HELP! PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT AMPS?!?

Question

I know NOTHING about amps and what they do or what is a watt or a rms i know nothing...i feel so stupid because i play acoustic guitar and i've never owned an electric one, people say you must start with an electric one first because you get to know more about the amp but I'm just completely clueless! Please help me! I'm only 14!
How do you know if an amp is good or not? What's a pedal? What one do you use when it's your first time playing an electric guitar?
I'm not a beginner playing guitar..I can read tabs, play barre chords, i can vibrato but i don't know about the scales and i can't read music notes. Bad, huh?

Answer 1

Amps are one of the most important aspects of playing electric guitar as they amplify your guitar and help to define its tone (even though the guitar itself defines its tone even moreso than an amp does).



When it comes to watts, the higher the number the louder the amp will go. However, if there's a five-watt Fender solid-state amp and a five-watt Marshall solid-state amp, it doesn't mean they'll be as loud as one another as volume per watt can vary from brand to brand. Also, tube amps get louder than solid-state amps of the same wattage. Tube amps can also acheive better tones, but solid-state amps are cheaper and less likely to break when being moved around a lot.



Do keep in mind that not being able to read music does not determine whether or not you will be or are a great guitarist--some ofthe finest musician's can't read music. Tommy Emmanuel is one of the best examples and he can't even read tabs.



As for a pedal, it's a device used to alter some aspect of your tone. Distortion pedals, for instance, distort your tone. Delay pedals, on the other hand, had what most people refer to as an echo. There are hundreds of effects out there aside from those two though--compression, wah, overdrive, reverb and a hell of a lot more. You don't really need to worry about pedals when you first start playing electric though...unless you want to.



As for knowing what amps are and aren't good, the brand name can often be a good sign in either direction. Fender and Vox, for instance, offer great amps--both solid-state amps and tube amps and in a wide array of price ranges. For your first amp, you should stick with a solid-state amp though due to their lower prices and due to the fact that, as I said before, tube amps can be damaged more easily when traveling so they need to be cared for moreso than solid-state amps.



If you want a good first amp, I'd highly recommend the Fender 25R Frontman. It's a 25-watt solid-state amp which comes in a choice of two colors--red or black--and, for $100, it's a great little amp. It's also loud enough for smaller gigs in which there is no PA system so, if you start playng out, the Fender 25R Frontman can pull it off until you can afford a better second amp.



Readig reviews by customers can also be of help when deciding on your first amp, but I strongly recommend that you try anythig before you buy it and especially if it's a guitar, an amp or a pedal. After you try it, however, it's fine to order it online. Down below, I'll share some links to various websites where you can order equipment from and where you can read customer reviews. My personal favorite is Musician's Friend, which will be the first link I include.

Answer 2

I can give you the basic rundown.



Starters, a pedal is an effect for the guitar player (makes their guitar go from sounding aaaah- to NAAAARRRRR), they are usually stuff like distortions, chorous, wah wah. Just search the word "stomp box".



The amp, kind of obvious, amplify s the electric guitar. There a few different kind of amps. The most common kind is called a Combo amp. Its just the basic amplifier, plug in your guitar, change the settings on it (the bass and stuff like that) and play.



You get stack amps too, these are like Combo amps, but alot bigger, usually louder and more "customisable". They involve of a cabinet amp, this is basically the speaker. Then on top of the cabinet amp, you plug in whats called an amp head. This is just the row (on the amp) which has the all the knobs and settings. These are usually what you see on stage.



Then we have Tube amps, these are generally alot more clearer sounding than combo amps and stack amps. They are made in a different way, and are usually ALOT more expensive. YOu will have to research tube amps as i dont know too much about them.



On an amps description, it will say something like 80 watts, 25 watts, BLAH BLAH. The wattage is just generally how loud it will get (or something along those lines). Stack amps, usually have more wattage than combo amps.



Personally, i would stay away from makes such as line 6, they are generally considered crap for beginners (Or in my books anyways). Also, if you just want to play around the house, look for a combo amp around 30 watts.



Hope this helped, bit i would still recommend researching alot of this. :)

Answer 3

no there amps arent that solid. seem for amps which have the photo of a cea compliant sticky label. all those amps can produce the flexibility they say they could. dotn hearken to each person telling you to head for sony amps. they arent that solid. dotn get some thing walmart sells, thats a robust rule at the same time as procuring. crunch is extra useful than pyle yet nevertheless isnt that large. go seem at amps like rockford fosgate, jl audio, kicker, jbl, or infinity. choosing a robust amp will make a international of distinction in ability

Answer 4

- Number of watts is how loud it goes, and how much power it takes.

- Number of channels is how many instruments it can take at once.

- Effects pedals are boxes with pedals that can put all sorts of different effects on the noise that comes out of the amp, and are connected between the guitar and the amp. You probably won't need to buy one of those.

- Amps usually have a 'volume', 'bass' and 'treble' knobs for each channel. Volume is just generally how loud it is. Bass allows you to amplify the lower notes, whereas treble allows you to amplify the lower notes.

For you I'd recommend a practice amp, which are much smaller and quiter than your average amp and are (surprise, surprise) used for practice.



On a completely unrelated note, make friends with a drummer. It will help you both to improve your playing.

Answer 5

Look at reviews on amp makes life easier

The larger the watt the larger the speaker

Valve amps are better than normal amps because of some sorta vaccum or something