Guitar Amplifiers - Making Yourself Heard
Guitar amplifiers have been around in their present form since around about the mid 1950's. They were created out of a need to allow guitars to compete with acoustically louder instruments. Eventually, when Gibson and Fender started producing solid bodied electric guitars, the acoustic qualities were not an issue, and the amps of the day were created to create and enhance sound rather than amplify sound in the traditional sense of recreating a sound at a louder volume.
Because a modern guitar amp is an integral part of the sound achieved by a musician, it could be considered almost as important as the instrument itself. In the early 50's, Fender led the way with amps that produced clean clear sounds with an occasional touch (or sometimes a lot ...) of reverb.
More modern amps are built with pre amps to build the sound up and distort it, giving a fuzzy 'rock' sound most popular with modern rock and roll bands. In the early stages of their development, guitar amps were used to provide amplification for the whole concert venue. During the late 60's and 70's, the sound of the guitar was fed through the public address system, so stacks and stacks of amplifiers that were prevalent in the 1960's became obsolete in favour of single amps.
Fender Super Champ XD Vintage Modified Guitar Combo Amplifier (15 Watts, 1x10 In.)
The Super-Champ XD amplifier takes the vintage formula into a new era by combining a real tube amp with up-to-date “extras” like versatile amp voicing and quality DSP effects.
More Guitars, Amps, and Effects Information
Feature:
Great combination of features but Fender cuts corners in the effects department. All effects are presets whose parameters can't be adjusted. Even the cheapest VOX Valvetronix lets you adjust every effect setting. Point off for that, otherwise an amazing amp for the money.
Quality:
Chinese PCB manufacturing scares me, but Fender has a good reputation. Time will tell how reliable this thing is.
Value:
Excellent value! Buy one!
Desirability:
Great sex appeal. I bought it after 10 minutes of running through the presets.
Sound:
Amazing variety of tones. All very good. This amp shines when plugged into an external cab. Try a Celestion loaded 1x12 and you'll be impressed! I bought it for session work. Very convenient to have a good sounding tube amo with a variety of amp models. Sounds far better than the new Line6 Spidervalve tube modeling amps. They sound like they have a blanket over them!
Ease of Use:
Couldn't be easier. No manual needed. No menus or screens, just turn the knobs and listen!
Support:
Fender is a sales organization first and foremost. If you're persistant, you'll get service.
Overall:
Great for what it is.
Historically, there have been two types of electric guitar amplifier, valve amps and transistor amps. The latter are usually considered more reliable, but the former have a 'dirty' kind of tone that cannot be replicated properly in any other way. Over the years, one of the best know valve amps were made by Vox. Rory Gallagher was a great exponent of valve amplifiers.
Vox AD100VT Valvetronix Guitar Combo Amplifier (100 Watts, 2x12 in.)
Introducing the 100-watt Vox AD100VT, the newest member of the AD series of Valvetronix combo amps. The AD100VT sports the amazingly versatile tube sound of Valvetronix and a modern twist to the traditional Vox design. The new AD100VT makes an excellent choice for a performance amp, with versatility and power to spare.
More Guitars, Amps, and Effects Information
Feature:
A host of amp models and effects. This is a great studio amp as you can get hundreds of different sounds from this amp.
Quality:
I haven't had any problems mechanically with it so far. It appears to be ruggedly built.
Value:
A lot of amp for the price.
Desirability:
A lot of people have dogged the look of this amp but I think it looks kind of tough.
Sound:
Great variety of tones to chose from. I do find the clearer channels to be a little lacking in a rich tone. It's a little thin sounding. The overdrive channels sound wonderful though. This amp definately cranks. My solo's really ring through the band noise on stage.
Ease of Use:
Again a great studio amp but it's on stage ease of use is a bit lacking. I purchased the foot pedal which came with a very short chord that only reaches about half way to the front of most stages. I find my self going back to my amp between most songs to make adjustments to my sound.
Support:
I have not dealt with their support team.
Overall:
I plan to own this amp for at least the next 5 years.
Acoustic guitars have slightly different requirements.
The great quality of an acoustic guitar is in its acoustic sound. A good acoustic guitar amplifier does not need to pre amp or build effects into the sound. An acoustic amp should try and reproduce the natural sound of the guitar. So, it should act more in keeping with a traditional kind of amplifier.
