Do You Build Your Tone Around The Guitar Or The Amp?

[MetalPlayer]

Some players choose guitars to match their amps, while others build rigs around a favourite guitar. Which approach works best for you?

[GearNerd]

I usually start with the guitar because that’s where the core character comes from.

[BluesGuy]

For me the amp shapes most of the tone, so I tend to focus there first.

[Newbie]

I try to balance both. A good guitar through the wrong amp still won’t sound great.

[Olly]

I think there is so much flexability with amp modellers and effects these days that the guitar itself become less and less important in terms of tone.

Of course, a lot of people will say that tone come from the fingers (which I do agree with) and therefore having a guitar that works with you and your playing style is vital.

[Solarflares]

Understanding the sound that comes from the guitar is most important.
In my world, I would seek an amp that has both gain but also linearity, in that it can respond and relate to all the frequencies it is given. Some amps have wonderful complexity in the mids, others are more lifeless.
So, I would find the guitar that excites me as a player - then find an amp that can add linear gain to that signal.

Shame these days that manufacturers push high-mid complexity down people’s throats. That is simply not how it’s done.
So almost all new amps made today will require a valve-swap to achieve any kind of useful linearity, and then you generally find that the amp is a dead, lifeless piece of junk.

As an example, I took a Victory Sheriff 44, and it was really dreadful in every way. The bass and lo-mids were mixed horribly, bags of high-mid, and nasty treble. Impossible to control the bottom-end, with ridiculous fizz going on.
Fitting it with 60’s Mullards changed everything.
The amp then had distinct bass, and lo-mids were a separate entity. The high-mids were now slightly recessed, and the top-end was smooth but alive.
Whilst the amp became altogether ‘polite’ and lacked voice - the guitar’s real sound could now be heard, and all frequencies were relayed very musically, especially at high-gain.
I can then ‘excite’ proceedings with my playing dynamics. I can make it cry and sing, screech or murmur - whatever I want.
If I post EQ it, the controls affect only the relevant zones, without overlap. So I can subtly tweak lo-mid and bass separately. This is hugely important.
This amp is now a very good recording platform. With stock valves, it was unusable.
The big thing I am aware of is the sound of the guitar itself. When the monitor speaker resonates the guitar, then it gets even better.

So that’s my way of doing it. Anything else is a departure from the essential tone of the guitar itself.

You might though, find an amp like a Seymour Duncan Convertible 100, fit it with Mullards, and be amazed at the beautiful complexity of the mids in their entirety. This is simply a fantastic amp. It will make you want to play, whilst also giving great controlled bottom-end and top. Amps like these are rare. Most amps are not like this, and you must look beyond that initial high-mid excitement, if you are to find something that can reward your playing and enhance it with pure linearity.