Amplifier sound effects on a budget

The problem

You are learning to play guitar with an acoustic, and you want an electric, but you just don't have a clue about which amp to get. And you don't want to make a costly mistake, you don't want to spend $300-$500 on an amp, only to find out that you don't like how it sounds and you may not get 50% back if you try to sell it.

The Solution

Postpone the purchase decision for the amp until you are a better player. And to keep you busy with your first electric guitar, get a headphone amp. For example, the VOX AC30 Amplug which usually sells for under $40 USD.

This will allow you to practice with your electric guitar with a nice, classic amp without breaking the bank. And for another $5 or so you can get a 3.5mm male/male cable and connect your PC, phone/etc. to its AUX port, so you can feed it music to play while you are playing. For example, you can feed it a backing track, or the audio from a video lesson. And you can take that same 3.5mm cable and plug it to the headphones output in the Amplug, and plug the other end to your PC's microphone plug so you can use virtual amplifiers like Amplitube. Amplitube comes with three free virtual amps and a bunch of pedals, and you can "test drive" any of their paid amp/pedal/whatever simulations for free for 72 hours at a time, then you have to wait a few days before you can re-borrow that particular plugin again. It's a great way to experiment without spending a lot of money.

And that 3.5mm cable fed from the Amplug into your PC also allows you to record your guitar with your PC, with either Amplitube or a great variety of available free software suites.

If you are willing to spend a little more, around $110 gets you a Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3. This is a USB interface and works with both Windows and Mac. It allows you to capture your guitar and it has a second port for a microphone, each input has its own preamp and it will even warn you if the signal is too hot. The Scarlett Solo 3 comes bundled with a ton of great software at no extra cost, and it allows you to monitor your guitar signal before you apply special effects. So you can play it through an Amplitube simulation and by flicking a switch you can compare what your guitar really sounds like vs. what it sounds like when run through a particular amp and pedal chain.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie, AKA Easter Bunnies Get Dizzy After Easter

Image
  This is something that a lot of us newcomers have trouble with: how the hell do we memorize the strings? Notice in the diagram above (this is the right-hand orientation) that the strings are not the same width, so starting with the fat string, the order of the strings is E A D G B E. Starting with the thin string, it's E B G D A E.  There's even a mnemonic for both:  E A D G B E E ddie  A te  D ynamite  G ood  B ye  E ddie In the opposite direction you have: E B G D A E E aster  B unnies  G et  D izzy  A fter  E aster. But you still have to memorize six strings. Or do you? The two outer strings are both E. The fat string is low E, the thin string is high E. If you can remember the two mnemonics, and you can remember that the fat string is the low E, and the thin string is the high E, in reality you only need to remember four strings. After you do enough drills, you'll realize that you will quickly remember that the next ...
Read more

$10 for a pair of wall mounts

Image
I was told to keep my guitar(s) out of the case and nearby so I always have an excuse for a quick practice session. These are now mounted just three feet away from my desk, the mounts can be found here for just $10. The kit includes two mounts plus three sets of drywall screws. The mounts can be adjusted for length, and they can be tilted for uneven heads (see the Telecaster). Installing them was dead simple, I actually spent more time measuring them than what it took to drill the holes and mount them.
Read more

50% for a one-year subscription to Fender Play

Fender Play is usually $10/month or $90/year if you prepay. For this Black Friday weekend you can get a year for right under $45, plus a 10% discount on Fender.com purchases for the whole year: https://www.fender.com/play/checkout?promocode=fenderplayfifty This will work even if you are still using a 14-day trial account.
Read more