While many experts insist that there is no such thing as a jazz guitar amp, there certainly is a thing called a preferred jazz guitar amp! The main job of guitar amps is to make your guitar sound great, so much so that even with an ordinary guitar and a good quality amp, your playing can still sound fantastic. Popular manufacturers of good jazz guitar amps are Mesa Boogie, Fender, Marshall, Crate, etc.
types of guitar amps
Guitar amps come in three types: tube amps, hybrid amps, and analog or solid-state amps. You also get digital amplifiers. Bass players prefer solid-state amps because of the output they offer. Tube amps, the first amplifiers to be made, produced a richer, warmer sound. Hybrid is a combination of tube and solid state amplifiers. Here, the power behind the sound comes from the solid-state amp, while the tone comes from the tube amp. Power output is an important factor when choosing guitar amps. When you compare a tube amp and other amps with the same wattage, tube amps sound louder. Tube amps use glass tubes, while solid-state amps use transistors. Some players find solid state amps to be more reliable. Digital amplifiers produce their sound through digital processors and are very much in vogue these days. Tube amps are quite heavy when it comes to portability and can also be quite expensive in terms of cost and maintenance. The tubes need to be replaced periodically. Tube amp manufacturers such as Fender, Marshall, and Mesa Boogie use Chinese tubes, which are installed at the factory.
While selecting the guitar amp, you can get combos where you have the speaker and the amp in one cabinet. Many musicians prefer a separate amp and speaker as it gives them the flexibility to use any speaker with the amp and also makes it more portable during gigs. The size of the speakers is also a factor to consider when choosing a guitar amp. Of course, the best thing to do is try different amp models before you buy one, because you want to know which one offers the kind of sound you want to hear.
Different jazz musicians use different styles and therefore choose their amps based on how they want their music to sound. The thing is, some jazz guitarists prefer a warm type of sound, since jazz guitars are traditionally archtop acoustic models. This makes them look to ‘tube’ amps as they feel this enhances their music in the right way by making it more realistic. But, as mentioned above, it’s not mandatory to choose just one tube amp when it comes to choosing your jazz guitar amps. Music great Mike Stern uses a solid-state amp, while Scofield uses two tube amps. Henderson had his tube amps made to order.
Ultimately, we cannot ignore the fact that the main sound originates from the jazz guitarist. We also need to remember that the related equipment i.e. pickups and speakers play a big role in the final sound output. While shopping for the amp, preferably take your guitar with you so that you can select the right jazz guitar amp by trying several models at different volume levels and different channels to decide on the one that suits you best.