyone have any experience with either of these?

Yakult

I would say new amp but if your looking at th VK I'd advise buying some better tubes for it and a new speaker. Otherwise a dull amp.
What kinda music you play?

Knifey Spoony

R_H_C_P wrote: »

I would say new amp but if your looking at th VK I'd advise buying some better tubes for it and a new speaker. Otherwise a dull amp.
What kinda music you play?

I mostly play classic rock and metal, so what I have now really isn't suited to to those genres. Like it would be a middle of the road amp/guitar that I would be looking for. I have heard about those problems with the VK, but for its price I thought it was ok.

goblin59

I'd recommend looking at the blackstar combo amps instead of the peavey.

I own an S320 as well and they chip incredibly easy just to let you know

i'd recommend putting the extra 40euro in and buying http://www.xmusic.ie/Ibanez-Rg350Dx-Wh-p-17982.html i have one of these too and theyre savage little buggers. the pick ups in them sounded good through my marshall dsl.

Malice

I'd say get a new guitar but that's mainly based on my playing a couple of nice basses through a crap bass amp for a few years .

zafo

I'd normally say amp but in this case I'd say upgrade that guitar first, maybe get something second hand so you'll be closer to getting a new amp too. There's an Ibanez RG350 on Adverts for €300 and another for €300 if that's any use to you.

Knifey Spoony

goblin59 wrote: »

I'd recommend looking at the blackstar combo amps instead of the peavey.

I own an S320 as well and they chip incredibly easy just to let you know

i'd recommend putting the extra 40euro in and buying http://www.xmusic.ie/Ibanez-Rg350Dx-Wh-p-17982.html i have one of these too and theyre savage little buggers. the pick ups in them sounded good through my marshall dsl.

zafo wrote: »

I'd normally say amp but in this case I'd say upgrade that guitar first, maybe get something second hand so you'll be closer to getting a new amp too. There's an Ibanez RG350 on Adverts for €300 and another for €300 if that's any use to you.

Not too sure about the Ibanez RG350, the maintance on the Edge III tremolo doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. I was looking at the S320 because of the ZR tremolo, which seems stable enough. I think I might look into some fixed bridge guitars.

Malice_ wrote: »

I'd say get a new guitar but that's mainly based on my playing a couple of nice basses through a crap bass amp for a few years .

So you reckon that playing a decent guitar through a crap amp is a better experience than playing a rubbish guitar through a good amp?

KeithTS

For an improvement in your tone the amp will shape your sound a lot more than a guitar, however, the enjoyment you get from playing a nice instrument may be worth scarificing your tone for, it's all down to you on what you want.
if you want a better tone though go for the amp.

-Chris-

I'd say buy the guitar first - you'll play better with a good guitar and you'll progress farther & faster. I'd also suggest that as you play in more situations with more people you'll find it easier to borrow someone else's amp.

-Chris-

Knifey Spoony wrote: »

So you reckon that playing a decent guitar through a crap amp is a better experience than playing a rubbish guitar through a good amp?

I'd say yes, you can get a good tone with your fingers (and maybe some inexpensive pedals) and borrow someone else's amp for the important situations, but a rubbish guitar through a good amp is just a louder, better amplified rubbish guitar (and more prone to microphonics etc. too!).

Knifey Spoony

-Chris- wrote: »

I'd say yes, you can get a good tone with your fingers (and maybe some inexpensive pedals) and borrow someone else's amp for the important situations, but a rubbish guitar through a good amp is just a louder, better amplified rubbish guitar (and more prone to microphonics etc. too!).

Thanks so much for that. That was the kind of advice that I was really after. I'll trawl the internet and local stores and have a look around for a guitar to suit my needs. Maybe try and pick up a second hand one, save some money and put it towards the amp.

-Chris-

Others may disagree, but that's what I'd do. A cheap guitar will have cheap hardware, won't be as likely to hold its tuning, will be more prone to microphonics, will be a worse platform for improvements (pickups etc.).

I've a favourite guitar. I'll play it unplugged in the living room, I'll play it through my Marshall MG15, I'll play it through my tube amp and boutique pedals. It's a pleasure in every instance.

It's true that the amp will make a larger difference to your overall tone, but I'd rather have the playing experience be a pleasure and borrow an amp, than vice versa.
Most rehearsal spots and venues will have half decent amps anyway.

My €0.02

Knifey Spoony

-Chris- wrote: »

It's true that the amp will make a larger difference to your overall tone, but I'd rather have the playing experience be a pleasure and borrow an amp, than vice versa.
Most rehearsal spots and venues will have half decent amps anyway.

Ah the auld bum an amp off a friend trick:p.
But, after thinking about it, the new guitar seems the way to go. No point in jamming with the band through a marshal stack in a rehearsal space with a crappy guitar. Plus, the fact that I probably won't hear the complete benefits of a new amp palying at low volumes in my bedroom. The new guitar seems overall the better investment at this stage.

MarkDPC

[QUOTE=The new guitar seems overall the better investment at this stage.[/QUOTE]

good choice

shizz

Knifey Spoony wrote: »

I mostly play classic rock and metal, so what I have now really isn't suited to to those genres. Like it would be a middle of the road amp/guitar that I would be looking for. I have heard about those problems with the VK, but for its price I thought it was ok.

Id go for the new guitar aswell. Get comfortable with that and you'll notice everything feels like it has improved.

But I think this amp would be a good investment http://www.thomann.de/ie/peavey_6505_112_combo.htm?sid=94fec694f931a0666ea083e880812ac1

Specially for the genre's you play. I recently just got one and I have to say I love it. Although I don't really use the red channel, its a bit too buzzy for me but the green channel with the crunch engaged and being boosted by a ts808 sounds amazing in my books. I'm sure you would find a great sound out of it.

Although I plan on changing the tubes and speaker at some stage as they aren't the best but it sounds fine for now.

Demeyes

I'd go with getting a new amp. I think to really realise how bad your tone is through a practice amp you have to get a nice amp, they are worlds apart. A new guitar will still sound bad through a bad amp, pretty much regardless of how good it is. You can get a really really good sound from a bad guitar through a good amp though.
What I'd do in your situation is get a nice humbucker for your guitar and have that installed and get a new amp. The thing about electrics is they are really easy to get playing nicely, a squier can be made have a great action and hold it's tuning better with a nice setup and with a new pickup it will sound good too and overall it will cost way less than getting a full new guitar. Ideally you would look to upgrade to a nicer guitar eventually but I think getting a nicer amp should be a higher priority for someone wanting to upgrade a rig like yours.

Knifey Spoony

Demeyes wrote: »

I'd go with getting a new amp. I think to really realise how bad your tone is through a practice amp you have to get a nice amp, they are worlds apart. A new guitar will still sound bad through a bad amp, pretty much regardless of how good it is. You can get a really really good sound from a bad guitar through a good amp though.
What I'd do in your situation is get a nice humbucker for your guitar and have that installed and get a new amp. The thing about electrics is they are really easy to get playing nicely, a squier can be made have a great action and hold it's tuning better with a nice setup and with a new pickup it will sound good too and overall it will cost way less than getting a full new guitar. Ideally you would look to upgrade to a nicer guitar eventually but I think getting a nicer amp should be a higher priority for someone wanting to upgrade a rig like yours.

I dunno about a new amp. If I do get one then it is going to be a tube amp, so playing at low volumes in my bedroom I won't really a huge improvement in tone.

I have been using the squire to play in with a band and hearing the difference between my guitar and the other guitarist's one (which is a lot more suitable to what we want to play), my guitar just, for want of a better phrase, lacked balls and has very little sustain. I would have no problem with electronics, I am studying electrical engineering, so installing pick-ups would be no problem. But, the guitar has 21 frets, which does limit what I can play, and changing the fretboard is something I don't want to get into.

Anyway, I know that good amps will be supplied in the rehersal space and if I need one for a gig it can always be borrowed from a friend. So, the guitar just seems like the better investment at this stage, the amp will follow on next year. Thanks for the reply though .