While many experts insist that there is nothing called jazz guitar amps – there certainly is something called a preferred jazz guitar amp! The main function of guitar amps is to make your guitar sound great, so much so that even with an ordinary guitar and a good quality amp your performance can sound fantastic. Popular manufacturers of good jazz guitar amps are Mesa Boogie, Fender, Marshall, Crate, etc.
Kinds Of Guitar Amps
Guitar amps come in three types – tube amps, hybrid amps and solid-state or analog amps. You also get digital amps. Bass players prefer the solid-state amps because of the output delivered. The tube amps, the first amps to be made, produce a richer warmer sound. Hybrid is a combination of tube and solid-state type amps. Here, the power behind the sound comes from the solid-state amp while the tone is from the tube amp. Power output is an important factor when choosing guitar amps. When you compare a tube amp and other amps with the same wattage, tube amps sound louder. Tube amps use glass tubes while solid-state amps use transistors. Some players find solid-state amps more reliable. Digital amps produce their sound through digital processors and are quite trendy these days. Tube amps are quite heavy when it comes to portability and also can be quite expensive in terms of cost and upkeep. The tubes need to be replaced periodically. Makers of tube amps like Fender, Marshall and Mesa Boogie use Chinese tubes, which are factory fitted.
While selecting the guitar amp, you can get combos where you have the speaker and amp in a single cabinet. Many players prefer a separate amp and speaker as it gives them the flexibility to use any speaker with the amp and also making them more portable during gigs. Speaker size is also a factor to consider while choosing a guitar amp. Of course, the best thing to do is to try out different amp models before actually buying one since you want to know which one delivers the kind of sound you want to hear.
Different jazz players use different styles, and therefore choose their amps based on how they want their music to sound. The thing is, some jazz guitar players prefer a warm sort of sound since jazz guitars are traditionally acoustic arch top models. This makes them seek ‘tube’ amps as they feel that this enhances their music in the right way making it more life-like. But, as mentioned earlier, it is not compulsory to go in for only a tube amp when it comes to choosing your jazz guitar amps. The great player Mike Stern uses a solid-state amp, while Scofield uses two tube amps. Henderson had his tube amps made to order.
Ultimately, we cannot ignore the fact that the main sound originates from the jazz guitar player. We must also remember that the related equipment, namely pickups and speakers play a major role in the final sound output. While buying the amp, preferably take your guitar along so that you can select the right jazz guitar amp by trying out various models at different volume levels and different channels so that you settle on the one that suits you best.
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Source: www.a1articles.com
