# Guitar Amps

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-amps/72161>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 12, 2001, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-amps/72161 "2001-07-12T00:27:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cvandy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cvandy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cvandy3)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-amps/72161/1 "2001-07-12T00:27:01Z")

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Ok i am planning on buying an electric guitar but thats not the prob i already know what kind of guitar i want (Stratocaster Fender) if thats any help. my problem is that i have no idea what kind of amp i want to get. i mean i don’t know what watt to get. i am look for something that would be good for practice or maby small concert with a band. if there are any guitar players out there, tell me what watt you would recommend for a beginner.

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**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-amps/72161/2 "2001-07-12T01:50:14Z")

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You need a Marshall 100 stack, dood!

Get realistic about what you really need. Is this your first guitar? Where are you going to practice? Even a small 5 watt amp like my vintage Fender Champ is too loud for apartments. Maybe you should get a little “rockman” style amp, which is just a little box you plug your guitar cord into one end and a set of headphones into the other, you can practice without anyone else hearing it.

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**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-amps/72161/3 "2001-07-12T03:06:22Z")

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First, Crate makes a very nice practice amp which you can buy for around 40 bucks on sale.

There’s also a nice little practice amp which clips on your belt and allows you to use headphones- this is cool as it’s battery powered and lets you walk around and play.

Now for the guitar: be aware that US Strats are bloody expensive. Asian made strats (“squier” strats)are cheap but crappy. If you don’t want to spend a lot buy a mexican made stratocaster, very close to the US made but a lot less expensive. Sounds like you already know this from your O.P.

Good luck!

b,

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**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-amps/72161/4 "2001-07-12T10:45:58Z")

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With basic amp designs, the sound is much cooler the higher you turn the volume. I know there are exceptions to this, but they’re not really applicable to beginner amps. So the lower-powered amps (10-15 watts) would sound better at lower volumes. A 30-50 watt amp is going to sound pretty clean until you turn it up to “11,” and then you’re going to tick off the neighbors.

Aside from treble/mid/bass controls, the essential thing to have is reverb (maybe not available on cheaper student amps). The difference between reverb and a “dry” signal is night and day.

“Presence” control (sort of an active ultra-high boost) is a nice touch (also maybe not available on cheaper student amps), but I’d take reverb first if I had to choose. Also, a footswitch is a very good thing.