Things You'll Need:
- Guitar
- Computer (optional)
-
Step 1
Think about what kind of sound you want--crystal-clean or raging distortion? A warm, tubey vibe or an industrial noise machine? Listen to your favorite guitarists for ideas. Budget is another important factor. Know how much money you can spend and be realistic about the type of amp you can get for that. Do some online pricing research. Tube amps are much more expensive than solid state, but they sound warmer, more organic, and are great for vintage guitar tones.
-
Step 2
Now to do some test driving. Visit a music shop that sells guitars. It can be a national chain like GuitarCenter or a mom-and-pop rock shop. If it's convenient to bring your guitar, do so. If not, find the guitar closest to yours in the shop and plug it into a few amps.
-
Step 3
Play through all the amps you can until you find the one that sounds perfect to you. Here are some general guides to some major brands and their strengths and weaknesses.
Fender: Good clean sounds, especially tube. Fender Twin is a standout, with good built-in reverb and tremolo. Not much on-board gain (drive) or channel switching.
Marshall: Top of the heap in terms of crunch. If you want to sound like Cream-era Clapton, start here. Very good all-around, but not as versatile as some of the others.
Vox: Vintage warm jangle sound. Very British Invasion.
Mesa Boogie: Here's where we start getting heavy. Massive distortion sounds but has lots of knobs, which can be confusing. -
Step 4
Give each amp time to reveal itself to you. Try all possible combinations of settings. It's important to make as informed a decision as possible. Take your time.
-
Step 5
Shop online. If you see the one you want in a store and the price is right, by all means, take it. But if you've got just a little patience and aren't loaded, you should shop online. It's much cheaper. Try wholesale websites like Zzounds.com or SameDayMusic.com. Also look on eBay. Buy only from sellers with impeccable feedback. There are a lot of scammers out there.
