EXPENSIVE GUITAR or EXPENSIVE AMP - Which One Should You Buy First?

So, you're ready to pull the trigger on some new gear, but what should you buy? Should you get a new guitar, or a new amp? Check out this video for some answers!
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[Antiganos]

Just found your channel a few days ago, just had this question a few days ago. Really glad I stumbled across you, very positive personality, well made videos, and very useful information.

[SefinFPS]

That moment he says "bad amp" and lifts up your current amp :(

[gitaarlessenamersfoort]

if you're a home player, get the nice guitar, you dont need an expensive tube amp to sound good in a small room... if you are playing gigs, definitely get the expensive amp as this has the most impact on your sound in your signal chain, by far

[mcr]

2:30 I hear the smoothness in sound, with a dulled down, not so dynamic output. Definitely the good guitar.
2:50 I hear the bad chimey pickups sound but I hear the good resonant and dynamic amp too. Definitely the squier.

Edit: In test 2, the difference is even more perceptible. Guitar 2's amp can't handle the gain well and has a muffled output. The pickups still sound smooth though.
I'd say, for a one time buy, pick a middle ground with both. Don't cheap out on either. But if you're a first time buyer & planning to build a collection, spend dearly on the amp that you can keep potentially for ever, and continue to switch through guitars.

Although a decent guitar will aid the playability when learning or advancing. I learnt that the hard way. Bought an entry level Ibanez (still miles better than entry level fenders or anything else), but met it's limitations pretty soon, especially when I tried their RG series. The difference was day and night. All the stuff that I did on my Gio, just naturally felt more comfortable to do on the RG and started sounding applaudably better on the RG.

[angelofp]

No doubt! Cheap guitar + Expensive amp. Even because you can do a non-expensive upgrade to the cheap pickups (e.g. guitarfetish) and enhance the overall tone.

[dpajc]

Squier is like Kia of guitars...maybe 15-20 years ago they sucked, now they're really great bang for the buck

[dylansee]

Or you could just meet in the middle. Buy a Mexican strat and a fender blues Jr amp and you will have a great setup.

[andrebenoit]

IMO a good guitar is more likely to keep you interested than a good amp. Theres something about owning your dream guitar that makes you want to play.

[elevatorisland]

I play a Mexican Telecaster, and I've heard really nice sounds from it in the past, playing in practice studios that had top-notch amps. In my current band I was playing through a 100W solid state amp and the sound was atrocious. I went and spent 250$ on a used 15W tube amp and it sounds MUCH better. I agree with Darrell. If you're gonna be playing with other people go for the amp. Even if you have a great guitar it'll still sound like crap with a crap amp. And yeah, how you play is important but you need a good amp to get good tone.

[glenngardin]

Saw a similar comparison on another channel. They concluded that id you were playing for yourself, expensive guitar and cheap amp. If you were playing for a crowd, cheap guitar and expensive amp. Personally, I like the feel of a great guitar more than I like the sound of a great amp. Keep up the great videos!

[bciecko]

I totally agree with your findings. The amp will make the biggest impact on overall sound. its so funny cause having a really great guitar feels nice and does make playing easier which can help you improve but having a nicer amp lets you hear your nuances and, as you mentioned, can bring your guitars' character out--which then makes it easier to play. Its a subjectively objective finding/process. haha. Great video.

[seanhammer]

You can probably find a Peavey Triple X amp head, the trucker plate series, all tube, 120 watt, totally pro, high gain amp head for about $400. It will stomp the dog crap out of many amps at 2 or 3 times the price. The clean channel isn't so great because they set it up to be mostly a power amp utilizing the power tubes only, so you have to work with it. You can switch it from 6l6 tubes to EL34s if you want and also run it with only 2 tubes to cut it down to 60 watts. It was my favorite amp of all time.
Oh, and the line out and effects in/out volumes act almost like power soaks so you can play with unreal, blistering tone all night and never bother the neighbors.

[pks]

The amp and the fingers make the most of your tone.

[shadowseal]

This being said I absolutely love the sound of a clean, cheap, solid state amp. They have a fidelity that not many tube amps can compete with.

[teknomanning]

Wow I’m 66 and your channel made me go back and really sit down to learn

[roadshowautosports]

I’d go for a great guitar for the experience, specially if you gig, since your nice guitar will be paired with great amps or pa systems that will take better advantage of your instrument. A good amp helps but you must want to play the instrument you hear. You have a way more personal experience with your guitar than you do with your amp. Just my opinion and i don’t even play professionally, I’m just a luthier.

[MarlonKingShow]

I agreed with your logic but then found me preferring the better guitar scenario on the clean test, threw me off completely.
I would say, recording...amp. practise or home... guitar. Gigging... probably need to upgrade both.
Nice video dude.

[savvas]

I live in Greece, and most people who leave inside the cities have to go to some rehearsal studio with their bands, so it would make more sense to have a good guitar and use whatever amp you got in the studio. Also, most bars with live music have their own amps you can use when you gig there. A good amp is only a choice if you live in the suburbs and you can crank it without worrying about neighbors.

[caseymurrow]

If you’re a gigging musician and need a setup fast, expensive amp. If you’re a guy jamming in his bedroom, expensive guitar.

[danieldonascimento]

Best guitar channel on YouTube!
Always surprising and showing a impartial opinion, understandable even for those who aren't guitar players.
I hope someday you come to Brazil and see what kind of equipments we use down here. thanks