Best guitar amps: Find the perfect platform for your tone

A guitar amp is one of the two most critical parts of any signal chain. You need one that complements your choice of guitars and works with whatever pedals or effects units you use to create a cohesive tone. The best guitar amps offer quality tone, useful controls, and additional features that suit each individual player.

Here are our top picks in a number of categories so you can find the best match for your sound.

Best high-end guitar combo amp: Vox AC30 Custom

The AC30 has been one of the high end guitar combo amps since the 1960s. There have been a lot of iterations over the years, and the Custom combines features from across the decades. It includes the famous Top Boost circuit for adding high end, and the onboard tremolo is lush and organic.

Oddly there’s no reverb. But this amp can get loud! A lot of players use a guitar amp attenuator so they don’t have to sacrifice tone for reasonable volumes. It’s one of the best clean amps, but make no mistake it can get dirty without losing that charming British chime.

Best stereo guitar amp: Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120

Possibly the most famous solid-state amp ever, the JC-120 has a lot going for it. It’s a two channel stereo amp with reverb, but the effects magic is in the onboard chorus/vibrato.

It includes the same revered circuit found in the discontinued BOSS CE-1. Thick, lush, analog chorus and vibrato sounds that cost exorbitant amounts on the used market.

Each of the two input channels has a high and low input (for passive and active pickups respectively) and 3-band EQ. The effects loop is also stereo.

It has amazing clean sounds and the light weight and caster wheels make it easy to transport, even if it is a little bulky.

Best clean guitar amp: Fender ‘65 Deluxe Reverb

Fender has a lot of classic guitars in their storied history, and the 1965 Deluxe Reverb is up there with the best of them. It’s a portable 22 watt, 2×10 high end combo amp that produces some of the best clean sounds you’ll ever hear.

Purists who want to plug straight in can just turn a few knobs and have that iconic Fender amp tone. It’s a great platform for pedals too, and the tube circuit really brings effects to life.

There isn’t an effects loop though, so if you want to use pedals everything has to go in through the preamp.

Best mini amp head: Marshall 2525H Mini Silver Jubilee

The Silver Jubilee has a unique story. It was released in 1987 to commemorate Marshall’s 25th anniversary and was only manufactured for a single year. But it caught the ear of some big names like Slash and John Frusciante, who still use it in their backline. 

For decades players wanted a re-release, and finally got one in 2015. But not every guitarist wants or needs a half stack. That’s what makes this mini amp version so perfect. It’s got the classic Jubilee sound in a much more convenient package.

Wattage was scaled down from 100W to 20W, and an onboard attenuator lets you scale it down to a cool bedroom-level 5W without sacrificing tone quality. It can feed into a single or dual 4, 8, or 16 ohm cabinets, has an effects loop, and DI. 

At $1,300 new it’s still a top-tier price point, but as far as tone goes it’s in a class all its own.

Best mini guitar amp: Orange Crush Mini

To be clear, we define mini guitar amps as small, low wattage practice amps. And this 3 watt wonder is one of the best. The single channel pumps through a 1×4” speaker with controls for gain, volume, and shape (EQ) to craft the tone.

What makes it such a great tool for writing, jamming, practicing, or even recording are the extra features. It has a built-in tuner, headphone output for silent playing, auxiliary input for jamming to tracks, and an 8 ohm speaker output for powering an external cabinet. You can run it on mains or battery power too.

Best acoustic guitar amp: Fender Acoustic 100

There are a lot of reasons acoustic guitar amps come in handy, and the Acoustic 100 is one of the most unique. It pumps out an impressive 100 watts over two channels. Each input is a combination XLR and ¼” design, so you can use it as a PA system too!

It only sports a single 8” speaker, but it is full range. Each channel has controls for volume, a 3-band EQ, effects selection, and effects level control. And the effects suite is impressive. It includes room and hall reverbs, tape echo, delay with repeats, chorus, vibrato, delay with chorus, and delay with hall reverb.

The enclosure has a sleek vintage vibe too with a wood frame and brown grille cloth. For solo performers this is a great acoustic amp that will come in handy in a lot of situations.

Best guitar amp pedal: Hughes and Kettner Amp Man

You don’t need to lug around a physical amp anymore to get realistic tones. There are a lot of guitar amp pedals, and the Amp Man is one of the best. It’s simple, but it focuses on sound quality and not distracting features that most players probably won’t use. 

Don’t think of it as a pedal, because it’s really more of a preamp on the floor. It’s set up with fifty watts through two channels. Each channel has individual gain, tone, resonance, presence, and volume controls as well as sagging to replicate the performance of a tube amp. The onboard noise gate lets you push the gain without worrying about noise.

It’s equipped with a Red Box DI with eight selectable cabinet types. So you don’t even need an external cabinet, but there is a 4-16 ohms cabinet output if you do want to push air. This is great for quick setup for recording or going straight to the board for performances. There’s even an effects loop.

FAQ

Is a 20 watt amp too loud for playing at home?

Twenty watts is plenty of power for home use. It might actually be too much for some scenarios. Anything between five and 20 watts is plenty, even better if your amp offers power scaling to reduce the wattage when necessary. 

How important is speaker size for electric guitar amps?

Speaker size has a much more critical effect on an amp’s tone than most realize. Larger speakers reproduce low end better, which is why 12” and 10” models are outfitted in a lot of speaker cabinets and combo amps. Large speakers also move more air, so they produce more volume.

Can I record electric guitar without a physical amp?

Yes. You can go direct into an audio interface with amp modelers, plugins, or multi-effects units.