March 31st, 2010 | 
Author: My boyfriend plays an electric guitar and has a Crate G160XL amp currently. He mostly plays hard rock and metal. I’d like to buy him a new amp for Christmas since he’s had this one a while. Any suggestions? I tried doing my own research online but I really have no clue what to look for on this one. Thank you in advance for any input.
More wattage doesn’t necessarily mean louder or better tone, if that’s your goal. Unless he plans on powering a ton of speakers, wattage doesn’t tell you much about the amp itself. You have to look at the speakers being matched up to the amp and their decibel rating at a given wattage. A 25 watt amp with a speaker that puts out 95 dB at 25 Watts is just as loud and powerful as a 200 Watt amp with a speaker that puts out 95 dB at 200 Watts.
What you really want to pay attention to is the tone of the amp. My personal pick for playing hard rock would be a Mesa Boogie Double or Triple Rectifier. AMAZING amps!!! (although a bit pricey.) But you can’t go wrong an all tube Marshall, though. Randall and Orange also make some really good amps.
Posted in guitar amp
well unless i mistaken that crate is a combo amp meaning that the speakers and amp are together
so if you were goin to get him an "amp head" you would also have to get him a speaker cabinet
price range also makes a difference
some decent combo amps are:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Line-6-Spider-III-75-Combo-Amplifier?sku=482272
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-VTone-GMX212-Stereo-Combo?sku=480731
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Korg-Limited-Edition-Kerry-King-MG10KK-10W-1×6.5-Combo-Amp?sku=481736
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ummm
you probably don’t want to get something more powerful for it to be louder per say.
Randall makes affordable extremely hi-gain and hi (300w) power amps.
any one of their combos or heads would make him fall for you all over again.
But…. if you want the perfect fit for him, and you have a lil bit to spend, find a peavy 5150 combo on ebay or craigslist stat!
now if i could get my gf to care …..
References :
playing 11 years
17 guitars
6 amps
3bands
2hands
1 kid who will never grow up
More wattage doesn’t necessarily mean louder or better tone, if that’s your goal. Unless he plans on powering a ton of speakers, wattage doesn’t tell you much about the amp itself. You have to look at the speakers being matched up to the amp and their decibel rating at a given wattage. A 25 watt amp with a speaker that puts out 95 dB at 25 Watts is just as loud and powerful as a 200 Watt amp with a speaker that puts out 95 dB at 200 Watts.
What you really want to pay attention to is the tone of the amp. My personal pick for playing hard rock would be a Mesa Boogie Double or Triple Rectifier. AMAZING amps!!! (although a bit pricey.) But you can’t go wrong an all tube Marshall, though. Randall and Orange also make some really good amps.
References :
Many years of playing the guitar.
Get him a tube amp, ditch the solid state and digital amps..
You can get a 50 watt tube amp that is as loud if not louder than a 160 watt solid state. Another factor is the amp’s energy consumption and efficiency.
There are some marshalls, vox, fenders that are solid state amps with tube pre amps and vice versa. Check some of those out.
btw.. how much are you looking at spending? I could be of more assistance if i knew.
References :