Turtlerock Forum

I mean guitar amps. Which will sound better?

I imagine that both sound a little shitty!

Its a pretty open ended question really... how shit is "shit"?
I'd be inclined to go with a great speaker box and a less than great amplifier if I had to.
Simply because it is the transducer in the equation. It is what ultimately makes the sound...
No amp will fix a dysfunctional, boxy, rattly sounding speaker box.


That being said, not speaker box will save a dysfunctional, nasty sounding amplifier.

Yeah good answer, they will both sound shitty, it's just to different degrees. I sometimes get guitarists with um.. less than stellar amps, but talking them into using my amps can be interesting. Like that joke, "What's the difference between a guitarist and the PLO....? You can negotiate with the PLO."
So maybe having a couple of spare cabs with Vintage 30's in them that I could replace their speakers with might be handy. Plus they could have their amps by them out with the band and I could remote the cabs off to another room somewhere.

Good head and shitty speaker every time for me.

Sometimes shitty speakers can be great- acting like built in HP or LP filters. If the interaction with the guitar, natural compression, and quality EQ isn't there to start with, you're screwed!

I also reckon you can often compensate a little bit for a speaker that is too bright/dark/muddy with mic placement and choice. A fizzy or really dry sounding amp is always going to have that as the basis to it's sound.

You can always DI a good head

I had a 5 watt tube amp, that had a shitty speaker in it and it sounded shit. I thought about throwing the whole thing away. I replaced the speaker with something more efficient, and it was a completely different amp. So, I think a good speaker (can still be old) but I think efficiency is the key.