Musical Instrument Amplifiers. Why Would You Need One?

If you play Guitar, Bass, Electronic Keyboard, Organ Or Digital Drums, chances are that you probably have already heard about the great importance of a descent amplifier to compliment your instrument. Why would you need one? Why are they very specific to each instrument? Aren’t they all the same? Can we use them inter-changeably? Well, lets find out some facts and bust some old myths!

Every instrument has a very specific tone, timbre, dynamic and frequency range which it can handle. So, it is very essential that each type of instrument should have a specialized amplifier that can perfectly handle these preliminary sound characteristics and more. That is how so many different types of amps have originated in the market and still there is a lot of research going on in this field of engineering. The types of musical instrument amplifiers include Valve (Tube or Emitter) Guitar Amps, Solid State (Transistor) Guitar Amps, Acoustic Guitar Amps, Bass Amps, Keyboard Amps, Electronic (Digital) Drum Amps, Organ Amps, Multi-Purpose Amps etc. Among them, Multi-Purpose Amps are the only ones which can handle multiple instruments, but advanced instrument specific amps always provide a more desirable sound for your instrument in focus.

Another point to mention is the power rating of these Amps in wattage. Based on the rated approximate wattage, all amps can be further segmented into Practice/ Home Amps (5-30 Watts), Gig/Semi-Pro Amps (30-60 Watts) and Stage/Pro Amps (Above 60 Watts)

a) Guitar Amps

Guitar amplifiers are tailor made for electric guitars, with the intention of coloring the sound and adding more grit and punch. Guitar amps mainly come in two technology based variants, Valve and Solid State. Every guitar amp should have 2 separate functional sections called the ‘Amplifier’ section and the ‘Speaker’ section. If these 2 separate sections are present in a single unit, they are called as a Combo (short for ‘Combination’) Amp. They are most common because of their compactness, portability and convenience.

If the 2 functional components are sold separately, the amp section is called an “Amp Head” and the speaker section is called a ‘Speaker Cabinet’. There is also a new breed of Guitar amp, called the ‘Modelling Amp’ that can easily mimic the characteristics of a variety of other amps.

Some of the most famous Valve Guitar Practice Amps: Bugera V5 Infinium, Vox VX50BA, Carlsbro EVO5, Orange TH30-C112

Some of the most famous Transistor Guitar Practice Amps: Fender Frontman 10G, Orange Crush 20, Marshall MG10CF, Carlsbro Kickstart 10

Some of the most famous Valve Guitar Gig Amps: Marshall DSL1CR, Fender Pro Junior IV, Orange #4 JRT-H, Vox AC30S1

Some of the most famous Transistor Guitar Gig Amps: Orange Crush Pro CR60C, Fender Champion 20, Carlsbro Kickstart 30, Roland CUBE-40XL

Some of the most famous Valve Guitar Stage Amps: Marshall JVM210C, Mesa-Boogie Fillmore 100

Some of the most famous Transistor Guitar Stage Amps: Fender Champion 100, Vox AC30, Fender ’65, Orange Crush Pro CR120C, Boss KATANA-Artist.

Some of the most famous Guitar Amp Heads: Marshall JCM 25/50 2555X, Orange CR-120-H, Mesa-Boogie Triple Crown TC-50, EVH 5150III, Orange TH100-H

Some of the most famous Guitar Speaker Cabinets: Marshall 1960A, Orange Crush Pro CAB-412, Peavey 112-C, Laney IRT112

b) Bass Amps

Bass amps are custom tailored to handle the extremely low frequencies of an electric bass. All the variants and technical versions mentioned in the above guitar section is available in the Bass Amp sector too. To get the sound of a bass guitar right, bass amps need more powerful Amp Section and require bigger and more powerful Speakers and Cabinets. So, they tend to be heavier than their guitar counterparts.

Some of the most famous Bass Practice Amps: Orange Crush 25BX, Carlsbro Viper 30, Ampeg BA-110, Hartke HD25

Some of the most famous Bass Gig Amps: Fender Rumble 40, Orange Crush 50BXT, Carlsbro Viper 60, Hartke HD50

Some of the most famous Bass Stage Amps: Fender Rumble 100, Orange Crush 100BXT, Peavey MAX 250

Some of the most famous Bass Amp Heads: Fender Bassman Pro 800, Aguilar Tone Hammer 350, Orange OB1-500, Carlsbro Viper 500H, Gallien-Krueger MB 500

Some of the most famous Bass Speaker Cabinets: Peavey Headliner 410, Orange OBC-212, Carlsbro Viper 410, Ampeg SVT-410HLF

c) Acoustic Amps

Acoustic amps are particularly conceived to cater to the subtleties and characteristics of acoustic instruments such as Acoustic Guitar, Classical Guitar, Ukulele, Banjo, Mandolin, Oud, Fiddle and others. Acoustic amps are designed to sound neutral and imparts not much drive or colour to the sound. So they are a very good choice for vocals too! That’s why many Singer-Songwriters prefer acoustic amps for their writing, recording or performance requirements.

Some of the most famous Acoustic Amps: Fender Acoustic SFX, Carlsbro Sherwood 20R, Marshall AS50D, Boss Acoustic Singer Live LT, Blackstar Sonnet 120, Roland AC-33

d) Keyboard Amps

Keyboards and synths have note and frequency ranges spanning several octaves. So, they require specialized amps that handles the extended range well as well as their sound variety. Keyboard amps should be very transparent to ensure precise translation of keyboard/synth sounds without any unwanted flavouring. A dedicated Keyboard Amp is also very helpful for a keyboardist on stage for monitoring his sound when loud drummers and guitar & bass amps are around. At times, they come in 2 channel configurations too to accommodate the left and right channels of most Keyboards simultaneously.

Some of the most famous Keyboard Amps: Peavey KB 4, Carlsbro Colt 60, Roland KC-600, Behringer Ultratone KXD15, Motion Sound KP-500S

e) Drum Amps

Drum Amplifiers are an indispensable piece of equipment for drummers who use electronic/digital drum kits or for acoustic drummers with additional electronic percussions. They are also used alongside with Rhythm Machines, Drum Loop Players and Electronic Percussion Pads. They are essential for projecting the Digital Drum sounds very well and also doubles up as a Powered Stage Monitor for drummers. They behave almost similar to Keyboard Amps and can handle a wide frequency range. The main difference that sets them apart from a Keyboard Amp is their ability to handle very low & very high frequency transients like Kick Drums & Cymbals very well.

Some of the most famous Drum Amps: Roland PM-200, Carlsbro EDA50, Alesis Strike Amp 12, KAT Percussion KA2, ddrum DDA50

f) Rotary Amps/Leslie Speaker

Rotary Amps or most commonly knows as a ‘Leslie Speaker’ is the least common type of Amp in this list. They contain an amplifier, a spinning treble horn and a bass speaker with a spinning baffler. Rotary amps are mainly used for Hammond Organs, Wurlitzer Organs, and some Electric Guitars. It mainly amplifies the sound of the instruments and also imparts a Phasing and Chorus Effect by changing the direction of the sound via the spinning horn and the bass baffle drum chamber.

Some of the most famous Rotary Amps: Leslie 122A, Sharma Speaker D900, Leslie 3300, Leslie Studio 12, Leslie G37

g) Multi-purpose Amps

Multi-purpose Amps are essentially powered full range Combo Amps which are almost identical to Keyboard Amps. As their name suggests, these amps can serve guitarists, vocalists, drummers and vocalists and good enough for a small practice session. Each channel has its own individual input so each instrument or microphone can be controlled. They are transparent amplifies for a wide variety of instruments. Modern powered speakers with their dedicated preamp and controls, fall under this category.

Some of the most famous Multi-purpose Amps: Montarbo MP4, Studiomaster Venture15A, AER AG8, SR Technology Jam 150+

Any query about finding a perfectly matching amp to suit your requirements, just ask our Sales Team at Musicians Corner and they will be more than glad to help you.