A guitar amplifier is an electronic device used to amplify electrical signals from guitar pickups, amplifying it to produce sound through one or more speakers. They typically connect directly to AC mains power through plugging it in at an electrical outlet; however, some practice amps designed specifically for buskers also utilize battery power.
Amps can come either in the form of a combo amplifier and speaker unit or as separate components such as an amp head and cabinet.
Tube Amps
A tube is an electrical device that generates an electron flow by emitting heat through its cathode, with an anode designed to attract these electrons and a grid used to direct and modulate their direction and amplitude. Tube amps often sound richer and more harmonic than their solid-state counterparts due to this effect.
Though solid-state amplifiers have improved tremendously over the years, becoming lighter, cheaper and more reliable, many guitarists still prefer the sound and feel of tube amps to create their unique tones. Legendary guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend and Stevie Ray Vaughan all used tubes amps when creating their iconic sounds.
These tube amplifiers may be more costly to purchase and maintain (since replacement tubes must be purchased regularly), but many players feel they provide better tone quality and musical experience than solid-state amps. Many manufacturers produce an assortment of tube amps so there should be one suitable to your individual requirements.
Tube amplifiers tend to be more complicated than their solid-state counterparts, often including additional components like capacitors, reverb tanks and EQ controls. Some models even utilize combinations of tubes in order to produce unique effects such as tremolo. For instance, the Vox AC4 features four distinct types of tubes-an EZ80 rectifier tube, an EF86 preamp tube, an EL84 power tube and ECC83 (12AX7) for its tremolo circuitry.
One telltale sign that your tube amp is showing its age is when it begins to sound dull or crackle intermittently – this could indicate worn-out tubes which need replacing, although before doing so it would be wise to check with its manufacturer as some brands discourage or prohibit such action.
As well as changing the overall sound of your amp, replacing tubes can have an immediate impact on its distortion characteristics. Guitarists frequently opt to alter bias settings on tubes in order to get the best performance out of them; however, this process should only be carried out by professional technicians.
Solid-State Amps
As seen in our blog about the Vivi-Tone Stromberg amp, early electric guitar amplifiers relied on an electromagnet attached to each steel-stringed instrument to receive string vibrations and pass them on to a speaker; this produced audible sounds louder than their actual strings themselves – though their tone wasn’t nearly as satisfying or pleasing compared with tube amps’ fuller, richer tones.
As time progressed, solid-state technology began to overtake tube amps due to being cheaper, lighter and easier to maintain. Utilizing transistors which were more reliable than their fragile glass predecessors and producing greater volumes without degradation or instability; additionally they typically offered cleaner sounds while being portable without needing huge transformers or complex input jacks found on tube amps of that time.
While many still prefer the tonal qualities of tube amps, their market share has decreased substantially due to solid-state amps. This may be partially attributed to recent solid-state models employing similar transistor technology as their tube equivalents but offering additional features that make them even more appealing to modern players, including digital modeling that accurately simulates specific amplifiers or effects.
Solid-state amps have come a long way since their initial introduction, and continue to advance each year. Now available in various sizes and power levels, larger manufacturers even offer hybrid amps which combine transistors and tubes in their designs, offering some of the most sought-after tube tones while featuring more modern amenities such as attenuators for turning up volume but playing at lower volumes, headphones-in ports, and cabinet simulation.
As this decade progresses, solid-state amps will likely gain more favor than their tube predecessors. Most major amplifier builders now provide both tube and solid-state models; many guitarists appear ready to replace outdated tube amps with these more technologically advanced devices.
Tone Controls
Early amps utilized some form of tone control system. This would typically consist of knobs labeled Bass, Middle, and Treble that each adjusted certain frequencies. Tone controls (EQ in technical parlance) enabled you to fine-tune your sound by making subtle corrections at frequency extremes without altering midrange frequency levels; they were originally introduced in order to compensate for less-than-ideal speaker designs; they have since become an essential element of guitar amp sound.
Other than its volume knob, a tube amp’s most distinctive feature is likely its tone control. While you might assume this feature simply makes your guitar louder or quieter, in reality its interaction with an amplifier produces various effects such as overdrive and distortion.
Tone controls were first developed to increase amplification for Hawaiian guitars, which require greater power than traditional acoustic instruments. Early models may have been modified public address (PA) amps; by 1935 Dobro and National had begun selling combo amps using vacuum tube rectifiers and two power tubes; although these initially featured large dimensions they eventually led to smaller designs that could easily be transported and played on tour.
Through the 1930s, many variations were introduced that featured dangerously high voltage levels; eventually these issues were ironed out and musicians no longer needed to fear that their amps might kill them.
George Beauchamp made history when he created the first electric guitar amplifier with tone control in 1931. His design resembled more an oscilloscope or early television than traditional guitar amplifiers, featuring a metal cone rather than the wooden cone seen on resonator guitars.
At first, tone controls were relatively simplistic, consisting of only bass and treble boost controls. Although these weren’t capable of offering an ideal frequency response at first, most amps only offered limited range anyway. Later on, several companies started to experiment with more complicated tone stacks but I haven’t been able to determine who designed their first version.
Distortion
Acoustic guitar amplification had been around since the 1930s, but with the rise of rock and roll came an explosion of electric guitar popularity. Guitarists needed louder amplifiers in order to be heard above drums and horns; low-wattage combos designed for Hawaiian pedal steel guitars could not deliver enough clean output; distortion was discovered when amps were turned up past their designed level and clipped or destroyed their smooth waveform and added harmonics into the soundscape.
Distortion’s discovery in modern music history is one of its greatest surprises. Once considered an unwanted effect of overdriving an amp, distortion is now treasured tool used by millions of musicians and producers around the globe – from fuzzy funk and rumbling doom to antagonic punk rock music styles – its application has shaped entire careers and spawned whole genres of sound.
Distortion’s origin remains somewhat of a mystery, though various tales exist regarding its creation. A likely scenario would be early guitar amps being susceptible to overdrive when exposed to high volume levels resulting in gloriously fuzzy tones; such was the case of Willie Kizart’s 1951 track Rocket 88 where intentional cranking led to distortion; other guitarists, such as Paul Burlison of Rock and Roll Trio fame used pencils to poke holes in speakers of their Fender Deluxe amp while recording and create distinctive distortion sounds; such as Paul Burlison of Rock and Roll Trio would use pencils while recording to achieve distinctive distortion sounds for recordings resulting in distinct tones in his recordings to produce signature distortion sounds for recordings.
Marshall recently created an affordable tube amp capable of creating ample distortion, offering guitarists an alternative to using multiple battery-powered vacuum tube equipment to get loud enough for live gigs.
Today’s guitarists have an abundance of amplifier options at their disposal. While tube amp enthusiasts remain, many guitarists prefer solid-state amplifiers due to their versatility and reliability. Solid-state amps also tend to be less expensive than their older counterparts with built-in AC power supplies that eliminate multiple batteries for powering purposes; additionally, they offer greater tonal customization as they often offer adjustable tone controls that let users achieve virtually any tone desired by them.