Guitar Amplifiers

When the economy is in a downturn, finding the best value for our money is increasingly important. Therefore, there is no reason to pay full price for brandname Laney combo amps and amp heads, especially with the deals online merchants offer.

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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.

Laney Linebacker 65 Reverb Guitar Amplifier 65W 2 Channel Guitar Amp US $175.00

Laney GH 100L Guitar Amplifier 4X12 Speaker Cabinet US $550.00

LANEY GH100L 100 WATT TUBE AMPLIFIER HEAD NEW US $1,099.00

NEW Laney LR5 Electric Guitar Amplifier with effects 5W US $125.00

NEW Laney 15W Bass Guitar Amplifier Amp Electric with Compressor US $135.00

LANEY NEXUS FET BASS AMPLIFIER HEAD US $900.00

Laney LX120 RT 2X12 Guitar Amplifier 120W Combo Amp US $519.00

Laney Amps LC Range LC15 110 15 Watt 1x10 Guitar Combo Amplifier US $719.99

Laney GC 30V Tube Combo 2 10 Speaker Guitar Amplifier US $669.00

LANEY LC15 110 15 WATT TUBE AMPLIFIER COMBO NEW US $449.00

LANEY GUITAR AMPLIFIER SPEAKER CABINET 4X12 EXCELLENT CONDITION US $199.99

LANEY HARD CORE MAX HCM10 20W Practice Amplifier US $49.95 0 Bid

Laney LX120RH Guitar Amplifier Head 120W Amp US $369.00

Laney LX20R Guitar Amplifier 1X8 15W Combo Amp US $139.00

Laney LX35R Guitar Amplifier 1X10 30W Combo Amp US $209.00

Laney Stereo Acoustic Guitar Amplifier Amp LA 30 LA30 Acoustic US $220.00

LANEY VC30 210 30 WATT TUBE AMPLIFIER COMBO NEW US $729.00

Laney LX65R Guitar Amplifier 1X12 65W Combo Amp US $299.00

Laney P20 Guitar Amplifier 1X8 20W Combo Amp US $129.00

Laney Cub Head 15W RMS Tube Amp Amplifier Reverb US $369.00

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. With some basic research, the buying decision is made a little easier. So, here is a brief guide for amp buying. 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

Many musicians will advise you to spend a similar amount of money on the amplifier as was spent on 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. In short, why reduce your guitar's potential by using a lesser quality amplifier. That does not mean that low priced amps are of an inferior 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.

Given the multitude of roles that amp units can fulfill, they have been optimized to be paired up with 4 different types of instruments: the electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric bass guitar, electronic keyboard.

Electric Guitar Amplifiers: These are hands down the most popular of all the amplifiers. The popularity of the electric guitar explains why this trend.

Acoustic Guitar Amplifiers: These amps are used to project the brilliant highs of the acoustic guitar without sacrificing on the mid-ranges and basses. 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: Bass amps are optimized to reproduce and project the low sonorous sounds of the bass guitar.

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

Types of Amplifier Units

Combo Amps: One box containing both amplifier and speaker. These amplifiers are the most common type on the market. The combination of amp and speakers in one unit, is the ease of handling and transport.

Amp Head: This type of amp is a single unit without speakers. Amp heads require a cable connection to speakers. You will need real speaker cables designed for handling higher voltage outputs rather than standard instrument cables. If you plan to use several speakers, then this type of amp is well designed for the task.

How an amp functions

Converting electrical impulses into audible sound is the basic function of a guitar amp. The electrical signal to sound is achieved by the preamp and power amp circuitry. The preamp works on the signal it gets from the instrument and makes it good enough for the power amp and the other instruments within the amplifier such as the EQ and the effects loop etc. The task of the power amp is to boost the signal sent to the speakers.

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. 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.

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 sound and tonal differences produced by both type of amps is generally only detectable by a trained ear, however purists tend to opt for the vacuum tube amps because of the more analog tone and distortion sound quality. Newer generations of musicians tend to opt for the latest in amp technology, namely solid state circuits, primarily because this type of amp suits modern music genres. Plus very affordable quality amps are available with this newer technology.

Proper Channels

Most amps support multiple channels, which when independently setup, allow you to switch channels easily while playing. Channel switching or switching between multiple channels while playing is a rather important feature that many guitarist now-a-days prefer. 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 amps come equipped with a footswitch with which you can change and juggle between multiple channels at the same time.

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) The higher the wattage spec, the louder sound capability of the amplifier.

b) Vacuum tube amps reproduce a louder sound per Watt of power when compared to solid state type amps. For instance, a 5 Watt powered vacuum amplifier produces sound similar to a 40 Watt state amplifier.

c) Beginner musicians will find the feature of a headphone jack useful, especially for those practice sessions when you do not want to disturb the 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: 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. Remember we mentioned channels earlier, well channels can control effects which can be preset and assigned to a channel. The channel switcher can then easily switch between different effects presets. In many instances, amps will feature preset effects combinations.

Speakers

Speaker quality is important, of course. be mindful of your budget, but try to get the best speakers for 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. Better quality speakers facilitate better coloration of the amps signal, thus creating a richer superior sound.

Speaker types:

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

Concluding 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. 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.

Here are a few guide tips

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

- 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.

Use this guide as a starting point to formulate a criteria for your guitar amplifier research and ultimate purchase.

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