Choosing Amplifiers

What should you consider before purchasing an amplifier for your guitar or bass?

There is no doubt that a good amp will make that tone stand out proud. At one point or another, guitarists get the urge to spend their hard earned cash on one GOOD amp but what is a good amp? After all, tone is subjective and individual to each one of us.
There are hundreds if not thousands of different amplifiers to choose from but only few would be suitable for a specific task and instrument.

If you have decided to shop for an amp, remember to take with you the actual guitar to be played on it, as if you don’t, you can have a nasty surprise. Some amplifiers are more suited to different guitars and their pickups, this is the one thing where you can throw loads of money away; be warned!

Not everyone has their customised recording studio, away from residential area, so for this reason it would be silly to go and purchase a 100 watts amp as you very likely will not reap the full benefit, unless you like to have the police around your place. LOL

Speakers sizes must also be considered as the larger the speaker the better bass response is obtained, as well as wider frequency range.

Tube or valve amps.
For a valve amp to sound good, it would need to be played “hot” and that means loud too. If you are going to use the amp for practising in your bedroom, then a good choice would be a 2 - 5 watts. It is surprising how loud that sounds in a confined space but if you need it for performing with a band in your local pub, then a 50 watts or greater would be the better choice there.
Valve amps can get extremely hot and they will require maintenance. It is a good idea to find out from the tech department of the specific amp model what are the costs for that specific model.

Solid State or transistor amps.
These more affordable amps, are a good choice for many who cannot afford the tube amp; the sound is not as warm as with the valve type but transistor amps are great to use, have many features and are very popular. Many of them have sampled sound of different amp models. Transistor amps can feature an ever increasing amount of digital effects and presets, you can adjust the amp to your required settings and then store these on a specific channel or button for later selection by hand or if a pedal is used, by foot (most appropriate way).

You can also find valves on some transistor amplifiers but these are usually preamp valves which will alter the guitar input gain (and tone), before processing to the amplification stage.

Effect Loop.
The more money you spend, the more likely to get additional amp features.
The effects loop will determine the way external effect units, stomp boxes or rig, go through the amplifier signal processing. There are different ways to link your effects to your amp and the sound output will be totally different.

Amps cabinets.
Some amplifiers come with their own speaker cabinet, some in one integrated unit, some separate from the amp; this allows to have one brand of amp head to be used with a different cabinet model or brand.

Here are some variables for choosing an amp. First you must decide on your actual budget limit: This will help the sales staff to eliminate many inapplicable amps.

Amp for bass, acoustic or electric guitar
Mono or Stereo
Practice or live playing
Home practice only (low to mid volume)
Home practice and occasional live playing
Studio playing
Solely for gigging (what room or stage size)
Valve (tube) Amp
Solid state (transistor amp)
Effects (Delay, Phaser, Reverb....)
Effects loop (with or without assignability)
CD or MP3 input
Built in Tuner
Battery powered or mains
Auto presets
Assignable banks for saving presets
Foot controller
Multichannel with each one having separate EQ controls
Illuminated controls
All in one unit or amp head only
Portability (weight and size)
Wattage power
Speaker Size
Amps that have built in USB interface (for DAW music recording)
 

I hope this information will allow you to make an informative choice and have more quality playing time in the search for your new (or preowned) amp.