Guitar to amp/modeler price ratio: Mine is pretty out of whack

[JiveTurkey]

Inspired by the PRS Goldtop thread. A good e-friend pointed out to me that I tend to favor amps/modeler gear that sit at about a 2x (at the least) price ratio compared to whatever guitar I am playing at a given moment. He is very much right. I am not sure what would tip that scale back to a more even 1:1 value at this point

 

[Mongillo19]

If you like the feel of a guitar and it stays consistent for you, then I don't think price matters. For example, I love my $400 schecter plat and $800 slash epi les Paul. They both play fantastic.

I've had high end guitars such as Mayones and Aristides and while absolutely wonderful, I didn't feel like there was a $3000+ gap between those to my established favorites. I think the diminishing returns point is much lower on guitars today vs amps/modelers.

You can easily pick out what is included or not included in a cheaper digital device vs say a Axe Fx 3 that will make a real difference on your playing. So tldr I think you get more by paying more for amps and modelers (in general and probably more so modelers) than you do with guitars.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Inspired by the PRS Goldtop thread. A good e-friend pointed out to me that I tend to favor amps/modeler gear that sit at about a 2x (at the least) price ratio compared to whatever guitar I am playing at a given moment. He is very much right. I am not sure what would tip that scale back to a more even 1:1 value at this point

As long as one has a chance to play the guitars before purchasing, I think what more expensive guitars have to offer is a lot more "optional" than what more expensive modelers have to offer, especially for someone in your (multiple) shoes.

Cheap guitar: "the hardware is crap" -- may or may not be relevant. Its mostly a durability issue. Easily resolved (with a little cash) if it does raise its head. "Better QC" -- I mean, if you're playing it in person, shouldn't YOU be the final QC? "Pallet wood" -- meh. Maybe. But wood is highly variable. And while some brands are sorting through wood stacks for appearance/(and MAYBE) some stability concerns, no builder of relatively high volume is sorting through based on tonal qualities. They might source a wood that is more likely to be good than not, but there is so much variation in "hard rock maple", even if they are using a single species, that is certainly not going to be a guarantee. Again, only have yourself to blame if you have a chance to play it in person and you wind up snagging one (cheap or expensive) that is a bit of a dull dog. "Better finish" -- to the extent this isn't just an aesthetic/feel thing, it would be way, WAY WAY down on the "We've already split this hair a couple times, can we split it again?" tonal heirarchy.

Your needs in terms of routing and control in modeler land kind of leave you stuck at the upper end of things. And amps...well, tubes just don't really come that cheap these days. And let's get really real -- its way easier to hear the difference amongst various forms of Marshall, be they tube or digital, than it is to hear the difference amongst various Strats, especially once much more than a gnats fart worth of gain is involved.

 

[spawnofthesith]

A PRS gold top should tip the scale to 1:1 nicely

 

[JiveTurkey]

A PRS gold top should tip the scale to 1:1 nicely

A GK pickup would screw into the body quite nicely!

 

[spawnofthesith]

A GK pickup would screw into the body quite nicely!

 

[Los-D]

 

[metropolis_4]

I’ve always been all about cheap guitars into expensive amps.

I used to regularly gig my $350 Strat into a $3,500 Matchless

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

A GK pickup would screw into the body quite nicely!

Worked for DiMeola and Mclaughlin!! (couldn't find a pic of DiMeola with a GK pickup on a PRS, but this is actually pretty accurate stage persona life goal for you, I think):

 

[JiveTurkey]

Worked for DiMeola and Mclaughlin!! (couldn't find a pic of DiMeola with a GK pickup on a PRS, but this is actually pretty accurate stage persona life goal for you, I think):

View attachment 21093

View attachment 21092

Clip on tuner

 

[Achilles]

I used to regularly gig my $350 Strat into a $3,500 Matchless

Wearing a $35 pair of jeans with $3.50 in the pocket.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Historically I definitely used to spend more on amps than guitars. I'm probably pretty balanced now though. I'm also a bargain hound and have been lucky enough to score pretty wicked deals on most of my current guitars and amps

 

[Achilles]

View attachment 21092

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Says the guy that plays a hot pink Knaggs?

 

[Achilles]

Says the guy that plays a hot pink Knaggs?

Touche'.
Ya gotta admit, that is the most God awful video made by a guitar player ever.
Hell, Billy Squier breathed a sign of relief after DiMeola released this turd.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I’ve always been all about cheap guitars into expensive amps.

I used to regularly gig my $350 Strat into a $3,500 Matchless

Price impedance matching

 

[duzie]

Sounds about right for me.
$500 guitar
$1000 FM3

 

[metropolis_4]

Wearing a $35 pair of jeans with $3.50 in the pocket.

More like $3.50 pair of jeans with $0.35 in the pocket

 

[mbenigni]

I used to spend a lot more on guitars. Hamers and Parkers into e.g. a Flextone II. I was pretty clueless about tone, in retrospect. Maybe I still am LOL. And I would buy way too many guitars back then, because I was hung up about having back ups for various guitars with various features in various tunings yadda yadda yadda. A little self-important for a dude playing open mics, maybe, but I wasn't feeding a kid or paying a mortgage back then, either.

Then, and now, my first consideration is having a practical rig that best accommodates all the weird stuff I want it to do: copping good electric and acoustic tones, supporting guitar synth hardware, allowing for preset recall, etc. Most of which has become pretty status quo at this point, but in the '90s/ '00s, it would usually require deviating from the obvious tonal ideal of a high end tube amp.

I couldn't see myself dishing out a ton of money on a guitar again unless Ken Parker suddenly started manufacturing OG Fly's with better electronics. (For a price he couldn't possibly achieve...)

As it stands, I've gotten much more open-minded about the probability of a tree-fiddy import kicking ass. (So long as I have an opportunity to do my own QA, per @Boudoir Guitar's point above.) Meanwhile, I've developed a willingness to drop nearly $2K on the right modeler somewhere along the way.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Touche'.
Ya gotta admit, that is the most God awful video made by a guitar player ever.
Hell, Billy Squier breathed a sign of relief after Al D. released that turd.

I never watched it. There's a lot about the man that makes me scratch my head, including just about everything he did after the acoustic trio album that wasn't a throwback to something before the acoustic trio album. Album art work ("I am a man of mystery with a woman in the background that will become more scantily clad with each successive album until hitting the zenith on Kiss my Axe"). Monetizing the concept of "guitar lesson and fine italian meal with my family". Its all just so weird and not at all my aesthetic.