heads?

out of curiousity, what are the point of amp heads exactly? whats the difference between a head and a cab and just a regular amp? does a head need a cabinet to play?

A heads usually has more sound options to kind of edit your tone. Then head is to cabinet [Stack, Half stack etc.] is to project the sound from your head and basically make it louder, for shows and stuff like that.

Heads are what makes the sound. Cabs are what projects the sound. You can't use a head without a cab, since heads have no speakers. A combo amp is kinda like a head and cab in one enclosure. Some people like to use heads because they can tweak their sound more by matching it with different cabs.

Generally a guitar amp head contains the power amp and the pre-amp. the head needs a cab(speaker in a box) to play. A combo contains the power amp, pre-amp, and the speaker all in one box. The reason why they are separated is to keep the vibrations, from the speaker,away from the power and pre-amp(especially in tube amps).
A same model head will have no more features then the same model combo amp. most are sold in combo and a head form. and combos can have a cab added to them(this depends on the amp on how many speakers can be added)
*this is generally for top line amps*


-note- all the electrical stuff has to follow the power and pre-amp parts(the most important parts if there is one)

so say i get a 100W head, do i need a 100W cab? or what

the head will have a output or outputs(not sure if the right word) of "___" OHM. So thats say it uses 8 OHM (a lot of fenders do) you need a speaker/cab that is rated for 8 OHM.

-note- not sure if I'm using the right words I'm no tech guy but just match the "OHM" from the head to the cab. Some heads will have more then one option

if u get a 100 watt head u need at least a 200 watt cab+ remember 100 watts head is max on head, but 100 on cab is max it can take b4 damage, so to be safe, id go with 100 watt head, 300 watt cab+