Do guitar amplifiers already have distortion?

Question

I have an Ibanez electric guitar. do not have an AMP yet. I don't have money for pedals. if I buy an AMP do they come with distortion? my friend bought a fender AMP and he says it comes with 5 sounds of distortion. what does he mean by that? what amp would you reccomend?


Marshal?
Fender?
Vox(beatles)?
Traynor?

Answer 1

Peavey amps usually come with distortion features as do Line 6 and some Fender amps.

The Marshall amps like the MGD's have overdrive/distortion.

You don't necessarily need a 50 watt amp to start with.



For a good general all purpose amp, I'd suggest a Line 6 spider IV 30 watt with the optional footswitch. Reasonably priced and has a lot of effects built in like varying stages of distortion, delay, phase/flange, chorus and a few more.

Answer 2

In the old days, you got distortion by cranking the amp to full volume....pushing the circuit and speakers beyond their limits. In that respect, you can get natural distortion from any amp. "Distortion" or "Overdrive" as an actual effect is built into many...maybe even most...amps these days. Sometimes it's just called a "Drive" channel.



If you just need an inexpensive practice amp, the Fender Mustang I has several effects as well as 18 amp "models". This means it has settings to sound like different amps. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/fender-mustang-i-v.2-20w-1x8-guitar-combo-amp It's 20 watts which is great for practice, but you'll need a bigger amp before you start playing in a band.



When you start playing with other instruments, you'll want an amp with at least 50 watts....a lot more if you're playing metal. But that will also cost you considerably more.

Answer 3

yah... 5 distortions in his amp he probably paid quite a bit then... most amps come with a distortion channel and a clean channel the cheap amps only usually have 1 distortion channel and sound pretty bad... unless you don't get a good amp like a Marshall mg 100dfx(like $300 max and is very good) then get a cheaper amp with a distortion pedal.. and sounding like the beatles would be quite hard, but if you get the right amp and pedals you can maybe pull it off somewhat

Answer 4

Most fenders,line 6, and marshal's will have some form built in. It really varies