Combo amps are perfect for guitarists looking to go gigging, as they allow them to grab their guitar and pedals and leave quickly from home without needing to set up anything extra first. Plus they’re great for spontaneous practice sessions!
Guitar amp heads connect to cabinets using speaker cables that are specially constructed to withstand higher frequencies than regular jacks, while cabinets come in various sizes with various speaker types and materials.
Value
Guitar amplifiers range in price, functionality and size – from beginner practice amps that cost less than $50 to professional studio recording models designed to cost thousands more. Amplifiers may feature either tube- or solid-state circuitry; tube amplifiers use vacuum tubes to amplify electrical signals coming from guitar strings while solid state amps use transistor or semiconductor components instead of tubes to amplify this signal amplification process. While many professional guitarists tend to favor tube amps due to their rich sound signature, other musicians might prefer solid state amps due to their “cleaner” tone that solid state amps offer.
A combination amp is the most commonly-seen style of guitar amplifier. However, standalone amplifiers (often called “heads”) also exist and pass their amplified signal via speaker cable to one or more external cabinets; such a configuration can either use AC mains power or battery-power for street performances.
Most guitar amplifiers feature front panel control knobs that enable users to modify preamp gain, distortion or overdrive levels and other effects like reverb or vibrato. While simpler amps typically include one 1/4″ input jack for connecting guitar or electric bass instruments, more expensive amplifiers may provide multiple input jacks and an add-on patch bay for adding external effects into their signal chain.
Some guitar amps also include a line-level input jack for connecting CD or MP3 players for accompanying recorded music, while some also offer an XLR jack to connect a microphone in order to record vocal tracks alongside guitar playing. Some practice amps and buskers offer an additional port that connects headphones output, enabling the guitarist to use headphones privately without disturbing others.
Many guitarists rely on external effect pedals to alter the sound of their guitar before it reaches their amplifier, altering its basic tone before its effects reach its amplifier. A guitar’s basic sound can often be determined by factors such as response and distortion factors of its amplifier, speaker cabinet design and microphone type/sensitivity/responsiveness/recording environment; modeling amplifiers with stompbox pedals that emulate specific amplifier models have allowed guitarists to achieve desired sounds with less equipment than would normally be needed with traditional tube or solid-state amps.