Guitar Amplifiers

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Crate B Series - recently bought amps.

Buying an Electric Guitar Amplifier. A Guide.

Buying a new or pre-owned guitar amp can be a difficult can be a challenge to decide on the right amp for you, your guitar and your musical style. This guide attempts to make your buying decision a little easier with arming your with some basic tips. On the one hand, it is wise to arm yourself with some research before entering the market for an amp. On the other hand, the quality of amps on the market these days, you could just as easily pick your budget, review a few models in that price range, and make the purchase. So do not stress too much.

What price

There is a general rule of thumb, advocated by musicians, the cost of the amp ought match the cost of the guitar. The reason is simple: why diminish your musical talent and the quality of your guitar with an amplifier of lesser value than your instrument. Bottom line is; don’t retard your instrument’s potential by pairing it up with a less than suitable amp. However that does not mean that less pricey amps are of low quality. Today, because of computer aided manufacturing, costs of amp units are dropping considerably without affecting the quality of the sound that produced. This is obviously good news for the newbie guitarist who wants a good amp unit.

At first glance, amps are designed to match the four types of guitars, namely: electric; acoustic; electric bass and electronic keyboard.

Electric Guitar Amps: These are very popular amps. The popularity of the electric guitar explains why this trend.

Acoustic Guitar Amplifiers: These amplifiers are optimized to project the brilliant highs of the acoustic guitar while preserving the warm mid-ranges and bass. Acoustic guitar amps always have their own speakers and they also generally allow a mic to be plugged in directly along with the line from the acoustic guitars pickups.

Bass Amps: These amplifiers are optimized to not distort sounds of the lower lower registers.

Keyboard Amplifiers: Simply try to reproduce the sounds made by the keyboard as accurately as possible acting like a PA system.

Amplifier Types

Combo Amps: Contain both the speaker and the amplifier unit in one box. These amps are what you will most commonly find in the market. One of the benefits of these amps is they are easy to carry and transport.

Amplifier Head: This type of amp is a single unit without speakers. These need to be paired up with speakers by a cable. High voltage capable cables are the better choice for connecting speakers to the amp head. Avoid using standard guitar cables. This type of amplifier is designed to manage the connection of several speakers.

How an amp functions

The basic function of an Amp is to convert electrical signals into audible sound. To achieve this task, amps use two circuits or stages, namely: preamp and power amp. The preamp processes the signal received from the guitar and sends to the power amp and other processes in the amp, such as the EQ and effects loop. The power amp boosts the signal so that the speakers can produce the audible sound.

Vacuum Tube Amplifier

A vacuum tube is essentially the same as what you find in older style ratios.

Tubes, when they are over-driven and heated with electrical current produce the “distortion effect” which explains the popularity of these types of amplifier. Although tube amps are considered an older technology, being replaced with solid state technology, they remain popular for many musicians.

Solid State Amps

This type of amp incorporates newer circuit design and aims to replicate the tonal and sound processing qualities of the older vacuum tube amp models.

Trying to decide whether to go in for a vacuum tube based amp or a solid state based amp is a very personal question. The difference between the two is something which only very well tuned ears can pick up, however purists tend to stick with the vacuum tube because of the organic and fluid distortion that comes out of it. Solid state amps are generally cheaper than their vacuum tube counterparts. So, for budding musicians, a sold state amp can be bought with a smaller starting budget.

The Proper Channel

When research amplifiers, ensure the unit is capable of multiple channels, which can be set independently allowing the user to seamlessly switch between channels. For most musicians, channel switching capabilities is an important feature. Electric guitarists find the ability to channel switch useful to achieve efficient changes between loud distorted sounds and those cleaner rhythmic tones. Most amplifiers are already equipped an accessory footswitch which facilitate channel changes.

Electrical Power

The power capacity of an amplifier is measured in Watts. And it is this wattage capacity that drives the speakers. Bear in mind the following guide when researching your amplifier purchase:

a) A higher wattage will produce a louder sound in the same amplifier unit type

b) Vacuum tubes produce a markedly louder sound per Watt of power as compared to solid state circuits. For instance, a 5 Watt powered vacuum amplifier produces sound similar to a 40 Watt state amplifier.

c) A headphone jack is standard in an amp unit. Although it is a simple feature, it is especially useful for practice sessions while not disturbing your neighbors.

Amplifier Effects

Here is a summary of the more common effects inbuilt into amps:

Line-6-spider-amp-controls

a) EQ: The amp unit will feature 2 or 4 dial knobs that control the range of sound frequencies For instance, increase treble settings for a brighter sound, adjust the middle EQ to full and the treble and bass to zero to achieve a the natural sound of the guitar, add extra bass tones by increasing the bass frequency. As we are familiar with the slider type EQ controls on a home stereo system, then experiment with the EQ controls on an amp. Adjusting the treble higher produces brighter sounds, while adjusting the middle and bass produces rich deeper tones.

b) Effects Loop: Modifying the signal from the preamp and power amp is achieved by an effects loop controller.

c) Digital Effects: Many amps offer digital effects like flange, phase, reverb, echo, chorus, pitch shift, etc. You can save these as presets that can act as channels in the amp. Many amps also come with presets which can be used as well.

Speakers

Obviously this is what the world listens to! So it is good to have the best speakers which you can buy. bear in mind that heaver and more expensive speakers are generally translate better sound quality. You get what you pay for is a good rule to apply to speakers. Better quality speakers produce better coloration of an amps signal and delivers richer sounds and tones when compared to cheaper models.

Common speaker types include:

- 8” Speakers: found in smaller amps.

- 10” Speakers: find these in amp for for practice sessions.

- 12” Speakers: find in amps used for performances.

- 15” Speakers: usually found in bass amps and housed in a separate cabinet.

Concluding thoughts

There really are gazillion things that you will need to consider if you sat down to decide what kind of an amp you should be purchasing. Among these are – the types of music that you play, the number of instruments in the band, the placement of the amp, is the drummer loud, the size of the performance etc.

Some helpful tips

- 40 Watt solid state amps driving a 10" speaker will deliver adequate results for most performance contexts.

- For larger performance situations, a 60 Watt amp connected to a 12" speaker will deliver excellent performance.

- 30 Watt tub amplifier is the pic for a full rock band performance in most contexts.

This guide is a starter for you on the path to buying the right guitar amp that meets your musical style and performance needs.

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