Best Guitar Amplifiers For Beginners In 2022

The cool thing about the Fender Champion 20 is that it’s a scaled-down version of an iconic amp. It’s not just a cheap practice made for beginners. The Fender Champion 100 has just been reduced down to a fifth of the power, making one of the best guitar amps for beginners. Because of this, it’s an amp you can grow with. It’s not the kind of amp that you’ll want to replace as soon as you learn a few chords.

It features digital amp modeling, which means it uses digital technology to recreate the sounds of old-school tube amps. Turn the voice knob and you can choose from 17 different sounds ‘from clean to mean’. That gives enough scope to practice any kind of music – jazz, blues, metal, rock, country, etc. Then, you can adjust the sound further with a 3-band EQ. The Fender Champion 20 also has a couple of features dedicated to practicing. It has an aux input, so you can plug in your smartphone or Mp3 player and jam along to backing tracks (check out YouTube for hundreds). Plus, it has a 1/8th headphone output jack to allow you to practice silently. If you’re looking for the best beginner guitar amp, we think it’s this one. Our guide to the best electronic drum kits features more quality instruments musicians will love.

Some readers will be looking at this list and thinking ‘I don’t want a practice amp, I want something a real guitarist would use’. And, fair enough, if you’re serious about learning, you might want to invest in some serious equipment. The VOX AC15C1 isn’t a practice amp. This is an amp that you could take to any venue in the world and they’d take you seriously. It’s the less-powered version of the iconic VOX AC30 (think Brian May, George Harrison, etc).

Because it’s not a practice amp, it doesn’t have any built-in effects (apart from reverb and tremolo). So, if you want to play around with different sounds, you’ll need a pedalboard. But, what you get instead is sound quality. It’s a tube amp (EL84 power tubes; 12AX7 preamp tubes), which means you get a warmer and bigger sound from the amp. The other cool thing about owning one of these is the way it looks. The 1950s styling makes it something you’ll want to have on display, not hide away every time you’ve finished practicing. For more excellent products for gifted musicians, check out our guide to the best MIDI keyboard controllers.

If you have just started playing guitar, the Marshall MS2 Battery-Powered Micro Guitar Amplifier is one of the best products on the market. You might have guessed from its name and the fact that it only has 1W of power, it’s not a full-sized amp. Instead, this is a desktop amp that can even be clipped to your belt as you walk around the house. Of course, because of this, it’s powered by 9V batteries. Honestly, if you don’t know if you’re going to stick at guitar, this is probably the best beginner electric guitar amplifier. It will make the guitar loud enough for you to practice, without irritating your housemates/family/neighbors.

It only has 3 knobs – volume, tone, and overdrive. No matter how much you play with them, you won’t get a perfect sound. But, it’s pretty cool that you get a clean and overdriven sound out of it. If you are buying this miniature electric guitar amp, you have to be realistic. A lot of the negative Amazon reviews are seemingly experienced guitarists complaining about the tone and volume. It’s not a full-size amp, so it’s not going to sound like one. However, if you want the best guitar amp for practice on the go, we think you’ll absolutely love it. You may also like some of the best headphone amplifiers for a better sound experience, so be sure to check them out.

If you specifically want a tube amp, and you’re on a budget, you have to go for a Bugera. You might be wondering why a 5-watt amp is nearly $200. The reason is that it’s a tube amp – you’ll get a warmer tone and it should rival the volume potential of a 10- or 20-watt solid-state amp. BUGERA V5 5-Watt Class Amplifier Combo makes this one of the best guitar amps for home use if we’re talking purely about the sound quality and nothing else. Unfortunately, you don’t get much in the way of practice features. There are 4 control knobs – gain, tone, volume, and reverb. You can use these controls to get some awesome sounds, but if you want true versatility, you will have to buy a pedal board as well.

This amp is aimed at people that want to do things the old-school way. Put some records on, fire up your tube amp, and play along. If you’re interested in the new tech of modern practice amps, this one’s not for you. But the traditional engineering and vintage look make it a great guitar amp nonetheless. If we had one complaint about this amp it’s that you could probably pick up a used tube amp for the same price that has much more power. The power that the Bugera 5W Combo puts out isn’t enough for anything except practicing. Be sure to check out our guide to the best condenser microphones for more awesome products you can benefit from if you are a musician.

Orange Micro Terror Head and PPC108 Cabinet offers something slightly different for beginner guitarists. Orange is known for making some of the best guitar amp heads in the business. So, they’ve used this technology to make a practice amp. The head (amp) is separate from the cabinet (speakers). There are a few benefits to having the head and cabinet separate. They’re easier to transport, you can upgrade or add speakers, the volume is normally louder, and they look amazing.

The Orange Micro Terror head has volume, tone, gain knobs – so, you’ll probably want to buy a pedalboard as well. We love the fact that they have included an aux input and headphone input (you’ll need an adapter) because these are both great features for beginner guitarists. The Orange PPC108 is one of the best looking cabs money can buy. The woven paper grill cloth and iconic orange housing make this amp stand out. But, this amplifier and cabinet aren’t all beauty and no brawn. It’s a seriously loud combination considering the size. It’s probably loud enough to play with a bass guitarist and a full drum kit. To enhance your experience while playing and listening to the music, pick your favorite pair of open back headphones.

The Fender Frontman is pretty similar to the Fender Champion amp we featured earlier. It has the same look about it and a lot of the same electronics inside. The main difference is that this amp is only 10W and doesn’t have all of the effects built into the amp. Because of that, it’s considerably cheaper and is only around $10 more than the Marshall MS2, which is 10X less powerful. If you’re not bothered about battery-power, then you should choose this over the Marshall every time.

It has a 2-band EQ as well as volume and gain controls that allow you to find the perfect sound. It’s also got a cool little overdrive switch that beefs up the tone. Like the Fender Champion, it has an aux input and a ⅛-inch headphone input. In fact, this is probably the best guitar amp for headphones because it’s small enough to sit on your desk and it’s not so powerful that it’ll blow your head off. If you don’t need the effects and digital modeling that you get with the Fender Champion, this amp is essentially the same. It’s a fantastic little practice amp. Our guide to the best Bluetooth receivers features some great devices you will like.

The Line 6 Spider V60 Wireless Ready Modeling Amplifier has long been one of the most popular modeling amps for beginner and intermediate guitarists. You might look at the front of this amp and think that it’s pretty low in control knobs. That’s because it’s powered by an internal computer that has 128 custom presets. That means you can choose from iconic amps in the past, the specific tones of your favorite artists, and more. In terms of a digital modeling amp for beginners, this one has to be the best.

We also like the fact that it has a sleek, modern design. All of the control knobs, the housing, and the LCD screen are made to look like a true 21st-century amp. Our guide to the best mandolins offers some cool instruments you may be interested in. Check them out.