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Posted by: Lithuanian Mar 23 2008, 03:04 PM

Okay so for the past year I was working my ass off and managed to save up $2800. Now I want to spend it on guitar gear, but I dont know what to buy.

I was thinking of buying a new electric guitar (a fender strat maybe) but then I thought that I only have a cheap $150 amp and the guitar would not be used to its full potential.

Now I am thinking of buying a good amplifier. Maybe a tube amp. The problem is, I dont know anything about amps. Maybe you could suggest some good rock/blues amps in that price range? I would appreciate it very much

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Mar 23 2008, 03:06 PM

If you can find one a Marshall JCM800 is easily the best for rock and blues in my opinion.

Posted by: Danilo Capezzuto Mar 23 2008, 03:11 PM

For the ampli I can suggest the Mesa Lone Star. Look at this laney and listen the samples http://www.laney.co.uk/show_prod.php?prod=l5t-112
Then...I don't know much about fender amps but they seems to be great rock-blues amps.
Bye

Posted by: Bogdan Mar 23 2008, 04:54 PM

What guitar do you have ? Fender strat is awesome guitar and I think you can buy it and for the rest of money (you have plenty enough) buy a good amp..IMO guitar is more important than amp..

Posted by: Smikey2006 Mar 23 2008, 07:04 PM

it really depends on what your looking for? What music do you mostly play? what guitar bodies do you like? what sound? with this information our replies will be more efficient becausssee. right away i say two brands..

Krank

and

Schecter

Posted by: Muris Mar 23 2008, 07:09 PM

As for amps,Mesa,H&K,Laney,Marshal.Bogner...list is huge.
Always be sure to try amp by yourself,samples are fine,reviews as well,
but you MUST try it to be 100% sure if that's the amp you've been looking for.

Same idea goes with guitar.

Posted by: Trond Vold Mar 23 2008, 07:38 PM

There's tons of good options when you have that amount to spend. It's hard to give a definite recommendation, but the important thing is that you buy something you will be pleased with.

But how about one of those Fender twin reverb combo tube amps? They are great for blues/rock, and really high class.

Posted by: Sircraigery Mar 23 2008, 08:01 PM

I'm sure you can find a pretty nice used american strat for $1200....leaving $1600 for amp & effects.

But definitely take your time. I would buy the guitar first, then choose an amp while testing it with your guitar only. That way you know exactly what your set up sounds like before you drop a good chunk of cash on your amp.

I'd leave $400 for effects, spending $1200 each on guitar and amp...but that's just me haha.

Posted by: Lithuanian Mar 24 2008, 01:50 PM

What music do you mostly play? - I mostly play blues and rock, but I also shred and play some hard metal riffs if I feel like it.
What guitar bodies do you like? - Well, the guitar body isn't really important to me. I love the LP body, I also love the Strat-like body. It really depends on how the guitar sounds like, not the form of it.
What sound? - I am looking for a blues/rock sounding guitar.

Posted by: Bogdan Mar 24 2008, 02:59 PM

Then I suggest to buy Amercan Fender Stratocaster guitar first..And see how much money you are left with.

Posted by: Toni Suominen Mar 24 2008, 03:10 PM

A good starting point would be to check Fender and Marshall amps for blues/rock, and some of the Mesa's and H&K's amps are good for that kind of playing aswell

Posted by: Lithuanian Mar 24 2008, 03:34 PM

That seems to be a good idea now that I think of it. Thank you for your advice

Posted by: rokchik Mar 24 2008, 03:51 PM

I have to agree with Bogdan. Get the guitar first then worry about the amp. I'd suggest going to the guitar store playing the guitars you like through some different amps you may be interested in. Once you find your guitar then play it through the amps your interested in. You may luck out and be able to get both If not then you'll at least know what amp you like and can start saving for it.

Best of luck to ya.

rok

Posted by: Lithuanian Mar 24 2008, 05:44 PM

The thing is, the local guitar store in my town has a very limited variety of guitars (last time I was there about 2 months ago and all they had were some cheap ~$300 Slammer guitars and a Squier Strat) and amps. There is a big guitar shop in another city not too far away (~200km) so maybe when I get the chance to go to that city I will try some guitars out.

Posted by: SinoMan Mar 24 2008, 06:07 PM

SinoMan's guide to spending $2800

1) Give $2700 to SinoMan
2) Buy a Squier Strat for $100


















j/k

Get a Line 6 amp dude, they rock. They sound almost like tube, but you don't have to go deaf when you want distortion.

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Mar 24 2008, 08:21 PM

+1
Test as many amps as you can find in local music shops, and if you find one that you like, buy exactly THAT amp, cause if you order the same model somewhere else it won't sound the same, for whatever reason most amp manufacturers are still not able to produce two amps that sound the same.

Posted by: Lithuanian Mar 24 2008, 09:45 PM

The thing is I'm not experienced enough to know if an amp sounds good or bad as stupid as it sounds.

Posted by: Milenkovic Ivan Mar 24 2008, 10:40 PM

Just by a Strat first and don't save your money on it. Good guitar is more important then a good amp, remember that.

When you take a Strat, check some all tubers to your liking. Generally for blues&rock, Fender, MArshall or even Vox can really do the trick. Just find something in the price range you are looking for and test it of course.

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Mar 24 2008, 11:27 PM

I would buy a good rack. MAybe a Rocktron Profesy with a good poweramp and cabinet ...

Posted by: Tjchep Mar 24 2008, 11:35 PM

If I were you I'd Go for a..

Guitar - Music man axis , or some parker.. I liked them both alot better than a strat in alot of respects..

Amp - So say $1500 for guitar.. that leave $1300 for amp and stuff.. I'd say get a T.C Electronics G-Major and a tube combo amp..

That way, you have all the effects you need and a nice amp too.

Posted by: wrk Mar 25 2008, 12:27 AM

If you don't know by now what your preferences are, i suggest you not to burn all $2800 just to buy some quality guitar and amp. Sound is of course an important thing, but the shape of the neck, frets, bridge/tremolo as well. I think there is nothing wrong to experiment first with some cheaper guitars and gain experiences with that. Fender strat is a great guitar, but if you think in 6 months that a strat in general is not your thing, then you don't need an american strat for $1200 to find this out. The same for LP, ...

Amps & Effects i would suggest to get something you can use for different styles of music. With the time your ears will develop to hear the details.

Posted by: Fran Mar 25 2008, 02:27 AM

I'm exactly on the same boat mate!

I want to get me a new realy good guitar & amp, I have saved money lately, but I have to admit that I still can't tell the difference between so many different models of amps!. And the same thing with guitars: I've been trying SGs, Les pauls and Strats lately. Every time I get new strings I ask the guys at the shop to try a couple guitars... I should start trying them with different amps too

Someday I'll have to make the decision, in the meantime I'm reading all gear threads and checking as many reviews as I can

Posted by: Sircraigery Mar 26 2008, 05:22 PM

Hmm, well check this out:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dD7EoehgpsA


That is a nice sounding amp haha
I have the 112, it's pretty much eh same deal. You can get the 2x12 for around $700 cdn (112 was $450). Excellent amp for the price. If you want the footswitch, you have to buy it extra (mine was $50).

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Mar 27 2008, 04:03 PM

But I guess you can judge if you like the sound or not, so this should be the starting point, as long as you don't like the sound of the amp, who the hell cares if it is a great amp or not

Posted by: Bogdan Mar 28 2008, 01:19 AM

+1 on that

You don't need to be an expert on gear to choose what you like..Try amp and see if YOU like it..I would suggest to tryout ones really expensive too to have them as reference..

Posted by: Lithuanian Mar 28 2008, 06:05 PM

What I love is Two Rock amps. Especially the John Mayer signature and the Opal Tone. But they are out of production models And they cost +$4000. The JM signature costs around ~$9000. Daaaaaamn

Posted by: SinoMan Mar 28 2008, 10:12 PM

Get a Vox AC30. Paul McCartney, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Brian May, Bono... They all use(d) this amp. The 30W, 2x12' version costs about 800 Euro:

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/10037

And don't think that 30W is too few. You get most loudness from the first watt.

As for a guitar, it really depends what feels good in your hands and what you love playing/listening to. Definitely try a Mexican Stratocaster, an Epiphone Les Paul and some kind of heavy-metal Ibanez.

Posted by: Sircraigery Mar 29 2008, 04:57 AM

I agree completely....I'd suggest trying the Marshall JCM800 Kerry King signature as that reference! haha

Posted by: Gus Apr 5 2008, 06:14 AM

Man. What you really have to think is: You've got the money, you are the king.

Go to the best guitar stores you can and spend as many time there as you wish. You will feel tempted to buy some stuff on the first store, but take your time. Go back home and search the internet. Ask people here...

Last time I was trying to figure out what guitar to buy, I was testing lots of guitars. Made 3-4 visits to a huge guitar shop, spending 2-3 hours each playing. Finally I came across, the one I really bought. I am more than satisfied with that guitar (and that approach for buying)

Posted by: SinoMan Apr 5 2008, 12:46 PM

The question is whether the shop assistants are also so satisfied with your approach

Posted by: Bogdan Apr 6 2008, 12:29 PM

As long as you are their possible costumer they should be satisfied

Posted by: Gus Apr 7 2008, 12:01 AM

Yep. After a few visits one of the assistant is now my friend, and he should be satisfied because afterall I bought 2 guitars and pod x3 live there
Well, and he also understands a lot and helped a lot.

But I know, not everyone helps that much... Well, if they do not help at all, they do not deserve our costumer money...