Fortunately, the times when a novice guitarist sincerely believed that the real sound of the instrument can be obtained only in the rehearsal room are gone. Like the rest of the world, we now have guitar amplifiers that are focused on the home environment. Yes, it should be understood that your individual sound as a guitarist comes from your own style of sound extraction and your main working guitar, but an amplifier, whatever type it is, also brings its own characteristics to the guitar sound.

When you say "home amplifier" you always need to clarify what exactly this electric pet is for. Although nowadays the very concept of "home stereo" has moved into the category of prestigious consumer items, it should always be remembered that home stereo guitar amplifiers designed to work with analog and digital sound sources (LP- and CD-players, recorders, etc.) are not designed to work with guitar sound. One exception is that playing with a compact guitar processor with an analog output like the legendary Rockman or similar through a home stereo complex is acceptable, and the sound of such a bunch is more than decent. But we are talking about rules, not exceptions to them.

A home amplifier for an electric guitar is designed not only to amplify the signal but also, as we just talked about, to form the sound of the electric guitar as a whole. If so, it is simply impossible to name an ideal amplifier of this kind (or even the type of amplifier that is lower). Like many solutions in a musician's life, the choice of such an amplifier is determined by the ratio of financial possibilities, aesthetic preferences, and simply free space: for a start - what kind of sound do you want to hear and, most importantly, with what type of processing and amplification, digital or analog? And do you have any free space at all for your guitar amplifier? That's where you should start.

 

Choosing a guitar amplifier for your home

 

The easiest way to get a guitar amplifier at home today, and combined with processing is to use sound plug-ins (amplifier emulation programs) for your computer. Such plug-ins simulate the sound of a mass of amplifier models within a single program and their legal copies with the necessary support are quite reasonable: as of January 2019 the average retail price of the emulation program was $110. Plug-ins such as IK Multimedia AmplitubeMAX, Waves GTR3 or Line6 POD Farm 2.5 Platinum, working with official licenses of amplifier brands, are not in vain positioned as "the equivalent of visiting a guitar store" - they provide the widest possibilities of both amplifiers emulation and processing. And although such plug-ins have been used in the work of such famous traditional rock compositions as AC/DC, Motörhead and Phish, the "digitality" of their sound still distinguishes at least half of the listeners.

 

In addition, be prepared for the fact that at least at first you will have to listen to the sounds of your own guitar through computer acoustics, or through a household sound-amplifying complex, that is, all sound processing will go in a computer in digital format. This approach is suitable for simple pop rock or electronic industrial experiments with sound, but those who play music, for lack of a better definition of what is now called "classical rock", it is better to choose the analog or at least digital-analog methods of amplifying the guitar signal.

Not the worst option - to pick up on the secondary market already mentioned vintage "headphone amplifier" (i.e. analog processor) of the Rockman type of any modification, for guitar or bass guitar respectively, the price for such wonders of science and technology of the 80's starts now on the Internet sites with $47 (with delivery to Russia). But there is no sense in searching for such antique devices - after all, guitar microamplifiers (yes, exactly best headphone guitar amps) have now become a part of the reality of every guitarist, and not only beginners.

Truly tiny overall size and weight combined with impressive sound processing capabilities - these are the hallmarks of such micro-amplifiers, among which should be emphasized Vox Amplug 2 / AP2 series (AP2-MT Metal, AP2-AC AC-30, AP2-LD Lead, AP2-CL Clean, AP2-CR Classic Rock, AP2-BL Blues and AP2-BS Bass) for electric and bass guitar respectively. These are not toys, but modeling amplifiers with full transistor circuit, reproducing the sound of classic British Vox amplifiers.