Guitar amps come in different sizes, shapes, and complexities of buttons and controls. Some have few controls, while others have a lot of ports, knobs, switches, and all.
If you are looking for a practice guitar amp, you are looking for a great product that will help you master and hone your skills. It’s kind of challenging to find the right one.
While others settle for low-cost guitar amps as their practice amp, whether for acoustic or electric guitar, it’s important to look for the ‘one’ with quality and value.
So, we list the best practice guitar amps in 2019 for you. This will be your guide to the products in the market that gives more value, especially for the money.
Contents
10 Best Practice Guitar Amps in 2024 (reviews)
- Roland Micro Cube GX
- Boss Katana 50 Guitar Combo Amp
- Yamaha THR10X Mini Guitar Amplifier
- Orange Micro Terror Head & Cabinet Amp
- Fender Blues Junior III Guitar Combo Amp
- VOX AC15C1 Guitar Combo Amplifier
- Marshall DSL Series DSL40C
- Laney Amps CUB All TUBE Series CUB 10
- VHT AV-SP1-6 Special 6 Combo Amplifier
- BUGERA V5 5-Watt Class Amplifier
Runner Up | Editor's Choice | Also Great |
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Roland Micro Cube GX
If you are looking into a portable and compact DSP guitar amp, Roland Micro Cube GX is the one for you. It has a five-inch speaker and can either be battery-operated or AC-powered. It has a carry strapi-CUBE LINK jack to interface with iPhone, iPod or iPod touch.
Onboard are eight built-in DSP effects — chorus, tremolo, phaser, flanger and more. Includes a separate delay or reverb function. It comes with a built-in tuner, a headphone output and stereo auxiliary if you’ll be using it with CD players and other hardware.
Pros
- Incredible amp with lightweight build
- Crisp output with no hiss or feedback
- Got good clarity on the low tones
- Some FX settings may produce noise
- A cheaper version of the Roland Micro Cube
- Produce low-quality sound outdoors
Boss Katana 50 Guitar Combo Amp
A great guitar amp featuring innovative functionalities, Boss Katana 50 Guitar Combo Amp is what every guitarist craves. It has more features that you need, which includes 5 unique amp characters (acoustic, clean, crunch, lead, and brown), and a ton of sound effects customizable via the amp itself or via the Tone Studio software. Hence, you’ll be able to find the sound that you can call your own.
In this video, why the Boss Katana 50 is among the best practice amps out there.
- Perfect for beginners with little to no budget
- A lot sound customizations available
- Amp models included are just superb
- Tone studio software installation issues
- Some weird feedback when you turn up the gain
- A lot of other alternatives
Yamaha THR10X Mini Guitar Amplifier
If you are a metal guitarist who is a fan of adding more distortion and high-output stack, Yamaha THR10X Mini Guitar Amplifier is for you. It has five different channels from three amp models, which include bass, instrument and acoustic modes. It’s either battery-powered or AC-powered, so you can bring it anywhere without the need of an AC power input.
It’s designed with the effects processing VCM technology, a signature by Yamaha. THR10X comes with standard mono phone input, stereo phone, AUX in and two full-range speakers. With these, you can achieve a perfect tone, whether you like classic rock, heavy metal or something in between.
- Comes with new features to offer
- Offered at a reasonable price
- Has the VCM technology for effects processing
- No line out for mixing deck or PA
- Solid-state amp
- Some users don’t want this type of amp
Orange Micro Terror Head & Cabinet Amp
The Orange Micro Terror Head & Cabinet Amp has a single-channel and hybrid-valve preamp that has an auxiliary input for MP3 or CD players.
It has eight-inch Micro Terror/Micro dark speaker with the ¼-inch input jack. This Orange amp is capable of handling 20W power and includes an AC adapter and speaker cable.
This guitar amp is bundled with accessories you need, and everything is playable right out of the box. This means you can immediately get that nice melodic tone the moment you strum your guitar.
It has an unboxed weight of 8.93lb, so, it’s not that heavy to move around should you which to practice outside of your studio room.
- Amp is really loud
- Compact with awesome looks
- Portable and easy to carry around
- Cable that comes along the package is substandard
- Some users complain about the quality of the headphone output
Fender Blues Junior III Guitar Combo Amp
A Fender and the most popular tube amp on the market, Fender Blues Junior III Guitar Combo Amp is known to most guitarists all around the world. This is a 15-watt warmed-time amp with spring reverb, simple control layout, external speaker capability, and foot-switchable FAT boost.
It has a Fender Special Design 12-inch “lightning bolt” speaker that perfectly handles distortion to get a clean and equal tone.
This Fender amp has an easy-to-read control panel with a new badge, vintage-size jewel light and so much more. It’s a perfect smaller amp for studio and smaller venues.
- Light and easy to carry and has a small footprint
- Has clean sound with clarity and punch
- Comes with only one channel
- But has great sound
- Has slight buzzing on higher volumes
VOX AC15C1 Guitar Combo Amplifier
VOX AC15C1 Guitar Combo Amplifier is a great guitar amp that is packed with very useful features for your next guitar practice sessions. It gives a maximum total dexterity to most guitarists, even newbies, anywhere in the world.
It’s a 10-Watt tube combo with 10-inch Celestion G12M Greenback speaker to achieve the classic Vox tone.
This guitar amp has two channels — Normal and Top-Boost — each with its own tone cut and volume control, and the latter offers interactive treble and bass tone controls. The tone cut control works on the power stage — not in the preamp — to give more versatility in tone-shaping.
Besides, has more controls like the very effective gain control, bass, treble, reverb, tremolo effects and has a switchable 8/16-ohm output jack, whenever you need an external speaker for louder output.
Pros
- Amp is superb
- Offered at a reasonable price
- Both channels have a nice and great tone quality
- This is a perfect guitar amp for Fender guitars
- Lacks headroom which makes it difficult to achieve the warm and rich sound
- Has nasty overload
- Even at low gain
- Delay is too long and reverb is not that good
Marshall DSL Series DSL40C
Feature-packed Marshall DSL Series DSL40C guitar amp gives you more controls and options. Hence, making your practice feel like you’re already performing in front of the crowd.
You’ll get a foot-switchable (classic gain and ultra-gain) channels which have two modes per channel, foot-switchable reverb, real panel pentode/triode switch and rear panel series FX loop.
It gives utmost versatility to users with its useful capabilities and volume-to-size ratio. It’s among the trusted amps that even the professionals use during their practice sessions. It’s ultra-portable, gives you the loudest you need with great value for your money.
Pros
- Produces good tone
- Perfect for beginners and seasoned players
- Versatile and gives value for money
- Plays classic
- Rock and blues with ease
- Has a weak reverb
- Some users complained
- Might be better with loop effects
- Beginners might need to research on how to set up this little amp
Laney Amps CUB All TUBE Series CUB 10
If you are looking for an amp that gives pronounced mid-range, you can have the Laney Amps CUB All TUBE Series CUB 10. Midrange frequencies are where the natural frequencies of the guitar instrument sit. Therefore, you’ll have a very responsive amp that gives you natural and clean output.
If you push the amp a little harder, you’ll get Zeppelin-esque output, like that from Heartbreaker. Now, if you hit your guitar strings harder while giving in more gain, you’ll get a more vintage tone coming from this amp.
It’s simple and has a single channel that features volume, tone, and gain control, ideal for bluesy solo performance.
Pros
- Delivers Fender-quality sound
- Warm and clean sound tones
- Straightforward
- Lightweight guitar amp with great pedals
- Small footprint with top-notch fittings
Cons
- Amp is not loud enough
- There are no onboard effects
VHT AV-SP1-6 Special 6 Combo Amplifier
VHT AV-SP1-6 Special 6 Combo Amplifier is another tube amp with unique features that is loved by boutique amp players. It’s easy to customize for home, studio, or jamming session uses.
It features 12AX7 preamp tube and one 6V6 output tube, so you’ll get a very powerful sound — it’s loud enough on high power mode and very good for low power mode.
This guitar amp has a foot-switchable gain boost that expands its tonal range to get both clean and overdriven tones. It has 4.6 and 16-ohm speaker jacks that you can utilize to tailor fit your very own practice sound system.
It has a high/low power switch that pays extra attention to low-volume tones to give extra-smooth and richness to your sound – perfect in bedroom studio settings.
Pros
- Produce clean tones
- Works well with different guitar styles
- Overdrive channel is perfect for blues and rock
- Packed with great features at a fairly reasonable price
Cons
- Some pro players swap default tubes to get great tones
- Amplifier’s build quality is not top-notched
BUGERA V5 5-Watt Class Amplifier
As the name of the product suggests, BUGERA V5 5-Watt Class Amplifier comes with 5-Watt Class-A tube amplifier. It has a cool vintage look, making it appear like it’s been used by legendary artists. Designed with the revolutionary INFINIUM Tube Life Multiplier technology.
It features the world-class British-engineered TURBOSOUND speaker that is very reliable. It has an authentic preamp with ‘60s design, featuring the12AX7 tube. So, you can play from blues to mind-blowing crunch with power and clarity.
- Has good sounding reverb
- Great clean tone with saturated overdrive
- Able to attenuate the power to 0.1-Watt
- Good for low-volume practicing
- The attenuation of power might limit the tonal range
- Some users don’t like the lack of gain
Buying Guide
Choosing the best practice guitar amp is crucial if you are going out gigging and performing on weekends.
Moreover, if you are looking for a guitar amp that you can rely on your practice and gigging, you might need to spend some time checking and comparing, especially on these aspects:
Speaker size
Mostly, musicians overlook the speaker size, and they’ll jump right to the controls, ports and all. This is the first thing that you need to consider, then the amp’s power and wattage. If you’re a solo musician, can you carry the amp and all your stuff by yourself?
Check the channels and controls
Practice amps come with simple to complicated configurations. This aspect and it really needs checking. Why? When using the guitar amp, you got to make changes and tweaks on the controls, faders, buttons, sliders, knobs and all that’s in there.
If you aren’t comfortable with the layout, lack of features, or you don’t like the controls, then, it might not be for you. Better look for another product with a great layout and everything you need onboard, so you’ll be comfortable using it.
Inputs/Outputs
There are various types of inputs and outputs in an amp and some others lack these important I/O port onboard. Sometimes, guitar amps are offered cheaply because they remove the bells and whistles from the expensive predecessors, for example.
So, in this note, it’s very important to check that it supports the connection that you need, especially if you want to connect it to iPod, phones or laptop.
Feedback Control
Most guitar amps that are over 20 Watts have some sort of feedback control. This feature is especially useful if you need to turn the volume of your amp up to more than halfway.
You don’t want the sound quality to be affected, nor it’s difficult to make some changes in the first place. So, better check how the feedback control can be accessed — be it just a push button or a more elaborate feedback control system.
Now, for a more basic and simple way to pick the best guitar amp for you, please watch this YouTube video. The discussion is detailed and clear, so you can easily learn and understand it. Even for beginners can easily grasp important information as there are no jargons, only useful information.
Editor’s Choice
All these guitar amps are great for practice and jamming, especially for beginning musicians.
However, for those who want to set up a music system and take one step ahead of the rest, it’s wise to choose the Roland Micro Cube GX. And, we recommend it to everyone, even for professional guitarists and players.
Packed with innovative features and cool effects onboard, this is what every guitarist craves for. It’s intuitive to use, with color-coded controls for ease of use. Craft your own music and make it known to the world. Start small, yet impactful using the best practice guitar amp in 2019.
