Guitar Amps

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Q: Guitar Amplifiers?
What are the sound advantages and disadvantages between the different types of guitar amplifiers (valve, transistor, etc) except for the prices?

A: To put it simply, valves (or tubes, as they are also known) warm up the sound. They saturate so the louder you get, the better it sounds. Most transistor (or solid-state) amps, will pretty much give you what you’re gonna get, but doesn’t always work when cranked. If you want a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about compare the tone of Dimebag Darrell from Pantera (solid-state ALL the way) to, let’s say, Adam Jones from TOOL (pure tube tone). FYI there are also hybrids that use tubes in the preamps section (tone-shaping, EQ, etc) and solid state power sections (for volume and overall presence).

Q: GUITAR AMPLIFIERS?!?!?
Ok, I have been playing guitar for a little over 3 years now, and I’ve been playing through a Line 6 Spider 3. The problem is, when I tried to use this amp to play with a drummer and a bassist it just wasn’t loud enough to keep up. As of right now I have about $200 saved up. I’m not looking for an amp to gig with just something that’s loud enough that you can clearly hear it over a guitar bass drums and a singer.
Oh, and please keep the price range in mind anything over $300 is just too much.
Thank you.
p.s. this is the second time i posted this question and another user told me a Raven RG60 60W 1×12 Guitar Combo Amplifier was what i was looking for, and it seems to be pretty good. just to maybe have a second opinion, is the Raven loud enough over drums bass and another guitar?

A: Yea it’s loud enough, but the tone sounds like garbage. But then if you’ve been playing out of a spider 3 you’re probably used to it. The tone is worse than spider though. I would suggest getting a used tube amp (15 watts should do the trick). Although you’re still relatively new to tone and may not appreciate the difference, so what wattage were you playing out of with the spider? When I started playing guitar I had a spider 3 75 watt and that thing was freakin loud! The new spider 4 75 watts are 300 and they have some cool new effects too, so that’s probably your best bet. Don’t buy a Raven, you will regret it down the road

Q: Can you try out amplifiers on your own guitar in music stores?
I’m looking to buy a new guitar amplifier, but this is my first time shopping for one. My first amp came with the guitar (starter pack). I’ve been told to never buy an amplifier or guitar without trying it out first. With that said, would the store owner/employee have a problem if I brought my own guitar in to jam on the amplifiers?

A: Don’t give it a second thought. It’s very normal to use your axe while shopping for an amp. Just be considerate. Consider that the dude at the music store has to listen to lots of noise. Some worse then others. While becoming familiar with the amp, keep the vol low.When your ready to test gain or volume, let the clerk know your going to ramp it up for a few. Give yourself plenty of time at the store, You may wait until there are no other customers to check volume.
Lastly, consider a tube amp. You will appreciate the tone.

Q: Is it possible to get two guitar amplifiers to work as one?
I have two guitar amplifiers Ibanez and Line 6. Is there any way that I can get them to both work with one guitar. If so, would there be any advantages to it and could I still transport without it messing up?

A: Yes. Without know the model numbers of what you have it’s hard to say if yours can be used though.

As long as you have a line out on 1 it’s as simple as adding 1 more patch cord.

Hope that helps.

Q: Where can you learn how to repair guitar amplifiers?
I would like to find out where and how to repair electric guitar amplifiers. What books, tutorials, tools, and classes are available to learn troubleshooting amps. How and where do electronic repair shops get qualified techs? Any info is really helpful

A: Just check out any tech /trade school. They will have something in their curriculum. Another thing you could do is call or visit a music store that also does repairs and ask them how/where to go. They are all musicians and musicians like to talk shop. They won’t mind a bit. I am a musician and I have spent hours in music store just shooting the bull.

Q: Guitar amplifiers?
i currently have a line 6 spider 3 but i want an amplifier with a thick disortion for about 300-500? any ideas would help thanks

A: as far as distortion goes, the spiders are the best amps you can get in ur price range. If you really don’t like it, try running a distortion pedal through it.

Q: How do guitar amplifiers work?
I have to write a technical description for class on a guitar amplifier but I’m not familiar with them. Im specifically writing on the Roland Cube-15x because it looks the simplest (I’ll take recommendations). As of now I have no idea where the power source is, is it an ac adapter, on board battery, does it even use electricity? And my last question is does anyone know where i can see pictures of how its constructed so i can draw an exploded view of this amplifier.

A: If a device is going to add gain to a signal, then it has to have some type of power source. Be it AC or battery powered, you have to get the extra energy from somewhere.

I’m not familiar with the Roland amp, but they all work in a similar fashion. We will stick with how a solid state amp works (tube amps will be similar, but have additional power supplies).

The sole purpose of a guitar amp (or any amp for that matter) is to increase the level of the signal put into it so that it can be reproduced by a speaker. Think about it this way…if you plugged an electric guitar straight into a speaker would you hear anything? No, because the speaker requires several volts to operate (while the guitar is probably only putting about about 1/10th of a volt.

The basic blocks of a guitar amp are:

1. PREAMP – this is where the signal from the guitar is connected, and the first stage of amplification occurs. Usually, this gain is anywhere from 10 times to 100 times, depending on the design of the amp.

2. PREAMP 2 (optional) – some amps have a second gain stage which allows you to implement a controlled overload of the second stage in order to generate distortion

3. TONE STACK – this is where the Bass, Mid, and Treble controls would fall. These are normally passive controls (in other words, they can only take away frequencies, and not put more in to the signal). The tone stack is usually a low pass, a band pass, and a high pass filter in series.

4. PHASE SPLITTER – the phase splitter does just what the name says, it splits the signal into two paths. The signals are 180 degrees out of phase with each other (complimentary). This is necessary to drive a push-pull power amp, which is the most common type.

5. POWER AMPLIFIER – up until now, our signal has been somewhere in the 1 to 2 volt range, and only a few milliamps of current. The power amplifier provides that last boost to the signal in order to drive the signal. If our amp is rated at 100w of output, then it’s probably putting out somewhere around 20 volts at around 5 amps max.

6. SPEAKER – the last stop for our signal is the speaker, which takes the electrical energy from the power amplifier and converts it to acoustic energy.

The amp would also have a power supply which will normally have a number of output voltages. The preamp section usually takes betwee +/- 5Volts DC to +/-15Volts DC. The power amp will usually take between +/-40 to +/-80Volts DC.

That’s a very high overview of how an analog solid state guitar amp works. Tube amps, again, are similar. Digital modeling amps are very different animals all together.

Good luck.

Greetings from Austin, TX

Ken

Q: guitar amplifiers?
hey i need a good amp what will last i do gigs round north and im 15 in a band and i need a good amp but im cluless on what to buy so can u give me some good advice i just want it to a decent amp waht will last me ive got 500 quid to spend so give us some help pleasea nswer back

A: don’t just buy the nearest Marshall

Give some amps a serious try out with your own guitar in a music shop

£500 won’t get a decent valve amp; you may need to accept solid state – a good solid state amp with lots of power will serve you better than an underpowered valve amp

be very very wary of second hand gear

you will always need more horsepower, less funky features and a more basic sound than you think. You’re going to end up playing it on one setting most of the time anyway, and you can grow the features with the right pedals over time. Your audience doesn’t really know the difference between a cheap rig and a classic. The things that will make you ditch the amp will be:

1. unreliability
2. underpowered
3. you stumbled across more money and can afford a better sound.

In the case of 3, who cares, you’re not catering for that now. So deal with 1 and 2.

Q: do bass guitar amplifiers work the same way as electric guitar amplifiers?
I mean can i buy an electric guitar amplifier for my bass guitar?

A: The speakers on a bass amp are more heavy duty to handle the bottom end.

You will blow the speakers on a guitar amp with a bass.

Q: I plan to import guitar amplifiers into the US. What types of certification do I need?
As stated in the question, I plan to import amplifiers into the US. There are many types of conformance (EMC, FCC, CE, etc) that I can get for the amplifier, but it’s cost prohibitive to do them all. As such, as a minimum, which ones would I need to get, to certify the amplifiers?

A: Listen. Before you start worrying about conformance standards, you want to ensure that they match the american mains voltage.

Q: Does a guitar amplifiers head make sound?
I know i sound like an idiot. But does a guitar amplifiers head make any sound. Like can i play guitar through the head without a cab.

Thank you
I am new to this

Best answer will go to a serious answer

A: The head makes no sound. You will need to plug it into a cabinet.

Q: whats the difference between watts in guitar amplifiers?
i have a ten watt amplifier for my guitar.
i was wondering if a 50 watt or larger amplifier has just bigger sound or many other functions as well. if it has many other functions then what are those?

A: In the case of an audio amp (guitar or not) the wattage figure is a measure of its audio output to the speaker. A 50 watt amp is roughly 5 times as powerful as a 10 watt amp. Most larger amps may have other features such as multiple inputs and mixer features. Some may even contain an equalizer system.

Q: How much do e drums probably cost? How much does a bass guitar with amplifiers probably cost?
I’m not asking how much they cost altogether, im asking how much e drums are and another separate question for how much a bass guitar with amplifiers cost..

Thank you for the answers (if anyone’s gonna answer)

A: google it……..look on a musical instrument sire

Q: Does anyone know any good inexpensive guitar amplifiers?
I spent all my money on the guitar. I need an amp hahas. I know It;s a bad idea. I only have about 100 to spend. It can go higher if it needs to, but not that much higher.

It needs to be good for stuff like blues and classic rock. It needs to able to handle distortion and overdrive as well.

Thanks guys

A: I have to say the best amp for its value is the little vox amp.
I think it’s about $85 at Long and Mcquade now the model is DA5.
This amp has all kinds of different preset tones, long with an mp3 input and a mic input, so u can sing at the same time if you wanted to!
If tried this and it works great! It also comes with different effect presets, such as flanger, reverb, tremolo, and wah. This is a great little amp (I own it and would recommend it to anyone with a small budget) that really gives a lot for the small cost!

Q: Which companies make the most powerful guitar amplifiers?
I am a guitarist starting my own metal band and i need to know
out of all the companies that make amplifiers which ones are the
best and give the most powerful sound and output?
Which company makes the amplifiers with the most watts?

A: Here’s the thing. You should be buying an amp for the tone, not the power. Once you get that it is a simple matter to send the signal to your sound reinforcement system (P.A.). If you have trouble hearing yourself through the noise of your band, have everyone turn down a little. Balance is everything. If your audience is having problems hearing, then reconsider how you have your P.A. set up.

There is absolutely no need to be LOUD when you practice. In fact, you might find that you can be a better musician when everyone knocks it down a couple of pegs.

Also, wattage does not necessarily mean that an amp will be louder. The combination of speaker and power amp (inside the amp) will dictate the loudness. The more efficient a speaker is, the less wattage you need, and the better the sound.

If what you want is a BIG amp, then by far the best tube amp brand is Mesa Boogie, the best solid state is Peavey.