It's a good idea to begin with a small practice amp that can deliver a good signal at 6 or 12 watts. In general, what you pay for in an amp is power, not features, so practice amps can be quite cheap, less than a hundred dollars.

It's also worth bearing in mind that you can often plug your guitar into the auxiliary or tape jack of a home stereo unit. If the unit doesn't have a suitable jack plug socket, go to a local electronics store and tell the salespeople what you want to do. They can usually find you an adapter plug that will allow you to plug the guitar jack into a phono plug that will work on the stereo unit.

Before you plug in, however, make sure the volume is way down on the stereo unit, or you'll risk blowing out the speakers. You can even connect small practice amps, with no speakers, to headphones. That way, you can get a range of effects — such as distortion, EQs, and compression — without disturbing anyone else.