Getting Your First Amp

Picking an amp is really hard to do when you first start playing. There is so many choices out there and alot of them cost a good bit of money. I am going to tell you about two that I recommend for the new player that are decent and cost effective. In your early years of playing your ear is most likely not developed enough to be able to tell one amp from another or even be able to tell a sound you like. When I have a new student interested in an amp I steer them to one of the Line 6 Spiders or the new Fender Mustang amps. Why? Because those amps have decent sounds from the touch of a button. While they are not as killer as a tube Marshall Plexi or a Fender Twin, they are easy to get a sound out of and they are cheap to buy. When you are first starting to play you cant tell the difference between a $2,000 amp and a $100 one. The Line 6 and the Fender Mustang have good clean tones, sounds with a little crunch all the way to blistering distortion. They also have a ton of effects built right in. Delays, chorus, flanger, reverb, tremalo and tons of others. Pedals are another thing you need to know what you like before you start spending tons of money on pedals you don't want. That is another big plus of the two amps I am talking about. They get you use to the different effects and what they do and you can practice on how to use them. It will do you good starting out on either of these two amps. Once you develop an ear for what you want, after a year or two, you go out and try out your tube Marshall, Fender, Peavey, VHT, Rivera, Soldano or any of the other great companies out there making amps right now. We will get into those kinds of amps later on. I have a ton of great tube amps at home and love them. The Fender Mustang and Line 6 Spiders sell for around $100. Get out and check one out.