Amp Modeling: Part One

In my previous post I talked about the different types of amps but today I want to bring to attention an alternative to an amp.

In this age of computers and technology we have a thing called amp modeling. Amp modeling is basically using a computer to emulate different amps and effects. The reason this is a great method and my personal favorite, is because you can have virtually any sound without having to buy a bunch of different amps and effects.

The way this works is instead of plugging your guitar into an amplifier you plug it into your computer using some sort of interface that transfers the sound to a program. the program then emulates a wide range of amps and effects that you can customize just as if they were real amps.

There are different ways to connect your guitar to your computer a simple way is to just use an adapter and connect it to a normal 3.5' audio cable connected to the line input on your computer. A better way would be to buy a guitar usb cable and plug it in to a usb port. The best way I think is to buy a usb audio interface which has more features and a better sound.

There are other ways to connect it but these are probably the most simple and cheap ways to do it. after you have it connected you will need some amp modeling software such as Guitar Rig or AmpliTube which I will cover in another post.

Types of Amps

So you got an electric guitar and you need an amp. The question is what type of amp do you get. Well I ran across this cool website that gives a pretty good explanation of the different types of amps.

so there are generally 3 types of amps, solid-state, vacuum-tube, and digital.

solid-state amps usually come with guitar starter packs because they are cheap to make and repair the problem with them is that they aren't very great of coarse you an get better ones for a higher price. This is usually what a lot of people start with because it is cheap and it sometimes comes with your guitar.

 digital amps use are very good amps in my opinion because they are the most flexible. These types of amps allow you to emulate the sound of other types of amps and gives you more control.

vacuum-tube amps are more expensive and require more maintenance but they produce a great sound. These are for more professional guitarist or ones that want a better sound.

so those are you three types of amps if your guitar came with a solid-state amp then you should probably just start off with that then ditch it for a better amp if you got the money I would go with a vacuum-tube amp or a good digital amp depending on your taste.

if you want to read up more on it check out the link here:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/for_beginners/choosing_the_right_starting_amp.html?no_takeover