What to Look for When Buying an Amplifier

Amplifiers are a necessity for anyone playing electric guitar. Without one, your music won't sound nearly as good, and playing it won't be nearly as fun. Who likes sitting back and playing their guitar quitely? The answer, is nobody. Buying an amp can be a tricky process though. Finding the right amp for yourself, and buying one at the right price is something many people do incorrectly. Luckily for you, we've compiled this guide to help you know what to look for when buying yourself an amplifier. There are a few main pointers you should follow when buying an amp that we'll point out in this article. Without any further ado, let's begin.

Get the Right Amount of Watts:

Watts are a huge factor when choosing your amp. You're not going to need an 80-watt amplifier if you're playing alone in your home, or in your parent's basement. If you're going up on stage in front of hundreds of people, an amp of that level of power might be a better idea though. If you plan on playing in front of any kind of stage, or with a drummer, try getting a guitar of at least 25 amps. We'd suggest going well over 30 though. You can always turn things down!

Do You Need Effects?

Many amps nowadays have special effects included with the setup. The ability to save configurations is found in almost every amp these days, so we aren't talking about that. Many setups come with digital effects you can utilize, however. If you aren't a tech specialist who needs special effects along with their amp, you can skip this part and save yourself a few dollars in the long run.

How Much are You Looking to Spend?

This is obviously the most important question when choosing your amplifier. You need to consider your budget heavily. You won't be able to get a decked out, 100 watt amp for $50. Depending on your budget, we'd suggest checking out websites like Craigslist before buying a new amp. If you have to buy a new amp, make sure you use Amazon. They offer the lowest prices on just about every guitar product out there. You can also compare deals, and sort products by price and features, helping you to weed out amps you don't want.

Solid-State, Digital, or Tube?

This is a completely subjective argument, so we won't spend any time trying to argue which of these is best. Listen to a sample of each, and pick what you like best. Despite tube technology being ridiculously old in many ways, a lot of guitarists seem to prefer it over digital or solid-state technologies.

If you consider the four above questions, you should be able to choose an amplifier fairly easily. Make sure you think about your unique playing situation. If you need a good amp, don't be afraid to spend a few hundred dollars on it. If you're just starting off, spending under a hundred or two isn't a bad idea.