EBMM or Amp First?

[Spudmurphy]

So I'm gonna go this way -
get the guitar first - if you find THE guitar for you the rest should be easy.

Single coils can super distort with all the technology we have today - amp emulators are good and getting better. There are many tried and tested amps that should deliver the sound you want - but the guitar has to come first - it's the foundation. Try shredding with an action thats 1/2 inch high - a neck that feels gloopy, frets that choke, pickups that have no voicing, machine heads that WILL NOT stay in tune (boy my Les Paul used to be a bitch for that!!) you won't get far.

Nah guys - for me the guitar has to come first!!

The sound ultimately will come from you no matter what you play through.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Get the guitar first!

 

[lonewolf74]

What will make your fingers happy?

I'll also vote for getting the guitar first. Amps will come and go, not to mention the fact that it's a lot easier to get someone else to let you use their amp, rather than their guitar.

Plus - with the guitar of your choice, as others have said, you can play through all kinds of amps, or even just run your GT-6 (using Line/Phone output) to a full-range, flat-response system (like a PA) and get decent tone that way.

Put it this way: so many people have said that tone comes from the fingers... and what are your hands touching while you're playing? Which one (a new JP or a new amp) will make your fingers happy?

For me, there's no question... I got a JP a few years ago, and I still get that warm feeling every time I sling it over my shoulder, knowing what a quality instrument I'm about to play - no matter what the amplification may be.

 

[Norrin Radd]

When I used to work for a large retailer selling this stuff I got this question all the time. The answer is very very easy (and to me a complete no brainer).

First, is your current guitar playable to the point that you will use it for practicing and playing? If no, buy a guitar. If the answer is yes then BUY THE AMP FIRST!!!! The amp (and more accurately, the speakers) have more to do with the tone you will get than the guitar does! Don't believe me? Play a squier through the Jimi Hendrix Marshall stack then compare to a BFR through a Peavey Decade (10w SS practice amp). Which do you think will sound better? Right.

What's important in buying the amp first is to know exactly which guitar you are going to eventually want to buy for it - and be sure to test out amps with that guitar (or one frighteningly similar) so you know what your tone is going to sound like.

Amp first.

Amp FIRST.

AMP FIRST!!!!!!


And in case I didn't say it before, amp first.

 

[fogman]

Amp first.

Amp FIRST.

AMP FIRST!!!!!!


And in case I didn't say it before, amp first.

so what you are saying is, AMP FIRST!?

 

[73h Nils]

I'm gonna jump in again and stand by my answer. I bought my JP6 way before I got a decent amp and I found I got the most worthwhile playing time out of it when it was just me, the guitar and the small amp. The JP (any MM, really) will make you want to play more frequently by any means. Actually picking up a guitar and playing it, even unplugged, is enough to help you improve yourself. Not to mention, you said you could always run it through your friend's half-stack.

 

[unclerico]

Well its not like my amp is terrible. It isnt a ten watt weak fuzzy speaker.

 

[acwild]

Amp first. I think John Suhr had a great rant going on at hugeracksinc.com about going out and seeing guitarists with $2,000+ guitars performing through Line6 Spiders. It just boggles the mind. JMHO.

 

[zif]

I think a crappy amp will always sound crappy whether there's a good guitar or not. However, I think a so-so guitar can actually sound great through a great amp. So, I'll say amp first, guitar second.

I have to agree, i would get a quality amp first; although i can't imagine life without my Balls.

Pick up a 5150 III, and then circle back and get a BFR once get you get out of prison for robbing that liquor store to pay for the amp. (they let you out in a few months nowadays, and provide free food, education, and heathcare - it's a pretty good deal really).

 

[unclerico]

I have to agree, i would get a quality amp first; although i can't imagine life without my Balls.

Pick up a 5150 III, and then circle back and get a BFR once get you get out of prison for robbing that liquor store to pay for the amp. (they let you out in a few months nowadays, and provide free food, education, and heathcare - it's a pretty good deal really).

Lol thats ok i will just work.

But for the toggle switch, my middle ring and pinkie are always the 3 fingers sticking out when I play. Will I bump into the toggle switch.

 

[acwild]

but if I had to choose amp or guitar with your current rig, I'd opt for the amp. But since I'm here in the EBMM forum, I highly advise the JP...sorry man.

I voted amp anyway. I'll just buy an extra EBMM to keep BP happy.

 

[zif]

Lol thats ok i will just work.

But for the toggle switch, my middle ring and pinkie are always the 3 fingers sticking out when I play. Will I bump into the toggle switch.

Yes, if you get any JP with a piezo, and you play aggressively you'll probably be bumping into the switch. I do. You'd have to learn to adjust. But I'm sure this is by design, so there is no fumbling for the switch. Just a flick of the ring finger.

I'm almost used to it, it's really not too big a deal at all.

 

[kbaim]

My take is it depends. If you see/play a JP you love at a store near you I'd grab it. If you have to order one, maybe I'd amp shop a bit with your main axe now.

When I got a new amp at Guitar Center in dec '01 (first time in 22 years), I was still playing an Ibanez Studio 50. and it was startling how much better THAT guitar sounded with a good amp. It was just a coincidence that an EBMM Luke was near the amp display and was the first guitar I grabbed to check out the amp. I fell in love with the guitar but remembered I was there for the amp.

Kept going back in to GC to play the Luke for 6-7 months and it finally dawned on me that it would be easier to play it if I owned it. So I ordered one (and borrowed that one until my order was in) and then also bought that one.

Post script
Gave that Ibanez to a friend last year.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I gotta jump in again too!

Blues Saraceno plays through a $150 Sears Silvertone amp with 10" speaker and sounds just incredible.

Now if he were to play a junk shop heap of poop through it he'd prolly still play great but have great difficulty in playing accurately.

M'lud the prosecution rests it's case saying

"get the damn guitar first" !!!

 

[paranoid70]

You might want to consider getting the amp. If you get the JP first chances are you will love it so much you will end up buying another EBMM guitar before you get the amp. Beware the GAS syndrome.

 

[Spudmurphy]

- he's right ya know . I never thought of that angle!!

 

[DT1607]

I've had this issue before. Get a good amp first then a good guitar. I've played crappy guitars through my mesa and I can make them sound decent. I just can't imagine what my BFR will sound like through it once it comes in.