Buying a guitar amplifier

• Price:
  If you follow Ælien's advice and do your homework, you'll know pretty much what you want. Now is the time to search prices and write down the best deal you can find. Since the markup on gear can be very thin, you may get a better deal through mail-ordering. My suggestion is if the difference between the mail-order place and the store in your home town is not that far apart, pay the extra. It solves several problems at once. Should your gear break under warrantee, it is easier to bring it in to Bob, the repair guy at the Local Music Store. Additionally, isn't it great having a local store for your small items, such as when you need a capo or a set of strings? Help the local guys stay in business.

• Use your Ear:
  I've seen several folks buy an amp without plugging anything into it and cranking it up. They read that it was reliable and somebody recommended that brand. Unfortunately, they end up being dissatisfied quickly. The amps are all there, plugged in and waiting for your test drive. The whole purpose of having them out is for you to play and listen, then decide on which one you want to bring home.

• Another note on wattage:
  Does a 50 watt amp sound half as loud as a 100 watt amp? The answer is no. The sound volume is rated on a logarithmic scale called decibels. Tossing aside the mathematics, as a general rule if you want something that is twice as loud, add a zero. A 500 watt amp can put out twice as much eardrum-bleeding sound as a 50 watt amp. As a general rule of thumb, unless you're playing for a large audience in an arena, a nice 50-65 watt amp will be more than enough for the dedicated player. I personally have a 100 watt keyboard amp, which I use for my electronic Yamaha MIDI drum set and the occasional guitar torturing. If I put the volume knob on three and play, the neighbors complain. I've played outdoors with the amp, and even then with the knob at six it was deafening.

• New or Used?
  Sometimes it is best to look at used amps if you're really strapped for cash. Make sure you play the amp loudly in the store, and check if the store will give you a warrantee on it. Six months is about average for a store guarantee. Buying from some Joe is riskier, but you can save even more.

Neither of the previous WU's have touched on new digital possibilities:

DSP (Digital Signal Processing)

The newest trend in guitar amplification seems to be DSP systems with onboard effects. Like a traditional amp, these systems take the analog input from your guitar. Then, instead of processing the sound through analog means (be they transistors or vacuum tubes or whatever), these systems convert the analog signal into a digital signal, and then modify it using programmable computer chips. The systems are either controlled through the use of knobs and footswitches on the unit, or interface with a PC (or some combination of the two). These systems offer several advantages over traditional amps and effects:

They are much smaller, usually the size of a traditional stomp box; and weigh very little.

Instead of offering the sound of one amp (the amp your using), they can be programmed to 'model' any amp; many models are also programmable, allowing the user (and patch creators) to program it to sound however they like, without limits.

They usually include a number of onboard digital effects, which offer the advantage over traditional analog effects that they don't add 'signal noise'.

These systems are very reasonable priced, the most popular models being produced by Line 6 (the POD series), Yamaha, and Digitech.

See also: amp modeller

Synth Guitar

Going one step beyond DSP into the digital realm, synthesizer enabled guitars and pickups convert the aural signal of each individual string into a digital value. This allows them to function like a 'normal' keyboard synth, mimicking the sound of any instrument imaginable (including other guitars). Guitar synth has the advantage over the traditional variety in that the guitar is by nature a more expressive instrument than a keyboard, and the use of guitar techniques such as string bending and a 'whammy bar' allow for a wide range of synth'ing possibilities. These systems also usually come with on-board digital effects and can be programmed either using the on-board controls or with the use of a computer.

The use of a synth amp requires a special pickup that samples each string individually. Such pickups can be installed on most guitars, and some guitars (such as those from Godin) come with synth access built in. The most popular synthesizing amps come from Roland.

See also: How to buy a synthesizer

Both these amp types usually require external speakers (or simply outputting into headphones when your practicing and the PA system of wherever your performing), but systems can be purchased with this functionality built in.