Amps
Hey guys, I was just wondering what all the different things are that are associated with amps, like the head, cab, power amps, power conditioners, pre-amps, and all the stuff like these. I was just wondering what they are and what they do? If anyone could help that would be great.
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An amplifier in a separate case usually gets put on top of one or more speaker cabinets ([u]cabs[/u]) so it is referred to as the [u]head[/u].
An amplifier consists of two basic sections.
The [u]pre-amp[/u] supplies some boost to the signal from the guitar. It also may include one or more tone controls and built-in effects, or places to connect them to. These [u]effects loops[/u] allow external effects to be pre-set and then switched in or out with channel switches in the preamp. The [u]channels[/u] are different circuits that have different amounts of gain, or boost, and usually have separate tone controls.
The [u]power amp[/u] is the section that takes the output of the preamp (which isn't a whole lot stronger than the output of a guitar), and gives it enough power to drive the speakers.
If the speakers and the amp are all built into the same cabinet, this is called a [u]combo[/u]. A [u]half-stack[/u] is usually an amplifier head and one cab. A [u]full stack[/u] has two or more cabs.
A [u]power conditioner[/u] is connected between the amp and the AC mains (wall plug). Its purpose is to clean up the power before it gets to your rig. A power conditioner could be something as simple as a surge suppressor, or as sophisticated as an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) that can use storage batteries to keep the rig running during interruptions of the AC power.
An amplifier consists of two basic sections.
The [u]pre-amp[/u] supplies some boost to the signal from the guitar. It also may include one or more tone controls and built-in effects, or places to connect them to. These [u]effects loops[/u] allow external effects to be pre-set and then switched in or out with channel switches in the preamp. The [u]channels[/u] are different circuits that have different amounts of gain, or boost, and usually have separate tone controls.
The [u]power amp[/u] is the section that takes the output of the preamp (which isn't a whole lot stronger than the output of a guitar), and gives it enough power to drive the speakers.
If the speakers and the amp are all built into the same cabinet, this is called a [u]combo[/u]. A [u]half-stack[/u] is usually an amplifier head and one cab. A [u]full stack[/u] has two or more cabs.
A [u]power conditioner[/u] is connected between the amp and the AC mains (wall plug). Its purpose is to clean up the power before it gets to your rig. A power conditioner could be something as simple as a surge suppressor, or as sophisticated as an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) that can use storage batteries to keep the rig running during interruptions of the AC power.
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