How to Buy a Guitar Amp

By Henry

Rate: (4 Ratings)

You could have a vintage $4000 Les Paul, but if you’re playing through a sub-par guitar amp, it’s not going to matter much. Your guitar amp is hugely important.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

  • $100-$1000+

Step1
Choose a combo amp or head and cabinet. Separate heads and cabinets look and sound great, but they’re much harder to transport around. If you’re playing live, guitar amps will be mic-ed so a combo amp can be effective.
Step2
Solid state or tube? Tube amps have a great vintage feel and sound, but weigh a ton and are hard to repair. Solid state is cheaper. A good middle ground is a hybrid tube/sold state amp. New amps are getting better at mimicking a tube amp sound, but purists will only play a tube amp.
Step3
Look for knobs. Sounds simple, but you want a fair number of tone controls. Look for low, mid and high EQ, presence, overdrive, and reverb. A lot of knobs may look nice, but some could be all form and no function.
Step4
Check out digital modeling amps. Some modeling amps can switch from a Marshall stack sound to a Fender amp sound. A footswitch can change between tones—so you can potentially go from clean to distorted without an extra distortion pedal. Check for other effects, like tremolo or chorus.
Step5
Pick speaker size. 4 x 10 is a good all around bet. The larger the speaker, the deeper the sound, so larger is not necessarily better if you’re looking for rich high-end tones.

Tips & Warnings

  • Check if the amp uses spring reverb or digital reverb. Spring is going to sound more natural, but some can’t tell the difference between spring and digital.
  • Your best bet is to play your own guitar through a selection of amps. Take your time. Turn it up. Play clean and quiet. Play around with the tone controls and see how responsive the amp is.
  • Also check to see if the amp is sturdy. If you’re taking the amp on tour, it better be durable.
  • A 15 watt practice amp can work if you’re just using the amp in a small space.
  • Wear ear plugs. Don't end up like Pete Townshend with permanent hearing damage from his huge guitar cabinet.

Comments

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dsaraj said

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on 9/25/2007 Really sometimes it's not so great to mic your amp it can get nasty.

kww48 said

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on 8/23/2007 If you build your own electric guitar, this is important advice. The amp is just as important as the guitar to get the sound you dream of.

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on 4/20/2007 Great advice! I've been playing soley acoustic for a while now, and now I'm looking to plug in. Had no idea digital modeling amps existed, I'm eager to check them out.

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eHow Article:  How to Buy a Guitar Amp

eHow Member: Henry

Henry

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