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The reality of the whole amplifier situation is that you’ll need to try ‘em out in person before deciding to buy. No matter how good the quality, no recording will make the amplifier sound the way it does in person. I’ve made that mistake the past, cost me lots o’ coin. While all that remains true, I’d like to share a couple ideas or a “starting point” for selecting the amplifier for you.

For the sake of simplicity I’ll talk about the three most common types of amps.

The first type is a solid state amplifier. More often than not these are the cheapest amps you’ll find. The tone remains the same regardless of the volume, which is ideal for a bedroom/practice setup… something you don’t always like to crank; although some people do prefer them to other types of amplifiers, even for live shows.

My personal opinion is that some are very good for clean tones – the Roland Jazz Chorus has an amazing clean tone, probably the best I’ve heard… for overdrive or distortion… not so much. They tend to sound too fizzy (not fuzzy like Hendrix but fizzy). Some people even say they can’t listen to playing through a solid state amp for too long, otherwise they get a headache.

There is one solid state amp that I DO like; it’s the Randall RG100ES from the 80’s. It’s a pretty wicked amp for heavy metal or heavy rock tunes. You’ll hear it all over Pantera records (“Dimebag” Darrell was a huge fan of solid state Randall stuff), some Def Leppard and Michael Angelo Batio’s stuff. The modern day Randall amps are alright but they don’t even compare to the RG100ES… the only problem with that amplifier is that you can rarely find one in decent condition. Occasionally you’ll find NOS (new old stock) pop up on eBay but I haven’t seen one in months… they usually go for around $300 which is a pretty decent deal.

The second type of amp is all that digital modeling business… you have to be super careful when buying this stuff. First I guess I should tell you what they are… basically the companies try and digitally model those insanely expensive or rare amps that everyone wants. Some of the digital products out there sound way too digital – Line 6’s Spider 1 through 3 are a good example. They just don’t sound natural.

These are typically much better than solid state stuff in my opinion, for both practicing and gigs. On the practice side of things, it makes sense that it would be a better choice… you get multiple amp models and multiple effects for roughly the same price as a solid state amp. If you’re lookin’ into digital stuff I’d recommend checking out the Roland Cube – she’s a nice little practice amp.

You can also get little tiny modeling boxes like the Line 6 POD (1, 2.0, XT and X3), Zoom has some products like that, so does Vox and Boss if I remember right. Depending on which company you go with these usually sound better… not exactly like that actual amps they’re modeling but still pretty decent.

For giggin’ and live shows, I’d say stay away from the digital modeling amps and go for the modeling boxes, preferably the ones that lay out on the floor like the Line 6 POD X3 Live (or Floor POD, the POD XT Live) or the Vox ToneLab. The reason I say go with this kind of modeling instead of a modeling amp is the simple fact that you can plug straight into the P.A. system with ‘em. It makes balancing the sound of the stage/playing area much easier and less time consuming… plus, like I said earlier… they just sound better than modeling amps (in my opinion).

Oh yeah, and you can usually record with those modeling boxes – straight out of the box. I use my POD X3 Live for recording and practice purposes… great little thing to have.

The third (and final type I’ll mention) is tube amps – the mother of all amplifiers… also the most expensive. Go listen to your favorite bands and chances are they’re using tube amps – the majority of professionals do. These are the amps that modeling tries to mimic… that alone should tell you something.

These are way complex contraptions but here’s my oversimplification of how they work: the louder you crank them, the more overdrive you get and the better they sound. Obviously that can be problematic depending on your housing situation so yeah… may not want to buy one of these suckers for a practice setup.

Tube amps tend to sound smoother, have more clarity, react better to your fingers and picking, etc… overall, I personally think they’re just better than everything else. It’s really hard to explain. One thing you DO have to look out for when purchase on these suckers is that quality. Recently a new company has come out with budget tube amps called “Bugera”; they’re made from ridiculously cheap parts from China I believe it was. They were just released a few months ago and people are already complaining about them breaking down and/or overheating.

So, with all that said, which do you buy? Follow your ears! Try out as many as possible and come to the conclusion yourself. Everyone’s tastes are different; I prefer tube amps while some call me crazy because they prefer digital modelling.

For me personally, my ears made it obvious. I own three amplifiers – a Randall RG75G2 (75 watt solid state combo) which I used to use to practice/jam on, a Line 6 POD X3 Live (digital modeling box) which I currently use for practicing and recording tunes/ideas and a Laney GH50L (tube amp head) for rockin’ at unacceptable levels.

Keep rockin’ (or start!), and if you have any other questions, click here: http://www.farowt.com/opt/bgui01/index.php

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