Amplifiers

If you're playing an electric guitar, you'll need to amplify the instrument, so you and others can hear you play.

An important consideration when buying a beginner guitar amp is the situations it will be used in. While any amplifier will provide enough volume for "bedroom practice", most of the cheap, tiny beginner amps can't provide adequate volume for playing with others (especially if there are drums involved). Tube amps have always been the amplifier of choice for the working musician. Musical myth has ascribed an almost magical tone to them. While the results may not be entirely magic, tubes do have a sound that is different from solid state amplifiers, and one that happens to make amplified music sound better to the human ears and brain. There are lots of technical explanations for why this should be true, but there is enough solid evidence that it is a real effect to trust it. The real reason to use tube amps is simply that they sound better.