Buying Guide

This serves to provide an overview and some crucial information for you to get started. Explore and devour as much information as you deem necessary from various sources available to you for better understanding on this subject. The internet is never short of this subject. Just be ready for information overload.

Choosing a suitable guitar amplifier to start out with can become a hair-pulling task. But here are some ways to make it easier.

With so much attention focused on which guitars give you which sound, which guitars look the nicest, and which play the best, the lowly guitar amplifier is often ignored, especially by novice guitarists. Which is a big mistake for guitarists looking to find a great sound.
A serious guitar player can not overlook the importance of getting a good amp to complement his guitar. A good amp can make an average-quality guitar sound good and vice versa. Here are some things you should consider before purchasing your first amp.

The fact of the matter is; a sub-par guitar played through a great amp can still sound fairly decent, but even the best guitars, when played through a bad amplifier, sound awful. Bear this in mind.
If you're considering buying your first amplifier, price will obviously be one of your primary concerns. Guitar amplifiers range in price from under $100, to multiple thousands of dollars. A common choice for first amplifiers are the very small and basic 15-watt amps which provide a low cost solution to amplifying the guitar.

If you intend to use it only as a practice amp in the room then such an amp can be tolerated. But, when you are ready to start playing with other musicians these small amps can present a big problem simply because they don't provide a great deal of volume. Many of these small amplifiers have a hard time being heard above the volume of a drummer, which renders them useless in those situations.

This isn't meant to imply that you need to spend $1000 on your first guitar amplifier. But, by setting your sites above the cheapest, smallest amplifier you'll certainly end up with an amp that will serve your needs for a much longer period of time.

For one, the Fender Pro Junior is a great, low-cost tube amplifier that you'll sometimes even see being used by professional guitarists. What the Pro Junior lacks in control (no EQ, no reverb), it more than makes up for in tone and sound quality.

There are a few things to look for in modestly priced amplifiers; at least a 3-band EQ (low, mid, and high), a clean channel and an "overdrive" channel, reverb, and possibly some sort of "presence" control. Another thing to be aware of is the existence of two types of amplifiers; tube and transistor.

The mechanics of a guitar amplifier will also make a difference. Tube amplifiers will give you a warmer sound and more sustain. Tube amplifiers, usually because of their craftsman work and lesser number, are more expensive.

Tube amps are special creations, in the sense more craft goes into their making. Some even have coils or “spring reverb.” A tube amp's drawbacks are heaviness, bulkiness fragility and occasionally have the tendency to pick up mechanical noise (microphonic).

Solid state guitar amps are based on a semiconductor system. These guitar amplifiers are cheaper then tube and have more variety. Solid states also last longer and weigh less. Their no nonsense suites a beginner well.

An important consideration when buying a beginner guitar amp is the situations it will be used in. While any amplifier will provide enough volume for "bedroom practice", most of the cheap, tiny beginner amps can't provide adequate volume for playing with others (especially if there are drums involved). As a result, you end up buying "upgrade amps" a few months after you begun playing guitar. Just bear this in mind.

If you haven't purchased an electric guitar yet, you want to look at some good value Electric Guitar Packages. They normally range between $150 to $400. These packages usually include an electric guitar, a guitar amp, shoulder strap, cables, tuner and other accessories. Check them out Check them out here

If one gets frustrated, don’t. The perfect guitar amplifier does not exist. You’re not trying to answer the sphinx’s riddle. To be blunt, selecting the “wrong” amp can be the right choice because this can make a guitarist realize what he or she really wants.

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