AMPS ARRGH!!!

[emptylane]

Okay, i've been playing guitar for year and half and I still don't have a clue about what amps are good!

i have an epiphone les paul and i've heard marshalls are good but..

when i look at a catalogue and i see all these G-35XL and JE-2watnot and I get completely lost...

what do i need to look for in a good amp?

:'( help!

[emptylane]

hmm thanx!

actually, do u think that it matters i have a fender amp for a les paul?

i heard that basically, marshalls are good for heavier sounds e.g. les pauls etc,

while fender amps are good for lighter sounds like.. well.. fender lol.

or is that not rlly that big a deal?

i find it hard to get a funk/lighter knda jazzy sounds on this but mebe its jst the guitar!

[Alistair]

I had a Fender amp and it was so bad I swapped it after a week for a Marshall. But it was at the budget end so I wouldn't condemn the brand on that basis. I have a Fender strat so the combo works nicely.

I think features are more important than branding though.

[Rudi]

Youre essentially right that a Marshall is associated with heavy distorted sounds.

Fenders have a rep for being clean and bright.

I use a Fender amp for that reason. Whatever you use, if it has a reasonable `clean' channel, then you always have a choice, and have potential for a range of sounds. Its easy enough to add an effect or two (adding selective distortion), but you cant `take it away' if its built in.

In reality, these days, all amps try to offer both a clean & a coloured channel. When you check them out, try to do so at your `working volume'. ie: in a soundproof booth or else hire it for a gig.

lets us know how you get on. good luck

[FinnArild]

Okay, i've been playing guitar for year and half and I still don't have a clue about what amps are good!

i have an epiphone les paul and i've heard marshalls are good but..

when i look at a catalogue and i see all these G-35XL and JE-2watnot and I get completely lost...

what do i need to look for in a good amp?

:'( help!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually: after bying my Digitech GNX 3 footboard I usually only use that. (if it isn't a very definitive crunch or solo sound, then nothing beats my Marshall Valvestate).

If there's a wide range of sounds you're after I'd suggest you go for a multi-effect and plug the guitar right into the mixer.

[Alistair]

I remember that I didn't like my Fender amp (it was a 2 x 15w combo) because it had presets with little scope for varying the sound beyond that. The Marshall is much more flexible in that respect. Not that I use it much.

[Lazz]

Don't know how possible this could be for you, but a good approach is to carry your regular guitar into the store and check out a range of amps with it. Might take you a couple of days to find the right one. Shops are usually ok with this. If they're not, they don't deserve your business. You might find Marshalls a bit crude and lumpy for your tastes ("funk/lighter knda jazzy sounds"). And of course there are Fenders, and there are Fenders. Different years, models, and builds. You need to make firm friends with an amp-geek. Yours may be a classic. My friend - one of the finest jazz guitarists around - has long insisted on dragging around an old black-faced Fender with groove tubes, but lately - like all the other finest jazz guitarists around - he has finally started coming around to Clarus. I think they hold the standard you may be looking for. They might be out of your reach right now but it's something to measure the alternatives by.

[Alistair]

Emptylane, listen to this man, he knows what he is talking about. On jjust about every subject. Except football.

[phantomengineer]

Lazz does indeed know all. Is there anything you don't know, Lazz?

[Alistair]

Lazz does indeed know all. Is there anything you don't know, Lazz?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He doesn't know.

[Steve]

Lazz does indeed know all. Is there anything you don't know, Lazz?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He doesn't know my shoe size!

[Lazz]

Hyberbole aside (probably fungible) there is of course tons I don't know.

What I do know - I'm willing to share - if it helps.

For example:

There are known unknowns like Rumsfield.

Steve's shoe size is ten and a half in old money.

H.H. is completely right.

[emptylane]

hmm.. its good to hear so many names of amps. i cud go to a shop and sound like i no wat i'm talking about!

after exams atm, i'll go and become a regular at several shops, play around wit this and that. i ahve a multi effects pedal but its quite small and not so great atm, its a RP50 DigiTech modeling guitar processor.

Blurgh, so many long words.

I'l be sure to take in2 account everythin u said! thanx a lot for the feedback.

feel free to give more advice!

[Alistair]

hmm.. its good to hear so many names of amps.  i cud go to a shop and sound like i no wat i'm talking about!

after exams atm, i'll go and become a regular at several shops, play around wit this and that.  i ahve a multi effects pedal but its quite small and not so great atm, its a RP50 DigiTech modeling guitar processor.

Blurgh, so many long words.

I'l be sure to take in2 account everythin u said!  thanx a lot for the feedback.

feel free to give more advice!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Feel free to keep asking!