How to Convert a Solid State Integrated Amp to a Guitar Amp

Turning your hi-fi integrated amp into a guitar amp is a straightforward procedure with some built-in advantages. All you need is an adapter cable to make the guitar output fit the amp's auxiliary input. You can choose whatever speakers you think will give you the sound you want with your guitar, and you can use the tape monitor loop in the amp as a pedal/effects loop. Home stereo amps hooked up to accurate speakers are particularly well-suited to making acoustic guitar amplification sound clean and real.

• 1

  Turn the amplifier off and the volume on the guitar and the amplifier down. Plug the guitar cable into the female side of the mono female / RCA male adaptor.

• 2

  Plug the male RCA side of the adapter plug into the RCA mono female-to-RCA dual male Y-adapter.

• 3

  Plug the RCA males of the mono female RCA/dual RCA male adaptor cable (the Y adapter) into the AUX input of the amp and switch the amp to AUX input.

• 4

  Turn up the volume on the guitar, if it has a volume control. Turn on the amplifier and inch up the volume while strumming the guitar.

• 5

  Connect pedals and effects boxes to the amp with adapter plugs and Y-adapter cables. Both channels of the tape monitor output run through a mono adapter into the effects box or pedal. The box's output re-splits into stereo RCA plugs re-entering the amp at the tape monitor in. Depress the tape monitor switch to add effects to the loop.