What Guitar Amp Should I Buy?

When it comes to selecting a suitable amplifier for your electric guitar the range of choices can be initially confusing. With so many different amps on the market, how can you be sure that the one you want is going to be suitable for what you need?

Well, to make it easier you should ask yourself a few questions: What will I be using it for? Bedroom practice? Home recording? rehearsals or live gigs?

Bedroom amps are usually small and compact, easy to use and low in wattage. A popular choice for the stay at home and practice player is the Fender Champion 20;  a compact 20-watt amp, with a single channel. With this amp, you can select from 4 amp ‘voices’, for example, Clean and Overdriven. Loud and dynamic enough to hear the nuances in your playing without annoying your neighbours, these combo amps are an ideal choice for those looking to practice on their own. As a bonus, you can also plug headphones and an aux cable in so you can play along to your tracks at any time without anybody overhearing. A parent’s dream if they are sick of hearing ‘Smoke on the water’ for the 100th time!

Moving on to Modelling amps, such as the Line 6 Spider V 120 for example, is perfect for home recording and even live gigging and rehearsing as it packs a serious wallop! Modelling amps boast a whole host of effects and preset amp types, meaning that whatever sound your after you can create it! This particular amp has some stunning ‘sound-alike’ tones based on famous artists. 60’s guitar god fuzz? Got it! Bluesy Clean tones? Got them too! Even better all the presets are fully customisable and programmable so you can save whatever you like. You can have up to 8 effects on your sound at any time ranging from chorus, delays, reverbs, distortion, phasers and many more. The versatility that modelling amps provide is second to none, making them a top choice for Live Bands and Home recording sessions.

You can also get Tube or Valve amps, which some consider the holy grail of guitar amps, they give a clean crisp sound when your guitar is set to a low volume and an awesome warm natural overdrive when you dial up the volume to 11! The Tube powers the amp so the more you drive it, the dirtier it sounds!

In the end, though it’s all subjective, so why not come down to one of our stores and try a few out for yourself as we have a great selection of brands from Blackstar to Fender, to Line 6 and Roland.

You can read our blog post, the difference between tube and solid state amplifiers to find out more!

Check out our fantastic range of amps over on our website, or come into our stores!