Guitar Amplifiers

In today's economic cycle it's important to get the most you can for your purchasing power. With the wide array of competition, both online and offline, there is little reason to pay full price for quality Eden Tube bass amps products and services.

When thinking of shopping online, eBay represents one of the leading marketplaces. With millions of users each day from over 30 countries, eBay is a unique, well proven and trusted online marketplace. Looking for exotic collectibles, automotive parts, home appliances, baby needs, heavy earth moving equipment, tools, clothes? Then eBay is a wise choice worth exploring. Apply a little research and be surprised at the bargains on offer each day.

Concerned about paying for products online? Ensuring a secure online shopping environment is of prime importance for eBay. The combination of eBay's Seller Feedback system and Paypal's Buyer Protection scheme make the online purchasing experience safe and secure.

The eBay buyer interface offers the shopper options such as: buy now; make an offer; or bid on an auction within a secure and trusted online environment.

Eden Wt550 Wt 550 Travel Bass Guitar Tube Amplifier Amp US $899.99

Eden Wt1205 Wt 1205 Bass Guitar Amp Tube Amplifier US $999.99

Guitar Amplifiers Buying 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. Sure you need to inform yourself about amplifier specs and features, but do not stress too much. The simple approach is pick your budget, review a few models and make the purchase. The state of current technology and manufacturing techniques means that most amps are of good build quality and will deliver acceptable performance.

What is the right budget

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 pretty simple; the music that you create needs to pass through the amp before it reaches the world. 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. These days, with the advanced computer aided manufacturing methods, the cost of producing amplifiers is lower while the relative quality improves. This is obviously good news for the newbie guitarist who wants a good amp unit.

Amplifiers are generally optimized to perform with the four types of guitar instruments, for example: the electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric bass guitar, electronic keyboard.

Electric Guitar Amplifiers: These are by far the most popular category of amplifiers. 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. Typically, the acoustic amplifier houses inbuilt speakers; feature a microphone plug and a line-in for guitar pickups.

Bass Amplifiers: These amps tend to not distort the sound; rather the focus of a bass amp is to reproduce the low sonorous sounds that bass guitars are so popularly known for.

Keyboard Amplifiers: These amplifiers are optimized to simply and accurately reproduce and project the keyboard sounds like a PA system.

Amp Unit types

Combo Amps: Contain both the speaker and the amplifier unit in one box. Most of the amps that you will see are of this variety. These are very good for carrying around, as long as they are not too large.

Amplifier Head: Is a single amp unit without any speakers. These need to be paired up with speakers by a cable. It is advised to use high voltage cables for connecting the amp head to the speakers. Avoid standard type instrument cables. This type of an amp is also great for connecting a large number of speakers.

How an amp functions

Converting electrical impulses into audible sound is the basic function of a guitar amp. To achieve this task, amps use two circuits or stages, namely: preamp and power amp. The preamp receives electrical signals from the guitar The task of the power amp is to boost the signal sent to the speakers.

Vacuum Tube Amplifier

A vacuum tube is basically the same thing that was used in radios about half a century ago.

When over-driven and heated with electrical current, tube type amps produce a tonal warmth and a unique 'distortion effect' not found in digital type amps. This is the reason why even today, when they are soundly obsolete and replaced with solid state diodes, they remain in vogue.

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.

So, what type of amp is right for you? That can depend on two things: budget and your musical genre you prefer to play. Both vacuum tube and solid state amps produce reproduce excellent sound quality. Purists argue in favor of the more organic sound quality of vacuum tube amps and their ability to produce that unique analog warmth and fluid distortion. 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

Most amps support multiple channels, which when independently setup, allow you to switch channels easily while playing. Multiple channels and channel switching is an important feature to look for when making buying choice for an amplifier. Channel switching is especially useful for the electric guitarist for the ability to effortlessly switch between the loud distortion effect and the clean rhythm tones. Most amplifiers are already equipped an accessory footswitch which facilitate channel changes.

Electrical Power

The power of an amplifier is measured in Watts. This is a measure of the capacity of the amp to power the speakers. Keep the following things in mind when selecting the kind of power you want your amp to be based on:

a) Higher wattage will mean a louder sound in the same amplifier.

b) Vacuum tube type amplifiers deliver a much louder sound per Watt in comparison to solid state amplifiers. 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

Most amplifiers support a number of inbuilt effects. Here is a brief overview:

Line-6-spider-amp-controls

a) EQ: This generally comes in the form of 2 or 4 knobs with which you can control the range of frequencies in the sound. 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 an example, increasing the treble settings will produce a brighter sound, increase the middle EQ with treble and bass to zero to deliver a raw natural sound of the instrument. And then play with the bass control for added bass depth.

b) Effects Loop: An effect loop is controlled by an external chord and facilitates changing the signal carried between the preamp and the power amp.

c) Digital Effects such as flange, phase, reverb, echo, chorus, pitch shift, etc are supplied in most quality amplifiers. 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

Speaker quality is an equally important consideration when buying a guitar amp. It is not necessary to pay a lot of money, but nevertheless, try to get the best quality that fits your budget. As a general rule, speaker price generally determines projected sound quality. Heavier more expensive speakers manage sound projection better than cheaper lighter models. 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: generally housed in smaller amps.

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

- 12” Speakers: basic performance amps.

- 15” Speakers: these speakers suit bass amps and built into separate speaker cabinets.

Final thoughts

Buying an amplifier requires some initial thought and research. Be clear about the purpose of the amplifier and how it will match and enhance your musical genre. Some considerations include: the style of music you plan now, the number of instruments you plan to attach to the amp, are there other band members who want to plug into your amp, the size of performances and venue types.

Some helpful tips

- A 40 Watt solid state amplifier featuring 10" speakers will project adequately in most performance situations, depending on the loudness of the drummer.

- 60 Watt solid state amp paired with a 12” speaker will do well in all but the loudest situations.

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

The tips in this guide will help you evaluate your needs for an amp and assist you find the right amp that matches your musical genre; performance and practice requirements and, budget.

Eden Tube Bass Amps - recently bought amps.

Visitor search terms:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.