solidrane

I know the amp provides the most in terms of tone, but by how much? 60% amp, 20%/20% wood/pickups?

Is a new amp comparable to getting premium pickups and wood in terms of tone impprovement?

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T00DEEPBLUE

these 'percentages' claims are 100% bullshit.

Irony intended.

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solidrane

Rofl, just my assumptions i guess

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jeleopard

Most will come from amp. But percentages aren't really reliable to measure...

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lemurflames

Amp first. Then wood, pickups, strings, and fingers to tweak the tone.

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Dave_Mc

agreed. 87% of statistics are made up.

most will come from the amp- but that depends on which amps you're comparing, and there might be some tonal things from elsewhere which might be pretty subtle, but which you might not be able to adjust for at the amp, either, kind of thing.

EDIT: i'd say it's about evenly split between amp (including speakers and cab), guitar (as a whole) and fx. And assuming you're looking at vastly different things in each (i.e. you're not comparing a 5150 to a fender twin while comparing a fender strat to a very slightly different type of fender strat).

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JELIFISH19

If you play 2 different guitars through one amp, they'll sound different
If you play one guitar through 2 different amps, they'll sound different
That means:
Playing the right guitar through the wrong amp is not a good combination
Playing the wrong guitar through the right amp is not a good combination
That's my math

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Wesbanez

Pointless topic, pointless thread. Stop trying to quantify what are inherently subjective topics.

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Dave_Mc

yeah- i'd say be very wary of anyone who gives you concrete answers. it's very dependent on what you're comparing. plus pretty subjective, too, as you said.

E.g. is the amp more important? probably, but if you compare a blackface twin to a silverface twin and then a strat to a les paul, then the guitar is more important.

as i said, you have to compare like with like. Assuming you allow for the biggest possible changes, i'd say, from biggest to lowest differences:

amp (compare a 5150 to a twin, BIG difference)
pedals (compare a fuzz pedal to no pedal, again, BIG difference)
guitar (compare a strat to a les paul, pretty big difference)
speakers/pickups (i'd say they're about equal)

those would be the big differences, for me

then smaller, but still usually noticeable differences

speaker cabinet type/size/etc.
valves/tubes

these next ones all make a difference, but how much and in what order

wood
neck and body thickness/shape
bridge type
neck joint type
scale length
fret size and material/nut material
probably some others i've forgotten

as for putting percentages... nah. Depending on what you're comparing between, some of those could change in importance, too.

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Huge Guy

Amp. You can get a shitty guitar to sound better through a more powerful amp. Playing a guitar with great pickups through a shit amp will still sound like shit.

W4RP1G

Wow what a surprise, everyone is voting amp....

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JesusCrisp

Almost everything is relevant.

+1 to Dave's post.

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krehzeekid

tone isn't as simple as "60% this, 40% that". the contributions made by the various components of a rig- cables, wood, pickups, pots, caps, amp, pedals, strings, speakers, room size- all effect different parts of your tone. for instance, getting a new amp will not make your guitar sound like it was made from premium wood if it was made of plywood- that's just not how it works.

each component effects only its own contribution to the sound. that means that the a new amp only effects the portion of the tone contributed by the amp. the real difference is in how the parts work together- the right pickups with the right amp can make a tremendous difference. Also, depending on what gear is being used, something as small as a different patch chord or better quality batteries can make your tone noticeably better.

essentially, the source of tone is the rig as a whole. there is no single piece that is the key to great tone or that will make or break the tone. because your guitar tone is made up of all sorts of different components working together, you need to consider each component to be important. yes, there are some components that will make a seemingly bigger change than others- like an amp. but there is no component that can universally improve an entire rig on its own.

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W4RP1G

Well of course, but the question here is which has the most impact on your tone. That is obviously the amp.

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Dave_Mc

agreed, except i'd say there probably are some things that could "break the tone". a really bad cable, say, or something like that.

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krehzeekid

but that just isn't true. at least, not in all cases.

if you run a tremendous pedal board, a big rack unit (like axe FX or similar) and a heavily modded guitar with active electronics, the amp ultimately becomes a very small (or even non-existent) part of the rig.

saying the amp is the most important part of any guitar rig is, frankly, a severely misinformed statement.

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W4RP1G

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. The question was about the AMP VS PICKUPS+GUITAR. In the case were you only have an amp and a guitar, the amp will determine your tone more than anything.

I get what your saying, I just don't think it applies to the question at hand.

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krehzeekid

I think the issue is that, as I see it, the question isn't a relevant one. looking at only wood+pickups or the amp is shortsighted and cannot possibly address the whole issue.

beyond that, depending on the circumstances, either of those options could prove to be more true than the other. you simply cannot say that either one is definitively and universally more important than the other. it just isn't possible.

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ne14t

Amp because that is what people are hearing obviously, then I would have to say pickups because without them no signal is going to your amp regardless of what wood the guitar is made out of, then wood because to be honest it does affect resonance and tone but not as dramatically as a set of pickups can. I mean if I swap PAFs into my Explorer which has Gibson's hottest ceramic pickups it will sound different. If I then put those ceramic pickups in my Les Paul that has 57 classic's in it, it will sound a lot like my Explorer did. My buddies Les Paul actually has the same pickups as my Explorer and it sounds almost identical, a little brighter because of the maple cap. I think fingers and pick attack can play more of a roll in tone then woods.

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