Amps
What is an Guitar Amp? What are the Amplifier Types?
Although there are many answers to the question of what an amp is, we, guitarists, need to understand what an amp means.
In short, the amplifier is a sound amplifier with an electronic circuit that amplifies sound, placed in wood or hard plastic, and is produced without speakers or speakers.
Guitar amps have undergone many developments from the past to the present.
Generally, guitar amps can be found in wooden or plastic cabinets with or without speakers, as we mentioned above.
What is an Amp?
Amplifiers, the general purpose of which is to amplify sound, converts the weak current signal to a high signal and transmit it to the speakers. Today, not only guitar amps, but all electronic devices have amps from large to small.
Televisions, cinema systems, even telephones. However, since we are on the music side of the business, we will examine the development of guitar amps.
Amphitheater History
In the 1920s, it wasn’t as easy to find an amplifier and speaker to amplify a guitar or other instrument as it is today.
At that time, the only possible loudspeakers for sound amplification were “horn speakers with a limited frequency range and low acoustics.
The first amplifiers and speakers were powered by large batteries, which made the amps heavier and harder to transport.
These amps, which were invented for movie theaters etc. until 1927, were both expensive and a burden for musicians to use.
After 1927, small amps were invented that could be used by plugging into a portable socket.
They were popular until the 1930s, thanks to the wooden cabinet and carbon speakers.
In 1928, the Stromberg-Voisinet firm sold electric guitars and amps together, leading musicians to buy their own amps.
Amplifiers for acoustic guitars continued to evolve rapidly, as there were no features such as tone controls and effects at this time.
Distortion Tone Birth
Although there were minor changes that continued until the 1950s, the real development took place in these years.
It was tried to create effects that distort the sound tone of the amp by achieving a high gain.
Its pioneers in those years were Goree Carter, Joe Hill Louis, Elmore James, Ike Turner, Willie Johnson, Pat Hare, Guitar Slim, Chuck Berry, Johnny Burnette, and Link Wray.
In the early 1960s, the Fender amp brand began producing the first 100W amplifiers with some effects.
Due to the popularity of the distortion effect, manufacturers tried to achieve this by putting a preamp, that is, a preamplifier inside the amplifiers.
Until the 2000s, there were great developments in the music industry and effects such as tone and fuzy, especially the distortion effect, were effective on guitar amps.
Types of Guitar Amps
Today, there are 4 basic types of guitar amps.
These are Lamp or Tube Amplifiers, Digital Amplifiers, Hybrid Amplifiers and Digital Modeling Amplifiers, respectively.
What is a Lamp Amplifier?
Amplifier types that we call llama or tube amps have maintained their popularity from the first guitar amps until the 2000s.
With the production of transistor amplifiers, tube amplifiers were gradually replaced by these amp types.
Since the tubes inside the tube amps that perform the amplification process are fragile and need to be changed at certain times, they have disadvantages compared to the amps we use today.
However, since the sound quality of tube amplifiers is higher and more natural, we can say that the sales rates are still high today.
While tube technology is outdated in many ways, tube amps remain popular as many guitarists prefer their sound.
Digital Amplifiers
Digital amplifiers are the most preferred type of amplifier today. It is a type of amplifier that has been developed with almost maintenance-free transistors and integrateds compared to tube amplifiers and can accommodate many effects.
In addition, it is the most popular type of amplifier because it is produced electronically in the market, there are many price and quality variations, and it is easily produced in small and large sizes.
Hybrid Amps
Hybrid amplifiers are the preamp stage, that is, the preamplifier stage, an amplifier system that is produced digitally and works by transmitting this power to the lamp circuit.
Many famous companies such as Kustom and Vox have such hybrid amps.
Modelled Digital Amplifiers
These amplifiers, which have started to be produced in recent years, are actually digital amplifiers.
You can get many different sounds and tones by modelling the sounds of many effects and popular amp types on the integrated circuits in their differences.
You can also model and save the tone you want according to your own wishes.
They contain many new technologies such as USB connections, Aux outputs, Smartphone inputs.
