28 April, 2013

Buying A Jazz Guitar Amp

By Janelle Burnett


It's definitely true that each guitar player has distinct tastes when it comes to shopping for a jazz guitar amp. Many different styles and designs are available, and each has its own unique tone, capabilities, and characteristics. Still, however, it can be helpful to be prepared with some facts before you start your shopping.

Although you can add fanciful effects to get the sound that you want, it's important to consider that good, straight jazz doesn't absolutely require them. Give a listen to Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel, two jazz guitar legends. Consider that when they were at their peak, amplifiers with fanciful effects hadn't even been invented. All that they required was the warm tones of a good tube-type amplifier.

When you go shopping, there are several decisions that you'll want to make. First, decide upon whether you want to go with a new one, or shop for a vintage model. Yes, it's possible to get a 60 or 70 year-old tube amp in great playing condition. Prices will vary by brand and condition. If you want to save a bit of money and you're handy with a soldering iron, you can find good deals on non-working amps that need a bit of repair. Often, all you'll need to do is to solder in some new capacitors and a new power cord, and you're good.

If you opt for a new model instead, you'll have to make the choice between either tubes or solid-state. For quite a few years, solid-state had a less-than-stellar reputation, and many guitarists would swear by that classic vacuum tube sound. But nowadays, signal processor tech has enabled some of the solid-state amplifiers to come pretty close to the sound of tube amplifiers.

You may think that tubes are old-fashioned, and that it would be hard to find replacements. But, that's not the case. All of the tubes that you'd need for currently produced gear are still in production, and are readily available. One advantage of going with a tube model is that you can experiment with different brands of tubes, to get the exact tone that you're after. If current production tubes don't do it for you, you could always seek out some vintage, new-old stock tubes, and try them.

You can now decide whether you want any effects. If the answer is "Yes", determine if you want them built-in to the amp, or if would you rather buy separate effects pedals, instead. Yeah, it's true that you don't absolutely have to have any effects to create great jazz music. On the other hand, a bit of reverb, tremolo, or compression could allow your playing to separate yourself from the competition.

Next, decide whether you want to shop on-line, or would you rather visit your local music shop. While it's nice to sit and play some amps before deciding, you might find better deals on-line. Reputable dealers will work with you if you need to return an item.

If you're in the market for a new jazz guitar amp, there are many available choices. You can use your friendly Google service to do some research. You'll find lots of information that can guide you into making the correct decision.




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