Guitarists are searching for solutions to get a great tone in their home studios or on quieter gigs. Higher wattage amps are falling out of favor for these situations.

Bigger amps are harder to control at lower volumes and only saturate when played loud.

Many guitarists have tried products like the Kemper or Fractal as well as amp simulators. There are a wide variety of products today aimed at the volume restrained guitarist.

I have struggled with each of these products when dialing in a guitar amp tone I love. I find myself spending more time tweaking then playing. While mixing, I keep going back to make adjustments I wouldn't bother with a real amp.

The Fender Blackface Princeton guitar amp tone is about as classic as it gets. The identity of that era of amps might be the most identifiable guitar amp ever. They've been on countless records starting from 1964 on that Feature the Fender Blackface tone. 

Buying an original mid to late 60's blackface Princeton isn't only expensive but potentially problematic. I love vintage guitar amps, but they can be unreliable. Right now, a 1964 Princeton is a 46-year-old amp. That's long past the life expectancy of many of the components.

You could get lucky and buy one with no issues. More than likely, though, you will need to maintain and baby a vintage amp more than a new one.

I grew up listening to a lot of British rock music — everything from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin. I also heard a lot of punk and early hardcore — bands such as the Ramones and Minor Threat.

Because of my roots in this music, you would think I would have had a Marshall amp. But, I didn't know until recently. I'm not sure why. I always wanted one, but I just ended up buying other amps.

BrownBox Throughout my years of recording, gigging, and touring I would notice a strange occurrence. My amps seemed to sound different from night to night. At the time, I mostly attributed this to the varying acoustics from room to room.