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How to Choose a Guitar Amplifier
There are different
styles of guitar amplification and all of them are used for
the creation of sound. Your electric guitar is by itself a
pre-amplification system that is enabled with equalizer and
sound effects. When you use the power amplifier with the
electric guitar with varying amount of overdrive and add the
sound of the speakers to it then you get the actual final
sound of the guitar.
Choosing a guitar
amplifier will never be an easy job for you and you should
never but the first one you see or just because you like the
look of it or the sound. Buying an electric guitar amplifier
is a technical process and you need to consider certain
aspects like the tone controls and pickups.
Most electric guitar these days have
magnetic guitar pickups, which require compensation and are
inductive but this feature is also used enhancing and
correcting the tone. In the absence of compensation, the sound
would have been completely muffled. Hence if you want to hear
a natural and clear sound of the pickup then you need to
choose one of the typical guitar amps and set the middle to
full, and the treble and bass to 0.
The tone controls have
been designed or created to provide compensation for the
natural and clear sound of a magnetic pickup while all that
the middle control does is boosting the pickup's normal medley
sound. The bass and the treble controls on the other hand will
boost the lower and higher frequency levels. So if you buy a
Fender or a Marshall amp then all you need to do is put it on
the typical settings and with the overall tone equalization,
the pickup will create a more balanced response with the lows,
mids and highs.
The Fender and
Marshall amps are the top brands in amplifiers around the
world and are being used by the top pros in the circuit. Both
of them have been tailored to suit their unique styles, which
are different. So the effect produced by a Fender amp will be
quite different from the one produced by a Marshall amp.
Here is a generalization: Fender provides
clean tones in the power output stage and also in the
early-overdrive levels. In comparison, the Marshall amps will
provide best output at crunchy rock and low-middy tones, which
are normally played at high overdrive levels.
There are several types of amplifiers in
the market but one of the oldest and top ones include the
valve-power amplifier. The valve-power amplifier is able to
provide an additional presence control that can effectively
reduce the negative feedback that is normally present in the
power amplifier section and instead provide a small boost to
any of the frequencies that are above the treble control.
One of the important
factors that you can’t overlook while buying an amplifier is
durability. Whether it is being used for rock compositions or
alternative or Indie music, most of the styles will require
overdriving your amplifier for longer periods. Hence when you
choose an amplifier, you need to make sure that they have been
designed to work for longer duration without any problems.
One of the last factors is road
worthiness. If you are with a band and perform live or travel
with your musical instruments then you need to buy an amp,
which is rock solid. A guitar amplifier will require certain
amount of electrical and physical protection. Hence always
check the guitar amplifier, play it, test it, carry it and
then buy it! |
