• Determine Your Guitar Amplifier Needs

• Choose a Guitar Amplifier Configuration

• Find Guitar Amplifiers on eBay Australia

• Buy with Confidence

• Need More Help?

• Legal Disclaimer

Determine Your Guitar Amplifier Needs

Determine Your Guitar Amplifier Needs

Guitar amplifiers intensify or boost signals passing through them. Guitar amplifiers typically use solid-state transistors and/or vacuum tubes to increase the strength, power, and volume of your pure unbridled rock-the-house riffs.

• Solid-state guitar amplifiers: Solid-state amplifiers, also known as transistor amps perform well, offer strong bass response, and produce sufficient power for a variety of speakers. Ask the seller how the amp sounds in the higher registers. A grainy or harsh-sounding guitar amp can cause distortion and “listener fatigue.”

• Tube guitar amplifiers: Old-school tube amplifiers produce a warm, mellow, and relaxed sound with strong performance in the mid-range. Heavy tube amplifiers use delicate vacuum tubes for amplification. Use caution when transporting them to gigs and be prepared to replace components over time.

• Hybrid guitar amplifiers: Hybrid amplifiers combine tube and solid-state technologies, with a tube-driven preamp producing the basic tone, and transistors generating the power.

Evaluate guitar amplifier performance

Judge guitar amplifier performance by looking at maximum sustained power output measured in watts. The watts RMS (Root Mean Squared) specification indicates how much sustained power a guitar amplifier can deliver to a standard 8-ohm or 6-ohm electrical current load.

Find out how much current the guitar amplifier delivers to the left and right channels simultaneously, or with "both channels driven," instead of comparing overall wattage. Small tube amps produce as little as three watts per channel (Wpc) and large solid-state amps can produce more than 500 Wpc.

Choose a Guitar Amplifier Configuration

Choose a Guitar Amplifier Configuration

When shopping for a guitar amplifier, decide if you want a combo guitar amplifier that contains amplifier electronics and one or more speakers in a single unit or separate amplifier heads and speaker cabinets.

Take home a combo guitar amplifier

Combo amplifiers offer good portability and work well for practice sessions in your living room or garage. The one-piece units come in several sizes:

• Microamps: Tiny and ultra-portable microamps provide 1 to 10 watts of power and are useful for practice on the go and guitar solos in your bedroom.

• Practice amps: Practice amps offering 10 to 30 watts of power are suited for the bedroom or living room environment. You can also use the loudest practice amps for small gigs, especially if a microphone runs them through a venue's PA system. If you want to be heard outside your bedroom, get a 25cm or larger speaker.

• Full-size (1x12) combo amps: With 50 or more watts of power and one 30cm speaker, the 1x12 amp is the smallest stand-alone amplifier suitable for small performances. In better models, sound quality begins to approach levels acceptable to professional musicians.

• Full-size (2x12) combo amps: Full-size 2x12 amps are heavier and bulkier than 1x12 and have a second 30cm speaker that moves more air to create a larger presence and allows for certain stereo effects. The 2x12 amp is small enough for the living room, yet formidable enough for rehearsals, auditions, and performances in small- to medium-sized venues. Marshall has top-of-the-line 2x12 combo amps.

Perform with a guitar amplifier stack

"Heads" contain guitar amplifier electronics and attach to separate speaker enclosures called "cabinets" or "cabs." Although most are roughly the same size, heads come in a variety of wattages.

• Small heads: Small heads pack 50 to 100 watts and offer more than enough power for performances in small- to medium-sized venues.

• Full-power heads: Full-power heads are generally 100 watts or more.

• Super heads: Super heads boast 200 to 400 watts of power.

A stack is a head and a set of guitar amplifier cabinets connected together, ready for use. Although bulky, heavy, and loud, musicians prefer stacks for gigs, especially if they play large venues and stadiums on a regular basis.

• Half stack guitar amplifiers: Smaller heads connected to a single 4x12 cabinet containing four 30cm speakers are known as a half stack. This setup is a favourite of working musicians. The half stack guitar amplifier offers plenty of volume and the "credibility" associated with stacks.

• Full stack guitar amplifiers: Many guitarists dream of owning a full stack. It's usually a 100-watt head connected to two 4x12 cabinets, although you can employ other wattages. The cabinets stack vertically, one on top of the other, giving the setup its distinctive name. Full stack guitar amplifiers offer impressive sound and can handle all but the largest of venues. Wear protective headphones when you play guitars through a full stack at higher volumes to avoid potentially serious ear damage.

Stacks can weigh a lot, which will increase your shipping costs. Always figure shipping into your guitar amplifier budget.

Find Guitar Amplifiers on eBay Australia

Find Guitar Amplifiers on eBay Australia

Once you know what type of guitar amplifier you want, go to the Musical Instruments portal, click the Guitar link under Amplifiers, and start searching for item listings on eBay Australia.

• Keyword search: Search eBay Australia listing titles for specific words. For example, if you want to find a combo amp, type "combo amp" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay Australia's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords. 

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Australia Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay Australia will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy with Confidence

Buy with Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay Australia and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay Australia (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay Australia are not covered by eBay Australia protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay Australia item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay Australia sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay Australia and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorised payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,500.      

eBay Australia Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay Australia's quick and efficient resolution tools.

Need More Help?

Need More Help?

Visit our help pages or start a thread on one of our Community Discussion Boards - If you have a quick question that needs answering, try posting it on our community Answer Centre - there's bound to be a seasoned eBay Australia veteran with just the information you're looking for!

Legal Disclaimer

Legal Disclaimer

Buying Guides are intended merely as a guide or review for members when considering what products or services they may be interested in bidding on or purchasing. eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the accuracy of the information or content contained in these Buying Guides. Furthermore, eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the nature or performance of the products or services appearing in the Buying Guides. eBay is not affiliated with nor does it endorse the use of any particular product or service.