Thoughts on Buying Your First Guitar Amplifier

Greeting Dynastar Fans:

Okay … congratulations! You got your first guitar and now you need an amp. I was 11. I did not get a student amp until I was 15- and one-half years old. Since I liked to fool with electricity, I used my brothers Hi-fi stereo amplifier plugged into a junky speaker cabinet I made in Jr. high wood shop and played through it my Kalamazoo that had previously made rounds all over town. I know pathetic… I was unhappy with it all. I was very sad. Soo let us help you do this a better way.

I am going to give you my opinion, and this is by means no way ‘the thing to do’. Just Dynaman’s thoughts. First , you are playing ability is most critical at this point, not your tone. You are not mature enough to develop your ear for tone, nor pitch during year one. Be patient. You will still need to develop calloused finger tips year one (ooh I hated that– the pain). Cheapo guitars are smooth playing these days, so the pain might be a little less me thinks– but still…

There is a plethora of little tiny practice amps made in Asia. I consider them junky amps. I will not mention any here. They can sound like a little transistor radio. Even ones that have cute little effects built in tend to be… well… not full sounding. A guitar needs it’s low frequency harmonics amplified to really appreciate the sound of the instrument, especially if you have a hollow body. My suggestion: stay away from the ‘Packaged Deal’ with a guitar and micro sized guitar amp you can hold in your armpit.

Let’s do this: Find a used decent quality name brand amplifier that’s 8-15 years old. Dime a dozen out there in your local town. Some people with gear sitting in their closet for years will even give them away. You might even ask for one on social media. Second hand stores are a good place too, but watch out in pawn shops. You can often get killer deals on them off of social media, or the Internets. Try to find something local so you can see it function properly, and test it out before you hand out cash. If it looks to be worn out a bit or have scratchy controls, but generally works, buy it and get it serviced. The goal here is to pick up something under $150.00 at the time of this writing. Okay, so you put another hundred bucks in it…At least you’ll have something with a decent 12” loudspeaker, and strong amplifier. I’d stay away from tube amps right now, but if the deal is really good…..??

You don’t need bells and whistles on a practice amp.. There are effects pedals for that which will come later one by one as your sound fickleness develops. We don’t even know if you will stick with playing yet, right? Ya.. I know, you were really excited at first but it is absolutely essential you become a rock star now. Be patient. If you hang in there you might even get a bra thrown at you while on stage. If you don’t it will be a beer bottle:))

Okay, so you have your amp now, working, ugly, but functional. Let’s focus on the playing now. Take lessons, music theory, practice hard, long, and repetitive; try to not only play cover songs and copy licks from famous axe artists. You have a brain. Make up melodies in your head and put them down on the frets. Keep an eye on your fingering checking for awkward hand positions cramping your playability. Discipline, Discipline, Discipline! You know.. like those little virtuoso Japanese girls you see on you tube playing incredible guitar riffs.

Start recording yourself day 1 with an app on your smartphone. Save videos. As you improve and get better, in a few months go back and listen to yourself. If you sound the same, you’re not practicing hard enough or not putting enough time in. Give up time wasting stuff for awhile. Talent will not be handed to you. You have to earn it. It’s free to mankind.

“Playing by ear” I am not exactly sure what that means but I think it is an apologetic way of saying you don’t know how to read music. It is good to understand music theory. At least a little bit of chord progressions, and tablature. It seems lame and very un-fun at first but later as you progress, you start having a sense of playing power.

Now in a few years, if you still stuck with it, you’ll say.. “ufff it’s time for a new amp!”…You’ll know in your heart when is the right time if you are committed and honest with yourself. Ahhh.. the green light to better pro-audio gear… So now you can start looking into effects pedals, maybe even a small pedal board, and a mid to high end combo or amplifier head.

You are now open to perhaps having a jam session with some people if only just to see if you can stay syncopated with fellow musicians. It’s very satisfying when you can play songs in a group. After that, the urge to play in front of people can be very strong, especially if you are still in high school. As I recall, those can be the sweetest times to perform.

Of course, after several years, you may have a recording studio in your home, several guitars, and all the paraphernalia that goes along with a gigging musician. Oh happy day.. !!

Good luck, start small, practice hard. Buying excessive gear won’t make you play better. Practice will.

One last thing: Stage presence. When you start to play on stage, don’t just stand there like a tree stump.
Move around, look at, and engage people, not your guitar neck. Play in the dark to loose that habit.

Hope this helped.

Dynaman…