I have been playing trombone for almost 7 years now. I understand the value of buying good equipment ,but i am not looking to spend a fortune on a guitar amp. Where can i find good prices on guitar amps ,and what model should i buy? Also, what kind of features/qualities make a good amp?

If you want a good reliable and affordable amp right out of the box. I would go with any of the line 6 amp models. They start at around 200 and go upwards…..The effects are included onboard the amps efx processor and there are enough things to keep you occupied and get the desired tone you need.

Setting them up is much easier than other amps i have encountered.

I really need to know so i know what to buy

A guitar amplifier (amp) is the electronic device used to take the signal that a guitar produces and amplify the signal to a much louder level so that it can then be ran to a speaker where the sound is reproduced much louder. The pickup on a guitar takes the mechanical motion of the string and converts it to a very weak electronic signal which is then sent to the input of the guitar amp. The amp takes this weak signal an proceeds to magnify that signal considerably and in the process adds aspects of tonal properties to it (equalization, etc.) it then sends this amplified signal to a loud speaker which converts it back into mechanical energy which we hear as sound. A combo amp has the amplifier and speaker all in one package. A head is an amplifier by itself without a speaker. It requires a speaker cabinet for operation. A speaker cabinet is a box with speakers in it (no amp)
A combo amp is the best bet for most playing because it has the versatility of having both an amp and a speaker in one package. These can range from very small practice amps to larger amps with 2 speakers and enough wattage to play at a loud volume. A separate amp head and speaker cabinet combination is usually used for very high volume situations.

I’m planning to make a jack that has 2 inputs.

will this work? or will it mess up the amp or guitar.

need someone with experience

Benny’s suggestion is valid, but if you want a little more versatility then you might want to look at an A/B or A/B/Y switch. This will let you turn on each amp individually or run them together.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-CoolSWITCH-ABY-Box?sku=180614

That’s an entry-level box. The better ones will have transformer isolation between the two outputs to prevent ground loops:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Radial-Tonebone-BigShot-ABY-Passive-Switcher?sku=153931

And of course, the sky’s the limit. Some will also incorporate signal boost and programmability:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Radial-Tonebone-JX2-Pro-Switchbone?sku=153908

But, at least this gives you an idea of what’s out there.

Just be sure to plug both amps into the same power strip to minimize the ground loop. But splitting the guitar to 2 amps is no big deal and won’t mess up anything.

Good luck.

Greetings from Austin, TX

Ken

Marshall , but i started with peavy.. is pretty good

Flats or masks depending on the background of the person naming them.

Maybe I don’t understand head amps exactly, but when you look at guitar amps with low wattage, they have the control switches and knobs attached to the amp. However, when you move onto taller amps with higher wattage, why do they all have head amps that need to be attached? Couldn’t manufacturers make all amps with the controls attached onto it?

Can someone explain how a head amp also works? Some of them have a lower part that appears like a speaker. Is there a tiny speaker built in to it?
But why do some head amps like this:
http://www.musiciansbuy.com/mmMBCOM/images/marshall_avt150h.jpg

appear to have a bit of space for what seems like a tiny speaker built in? Is there even one there?

How would you know what guitar amp and amp head combo you would go for? It seems like a lot of mixing and matching that would be hard to try out. I mean if let’s say I get a Marshall amp that comes with a head amp, wouldn’t that be the best choice for a head amp, since it was basically built for that kind of amp?

This is a very good question but there are many parts to it. Guitar amp head are seperate from the cabnets (speakers) for a couple of reasons. High Wattage heads are more so designed to be taken on the road and amp heads are easier to carry then a huge heavy all in one unit second professional amp heads and cabinets can be interchangable for example maybe you like the quality of a marshal amp head but the sound quality of a mesa cabinet, this can be done easily and third is cost a amp head almost always has a seperate price tag from the cabinet this allows you to do the second thing I mentioned and it makes the retailer a lot more money. Floor units or the all in one amps with the speakers built in are to us guitar players more of a means to practice without lugging around a huge half or full stack amp setup although there are a few amps liek this that have been played thourgh a lot for small venues such as the glorious fender twin. Amp heads work much in the way that a built in amp works in a all in one unit does the only differences is the power they draw and the amp circuit used to amplify the signal but these can amplify using one of many technologies such as all tube or all solid state or hybrid. Solid states use mosfit transistors to amplify sound tubes use AC bias and hybrids use a little bit of both.

I can’t afford another amp. That’s why I’m wondering.

A bass guitar will easily blow an electric guitar amp. While it might work for a little bit (and that’s a guess), the amp would blow before you really knew what happened. The frequency of a bass is too low for it to handle.

if they have what are they normally labelled as? is it literally in and out or something else?

The answer to your question is that some guitar amps have MIDI In and Out. The higher end Line 6 amps have them (I’m looking at the ones on my Vetta II HD right now). The Marshall JVM series amps have them as well.

Keep in mind that MIDI on amps only accepts and transmits program change data, not note information. In other words, you can set a MIDI capable amp up to change channels or turn and effect on/off when it receives a certain MIDI command. It can then output another MIDI command to, say, change the patch on an effects unit.

Several years ago I had a system put together that interfaced my Line 6 AX2 amp with the band’s lighting rig. When I would change patches on my amp, it would call up a new lighting sequence and start it. Pretty slick, but it just go to be too much programming to keep up with it.

Now, if you want MIDI note information, you would have to put a MIDI pickup on your guitar (Roland and Yamaha make them). They analyze the pitch of the note you’re playing and then output the appropriate MIDI data. But that would happen separately from the amp.

Greetings from Austin, TX

Ken

I’m putting it in a VOX AD30VT which needs a new tube and I have both kinds of tubes here.

Hi

Looking through my valve data book the 6267 and EF86 are equivalent. The equivalent for the 12AX7 is the ECC83.
The EF86 is a pentode and the ECC83 is a double triode.
The answer to your question must be no.

I hope that helps.

Adge

Hello there,

I think you are talking about the clean channel (low input) and the drive channel (high input). The clean channel is just that; it gives you a clean tone without boost. The drive channel will be a little more distorted and has some boost to the sound.

Later,