Guitar Amplifiers

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Electric Guitar Amplifiers. Buyers Tips.

Given the variety of guitars and the number of amplifier brands available, deciding on the right amplifier has its challenges. Here is a basic guide to assist your amp choice. 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

A common adage used by guitarists is that you should always spend as much on the amp unit as you are willing to spend on the guitar. Why? Well the amp is the channel through with your musical talent will broadcast to the audience. In short, why reduce your guitar's potential by using a lesser quality amplifier. However that does not mean that less pricey amps are of low quality. The state of amplifier manufacturing processes, that incorporate computer aided technologies, means that unit quality improves while retails prices become lower. This market trend is good news for guitarists researching and buying a new or pre-owned amplifier.

Electric Guitar Amplifiers: These are very popular amps. 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 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.

Types of Amplifier Units

Combo Amps: House both amp unit and speakers in one box. Most of the amps that you will see are of this variety. 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. If you plan to use several speakers, then this type of amp is well designed for the task.

How an amplifier works

The basic function of an Amp is to convert electrical signals into audible sound. The electrical signal to sound is achieved by the preamp and power amp circuitry. 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 is responsible for boosting the signal from the pre amp and sending it to the speakers according to the wattage specs of the unit.

Vacuum Tube Amplifier

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

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

Solid state amps are a newer generation of circuitry, inspired by the tube type amps, optimized to reproduce the those more authentic and classic tones achieved by tube amps.

So, what type of amp is right for you? That can depend on two things: budget and your musical genre you prefer to play. 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. 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

Amplifiers offer multiple channels which can be independently setup so that you can switch between them without missing a beat. For most musicians, channel switching capabilities is an important feature. Electric guitarists use this to switch between the loud distortion sound and the clean rhythm tones. A footswitch, which is generally supplied with new amp purchases, manages channel switching.

Electrical Power

Power in an amp is meant to denote the amount of raw power being fed into the amp unit for the speakers. This is usually measured in Watts. Here are a few tips to guide your amp selection, relating to wattage:

a) The higher the wattage spec, the louder sound capability of the 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

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

Line-6-spider-amp-controls

a) The EQualizer controls sound frequencies. An amp will feature 2 or 4 dial knobs to control these adjustments. 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 effects loop allows you to modify the signal between the preamp and the power amp using an external chord.

c) Digital Effects: Most modern amplifiers feature a range of digital effects that may include; flange, phase, reverb, echo, chorus, pitch shift and so on. Presets can be saved and assigned to channels in the more modern digital types of amps. And many amplifier models feature a selection of effects presets for easy selection.

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. Do note that the heavier and more expensive speakers are always of better quality than cheaper ones. 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: smaller amplifiers.

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

- 12” Speakers: found in general performance amplifiers.

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

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. 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.

Points to consider

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

- A 60 Watt solid state amplifier matched with a 12" speaker is completely suitable to all but the loudest performance locations.

- A 30 Watt tube amp is adequate enough for a full rock band performance in most locations.

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.

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