How much for THAT tone.

[Hikey Mikey]

Originally Posted by shreddersymphony

. . . Today there are an insane amount of choices for cheap gear. You can pick up a $200 Agile guitar and a POD and have yourself a great sounding setup. . . . It's VERY possible to have a great sounding rig for under a grand if you do your research and know what you're looking for.

Good post.

We often confuse what we need with what we want. Given that one wants to play guitar, there are certain gear things you need to achieve success and make music. I'm talking about basic guitar qualities like good intonation, straight neck, a properly cut nut, functional truss rod and tuners, etc. The Agiles you speak of, Squiers, Ibanez GIOs and 300-series RGs, they all fulfill those needs just fine and will take someone a long way.

My ARC100BS took me nearly a year, then I got swept up by the hysteria of the 20th Anny RG550. Did I need the new RG? Absolutely not, it's a better guitar by far but the ARC still plays fine and probably will for decades.

[bulletbass man]

I feel any player who has enough gear for what they're doing already shouldn't compromise.

For one a few years back I needed a big amp for the shows I was doing. I got a toneblaster halfstack because I got the whole stack for 300 since Sam Ash is run by a bunch of idiots.

Now I have a peavey Windsor because all though I wanted a two channel I could only afford a one channel and I could ab with my toneblaster anyways for gigs.

However now that I have all the basics (great guitar, fantastic overdrive tone, good enough clean tone, a fantastic bass amp (ashdown), a great bass (old MIA fender though I'm purchasing the next good deal I see on that evil bay on a sr2000 or sr1200), as well as a pretty good drum set (tama Imperial Star) I will only buy top quality stuff. Though it will take longer for me to earn the money for it at this point there is no real reason I should compromise to make ends meet. Also since I now have a steady income (well atleast till college) I don't need to worry as much for the financial issues.

I feel that no player should compromise once they have what they need to get by. But as a beginner or even a fairly advanced musician you need to have the gear that is necessary even if it means compromising.

Also no beginner should be investing in a 2000 dollar amp or 1000 dollar guitar. They don't know what they'll be doing in 2 years with it. (they may not even like the guitar)

[racerevlon]

Again, good thread... here's the Race thoughts...

I've had so much gear it's close to criminal. I've always had this idea. I want to have this complement of tones available with the minimum amount of gear.

So what makes a good amp? I've got a couple ideas. First, if you can plug in a strat and tell it's a strat, then plug in a Les Paul and tell it's a Les Paul, then plug in a semi-hollow and tell it's a semi-hollow, chances are it's a good amp. Most amps sound the same with just about any guitar plugged in. Second, do YOU like the way it sounds? 'Nuff said.

So how did I eventually get the tone I was looking for? It was incredibly expensive, but I'm incredibly happy. The pic is just basic diagram, but I think it gets the point across...



The only thing I'm looking to change is putting a single rack space tube power amp in the ROCKMAN setup--either another Marshall EL84 20/20 or the equivalent Mesa Boogie.

No stomp boxes... one MIDI controller... and he looked, and he saw that it was GOOD!

Oh, my Pocket POD sounds pretty good through my Marshall Micro-Stack too... NARF!

[Hikey Mikey]

yikes