Tips for choosing your first guitar amp

Samuel Maquieira has been hitting the Chilean music scene for over 20 years, with riffs ranging from the heavy and harsh metal to the traveling introspection of psychedelia. Yajaira , The Gandjas , wild parade Yes Versions These are just a few projects where Sam showed off his electric guitar prowess.

This versatility within rock requires, on the other hand, to have equipment that offers the different sounds related to each of its projects. “For example, in Ganjas, I use an amplifier Mesa Boogie Mark III which I also occupy in Yajaira, with a Marshall JCM 800 80s, to give it a stereo effect,” says Maquieira.

But his favorite amp is the seventies Music Man 210 sixty-five . “It’s my gift of life. I bought it in 1995, at the Crown Plaza, and for two grains from a cumbianchero who unloaded it. I fell in love with its sound, it has a brutal hybrid distortion that ended up giving Yajaira a good part of the sound”, says the musician.

Shortly after, a friend of his father — the poet Diego Maquieira — named Francisco Bullemore and whom Sam calls his “guitar mentor”, arrives with a gift: his first amplifier. And although he doesn’t remember the brand, he does remember some details, like that it was a “typical” combo amplifier, which included both an amplifier and a speaker .

“It was about 15 watts, one of the so-called ‘lunch boxes’. I remember I had a sticker of a screeching rocker and the funniest thing was that there was distortion, which was the only thing I cared about. I was 15 and mocker“, describes Maquieira. That’s how Sam found an ally for his black Maxtone Stratocaster type guitar “along the way”. Kirk Hammett », and the one he had personalized with « satanic » drawings, made by himself using a compass.

What did Maquieira learn from this first amplifier? “He basically taught me how to play loud, which is radically different from playing an acoustic guitar. It gave me the hard rock fun I was looking for, but at the same time it forced me to work harder to play better, since everything you play is amplified and you don’t want to pump your balls at that. volume there”.

In every girl or boy lives a potential Sam Maquieira, or maybe a Jimi Hendrix or maybe one of those guys who hangs up his guitar to be the center of attention at a campfire on the beach. It doesn’t matter, because it is not an article of management ontological, but with tips for making a more informed choice of who will be your first amplifier or that of your son, daughter, nephew or musical disciple.

But why is it so important to think about the amplifier? Maquieira replies, “Because it can be as important as the guitar when it comes to defining the sound; I mean you can have a fancy guitar and sound like a jerk if you have a bad large, or vice versa”.

In short, each model and each brand offers different sound possibilities. Some brighter, others more opaque or balanced, to name just a few variations. In the case of The Ganjas guitarist, his experience led him to discover that what he was looking for was “that warmer ’70s record sound that I grew up with”. And for that I needed a tube amp, “which has a very different sound from the transistor”.

tubing? transistors? Do we not understand anything? Let’s review.

They are the most popular in the market. They are also less expensive than tube amps. At Audiomusica, for example, they can be found in a price range from 39,000 to 600,000 pesos. For Andres Ferreira, Product manager of this article in the instrument multistore, the advantage of this type of amplifiers lies in its weight, which is lighter and easier to transport. By having a simpler system, “it does not require maintenance, beyond cleaning the dust and dirt that can accumulate on the outside”. In addition, they consume less energy.

However, among its drawbacks, the sound quality is inferior to that offered by tube amplifiers – the deviation increases or decreases depending on the models to be compared – and the distortion they include is generally not as warm or defined.

Also known as tube amplifiers, they’re often preferred by professional musicians because “they deliver superior sound quality,” says Ferreira. Its sound is characterized by a “very good tone, more natural and defined”, and its distortion is “more powerful, but at the same time warm and defined”.

Among its disadvantages is its weight, greater than that of transistors, which often makes its transfer a torture. They also work with “very high” voltages, so they use more electricity and require more care and maintenance, as the tubes are very delicate and easy to burn. For example, a minor bump during a transfer can mean the death of a valve. “And it may or may not sound or it may sound very noticeably impaired,” says Ferreira.

The level of care that this type of amplifier needs is also seen when using it. These need a warm-up time, so unlike transistorized equipment, they cannot be used immediately after turning them on.

Its price can also be an obstacle compared to other alternatives. At Audiomusica, for example, its price range goes from 280,000 to 2.5 million pesos.

These amplifiers work from the fusion of transistors and tubes, hence their name. “In the amplification stage, its operation is done through transistors and, in the audio output stage, its operation is done through a tube”, details Ferreira. Being hybrids, they blend the pros and cons of both worlds, and as such, their price range is somewhere in the middle. At Audiomusica, they are between 39,000 and 180,000 pesos.

Óscar Ojeda started playing acoustic guitar at the age of 10. For various reasons, he put it aside for a while, “but then I met Stevie Ray Vaughan, a blues guitarist who opened my eyes and gave me a love for the instrument again. That’s how at 17 I got my first electric guitar with the amp included in the combo,” he says.

At 32, Ojeda is a guitar teacher and school coordinator rock station located in Puerto Varas, which offers online courses for girls, boys, teenagers and adults.

For him, the first amp should be a “dog meat”. That is to say that it is versatile, “it allows us to try different musical styles, be it rock, jazz or metal so that later we can define what we are looking for in the sound”. This is why, he says, “it is so important to know our musical tastes, so that we can know the teams used by the artists we like and they will serve as a reference”.

In this sense, he advises to be guided by a prudent budget, “because you should not spend a million if you are not sure of the sound you want. It’s important to start small and increase the budget over time, both in the amp and in the instrument”.

Samuel Maquieira thinks the same way: “I don’t think there is a specific brand or model to start with. You always have to do it with humility, with a cheap guitar, like with a baguette guitar, and discover little by little where you want to go in the sound”.

In any case, certain factors can help your choice. For example, what you plan to use the amp for. It’s different if you want it to play as a hobby in your bedroom, if you’re going straight to rehearse with a band and play live, or if you need it to bolster your electric guitar studies.

“Considering where and how you will be using the amp – in a room, in a rehearsal room, on stage with other people with other instruments like drums, bass, keyboards, etc. – helps determine its power and its size,” says Ferreira. And in this line appears a classic rookie mistake: believing that the bigger and more powerful the amplifier, the better it will be. The only thing that is guaranteed, says Ojeda, “is to end up scandalizing the neighbors”.

Start small. It’s the law. In this sense, a small amplifier powerful enough for its use is sufficient. Ferreira says that today there are compact equipment of only 3 watts, “ideal for learning, because they are small, transportable. There are those with Bluetooth, music apps, built-in effects and at a great price.”

That yes, they will not be of much use if you are already planning to join a band, where you will have to share with the power of drums and bass, among other things. In this case, the man from Audiomusica recommends having a transistor amp with at least 50 watts of power, and at least 15 watts if it’s tube.

In this way, we ensure that the size and weight do not become a problem to transport it or to find a space for it wherever it is installed. Surely you will think that with this power it is not enough to play live, but Ojeda assures that it is even good for playing in stadiums. Indeed, you can resort to other reinforcements, such as microphones – install microphones pointing at the amplifier’s speaker – and that will be enough to demolish the ears of anyone present.

On the other hand, Ferreira recommends that the first amplifier have two channels: one clean and one with distortion. “It will give you the ability to get the two most used sounds on the electric guitar,” he says. Ojeda, meanwhile, suggests looking for one that also has a wider variety of effects, such as reverberationthe ChorusIs delay. “In order to explore the sounds that can be obtained on the guitar and over time to define the one that we wish to obtain”.

Whether or not to consider the brand of the amplifier generates debate. Ojeda thinks getting carried away with her is a mistake, because the most important thing is to find the sound that suits us. For this reason, he recommends going to the shops, trying out the equipment and thus having a first-hand sound experience. This can also be supplemented by a search for product reviews on the internet, in order to be “as informed as possible”.

Ferreira, for his part, maintains that “as with any other type of product, there are brands with models that have better features, which generally increases their price”. Although a well-known brand may be more expensive, the Product manager from Audiomusica ensures that there are constantly offers on amplifiers for beginners, so it calls to pay attention and take advantage of them.

The store you buy from can also be a relevant factor. It’s best to consider the ones that offer you the best support and advice, and also guarantee a response in case you need technical service. Especially if you have explorer DNA and want to experiment in the style of Dave Davies, The Kinks, who in the early 60s scraped his amp with a razor blade for a rawer sound. Who knows if so, we have a new one really got me ? Or maybe a real disaster…

*Prices for products in this item are updated as of April 13, 2022. Values ​​and availability may change.