Guitar Amps

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Q: guitar amp?
Ok, i recently bought a guitar, but i am having some problems with my amp. The amp i have is a Ibanez GTA15R with dials for gain, bass, mid, treble, volume, and reverb. I was wondering what to set the dials for the best rock or hard rock sound.

A: Do like me,,, put everything smack down in the middle. This is a flat sound in reality, and you will get crunch. Then, you can fine tune like, cutting highs, or bass, or vice-versa. don’t forget that the hard rock sound COMES FROM THE MID CONTROL . By cutting the mids, you get too much bass or highs and nothing in the middle.

Q: Guitar amp?
How can you make a distortion on a guitar amp? I don’t know what the button on my guitar amp mean. Can you tell me what:

Gain
Treble
bass
middle
master
volume

Can you tell me what those mean

A: Gain or preamp – boosts the signal from the guitar.
Treble – brightens up your tone
Bass – adds a deeper body to your sound
Middle – same just in the middle
Master – controls overall output.

Distortion – turn up the Gain to the desired level of distorition and control sound output through the Master.

Q: Guitar Amp?
I bought a Fender Squire Strat set last July on a whim and have jumped headfirst into it. Im on the verge of getting another guitar and effects pedals are falling out of my ears. But im still stuck with my basic Squire SP.10 amp. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a really cheap but great quality amp to move up to. My spenging limit is probably only about £80.

A: http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_vtone_gmx112.htm?partner_id=87171

have a look at that
its 122 pound though

but its still cheap

i got myself a behringer bass amp as they are cheap and good quality

Q: What guitar amp would be good for playing metallica songs at home?
I really like learning & playing metallica songs on guitar, but it kinda erritates me when I don’t get the right sound out of my amp. What amp would be good for playing metallica songs at home, and getting a good sound?

A: XYZ is correct about you not needing a big amp at home. I play predominately heavy metal and my choice of at home amp is a Peavey ValveKing Royal 8. I have replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion Super 8 and changed the tubes to my preference but otherwise the amp was left stock. This may only be a 5 watt amp but it is incredibly loud and the addition of a distortion pedal like the Boss MZ-2 that I use and you pretty much nail the Metallica sound. Make sure you drive it with a distortion pedal, not a overdrive or fuzz pedal because they won’t give you the sound you want. When you get some more cash grab a delay pedal to fill the sound out a bit and then buy a wah so you can butcher solos like Kirk Hammet.

Q: What is a good guitar amp for performance?
I am currently running a Fender Frontman 15g guitar amplifier. I brought my guitar to school and my techer and prinipal wants my to perform. I need an amp that can work any where from a 25 by 30 foot room to a 30 by 100 foot cafeteria. I can’t use my frontman amp because it won’t work on loud volumes. Any reccomendations? Also, it has to be under 200 dollrs.

Oh yeah, also I need some good effects. I need a good distortion, wha, flanger, delay and the pedal that slash uses in the verse of sweet child o mine that he used for the arpeggio in the verse.

A: I would say go to a pawn shop and you could find a decent 30 watt for about 100-150. I’d say a roland cube 30 or cube 20 would do the trick and it has built in chorus, delay, reverb, flanger, 5 distortions, tremolo, phaser. and the effect you’re thinking of is chorus, really the roland cube 30 or 20 is the best idea and besides all that it sounds really good, and for a wah check ebay dont be fooled by bullshit like jimi hendrix wah or slash wah the stand Dunlop Crybaby wah sounds exactly the same and on ebay you can probably get all of that for $200.

Q: How will I connect my guitar, amp and processor all together at the same time?
I have an electric guitar, an amplifier and a processor. I also have a guitar instrument cable and a speaker cable. Will you please help me to connect my guitar, proceesor and amp using these?
Please..

A: Don’t use speaker cable, so you may need another guitar cable?

Connect your guitar to the input of the processor.

Take the output of your processor into your amplifier’s input.

Unfortunately, you may need adaptors to accomplish this?

Your guitar and amp accept 1/4″ plugs…regular guitar chords.

Your processor should have 1/4″ inputs and outputs.

Q: How do I make my guitar amp sound more electricky?
These are the different knobs on my electric guitar’s amp. Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, and Reverb. When I play it sounds like a really clean regular guitar how do I give it that electric guitar sound?

A: First off, you will probably want to crank your gain first, THEN adjust the volume to where you want it. That distortion you are going for comes from the gain knob being up. So come in behind it with volume.

Your other knobs, such as bass, middle, and treble, will set your tone. I have heard you can Scoop the middle, which means turn it higher than the others like at 8 or 9, to boost your gain.

Set your bass high enough to beef it up a little. Treble can be wherever you want it.

HOWEVER, based on your particular amp model, you may not be able to acquire much of that electric guitar sound (distortion) and may need a distortion pedal such as the DS-1 by Boss…

Q: What kind of guitar amp speaker should I buy?
I have a Carvin all tube amp with a Celestion speaker circa 198?. I would like to get something a little more mellower I play rock and roll, rockabilly, Jazz, blues, not metal. I have a epiphone less paul type guitar – not quite as good.
Yes yes speaker!

A: Wow, nobody really read your question. You just want a speaker, right? Look at carvins web site – they have quite a few options. A higher watt speaker will not “break-up” as easily so may sound more mellow. A single 75 to 50 watt speaker should work fine. Peavey also makes good replacement speakers. Celestions tend to distort easier unless you get the higher watt models. Also, double check the ohm rating of the original – it might be a 4 ohm – so if you replace it with an 8 ohm you’ll lose some output, but gain headroom.

Q: What guitar + amp can I buy that has good quality and is between 300-500$?
My dad wanted to get me a guitar today for like 200$ AND the amp.But luckily,yesterday he won the lottery and he won 500$.So now I can afford a much better guitar.

So what guitar and amp costs 300-500$ and has good quality?

A: Never EVER buy a guitar/amp combo starter pack. Start off with a decent guitar in the 300$ range and save up for an amp. I personally like Ibanez Artcore’s and and they’re right under 300. As for amps I’m using a Peavey Vypyr right now, it’s a surprisingly nice modelling amp that doesn’t cost a lot of money, I think I got it for right at 200$.

Q: What kind of guitar amp should I get for playing psychedelic rock?
I’m looking for a guitar amp that has great reverb and vintage sounds from the 60’s. Any ideas. I’ve been thinking about getting a Fender Twin Reverb.

A: Look into line 6 they have pre loaded sounds on there that might have bands from the 60s. i’m no expert i just know that line 6 has a lot of amps like that, my father had 2.
Check out their website

Q: What is a good brand for an electric guitar and amp?
What is a good brand for an electric guitar amp?
I am buying my boyfriend an electric guitar and amp for his birthday. He is an average player and is still learning. I don’t want to get him a completely cheap beginners guitar because I know he will take his playing seriously and will improve. Any suggestions?? And also, what color? What else should I get with it?

A: First, do NOT go to Target or some other department store and get one of those crappy Fender Starcaster or First Act guitars. Very crappy. Go to a specialized music store. It doesn’t have to be a chain store like Guitar Center, but those stores usually have an updated and large inventory with various models. Also look at musiciansfriend.com, although, getting to see the guitar in person is better. Guitarcenter.com, also. Ask the employees in the store, they’re usually knowledgeable.

Second, Fender is actually a good brand. Really depends on your taste of music and looks of the guitar. I don’t usually associate Fender with genres like heavy metal, rather, with jazz, classic rock etc. Gibson is an all-arounder. Some other good brands I can think of are Ibanez, PRS, ESP, Godin, Epiphone (cheaper brand of Gibson that is made outside of U.S.), Dean, and Scheter. That’s all electric guitars. For acoustic and classical guitars, it’s a whole different game.

The two most influential electric guitars are arguably the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul. Many of these kinds of guitars come in different variations and originate from different countries from which they are made, but beware of the cheaper so-called “Special” versions that can cost ten times less than a standard version. They usually lack important elements. Ones that are made in the U.S. are often more expensive.

As for amps, Fender makes their own good amps. Marshall, Vox, Line 6, and a countless number of others and boutique brands are ones to consider.

Third, if I were your bf, I’d really appreciate a good tuner, extra strings, a strap, a scale and chord book (or electronic library), a hard-shell case or a good gig bag, a set of picks, a capo, a cleaning and polishing kit, or an effects pedal. If you got him all those things with the guitar and amp, it would be overkill. Just get one or two. Also, try to avoid guitars that are specifically labeled as a “starter/value/beginners/special/etc. pack” as these tend to be of lesser quality and come with less features.

Also, since I assume you don’t know exactly what kind of guitar to get (death metal-ish? jazzy?), get something along the lines of a Stratocaster or Les Paul. The copies made by other brands do just as well. In the end, it doesn’t really depend on the brand, but the guitar itself. Be sure to ask for some advise about specific features about the guitars you look at, and ask what style of music they best fit.

Hope that wasn’t too long and made you go tl;dr.

Q: How to build a guitar amp that works with a amplifier head?
I want to build my own guitar amp, but I don’t know how to, also i would like for it to be compatible with a guitar amp head. If you know anything please help, or post a link that explains how to build it, Thanks-Aaron

A: What you’re really asking is how to build a speaker cabinet and not an amplifier. You already have the amplifier, that’s the “head”.

A cabinet is basically an input jack, soldered into a circuit board.
That circuit board has 4 speaker wires going from it.
Each speaker wire goes into it’s own speaker.

(Cabs typically have 4 separate identical speakers, usually 25 or 75 watts.)

Then pack all that up into a large wooden box, with a cloth screen in the front to protect the speakers, and voila! You have a cabinet!

This requires woodworking knowledge, electrical knowledge, and you have to make sure the Ohm setting matches your head, my advice would be to copy a popular model for reference, such as the Marshall 1960 (model not year) cabinets with 75watt speakers, the most popular cabinets being used (although not the best by far)

Q: Guitar amp question: What is the difference between treble and tone?
Guitar amp question: What is the difference between treble and tone?
Im thinking of buying an amp that does not have treble(Peavey vypyr30) and maybe i’ll buy a distortion pedal(Boss DS1) that has a tone knob. And i really want to change the treble.
So is treble and tone the same thing or not, if not what’s the difference?

A: Hello! In relation to an amplifier, tone is your overall guitar sound, and treble (or “high”) is one major component of the tone. Other components would include mid-range and bass (or “low”). I am not understanding why you are concerned with the Peavey Vypyr 30 amplifier, as it has all three ranges of adjustment available (labeled low, mid, and high). See http://www.peavey.com/assets/literature/manuals/03584290_4.pdf for more details. This is a modeling amplifier, complete with a selection of pedals and amps; you will probably find that you do not need any external effects (at least for a while!). Best regards, Dana

Q: How can I best equalize my guitar amp for my keyboard?
It’s a Vox Valvetronix with gain, volume, bass, mid, treble, and master volume controls. 30 watt.
I know that there’s no way to get as clean a sound with a guitar amp as there is with a keyboard amp, but any suggestions for making it sound as good as possible? Thanks.

A: Keyboard amplifiers usually have a more wide frequency response so they have have horns/tweeters too, whereas guitar amps have not. So a guitar amplifier can not be forced too much to play higher frequencies. If you put an equalizer before the amp you could use more gain on the higher eq bands to make up for the rounded off guitar amp sound. About 3db at 4kHz, and 2-3db at 8 kHz but no gain above. Try some different settings if you can.

Q: Positioning of a guitar amp during practice and gigs?
Hey guys,

I was just wondering how do you position a guitar amp during practice and gigs?

Are you supposed to be standing infront of the amp or behind it or does it even matter? Also to avoid any ear damage, which placement would be best?

Thanks a lot!

A: you should place everything strategically. ill give you the basic set up for my band.

Drums in the back of the room.
PA system is parallel with the drumset, facing in the same direction, but slanted slightly towards the center of the room
guitar amp 1 is on one side of the room, pointed towards the other side
bass amp is on the other side of the room, pointed towards the drummer. the bass is the most likely to be heard by everyone given its frequency, and the most important to be heard by the drummer
guitar amp 2 is across from the drummer.
microphones are in the middle of the room, pointed away from the drummer and thus away from the PA monitors.
you should stand facing your band mates (in practice) so you can make eye contact and communicate, and all amps should face where you can hear them over the drums.

for ear protection, play at a quieter volume or do what many pros do and i myself do (a former pro), use good earplugs. good earplugs can actually make hearing easier, because the noise will be less muddy and you will be able to hear all the instruments clearly. i highly recomend them.