Amp Shopping Tips for Beginners

You've decided that you want to play guitar, done your research, and visited about a hundred music stores where you've drooled on every solid-body six string within a hundred miles of home. You know that you want an electric guitar, and though you'd really like to own the $2000 custom-shop special you saw on the wall of your favorite music store, you've decided that maybe the really nice $200 axe in the same store is a more practical purchase, at least until you hit the big time or the lottery, whichever comes first! 

The next question is, since you're going to need an amplifier to plug it into, what kind should you be looking for? If you've been looking while guitar shopping, you've probably noticed that there are just as many, if not more, amp choices than guitar choices out there, and everyone you ask for an opinion of the best one will say something different! So where to start? There are a lot of things to consider, but with a little patience, you'll find just the right compliment to your axe to get you going with a bang- or maybe with a squeal, an oink, a howl, or even a screech, if that's what you're looking for!

Like guitars, amps have made a lot of progress in terms of quality and features, even in the last 10-15 years. They range in size from little half-watt headphone amps that fit in your pocket to the walls of cabinets and 200 watt heads seen lining the stages of the loudest of loud heavy metal groups! First, let's talk about some of the different designs!

Amplifiers are available in basically 3 types, tube or solid state (the third type being a hybrid, or a vacuum tube preamp section coupled to a solid state power amp) and in 2 configurations, combo or stack (called a “piggyback” in the 50's). A combo amp means that the amplifier and the speaker are in one cabinet, while a stack is a separate amplifier head coupled to one or more speaker cabinets. Tube and solid state refer to the type of components make up the circuits of the amp.