What Do I Look For When Buying A Guitar Amp?

Shopping for a new guitar amp can be a tough decision. There are many questions that enter a guitarist's mind when considering a purchase. Which ones sound better? Are tube amps better than solid-state amps? Do I need a stack? All of these questions are important to consider. The most important things to keep in mind are sound and durability.

Tube Versus Solid-State

 Tube guitar amplifiers have been around for many years. Many guitarists prefer tube amps because of the deeper tone that is usually associated with them. Most professionals, though not all, tend to prefer tube amps over solid-state amps. Players who prefer clean sounds often choose solid-state amps. Others choose tube amps because it makes their sound seem more "alive." Tube amps are mostly associated with blues and rock music. Though most guitarists prefer tube amps, there are several disadvantages to owning one. They are usually heavier than solid-state amps. They usually cost more and require more maintenance. Tubes eventually wear out, thus resulting in periodical maintenance. Tube amps work with high-voltage electronics which are sensitive to dust and moisture. Solid-state amps usually don't require any maintenance other than an occasional cleaning.

What's Better, a Stack or Combo Amp?

There are several factors that go into making this decision. The "stack" usually consists of an amp head resting on a cabinet, usually with one or more speakers. A typical configuration usually consists of an amp teamed with two 4x12 cabinets, each consisting of 4-12" speakers. The "half stack" is similar to this, but with only one cabinet. The stack configuration is usually used for projection. A combo amp is an amp in which the speaker and amp are built into the same box. Most are extremely portable and often weigh less than the stack.

What About Effects? 

During recent years, guitar amp manufacturers have started building effects processors into their amplifiers. This gives the guitarist the ability to control the amp and his/her effects in one convenient location. Companies such as Fender, Johnson, and Peavey (just to name a few) have really done their homework and these new amps are good proof. Effects such as: Chorus, reverb, digital delay, distortion, compression, flanger, phaser, and others are becoming incorporated into these new lines of amplifiers. Several companies, such as Johnson and Line 6, are building amp simulators that allow the guitarist to mimic the unforgettable amp sounds of Hendrix, Vai, Satriani, Clapton, and others. Fender just came out with a new amp with motorized knobs. The knobs automatically adjust when using different processor settings.

Electric guitar amplifiers are becoming more advanced each and every day. Be sure to shop around and play as many as you can before purchasing a new amp. Remember, the most important aspects of a new amp are sound and durability. Good luck and happy playing!!

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Improve Your Guitar's Tone For Better Performance

1 Pick Out a Winner

Many underestimate just how much their choice of pick affects their tone. Not so with jazz legend Jimi Hall, who carries a pocket full of them in different gauges: light ones for strumming, heavier ones for single note picking. Indeed, switching from a medium to a heavy pick, while requiring an adjustment of technique, can do as much as to thicken your tone as installing a humbucker in the place of a single-coil pickup.  (Meanwhile, opting for a light-gauge pick on a strummed acoustic in a band setting well help the part sit better in the mix.) And you can't complain about the cost-there's no cheaper way to change your tone.

2 String for Your Style

Strings come in flavors as well as gauges. If you're seeking a classic jazz sound, flat-or half-rounds will get you close to it without to spring for an arch-top.  And if you want to sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan, .009s ain't going to cut it-try using at least .011s. You'll also want to tune down a half step, not only to further deepen your tone but also to ease the added string tension that come with bumping up your gauge.

3 Learn to Unwind

If you play really loud or with gobs of gain, stay away from over wound pickups-they'll only muddy your sound. A lower-output pickup, on the other hand, will help maintain clarity while the volume and gain, or both, supply all the girth and sustain you need. The greatest rock tones of all time-including Eddie Van Halen's "brown" sound were created with relatively weak pickups.

4 Go Wireless

In other words practice without plugging in. The reason being, you want to make sure you're not using the mask of high gain to cover sloppy or uneven playing. Try to get the best sound possible out of your instrument before you plug in, with just your fingers, and the rest will follow.

5 Speaker Up

Perhaps you like the way your old combo feels when you play, but just aren't crazy about its tone. Well, before you trade it in for a new one, first consider changing its speakers. A more efficient speaker model can make a huge difference: in addition to taming nasty high end or beefing up the lows, it can actually make your amp louder.

10 Essential Principles for Learning Guitar

The guitar is a great instrument. It’s fairly portable, relatively inexpensive, easy enough to learn the basics – and you can take your playing as far as you want. Lots of people – from kids to grandparents – learn the guitar every day. And if you’re one of them, here are ten things you need to know.
On a recent Open Mic we asked the question, “What advice would you offer someone considering learning the guitar?” Lots of you answered, and your main points are included in this article alongside my own thoughts. And please feel free to add even more advice in the comments. Thousands of learners will appreciate it.

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1. Practice!

This might seem obvious, but it never stopped anyone giving this advice when I started learning.
I started learning music when I was 20 – keyboard first, then guitar later. I was keen and enthusiastic, and constantly asked every musician I met for advice about the best and fastest way to learn. Every person gave me just one word of advice: “Practice!” It drove me crazy as hell – I wanted more – but it was good advice.
A big part of learning to play the guitar (and any instrument) is finger memory – motor skills. Your fingers need to know what to do without your brain needing to tell them. And that comes just one way – practice.
How much do you need to practice? I still stand by the advice I was given at the time: half an hour a day, or an hour a day if your really serious about learning. And the daily part is important – practice every day. One three hour session a week just isn’t going to cut it. Remember we are trying to develop finger memory, and that comes by regular, constant practice.
Most of you agree. Here is the advice you gave in the Open Mic:

• “Practice, practice, practice. There’s no substitute for actually playing music.” (vladh)
• “Practice practice practice.” (lisote)
• “Be prepared for hard work, playing the guitar is hard at first and requires patience, determination and above all time. If you are prepared to practice half an hour a day you will start to get results within a month or two and you will be playing your favourite songs which is when the fun really begins.” (Jon)
• “Persistence. To begin with your fingers won’t like it & it can be frustrating, but with regular practice (said countless times, 10/20mins a day is better than a 4hour practice once a week) it will suddenly click & feel very natural, almost so that you’ll find it hard remembering what it was like in the beginning.” (Simon)

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2. Find a Way to Stay Motivated