This is an addendum-correction of the Guitar amplifier buying guide (GABG aka Garbage) as it certainly could use some help.

Solid-state guitar amplifiers:  Also known as transistor amps, make up a large percentage of the guitar amplifier market. They perform well or not depending who you ask.  Preferred by jazz players for clean tones and some metal guitarists for tight, heavy distortion tones.  Good in some situations but most people who own them bought a transistor amp because they are generally cheaper than tube amps or because they mistakenly believe tube amps are difficult/costly to upkeep or fragile.  For most tones between clean and brutal distortion they are widely thought of as not being as good as a real tube amp.  Amp manufacturers have been trying to make transistor amps sound like tube amps since practically the beginning of transistor amps.  Newer designs do a lot better but in the opinion of many guitarists transistors still don't succeed at really nailing the tube sound.

Tube guitar amplifiers:   Around for decades before the transistor amp arrived on the scene and today probably still found on many more recordings and stages of major acts than transistor amps tube amps are responsible for an incredibly wide range of guitar sounds from Charlie Christian and Les Paul to blues greats; Muddy Waters, John Lee hooker and BB King to early rockers like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly to the Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, ect. ect...  Tubes are somewhat fragile but not nearly as one might think.  Thousands and thousands of tube amps have been carted to gigs for decades and broken tubes are a pretty rare occurance.  Honestly if you dropped a tube amp hard enough to break the tubes a similar fall with a transistor amp very well might make the transistor amp inoperable.  Basically don't drop your amp whether you own a tube amp or solid state.  Tube amps sound good when pushed hard so don't get more amp than you need.  Tube amps tend to be more conservatively rated powerwise than solid state amps are.

Hybrid guitar amplifiers: In most cases basically a transistor amp with a preamp tube of questionable worth stuck in there to sell the thing.  One of the few exceptions would be some of the old Musicman amps which had a transistor preamp and tube output.

Modeling Amps:  Amplifier using digital processing to try to recreate the sound of other amps.  Interestingly you will find far more settings in these guys modeling tube amps than solid state amps.  Again whether these sound good depends who you ask, they are not exactly displacing tube amps in any great numbers on stages or in studios.

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

Combo amps usually have the back of the cabinet partially open while seperate speaker cabinets tend to be completely sealed.  These configurations sound a bit different.  A small combo can be quite portable and easy to deal with while some larger ones can be even more difficult than dealing with a seperate head and a small speaker cabinet.

Take home a combo guitar amplifier
Combo amplifiers offer good portability (well sometimes, try dragging a Fender Twin around) and work well for practice sessions in your living room or garage or on stage or what have you. These one-piece units come in several sizes:

Microamps: Small and super-portable, microamps provide often battery powered 1 to 10 watts of power and are useful for low-volume playing and guitar solos in your bedroom.

Small amps: These offer 1 to 20 watts of power.  A 15watt tube amp might not hang with a loud drummer but cranked up may be way more than you might bargain for in your bedroom or apartment.   Turned up even a 5 watt tube amp can be about as loud as someone playing a trumpet.

Full-size combo amps:  gives you at least 30 watts (tube) of power and a 12-inch speaker.  A 100 watt tube combo isn't all that much different than a stack when it comes to volume.  Don't let the small size of a combo amp fool you as some can be very loud.  A 30 watt Vox AC30 for example is a very loud amp in spite of the numbers.

Perform with a guitar amplifier stack
"Heads" (much less commonly refered to as a brain or a top) contain guitar amplifier electronics and attach to separate speaker enclosures called "cabinets" or "cabs." Heads may look similar, but their performance depends on their wattage.

Small heads: Small heads pack the power of 1/2 to 20 watts.

Full-power heads: Full-power heads offer 30 watts or more.

A stack is a head and a set of guitar amplifier cabinets connected and ready to 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 12-inch speakers are known as a half stack. Working musicians use this configuration to get the volume they need when they don’t want to wrestle with the bulk of a full stack.

Full stack guitar amplifiers: Many guitarists dream of owning a full stack. It's usually a 100-watt head connected to two 4x12 cabinets, but the wattage can vary. The stack gets its name from the way the cabinets are stacked vertically. Suitable for breaking your back and upsetting club owners a full stack does look cool and the feel of eight speakers pushing your sound at you can be pretty impressive.

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

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