Budget vs. Saving

[jibidy]

Im thinking about having a bit of a gear haul, i have some stuff on the seconds out forum.

But i was wandering when i come to buy new stuff, is it worth trying to find stuff within my budget or is it better to save up £1000+ kind of money for somehting that is at the top of the line.

I have only bought mid priced stuff before but was wandering if its worth saving to get the good stuff. My friend saved for four years and got a framus dragon head, orange cab and sg standard+ pc w/mics e.t.c.

I dont feel that you need to spend that much money to find something that is good and suits your needs.

This equipment isnt for gigging just home use and abit of recording.

Do you spend major money on incredibly toneful gear or do you try to scr@pe the most out of your hard earned pennies????

[Crazy_Joe]

It's nice to have high end gear and sometimes it is a lot better, but to be honest unless you have the money to spend it's not worth that much extra cash and i don't see the point spending that much, there's plenty of mid-price/budget gear that will most likely suit you, you just have to go out and find it. Especially for home recording, i think your better off finding some budget/mid priced gear because you don't necessarilly need it.
Unless you're in a gigging/touring band you don't really need hugely expensive gear.

A good example of well priced but awesome sounding gear is:

Laney amps - Cheaper than most valve amps, but they sound awesome.

IMO if you are going to spend that amount of money you have to go custom to get what you pay for.

Though i'm sure people will disagree with me, but keep in mind it's my opinion.

[Jonny]

I wouldn't go with the idea of 'selling gear, to get better gear' unless you have some sort of outside income coming in, as well as the money earned from selling your stuff (but it being a minority of the savings) cause you're just making loss after loss.

[hunter]

Well, problem is if you change too often or have too many alternatives (=me) you might spend a lot of time balancing things out, this effect with that amp and that guitar etc ... but end up getting less good sounds out of it than someone who sticks with his stuff for longer, even if it's basic stuff.

I have heard many guitarists play supposedly cheap stuff but sounding awesome and vice versa.

I think what's important is to find something that works for you and is a good match to your other gear, playing style and band demands, whatever the price range.

[Philly Q]

I totally agree with Hunter.

I sometimes think it would be better to get rid of 3 or 4 of my mid-priced guitars, get one really good one and stick with it.  I certainly can't deny that the PRS Mira I bought recently has made me re-evaluate some of my cheaper guitars.

But, having said that, I also have cheap guitars that out-perform much more expensive ones I've owned.

It really is a matter of finding what works for you - don't assume that more expensive necessarily means better.

[dave_mc]

i'd say it depends, basically. great advice, i know.  :lol:

[Twinfan]

I have the same problem as Hunter in that I spend lots of time comparing this versus that with all my gear.  I still end up sounding like me, just a slightly different flavour of me  :roll:

I would try anything and everything and see what speaks to you.  Cheap to expensive, anything can be good.

My Epiphone SG for example, which is my main gigging guitar, is more 'Angus' than my Gibson SG and my Mira even though they are made of better mahogany and were more expensive..........

[Philly Q]

I have the same problem as Hunter in that I spend lots of time comparing this versus that with all my gear.  I still end up sounding like me, just a slightly different flavour of me  :roll:

Yep, I sound equally dreadful no matter what I play.

It's much more complicated for Twinfan and Hunter than it is for me, because they have shiteloads of amps and guitars, whereas I just have shiteloads of guitars.  I suspect if I ever found myself playing in a band I'd have to totally re-evaluate the performance of all my gear.

[Simon D]

This is a tough one for me. Most of my gear is mid price stuff - Epi LP, PRS SE, Fender Korean Tele, Pacifica 812, Laney TF300 amp. However, I also have a two slightly higher end guitars - a US Fender Strat and a Warmoth Soloist. I've found that I have spent quite a bit of money on some of the cheaper guitars, trying to improve them.

The Epi has had a refret, 2 sets of new pickups, tuners and electronics, bringing the total spendon the guitar to well over £750. Similarly, I've bought new pickups and tuners for the PRS, and it's going to need a refret soon, because the fretwire may as well be tinfoil, it's so soft.

Neither of the two more expensive guitars have cost me anything in changes, but then neither has the Pacifica or the Tele.

It's a tough call, and it does depend largely on the individual piece of gear, but there are certain guitars I own that I wish i had waited on, saved more cash and bought something of higher initial quality, soley because I've ended up spending more to bring them up to scratch.

[JDC]

I'd much rather save, savings earn interest, right now I make £25 a month in interest alone from my cash isa, that's like £300 a year, then if you spend that on gear, you technically got it for free, (not counting things like inflation devaluing your savings in the first place, damn you inflation!!!)

[ailean]

I've gone spend crazy over the last year, I really don't want to think about how much I've spent. I've worked my way up through cheap to mid and some high end stuff (nothing in the REALLY high end... yet  :roll: )

Every time I've moved up a grade I've noticed the improvement and have been glad I've spent the extra getting there.

With amps I think it's easier, spend more get better sound, just need to pick your style.

Guitars are harder because there is so much variation between individual guitars, a well made Tokai can sound as good as an average Gibson, but a well made Gibson will kick ass. The difficulty is knowing which ones are the good ones before you've parted with your cash, I'm kinda glad i don't have enough money to worry about this now :)

Personally I get a great kick out of getting great tone out of my gear, so I'm happy to have spent the money, I'm a very poor player, my gear is a thousand times better than I need, but I'm still happy when I get it right and it sounds good. :)

[hunter]

I have the same problem as Hunter in that I spend lots of time comparing this versus that with all my gear.  I still end up sounding like me, just a slightly different flavour of me  :roll:

Yep, I sound equally dreadful no matter what I play.

It's much more complicated for Twinfan and Hunter than it is for me, because they have shiteloads of amps and guitars, whereas I just have shiteloads of guitars.  I suspect if I ever found myself playing in a band I'd have to totally re-evaluate the performance of all my gear.

hmm, wouldn't it be fairer to say that Dave has shiteloads of amps, you have shiteloads of guitars and I have just loads of guitars and some amps?

Whatever, but Philly, how can I get your amp gas burning, somehow weird that you seem unaffected by temptations of tolex, transformers and tubes?

[Philly Q]

Whatever, but Philly, how can I get your amp gas burning, somehow weird that you seem unaffected by temptations of tolex, transformers and tubes?

Haha, if you can wave a magic wand and make me a half-decent player (or singer, even), maybe I can get out and play.  Then I'll need some amps.

As it is, I live in a little flat with thin walls and neighbours upstairs and downstairs.  I can't make any noise, so there's absolutely no point spending money on amps.  I know loads of people on the forum have 4x12s in their living rooms, but I'd have no use for one.  Plus I just haven't got the space.  

But ultimately, I get a buzz out of guitars - I just like them as objects, the way some people like art, clothes, mobile phones, watches or cars.  Amps... are just amps.  I'd like to own some good ones, but in themselves they don't hold any fascination for me.  Same goes for pedals.

[Twinfan]

shiteloads of amps????  I only have 6, with one up for sale.  ;)

Now guitars I have shiteloads of, just not quite as many as Phil  :lol: