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268 Part V: Gearing Up: Outfitting Your Arsenal Getting Started with a Practice Amp
If you don’t have an amp — any amp at all — you won’t even be able to hear
your electric guitar properly. So the absolute first step before you walk out of
the music store or close that online-shopping window on your computer is to
make sure that you have some kind of amp to play your guitar through. If
you’re trying to save money — or to use whatever money you have to buy
the best guitar possible — you still have to set aside a chunk of change for an
amp. If you’re not yet ready to spend the dough for the amp of your dreams,
perhaps the amp for you at this point is what’s known as a practice amp.
A practice amp is a small, low-powered combo amp (with all the components
contained in one box). A practice amp is just loud enough to be heard in a
room in your house, but isn’t powerful enough to cut through a band or to
reach an audience from a stage. If you turn a practice amp up to ten — the
highest sound level — it distorts unpleasantly, but the sound still won’t be all
that loud. But the benefit of a practice amp is that it gives your guitar good
amp tone at low volumes and serves you well in practice or when rehearsing
with one other musician, if he’s also playing quietly.
Just because a practice amp is small doesn’t mean its sound should be
minuscule. Look for an amp where you can turn up the volume and still get a
full, clean sound. The amp should be loud enough for you to play in a room
by yourself or with another instrument (albeit at more subdued, practice volumes).
All practice amps distort the more you push them, but you want to
find a sound you can live with at a decent volume.
TEAM LinG
Shopping for a practice amp
A practice amp for blues is no different than one for any other type of music.
(When you decide to move up, you may want to choose a different path on
your quest for the tonal utopia.) When choosing your amp, base your decision
on a few different factors:
Good clean tone
A serviceable distorted sound
Flexible features
Personal taste
Budget
Run a volume check on any practice amp. With that thought in mind, I suggest
that you inform the salesperson at your local music store that you
intend to try the amp before you buy it. He should understand, and may
appreciate the warning. He may even take preparations for the impending