So you've got your microphone, and you're ready to go. Not so fast! You'll also need some sort of microphone preamplifier to use the signal from your microphone effectively.
What is a microphone...
When dealing with any kind of audio signal, amplification is often a necessary step between devices (microphones to mixers, mixers to loudspeakers, etc.). Amplifiers, as the name suggests, are needed...
Some situations may call for plugging your mic(s) into a guitar or bass guitar amplifier. You could be in a jam space without a PA system or be looking to add crunchy distortion (and other effects)...