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→Tube vs. Solid State
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The main things to consider when choosing an amp are price, your core tone desired, versatility, reliability, and power. Most amps are designed for several tones and have a tonal signature that is difficult to find elsewhere. This doesn't mean you should or shouldn't like any amplifier's signature characteristic - you may prefer other aspects of it, or a channel or feature that doesn't get the same love as other tones it can produce. However, when trying to figure out what amp you want, it's a lot easier to listen to lots of clips and choose which tones you like and narrow that down to a list of amps that can do that tone well than it is to aimlessly try every amp on every channel.
=== Lead 2 ===
An additional lead channel may simply offer more versatility by being a complete duplicate of the other lead channel or , allowing two different sets of settings (Gain, BMTP) to be instantly accessible and tweakable. Sometimes the additional lead channel will have a different signature to the tone, including different dynamics, breakup, aggression, tightness, and clarity.
== Modeling vs. Analog ==
Various technologies have been developed by amplifier manufacturers to get the tube tone out of solid state technology; however, none of them gained enough traction to be considered at the same quality level as tube amps. To this day (mid-2014), the most popular amplifiers rely on tubes for both tone and power. That said, they are also more expensive, require tube replacement and occasional maintenance.
Solid State is now quite popular for transparent power amps with plenty of clean headroom to amplify a modeler which is already modeling the tonal impact of a tube power amp. This can be run from a modeler with no cab/mic simulation into a guitar speaker cabinet, or with cab/mic simulation into a passive FRFR monitor. Active FRFR monitors nearly always have their own such solid-state amplifier built into them.
== Watts vs. Volume ==
=== Peavey ===
Peavey's main success came in the early 80's by designing Eddie Van Halen's signature amp: the 5150. Still a favorite in the hard rock and metal community today, it features a world-class distortion tone that fills the entire frequency spectrum and gets exceptionally saturated without getting noisy or suffering from a loose response. Many metal artists use these with a boost in front to get an extremely tight and thick distortion. And they are relatively cheap (in America, at least). The 5150 II added a couple extra controls and improved the clean channel. When the 5150 naming rights reverted back to EVH, Peavey renamed this line the 6505; 6505 = 5150 and 6505+ = 5150 II. To confuse the matter more, Van Halen's own company has made the 5150 III amp, which is a bit different with 3 channels and different response/voicing.
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[[Category:Guitar]]
[[Category:Gear]]
[[Category:Amps]]