You’ve bought your first electric guitar. Perfect. Now you need an amp. We’ll show you choices for the best guitar amp for beginners to get you started and what to look for when buying one.
Our Picks:The Best Guitar Amp for Beginners: Tube AmpsHarley Benton Tube15 CelestionBugera V55 InfiniumThe Best Guitar Amp for Beginners: Solid-State AmpsOrange Crush 35 RTFender Champion II 50The Best Modeling Guitar Amps for BeginnersBoss Katana 50 MK IIIPositive Grid Spark 2
Best Guitar Amp for Beginners: What to Look For
Don’t we all remember it? That first guitar. That moment we held it in our hands? And then, inevitably, came the first amp. Cranked to 11, shaking our bedroom’s walls, and… failing to make any sonic impact once we started jamming with friends. To help you avoid this pitfall, we’ve collected a couple of suggestions for the best guitar amp for beginners.
It used to be an endlessly debated question whether tube, solid-state, or modeling amps could even be good enough at lower price points. But these days, you’ll find excellent build-quality amps without breaking the bank for any type of amp.
Solid-state vs. Tube vs. Modeling
Three technologies dominate the amp market. Tube amps with “singing bulbs” in the preamp and power amp stages, solid-state models, which use transistors to shape the sound, and modeling amps. These are the newest type of amps, and they use DSP technology to emulate amps.
Many professional musicians prefer modelers on tour these days since they sound (almost) exactly like their analog counterparts without the weight and stability issues.
The choice is yours: either play a combo amp, which combines the amp and cabinet in one unit, or a head and an external cabinet with speakers. Option 2 gives you more flexibility when choosing individual components, but is usually a bit more expensive. Option 1 is often more compact, but sometimes heavier than two separate components.
Option 3 would be a modeling amp, Many times, these are not actual amps, but pedals. They look like multi-effects devices but include built-in amp and speaker emulation, and you can connect them directly to a PA.
To start, we have limited ourselves to combos because the manufacturer matches them, eliminating the need for experimental purchases.
The Best Guitar Amp for Beginners: Tube Amps
Tube amplifiers are said to produce a more harmonious and therefore more pleasant distortion. Depending on their design and power, they are often heavier than their solid-state counterparts.
Harley Benton Tube15 Celestion
Although this amp has “only” 15 watts, it is probably one of the most affordable tube amps with features you usually only find in higher price ranges. It comes with tubes in both the preamp and power amp, and a 12″ Celestion Seventy speaker.
Harley Benton TUBE15 Celestion
You also get a full EQ section, a separate gain control, and a built-in attenuator. This reduces the amp’s power from 15 to 1 watt, allowing you to get that much-loved tube saturation even at moderate volumes.
Unless you play in a super-loud hard rock metal band and your drummer hits the drums with all his might (and you have a PA at gigs), the Harley Benton Tube15 Celestion* is pretty much unbeatable in this price range. It also comes with a built-in reverb.
But beware: there’s only one channel here. If you want more than one sound, you’ll need some effects pedals – for example, an overdrive or booster.
Harley Benton at Gearnews
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Harley Benton TUBE15 Celestion
Customer rating: (1058)
$244.00 / £218.00 / 259.00€ at
Bugera V55 Infinium
Watts aren’t everything, but the Bugera V55 Infinium* (Sweetwater*) offers more than any other amp we know in this price range. It sounds great, too. 55 watts, 2 channels (clean and distorted), 1×12″ speaker, 3-band EQ, gain, volume, and master are separately adjustable, and a bright input for muffled electric guitars.
Bugera V55: Could it be the best guitar amp for beginners? · Source: Bugera
You can also switch the channel and the built-in reverb directly from your stage position using the included foot switch. Besides the V55, there is also the smaller and quieter V5*. This model offers a switchable output from 5W to 1W to 0.1W, so even your most sensible neighbors won’t complain.
Bugera at Gearnews
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Bugera V55 Infinium
Customer rating: (51)
$511.00 / £466.00 / 544.00€ at
Bugera V5 Infinium
Customer rating: (219)
$231.00 / £209.00 / 246.00€ at
Bugera V55 Infinium
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The Best Guitar Amp for Beginners: Solid-State Amps
Transistors have a bit of a bad reputation. Still, quite a few amps in this category, especially in the higher price ranges, have been responsible for the great sound on countless albums and gigs for years, such as the Roland Jazz Chorus.
Orange Crush 35 RT
The Orange Crush 35 RT* (Sweetwater*) is smaller and more affordable. And make no mistake, just because this isn’t a tube amp, does not mean it can’t growl and screech. 35 watts, 1×10″ speaker, two channels (clean and dirty), and a built-in tuner are a pretty solid foundation already.
Source: orange amps
The amp also features characteristic controls found on more expensive Orange amps.
If you like the Orange sound or have seen it used by your favorite bands, this is a very good place to start.
Orange at Gearnews
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Orange Crush 35 RT
Customer rating: (148)
$259.00 / £235.00 / 275.00€ at
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Fender Champion II 50
While it’s no Deluxe Reverb, the Fender Champion II 50 could easily be called the best guitar amp for beginners. You get the looks of their legendary amp line, two channels, 50 watts, a mini-jack aux-in, and a headphone output for practicing at home. That’s quite a solid statement at this price point.
Fender Champion II: Getting Closer to Katana · Source: Fender
The Champion II 50 also includes a variety of vintage-flavored effects to choose from (reverb, delay/echo, chorus, tremolo, vibratone, and more) and tap tempo functionality to match the delay’s or tremolo’s tempo to the bpm of your song. It’s available at Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
Fender at Gearnews
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Fender Champion II 50
Customer rating: (18)
$225.00 / £199.00 / 239.00€ at
Fender Champion II
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The Best Modeling Guitar Amps for Beginners
The technology has been here for a while: modeling amps from Kemper, Line6, Headrush, and others has replaced amps for many professionals. In a small box, you get what feels like endless sounds for little money, because instead of “component mix = sound,” the sound is created via DSP (digital signal processing).
Boss Katana 50 MK III
Most people are probably more familiar with BOSS from their well-known and virtually indestructible effects pedals. But the Japanese manufacturer also builds amplifiers. The Katana series is kept simple, and it features an in-house modeling engine.
With the Katana 50 MK 3* (Sweetwater*), you get a mighty 50 watts and a 12″ speaker. With this model, you’ll have an amp at your side that you can play for a long time. You can choose between 12 amps and 5 effects (3 simultaneously). You can also reduce the output power from 50 to 25 and 0.5 watts for neighbor-friendly practice.
Boss at Gearnews
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Boss Katana 50 Gen 3
Customer rating: (217)
$279.00 / £255.00 / 299.00€ at
Boss Katana 50 Gen 3
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Positive Grid Spark 2
Spark 2 from Positive Grid might look small, but it can sound and scream much like the big guys. Plus, this combo includes so much modeling and AI technology, you’ll get one of the most forward-thinking amplifiers on the market. Besides 50 watts, a built-in looper, three effects, and 8 preset slots, the Spark 2 also functions as an audio interface once you connect it to your computer. Just plug in your guitar and record!
Spark 2: Looping and More Power! · Source: Positive Grid
The AI part of this amp mainly comes from the accompanying app. In it, you can select from a huge variety of popular songs, sounds and guitarists – and it will automatically create a virtual pedal and amp combination for you. Next, just start playing with a sound that’s very similar to the original from the get-go. Spark 2 is available from Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
Positive Grid at Gearnews
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Positive Grid Spark 2 BK
Customer rating: (360)
$244.00 / £219.00 / 259.00€ at
Positive Grid Spark 2
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Conclusion on the Best Guitar Amp for Beginners
Were we able to help you out and give you a few tips for choosing your first big amp? Which model will you go for? And what technology?
What would be your choice for the best guitar amp for beginners? Let us know in the comments!
FAQ: Best Guitar Amp for Beginners
How many watts are good for a beginner guitar amp?
If you mainly play at home, 10 to 20 watts, solid-state – that’s more than enough. If you’re in a band and rehearse with a drummer, go for 50 watts like the Katana.
Can I practice with headphones on these amps?
These days, most amps come with a dedicated headphone jack. So, yes, in most cases you can. Just avoid any wireless solution (Bluetooth), because the latency (delay between playing and hearing it) will be too high.
Should I buy a combo or a head and cabinet?
In most cases, the best guitar amp for beginners is a combo. A half-stack (one amp, one cab) or full-stack (one amp, two cabs) is overkill in just about every case.
This list of the best guitar amp for beginners was first published at Gearnews.de by Claudius Grieger, translated and updated by Julian Schmauch.
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