Guitar Amps

Outfit your setup appropriately with the crunchy and mean amplification of Marshall's new MA-Series of guitar amps. The series delivers the usual Marshall sound, at a easier to attain price than the company's other amps.  

They say 'tis better to give than 'tis to receive. What they don't say is 'tis better to do both, which 'tis exactly the -idea behind the recently announced Vox VT-Series Amplifiers Holiday Rebate program.  

GW Guest Blogger Rowbi is a regular contributor at the Line 6 forums, and as such he's more familiar with their ever-expanding line of digital modeling amps than most. The Line 6 Spider Valve MKII series was announced last month, but you should really hear Rowbi's take on the things.  

"A Sharp," guitarist for L.A.-based group Saint Motel, plays an amp with a family history. His 1957 Fender Tweed comes from his dad who played prog-rock in Mexico City in the 1960s.  

I know guitar amp manufacturers don't really spend money on TV commercials, but if they did, the new Hughes & Kettner COREBLADE would find no better spokesperson than the Macho Man Randy Savage. "SNAP INTO ITS BIG BEEFY JUICY TOOOOOONE!!!!!"  

Mike Clark of Final Gravity waxes eloquent about his Mesa Boogie TriAxis Preamp. If you want a primer in this preamp Clark has a lot to say on the subject.  

Owen ducks into the studio again to try out the sample-sized new VOX AC4TV. Though it might look as if it could double as a smart carry-on bag for Emma Peel, this little wonder will blow you right out of your smug complacency, yes sir.  

The big problem with even the smallest of handmade boutique amps are their big prices that are in the thousands. While we may know that it is well worth the money to pay for the effort these amp designers have put into making and assembling that amp, it may cost way less money to do it yourself. The Tube Depot Tweed Champ DIY amp kit brings that boutique tube amp experience for less than a thousand bucks.  

Don Miggs thinks his Divided by Thirteen CJ-11 sounds like a cross between a Vox and a Fender. He not only THINKS that, he actually KNOWS it, since he's tried out that amp combo himself.  

The VOX amPlugs have provided great ways of private electric guitar practice with a full stack sound via headphones. The VOX amPlug Acoustic is the latest amPlug that does what its name says to your electric axe.  

Listening to the specs for a Magnatone M10, one might not be so impressed. What is it about this amp that caused one musician to claim that he had "found the Sound of God?" Let's hear what Blake Mills of Cass McCombs has to say.  

Handmade boutique items are expected to sound well give their high price points. If you want that handmade boutique sound for your electric guitar at a significant price drop, it's better worth checking the Paul Reed Smith Sweet 16.  

Instead of getting a monogrammed robe, Rusty Anderson decided to get an amp with his initials on it. Guitarists use amps a lot more than they use robes, anyway (I can vouch from experience). Anderson tells Patrick Ogle why the Divided by 13 RSA 31 works so well for him.  

How far can you push old technology? How can you make the old new again? Mi Amplification Revelation answers those questions by being as versatile as your digital amplifier emulation.  

Continuing our exclusive interview with jazz legend George Benson, Patrick Ogle asks him about the amp he uses to maximize his unique tone. Benson is pretty straightforward; he uses Polytone Amps because they pretty much make him sound like he sounds. And with all those awards to his name, you bet Benson wants to keep the tone original.  

Owen O'Malley continues his chat with the legendary Steve Vai. This time the two guitar-focused gentlemen talk about Steve's rig, and its inclusion of the Carvin Legacy. That amp sure works for its keep, and Steve is happy to tell us how.  

Having an amp head without a perfect cabinet is like having a singer without a mouth. Matching an amp head like the VOX Night Train NT15 with the wrong speakers doesn't help much either. The VOX Amplification V112NT offers the Night Train the perfect musical and aesthetic partner much like coffee and sugar.  

Handmade items always have that special unique touch, especially if they are small yet very impressive. The Burriss Amps Dirty Red has been introduced as that small nasty package that packs a punch like dynamite.  

The warmth of a vintage-sounding guitar rig is something to be delighted about. The Bugera 212V-BK will finish off that vintage rig for that powerful vintage sound you've always wanted.  

Bedroom guitar practice and a fully cranked-up sound usually don't add up, at least years ago. The ARACOM Amplifiers Power Roc PRX150-Pro will give you that fully cranked up sound from your tube amp at bedroom volume without giving the next-door neighbor a headache.  

The new Line 6 Spider IV amps are just the latest in a long and successful series of modeling amplifiers. I mean, they're no Saw franchise, but still.  

Blake Mills, guitarist for Cass McCombs, tells us a story of great effort expended for little gain. This time, the story revolves around a curiously refitted Fender Princeton Reverb... though it could also refer to any one of my previous relationships. Wait, did I just write that?  

Pedals, cables, knobs, ports, etc., etc. tend to create a lot of clutter and confusion... so much that some guitarists wish that they could just plug, crank, and play. After a lot of requests (badgering?) from both professionals and bedroom guitar enthusiasts, the Marshall Class 5 emerges to grant that wish of simple noise-making operation.  

For the past weeks, we bore witness to a lot of vacuum tube amps getting into the news. As a breath of fresh air, the Port City Amps Sahana is exhibiting to the world why you should reconsider solid-state.  

Zack Lopez has two Marshall EL34 heads. He loves the discontinued Marshall product THAT much. He does not love carrying the amp, though; because it weighs as much as a Smart Car.  

It helps to be an engineer. They get a line on all the great gear. Freddie Sipo, engineer-musician-songwriter, wound up the proud owner of Eddie Van Halen's guitar tech's Old Vox AC30.  

Alexis Babini is playing at the upcoming Operation Swandive benefit for cancer charity, Lyrics for Life. We are not sure if he will, himself, be leaping from a plane but we are fairly certain his amp -- the Ibanez Troubador T35 -- will not be. Unless he gets tired of it.  

Mike Abiuso of Kiss Kiss has a very specific notion of tone, so much so that he needs two amp heads to achieve it. The Soldano Avenger distorts how he likes, but the clean tone is a bit weak. For that, he turns to the Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight.  

If Arnold Schoenberg, Karheinz Stockhausen, or Pierre Boulez were electric guitarists, this could have been the stack they would have used. 3rd Power HLH-100 draws you to look away from tradition with its bold design.  

Combo amps often suffer from certain tone deficiencies that guitarists wish they can get over with. Some would then think of going for a stack but due to space limitations, this is not possible. Sherlock Audio UnderCab instantly turns your combo amp into a "stack" (technically speaking) less the space.