Archive for August, 2010
August 30th, 2010 | 
Author: Why is it, in an old plexi marshall for instance, that a 50 watt tube amplifier breaks up into crunch a bit sooner than the 100 watt? And is it just with these that this applies? Or can this be so with any tube amp, old or new?
Oddly enough, Jeep Diva is closer to the correct answer than anybody so far. In a 100 watt, you’re splitting the load between 4 power tubes instead of two. Because each tube is carrying less of an individual load, it takes more volume to get them to run outside their normal operating conditions.
There are ways you can compensate for this. Break up doesn’t just come from the amp circuit. If you change the speakers, the character and time of the breakup will change. Your amp tech can also change the cathode resistance on your power tubes, thus changing how much power your tubes are dissipating. This is biasing. If you run a 50 watt with a cool bias and high wattage speakers, you’ll get closer to the breakup of a 100 biased hot with low wattage speakers.
Well, this is all assuming you are setting the two amps for the same resistance at the speaker end (your ohm rating). Also, that’s assuming you’re using the same pickups, the same boost pedals (or lack thereof). There’s more to this than I could list in a few words.
A side note: your tone will be different on a 100 which could account for some of this as well. Higher wattage amps tend to have more bass response.
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I’ve hooked my player up to speakers before but my speaker isn’t working now and I wondered if an electric guitar amp would work the same as a speaker but I wanted to ask before I tried, don’t want to ruin anything.
A guitar amp is designed to accept an instrument level signal. An ipod or something like that outputs a line level signal, which is much higher than instrument level and could easily damage your amp.
Some smaller amps have a "line in" (sometimes labeled "cd/aux") jack where you could plug in a cd player or ipod. This is usful for practicing along with a song. If you have one of those, plug it in there. If it’s not clearly labeled "line in" or "cd/aux" don’t!
I know tubes in general are more popular, but there have been a lot of advances in digital technology over the last few years.
I prefer solid state amps because they have a nice clean sound, perfect for jazz and folk guitar without adding any unneeded color to the sound.
http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/Guitar-Amplifiers-and-Speakers/Acoustic-Guitar-Amps/sc1584/p8749.aspx The Roland AC-33 is the worlds first battery-powered combo amp and has been designed and manufactured specifically for acoustic guitar. Portable yet powerful, the AC-33 provides true stereo sound, Guitar and Mic/Line channels, personally-configured effects, anti-feedback, and a Phrase Looper.
However this amp was made to go to places that amplifiers are traditionally not able to – I’m talking of course about using this amplifier outdoors .Thanks to its battery-power capability, the AC-33 lets you take your act anywhere and therefore this little power-house of an amplifier will appeal to buskers or perhaps those who need ultimate portability to their guitar rig.
The AC-33 provides 15 watts per channel resulting in 30 watts of stereo sound and can run on the optional A/C adapter or 8 x AA batteries.It has on-board reverb, chorus and ambience (spatial) effects along with a 38 second phrase looper. There’s also a stereo aux input for an MP3 player or similar and an anti-feedback function for if you attach a microphone, whilst the cabinet can be configured to stand in “kick-back” mode similar to a floor foldback monitor.
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drum machine too? i’ve been looking at a few like cakewalk and fruity loops, but are there any better or more geared towards guitars and using the computer as an effects pedal?
Pro-Tools is your best bet for such things, with a proper sound card interface. I’ve seen people use guitars in FL Studio though, not impossible. FL is pretty well rounded and flexible.
If you tried the demo already and decide to purchase one of the full editions, here’s an instant 10% discount you can use when you buy directly from the developers of FL at Image-Line:
https://support.image-line.com/jshop/shop.php?offer=Default&promo=BFHEHAH486
good luck
I’ve had an electric guitar for nearly two years but it was given to me broken. I just recently repaired it and am interested in playing it only I’m not too knowledgeable with electric guitars (I’ve been playing acoustic for a little while) so I’m not sure what type of amplifier is needed/suggested. It’s a J.Reynolds strat copy in ok condition. I just want a good cheap amp, nothing fancy. What should I be looking out for?
Get a Marshall pocket amp for $40. It’s a fine little practice amp, which is all you need at this point. I keep one on the coffee table in my livingroom when I don’t feel like cranking up the studio but I want to practice guitar.
Then, after you’ve played for 6 months to a year, you will know more about what you want to do and that’s the time to start researching a guitar amp. But if you buy an amp right now, it could just be a waste of money because 1) you might decide you don’t like playing guitar or 2) the kind of amp you will want in 6 months to a year won’t be the amp you bought when you were just beginning to play electric guitar.
A Marshall pocket amp is cheap, cool, and it’s pretty loud in a room. If you want to spice it up, get a used BOSS DS-1 distortion pedal for $35 or any type of fuzz pedal. DOD has a variety of fuzz pedals, you can find them cheap on eBay, and they’re all good. I have the American Classic Fuzz and if you ever find a DOD 250 (also known as the YJM), that’s an excellent pedal.
Beware the salesperson who tries to sell you a "real" amp instead of the little Marshall pocket amp. A lot of sales people are paid commission and there isn’t much commission on a pocket amp. Other amateur musicians may laugh at your amp, but let me tell you something – anyone who disses the Marshall pocket amp is a musical moron.
Trust me.
I am looking to upgrade to a 100W so I can use it in case I were to play a gig or something of the sort.
I was looking at a fender 212r Frontman 100W, and I wanted to know if amps like these can give a good high quality clean sound when playing songs like island in the sun or The Reason, but also play hard rock songs. I currently have a Spyder 15W amp. Suggestions on a certain brand or model are also appreciated.
amps only supply power to drive speakers. Speakers make sounds.
I’ve been learning guitar for a while now and I just cannot figure out why in the heck an acoustic can’t be easy as an electric to fret, I don’t get it, I’m sure it’s got nothing to do with amps.
I actually find acoustic easier because of how light it is, even though they usaully have thicker necks (which I hate), but if its harder to play try thinner strings, lower the action, and/ or try a different acoustic, it might just be that one.
Good luck
which amp set do you prefer
digital effects processing and signal chain:line 6
overall sound/tone if effects aren’t a factor: fender
I have just a regular acoustic guitar, it does not have anything to connect to an amp. I know there are things you can put near the bottom of the strings so that you can hook up non-electric guitars to amps, but i don’t know what they’re called. Can any one help me out?
Buy this
http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Lace-Resonator-Guitar-Neck-Sensor-Pickup?sku=305425