How to Use a Guitar Amp
Every guitarist should know how to use a guitar amp. Guitar amplifiers are some of the most important pieces of equipment in the hobby, especially during gigs and concerts. Amps are part and parcel with guitar. Amps are as central to the guitar as central to the guitar as the guitar picks or the tuning pegs. Amps are also good practicing tools since the tone can be heard through an amp the way it is supposed to, however always remember, “it’s all in the fingers”.
Guitar amps are machines that when plugged into an electric guitar boost the volume of the guitar so it can be heard across a room. Amps not only project sound, but can change and enhance it Amps can even be used on stage making the music audible to even large crowds.
From venues as small as a bar to as large as a festival. Amps are used both live and during recording. Even at a venue as large as Wacken, the world’s biggest Heavy Metal festival in Germany, the guitars can still be heard loud and clear from the very back row.
Even at a venue as small as a dive bar a guitar amp can be far louder and easy to hear than an acoustic.
The Rich History and Versatility of Acoustic Guitars
Acoustic guitars have an appeal of their own. Some artists however forgo the use of an amp at times or for the entirety of their career, many of them preferring the more emotional, country, and classical sound of a true acoustic prominent examples include the entire genre of Bluegrass to some of the work of Neoclassical Shredder Yngwie Malmsteen. Acoustic guitars have a very long history and that is rich and fascinating. Acoustic Guitars were the original guitars.
Distinctive Features of Magnatone Amps and Friedman Amplifiers
Magnatone amps are famous for having a feedback setting that turns off the negative feedback loop on/off. Negative feedback takes some of the final output at the OT and puts it back into the input of the power stage of the amp. That negative feedback cancels out some distortion making the amp sound cleaner and tighter, similar to a compressor.
Eliminating that produces more distortion and looseness, making for a dirtier sound. Friedman amps have a signature. Jerry Cantrell amp. The Foo Fighters uses Friedman amps for their recordings and live shows. Many people enjoy getting a small box or BE-100 for playing guitar and enjoy Friedman’s line of products. Wah pedals were used very much in Funk, Reggae, and Psychedelic Rock. Wah-Wah as an effect has been made iconic in the works of guitar legend, Jimi Hendrix. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are also famous for their use of Wah. A guitar amp can bring the noise anywhere from a bedroom to a baseball stadium.
Guitar Amplifier Types
There are four basics for every guitarist to memorize types of amps: tube amps, solid state, digital, and hybrid. All of these different types work differently and better for different genres and individual needs. Many wonder what makes a good amp, an Amp must be responsive, and dynamic, have a range of volume for any venue, and a range of tones for any genre or section of a song.
However, what makes a good amp is ultimately subjective, different guitarists will always need different things. makes amps very versatile in the realm of guitar. Amps need this level of versatility because every guitarist wants something different.
Guitar Amp Brands and Unique Characteristics
There are many various forms of amps. There are Boss amps, Vox amps, Fender amps, Marshall amps, Mesa Boogie amps, Blackstar amps, Yamaha amps, Line 6 amps, Laney amps, EVH amps, PRS amps, Magnatone amps, Friedman amps, Milbert amps, Diezel amps, Tone King amps, Soldano amps, Carr amps, Peavy amps, Ampeg amps, Suhr amps, and Orange amps.
All of these brands of amps add something new to the guitar. Every brand of guitar amp is highly unique. PRS amps are very valuable and have a high touch sensitivity. Vox amps are notable for their presets made to replicate the sound of many bands often under names that won’t invoke copyright or trademark infringement. Fender amps are also similarly diverse in sound however, many of the new Fender amps have customizable channels that can use effects such as Distortion, Delay, or even Phaser. Blackstar amps are highly responsive and dynamic. Marshall amps are often associated with all forms of heavy metal music. Marshall amps are notable for just how loud they can get on stage. Bands like Judas Priest, Slayer, and Metallica built an entire career playing heavy riffs and blazing solos out of Marshall amps.
Marshall, EVH, Laney and Orange Amplifiers
Out of all amp brands, Marshall is the most iconic amp brand. EVH amps are made by Van Halen guitarist and popularizer of tapping in metal are also designed for use in metal. Soldano amps stand out because the physical parts come from the best possible, top-shelf sources, such as aviation components and hand-made transformers. Carr Amplifiers are beautifully crafted using point-to-point wiring done by hand, and high-end solid pine cabinets with dovetail joints. Ampeg amps are best known as compact amps with lots of clean headroom and were designed by Bill Hughes.
Eddie Van Halen is not only considered by many to be not only one of the best metal guitarists but one of the best guitarists of all time inventing and innovating shred guitar and introducing three-note per string to metal. Therefore, any amp with his seal of approval is on any guitarist’s radar because of his influence and talent. Laney amps are popular for many reasons, they have a high quality sound, they have high quality construction, also the company that makes them have high quality service and are family-run businesses.
Also, Laney amps have many sounds that can be gotten out of them. Tone King uses only premium baltic birch in the construction of our cabinets and amp shells and has a passion for tone and reliability. Yamaha amps have many bonuses such as high-quality Japanese capacitors and other components on every circuit board, high chassis and faceplate build quality, simplicity of function, and ease of use. They also have a retro look.
Orange amps try to replicate the sound of psychedelic rock bands from the 60s such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Understanding the Basics of Guitar Amplifiers: Components and Functions
A large part of how to use a guitar amp is knowing its core components. Amps have a power cord that is plugged into the wall and a signal cord that is plugged into the guitar. An amp works by taking in sound picked by pickups and sending it out through the amp’s speakers. An amp usually has a volume control which controls how loud the amp is. An amp has a gain control which controls how distorted the sound is.
Mastering the Equalizer (EQ) Settings on Guitar Amplifiers
An amp usually has EQ control as well. EQ stands for Equalizer. EQ is a very important setting on an amp or producer’s desk and EQ is present in all music not just guitar music, just like music theory, for example, Hip-Hop often uses boosted bass.
EQ controls the frequencies of each note. EQ The bass control in the EQ controls how prominent lower frequencies are in the amp’s sound. The treble control in the EQ controls how prominent higher frequencies are in the amp’s sound. The mid control in the EQ controls how prominent frequencies in the middle are in the amp’s sound. A balanced EQ is good for most music and is the default setting, A high treble is good for Punk and a high treble bass and low mids are good for metal, often known as “scooped Mids”. Guitar amps often come with a clean channel for Country or ballads and a distorted channel for Rock and Metal.
How to Expand Your Sound with Guitar Effects and Functions
Guitar effects are like a boost to an already amazing guitar sound, making it very unique. Guitar amps often come with effects that change the sound further such as Chorus, Overdrive, Distortion, Auto-Wah, Fuzz, Phaser, Reverb, Ring, Tremolo, Compressor, Pitchshifter, Flanger, and Delay. Guitar effects can also come in the form of pedals on a pedal board.
Many guitarists debate on which pedal should go first because pedal order can alter the sound. Reverb and Delay are great all-rounders with Delay and Distortion being great for whammy bar tricks.
Overdrive, Distortion, and Fuzz are great for rock and metal. Overdrive is more common in Hard Rock than Distortion. Distortion is more common in Heavy metal. Fuzz is very common in psychedelic rock and punk rock. All of these three previous effects work by increasing the gain of the signal making the sound clip causing varying levels of distortion, Fuzz is just a very dirty form of the process and Overdrive can be thought of as a light distortion.
Auto-Wah works well to make a psychedelic sound and so does Wah with a pedal. Wah is also used in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal by guitarists such as Slash and Kirk Hammett from Guns N’ Roses and Metallica respectively. A Ring modulator multiplies the difference between the signal frequencies at a certain rate making sci-fi noises.
Introduction to Other Guitar Effects
A pitchshifter allows for changing the pitch of each note on the guitar allowing for playing the guitar a half-step, a fifth, or an octave higher or lower than normal. Pitchshifters can be used to play at tunings far lower or higher than normal the without use of special strings because the change in pitch is digital. Pitchshifters would increase or decrease the pitch of each note, from a semitone to two octaves by using the digital system in the Pitchshifter.
Tremolo works by creating a fluctuation of volume or how loud or quiet the guitar sounds much like doing volume swells with the knob by using a finger, however, a Tremolo effect is automatic.
Chorus works by playing the octaves and intervals over the original note along with versions of the original note that sound only slightly out of tune, Chorus effects are called modulator effects along with Phaser, Ring, and Flanger. Modulation is a very common way of changing a guitar’s tone that has a large amount of diversity and depth.
The chorus is extremely common often being used in clean sections such as in “One” by Metallica and “Come as You Are” by Nirvana or in lead tones such as by Dave Murray from Iron Maiden across multiple classic songs, especially in modern live performances or lead tones by Steve Vai.
Overdrive distorts the guitar sound slightly by raising the volume and gain. Distortion does the same thing but to a much greater extent.
Auto-Wah puts a frequency filter that makes a “wah” sound.
Fuzz distorts just like Overdrive and Distortion but it sounds dirtier.
Modulation Effects and More
Old Phasers used rotating speakers to create a wet swooshing effect. Modern Phasers are Digital.
Delay makes an excellent echo effect.
Delay and Phaser are used in “Ain’t Talkin’ About Love” by Van Halen. Delay works by repeating sound within an interval of time and a certain volume, length, and intensity.
Flanger works by using an altered delay creating harmonics, similar to Chorus.
Flanger was famously used in tracks such as “Unchained” by Van Halen and “Heart” by Barracuda.
Compressors create sustain without distortion and normalize the guitar signal making it not too loud or quiet. Compressors are great for Studio recordings because normalize the tone of the audio so the sound of an instrument is consistent for the entirety of a record. Compressors are also greasy for live performances because they give the guitar a little bit of boost.
Reverb makes it sound like you are playing at a bigger place than you are. Reverb was one of the earliest effects, it was originally made by having both a speaker and a microphone, simulating having a larger room. In the modern age, however, Reverb is usually generated digitally in almost all Reverb guitar effects. Reverb sounds the same digital or not. Reverb is common in the Country. Effects open up a new world of sound to any guitarist.
However, an amp can be played with an entirely clean tone with no effects at all. Similarly, amps can hurt a guitarist’s ability to hear what’s being played, especially melodically. This fact is top of the most important fact about guitar, “It’s all in the fingers”. In conclusion, amps give many ways to customize your guitar sound.
