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Tubes rock

As I've mentioned before, I recently purchased an electric guitar. The thing was sold as a kit, with a small, 8 watt, solid-state amplifier. I was never super happy with the sound of the amp, and started to use my computer and GarageBand as an amp.

Certainly with that program there I had access to tons of effects and my Klipsch speakers, but it was inconvenient to have to sit at the computer desk to play.

What to do, what to do...

What I ended up doing is going to the local music store, which luckily has some guys there that know guitars. We talked and they suggested and I ended up with a Fender Pro Junior.

The Fender Pro Junior is a 15 watt, bare-bones, tube amp. Originally guitar amplifiers (and tons of other electronic equipment) used vacuum tubes in their electronic guts. These have largely been replaced with solid-state electronics, but most of these amplifiers still try to emulate the sound of the original tube amps.

There are plenty of solid-state amps that cost less than the Pro Junior and have more effects, but if I want effects I can always plug the guitar into the computer. What I wanted was the classic guitar sound while I was learning to play.

Besides, the tubes look cool:

By the way, I've always been told that manufacturers can mess with watt ratings until they are meaningless, but getting the Fender has really driven this home. The little 8 watt speaker that came with the guitar isn't even half as loud as the Fender — the Fender is frighteningly loud. The volume scale goes to "12" and when I tried the guitar on "6" it hurt.

I've been looking for a place to really turn it up, that would be interesting.