Which Solid State Amp Gets the Best Reviews
Best guitar amps 2022: tube, solid-state and modeling amplifiers for all levels and budgets
Besides the guitar itself, a decent guitar amp is one of the most significant buy a guitarist will brand. Indeed, an amp is arguably more important to your overall tone than the guitar! Your outset 'proper' amp is likely to be based on something that your heroes play, but you'll shortly end up wanting something that amend fits your own playing style. That's where our adept guide to the best guitar amps comes in...
The amp is the key to the door marked 'tone'. Whether y'all utilize overdrive pedals to provide your gain, or you're looking for your amp to provide full bore distortion on its own, the amp yous go for will decide the overall graphic symbol your audience hears out front.
In that location's a dizzying array of amps on the market place, then you need to do some thorough enquiry before pulling the trigger to effigy out what's right for yous. Thankfully we've washed all that hard piece of work for you, pinning downwards what we believe are the best heads, combos, and modelers on the market. We accept fully loaded options from Mesa/Boogie, Orangish, Marshall, Vocalisation and many more and we've made sure to list them in cost order to make your life a piffling easier - and better all the same, we've fifty-fifty plant the best prices for 'em, besides!
If you lot'd like to read more in-depth buying communication, click the 'buying advice' button above. If you lot'd rather get straight to the products, proceed scrolling.
Best guitar amps: Guitar Globe'south choice
An elite-level touring guitar amp costs some serious dollar, which puts it out of the reach of virtually players. But if you've got the budget, nonetheless, the Mesa/Boogie Mark Five: 25 is just about the all-time guitar amp nosotros've heard for the money. It marries upwards versatility, build quality and course, with an astonishing range of tones. If you lot care for the amp like an investment, as something that will come across you through the next xx years of playing, then the Mark Five: 25 actually represents decent value for money.
If, on the other hand, y'all need something a bit more financially realistic – for players of any level – and so the Boss Katana 100 MkII is easy to recommend. Gone are the days of inexpensive solid-land and modeling amps that promise so much but fail to deliver. The Katana delivers five killer amp characters backed up past astonishing furnishings – as you lot'd expect from Boss – with plenty in the way of extra tools and tricks.
Best guitar amps: Production guide
With a tube preamp and a solid-state power amp, the Orange Micro Terror manages to stay shockingly tiny while delivering 20 watts of output. Through a 4x12 it'south deceptively massive, although because it's and then low in wattage, we've found there'due south not really a true 'clean' sound on offering.
Notwithstanding, information technology's approximately a million times better than the entry-level amps nosotros had when we were younger, and at a button you could probably play small shows with them. We've switched out ane of our amps with the Micro subsequently a technical difficulty in the past (yeah, it'south small enough to bring as a fill-in in your pedalboard example), and we don't think the crowd noticed.
That said, information technology is relatively tranquility, and the Tiny Terror is noticeably louder when you're playing out. All the same, for the price, who can argue?
Read the full Orange Micro Terror guitar amp review
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The Positive Grid Spark has taken the amp world by storm. Integrating the already highly respected BIAS tone engine with some pretty incredible smart engineering was just ever going to be a good thing, and it definitely didn't disappoint us.
Onboard, there's 30 amp models and 40 effects. There's Bluetooth connectivity to stream music, also as ⅛" aux and headphone inputs. You've got USB inputs and outputs too, which enable y'all to use your Spark every bit an audio interface for when you lot need to capture that next great thought.
The Spark is as well packed full of learning tools that will assist you develop as a player, and take fun while doing it. Those features include 'Car Chords' - which will find chord charts for any song you choose - and 'Smart Jam' - which will generate an authentic backing runway to accompany you, whatever you play.
Read the total Positive Filigree Spark review
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It'due south helpful for learner guitarists to choose an amp that will allow them to experiment with different sounds. As great equally tube amps are, they tend to stick to 1 core job and focus on doing that brilliantly. Digital effects, on the other hand, give the role player a chance to try out different sounds and combinations of effects to find the sound that suits them best.
The Boss Katana 100 MKII is, in many ways, the perfect 'kickoff' or backup amp for most people. Information technology packs in a host of Boss effects, along with a selection of peachy sounding amp models, and will hands manage the step up from practise to small gig. Hooking the Katana modeling amp upward to your calculator grants you access to deep editing of parameters, while we also loved the way it tin record direct into a digital sound workstation via USB.
Read our full Dominate Katana 100 MkII review
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For an amp to gig small clubs, play at habitation, or in practice, in that location are few amps more practical than Fender mini combos. Nosotros like the Jr Four because it has a 12" speaker, which to our ears is always substantially fuller and more than counterbalanced than almost 10" speakers out there.
Though this tube amp merely really does ane thing, it does it well; nonetheless, due to its size it does break up rather hands, making it non always the best option for pristine cleans. It's also a bit of a studio secret weapon for this reason, every bit information technology tin can be driven to early on hard saturation.
Read the full Fender Hot Rod Blues Junior IV review
Launched over 60 years agone, the Vox AC15 is the veteran of the pack in this best guitar amps guide. Yet notwithstanding, people gravitate towards that famous grille, lured in by the hope of one of the guitar world's virtually recognisable tones. Everyone from the Beatles to Brian May has used Vox AC amps over the years, drawn towards one of the warmest clean tones out there.
In our feel, the Vox AC15 is a superb choice for stone, pop and dejection, and nosotros specially liked the built-in tremolo and reverb sounds which make for some epic surf-rock tones.
Marking Tremonti and PRS accept established themselves as i of the longest-running endorser/endorsee partnerships in the guitar globe. Betwixt them, the pair accept offered up stacks of affiliated signature guitar models, simply the PRS MT15 marks the beginning fourth dimension they've collaborated on an amp.
The MT fifteen follows the standard lunchbox amp pattern, packing in two channels and switchable output ability to make for an ideal tool for practice, recording and small shows. Information technology's clearly geared towards higher gain fans, with the 6L6 ability amp tubes dealing up plenty in the way of treacle-thick saturation- a tone we tin can't get enough of! The included FX loop is a squeamish touch, as is the individual EQ controls for both channels, making the PRS MT15 a decent package for the gain fiend in your life.
Read the full PRS MT fifteen Marking Tremonti Head review
The EQ contour of Hughes & Kettner's flagship tube heads has ever been somewhat controversial. With a tube layout that's akin to a Marshall and a genesis in hot-rodding Marshalls, it's e'er surprising how much smoother the cleans of an H&K are, even if the gains are fierce.
Nosotros constitute that the TubeMeister Deluxe packs enough power for pocket-size gigs, and can even be run all the way downwards to 0W for true silent practicing. It's got an integrated H&K Red Box DI, which ways that either live or in the studio it'south easy to get consistent tones.
Finally, information technology's pretty compact. Non as svelte as the Victory or the Orange, just given that you can selection ane up new for two-thirds the price of the Victory, it'south good value for money if you lot like the distinctive H&M sound.
We're nonetheless to come across anyone with an overly extreme or negative stance on Blackstar's range of reasonably-priced tube amps. Y'all hear phrases like solid, undecayed, reliable and unpretentious, and that'due south no bad matter. Take the Blackstar HT Club 40 MKII, for example, which is the make's mid-range offering. It doesn't pack in crazy features you lot'll never use, or cost a fortune, or fall apart every time you load in after a show. If you lot want high gain, certain, it can throw downward the filth with the best of them. Likewise, if you want an authentic, bell-like clean sound, no trouble.
In our experience, the Blackstar HT Club 40 MKII is a skilful, solid amp that will exercise you proud without breaking the banking company, much similar the residue of the HT family. It may not set your eye alight with every power chord, only it'll certainly get the job done.
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At present, we're aware we're playing with fire here - just we think the Tone Master series is a stroke of genius from Fender. A cheaper, more durable way of getting our favorite tube-esque tones - without getting a hernia? Sounds good.
The Tone Principal Super Reverb is undoubtedly one of the coolest Tone Primary amps to date. Information technology's super accurate emulation of the Super Reverb tone, coupled with modern features on the rear panel brand this amp a modern guitarist's dream. The Jensen P-10R Alnico speakers deliver anything from warm, tremolo-laden clean tones to swampy, heavy gain - and cheers to the half dozen different power modes, you lot tin access the gain at any book you lot like.
If pedals are more your thing, then this amp is one of the perfect choices for you. With 45W of tube emulation on board, y'all can exist certain your pedals will collaborate with the Tone Master merely as they would with a tube amp of the same power rating. There's headroom for days on this amp, especially in full power style. Fender has also added a balanced XLR line output with impulse responses, cab simulation, level control and a footing switch to make certain every unmarried eventuality is covered for.
Compared to some of the amps on this list, this mini JCM800 looks positively lacking in features. However, it reminds usa that perchance you don't demand the bells and whistles. Perchance what you lot really need is fantastic sounding amplification, and no distractions. If that idea resonates with you, then this is probably the amp for you.
From grunge to doom, to noise rock, the SC20H is a fantastic foundation for a guitar rig, it's built like a tank, and information technology'southward a classic for a reason. And, while the big version remains famously frill-costless, Marshall has equipped the SC20H with an furnishings loop and direct recording output making information technology a beast of a studio amp.
Read the full Marshall SC20H Studio Classic review
Crafted by a pocket-sized squad in the UK, the Victory V40, despite its small size, can produce some serious dissonance. It'south a 40 watt, single-channel tube head which is capable of both US and Uk fashion tones, and cheers to its significant clean headroom, is an exceptional pedal platform too - something that's a winner in our eyes.
You lot might exist wondering how this single-channel amp can produce such varied tones - and that'due south partly downwards to the introduction of the Voice and Mid Boot switches. With the phonation switch in the Voice I position, the Duchess delivers a distinctly American tone, with a adequately flat frequency response. Switching to Voice II offers up more than midrange bawl, reminiscent of the British amp tones we all know and beloved. Knock that Mid Kick switch to the on position for some more than midrange aggression - if that'southward what you fancy.
If 40W sounds like a bit too much for yous, so you'll be pleased to know that Victory has incorporated a 7W depression-power fashion in club to go along your family and neighbors happy. This bedroom-friendly wattage ways y'all tin can afford to crank the volume and accomplish tones that can only come from warm drinking glass - making the V40 even more versatile equally a home, gig and studio amp.
Read the total Victory V40 The Duchess review
Nosotros've seen it happen all too often. A guitarist turns upward at a small prove with a 100-watt tube amp only to never exist able to plough it up properly. If this sounds like y'all, or you simply fancy a killer rock amp at slightly lower book, then the JJ-Inferior is definitely worth taking a look at.
Taking the greatest bits from the original Friedman JJ-100 and cramming them into a 20W setting, Jerry Cantrell's latest signature amp is capable of doing some serious harm. With AC30-esque cleans and the signature Cantrell gain tone on tap, the JJ-Junior is capable of almost annihilation - with special thank you to the JBE switch, which unleashes even more gain into the equation. The FX loop is in series, pregnant that your fourth dimension-based effects still sound clean and precise while you melt faces with your playing.
One of the many special features of the JJ-Junior - and one of our favorites - is the internal load and cab-simulated XLR output, enabling you lot to send a DI out without having to hibernate your face with shame. The internal load means you tin can actually play the amp silently without a cabinet fastened - making recording or silent exercise not only achievable but a walk in the park.
The Mesa Marking V comes in a multifariousness of sizes from the full-tilt 90W head downwards to a compact 25W offer. Though some features are streamlined or removed, the 25 loses none of the fundamental tricks, while condign pocket-size enough to take on public ship. We think 25 watts is but about enough to gig and record with, and there'due south a reason why the Marker Iv and Marker V have go legendary.
Sure, partly it's about the prestige of Mesa amps in general, but the IV earned its stripes through session players seeking a Swiss-Army-Knife amp. The tubes used as well offer a clue; whereas other Mesa heads similar the DC5 used 6L6s for a more than rectifier-like tone, the EL84s are a different beast, while the clean aqueduct has a distinctly Fender-like chinkle about it.
However, with Mesas, the stock tones aren't really the whole story. With a three-band EQ and heave functionality, these can be radically altered into new territory, and the distinctive graphic EQ on the front panel allows for even more drastic tone shaping.
When it comes to modernistic metal, there take been few players and producers every bit influential as Misha 'Bulb' Mansoor of Periphery. Obviously if you're looking for djenty modern metal then the Invective is more capable of delivering, but it's for some of its other features that it's merely equally interesting.
Firstly, at that place's a range of power-switching options, meaning you don't have to run it total-blast at 120W the whole time. 2d, in that location's a boost function that is modelled on the Ibanez Tubescreamer. This is because many modern metal tones are achieved by slap-up the forepart-cease of a tube amp using a Tubescreamer with the 'level' control all the way up.
Third, there's auxiliary ability outs, then you can run your favourite pedals in the amp's effects loop using the amp as a power source.
Finally, though the amp itself is based on the 6505+, a common complaint of the serial has been a somewhat mediocre clean channel, something that, in our opinion, Misha specifically fixed on the Invective. This makes this guitar amp far more just role of the 5150 line, but a essentially more versatile improvement. This is plumbing fixtures actually, as EVH defined the new metal sound with his 5150 signature amps; perhaps the Invective will do the aforementioned for a new generation.
Read the full Peavey Invective .120 review
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A lot has been said most the Kemper and its capabilities elsewhere, so we won't recite an exhaustive specs listing – suffice it to say that this is an incessantly extensible professional amp modelling unit.
The powerhead version of the profiler is exactly what you think – by combining the profiler caput edition of the Kemper with a 600 watt solid-state power amp, the powerhead can be used to bulldoze a speaker cabinet, making information technology all you demand for amp duties both in the studio and live.
Best guitar amps: Buying advice
Guitar amplification is based on iii building blocks at its cadre – preamp, power amp and speaker. The preamp shapes the tone, the power amp brings information technology up to the level required to bulldoze the speaker, and the speaker pumps out the glorious tone.
Should I buy a tube, solid state or digital amp?
Get-go, there'due south the question of whether the amp is tube, solid-state, or a digital amp modeler. With tubes, you're getting the benefits of a concrete reaction in your playing: 18-carat electrical artistry spilling from a row of glowing glass tubes. Tubes deliver a rich harmonic warmth and dynamism that people even so flock to, despite all of the advances in digital and modeling technology. If you lot're driving the ability amp department of your amp, playing at stage volume, tubes really come into their own in a way that digital and modeling amps can't really compete with.
Where digital comes upwardly trumps is through sheer diverseness and instant gratification. Modern digital amps can pack in approximations of literally hundreds of different models, from all genres, in a way that gives the user a well-nigh-infinite tonal palette. For this reason, digital amps are popular in studio environments, where sheer volume isn't every bit important as depth of tone and tweakability, or with learners who but aren't quite certain what they like yet.
Solid-country options accept come on leaps and premises in contempo years, but debates over the quality nevertheless come and go. In that location's no denying that class D ability-amps and the like are both pocket-sized and efficient. They tend to lean towards cleaner tones, which makes them fantastic pedalboard-friendly amps, but very few accept overdriven and distorted tones that can compete with a high-end modeler or tube amp.
Practise I want a combo or a head?
Combo amps combine the pre-amp, power amp and speakers in a unmarried unit of measurement, whereas heads require external speakers to utilize. The benefit of a head is being able to run more speakers if necessary, just in an age of venues close down for racket complaints, where fifty-fifty your local bar has a decent PA, the need for extra volume isn't as relevant. Combo amps are perfect for those who want a space saving selection too, or those who will exist playing at dwelling most of the fourth dimension, whereas heads are ideal for touring players who will be turning up to venues or clubs that already have cabs fix up.
Is guitar amp wattage of import?
Yes, it is. Only put, a college wattage tube amp is louder, merely because of some complex and nerdy reasons we won't get into here, the perceived volume of a tube amp at the aforementioned wattage equally a solid-land amp will exist louder. This is why you can probably gig with a 20W tube head for smaller shows, whereas a 20W solid-state won't cut it.
How much gain does my guitar amp need?
Finally, you lot'll want to think about your gain requirements. If you're a pedalboard user, you may well already have an array of overdrive and distortion pedals, and you're only looking for a clean platform to amplify and complement those tones. All the same, for some players – especially those of a metallic persuasion – there's simply no substitute for a loftier-proceeds amp, which produces a richer, more than 3D character than many stompboxes. Exist sure to bear in listen the number of channels an amp possesses, especially if you're looking to switch on the fly from make clean to distortion
How nosotros exam a guitar amp
When information technology comes to testing, in that location are a few things we similar to do to put an amplifier through its paces. That said, we must first mention that every bit guitar amps come in various shapes and sizes, how nosotros examination them can differ, depending on the amplifier's intended utilize. For example, book and project are massive considerations when information technology comes to amps designed to be played on stage or in a rehearsal room, only not and so much for home use practice amps.
What shouldn't change between home and live amps is the build quality, and that's the first thing nosotros look for. For u.s.a., all amps should be well made and sturdy, regardless of their awarding. In our opinion, guitar amps should feel robust and able to withstand anything you throw at them, and the controls should be smooth, with only the right amount of resistance.
To test the amps out tonally, we'll kickoff where most guitarists start, everything straight upward the middle. This normally allows united states of america to hear the amp at its most sonically honest. Nosotros'll then dive in and start shaping the sound to how we like it, paying careful attention to the sweep of the EQ controls in particular. We'll likewise exist sure to test the amp at both ends of the gain spectrum, from every bit much saturation as nosotros can get to every bit clean as possible.
If an amp has any other features, such every bit effects or attenuators, we'll be sure to go through them likewise, making sure we've tested every last extra onboard.
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Source: https://www.guitarworld.com/features/best-guitar-amps
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