Musicians world over will always possess an amplifier with them. The need to have one will only increase if you are the person who loves to play guitar – Acoustic, Electric, Bass.
Amplifiers basically convert the soft sounds emanating from guitars to sound that is loud enough for you to listen.
Guitar amplifiers come in various sizes and power ratings, beginning from a lightweight one you practice on to the more powerful 100 watts.
Guitar amplifiers can come as a standalone amplifier or a combo with speakers built in, musicians normally prefer the combo one to use as a monitor when performing in a group.
Also check: Best Guitar for Jazz
If you prefer to modify or emphasize certain frequencies then you should consider guitar amplifiers with equalizers as these tend to increase or decrease bass or treble sounds depending upon the guitar you are playing.
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Best Guitar Amps
Fender Mustang GT 40 Bluetooth Enabled Solid-State Modeling Guitar Amplifier Review
Fender is renowned in the space of audio accessories for musicians world over. From guitars to accessories they have it all.
The Fender Mustang GT series from 25, 40, 100 and 200 offers exceptional sound for every musician from beginner to professional.
The Fender GT 40 comes loaded with a lot of features that include Bluetooth connectivity that every musician would love. No wonder the Fender GT series amplifiers are the world’s best selling models.
Features:
- Fender Tone cloud offers the option of backing up and recalling your preset settings with the Fender Tone app
- Bluetooth connectivity via the Blue Tone app or stream your music from any Bluetooth device to the amplifier
- The Fender GT 40 amplifier is probably the first in this category that is wifi equipped. You can now download the latest firmware, presets from the Fender server
- For the techno-savvy musician, you have the choice of connecting your guitar to the PC and digitizing your sound through the apps which you then send out to the amplifier for an amazing sound experience
- Flexibility to save your settings by renaming your preferred choice on the amplifier
- Fender Tone app on your phone to control your amplifier settings without having to move closer to the amplifier
- 2 speakers of 6.5 inches
- Master switch with digital display
Things We Liked:
- Wifi equipped for downloads of latest updates
- Bluetooth connectivity to connect to any device to stream music seamlessly
- A USB port to connect the amplifier to the computer
- Fender Tone app for a mobile device to control settings on your amplifier
Things We Didn’t Like:
- Sounds may drown out when playing in a large band, as 40 watts of power may seem a tad low
Marshall MG10 Guitar Amplifier Review
Another brand name that is synonymous with amplifiers is Marshall Guitars. You get a wide range of amplifiers to suit every need and budget from home to the arena.
The MG10G is small, compact and offers you the choice of 2 channels for creating your type of sound.
It has a small yet powerful 10 watts amplifier that allows you to practice without your neighbor getting overly disturbed.
Indeed a must have for the beginner level of guitarist.
Features:
- Small and compact design weighing at 4.8 kgs. offer great portability
- 10-watts of power through 1 speaker of 6.5 inches offer good enough power sound for practice at home and in small places
- Solid State 2 channels offer clean and overdrive tones and contour control allow you to experiment with sounds
- Contour controlled equalizer knob for adjusting higher mid and lower notes
- Provision for ¼ inches and 3.5mm aux line input to play along musical tracks or songs
- Emulated 3.5 mm headphone and line outputs mute the amplifier speaker allowing you to listen in silence for practicing and recording
- Controls for clean volume, channel select switch, overdrive gain, overdrive volume, contour
Things We Liked:
- Lightweight at 4.8 kgs makes it an ideal choice for beginners to play along at home or with friends
- 10 Watts of power to drive 6.5 inches speaker that is loud enough for you without disturbing others
- Provision of a line in to connect to any music source to play along your favorite tracks
- Contour controlled equalizer to increase High, Mid and Low notes
Things We Didn’t Like:
- 10 watts of power not good enough when playing on stage with other band members
Roland CUBE Street Battery Powered Stereo Guitar Combo Review
Think digital think Roland. They have carved a niche for themselves in the music industry providing musical instrument, accessories and electronic equipment.
The 2 speakers of 6.5 inches and the digital dual powered amplifier deliver 2.5watts of sound through each speaker, good enough for your practice or to perform a small gig with your friends.
Features:
- Upward facing and weighing only 5.9 kgs this amplifier is compact and lightweight
- 2 neodymium speakers of 6.5 inches capable of delivering high-performance sounds
- Operates on the battery as well as AC power
- 6 batteries of “AA” size will provide 15 hours of usage
- Included in the package is AC Adaptor for use with your local power supply
- 2 Channel provision with inputs for line in/Mic and Guitar/Instrument
- Controls for Delay/Reverb for the Mic/Line-channel
- 2-band EQ
- Independent volume controls for both channels
- Built-in Chromatic Tuner with 6 digital effects and 8 COSM AMPs
- 1 Year Free Extended Warranty
Things We Liked:
- Compact design upward facing amplifier cum speaker is a great choice for home use
- Lightweight at 5.9 kgs very convenient for travel
- Option to operate on batteries in case of power failure
- 2 separate channels for line in and use with guitars
- Separate volume controls for line in and guitars
Things We Didn’t Like:
- Controls located at the rear make it cumbersome every time you need to adjust controls
- 10 Watts of sound output is good enough only for home use, the sound will drown out if used on stage with a large band
Conclusion
Having reviewed guitar amplifiers, we feel that these are primarily for use at home and in the performance of small gigs with your friends at a party or get-together.
If you are at the beginner level or in the early stages of your guitar learning process, then these amplifiers that we reviewed would greatly do justice, however, it must be noted that it is always a good practice to invest in a good amplifier.
There are a lot of amplifiers that are available in the market today, we have reviewed 3 of the reputed brands in the music industry who are known to have manufactured good amplifiers.
While choosing an amplifier for your need, you must bear in mind that sooner or later you will graduate from a novice to a professional, therefore we advise to scout the market and invest in an amplifier that delivers sound loud enough to hear.
20 watts and below of sound are great enough for your use at home, but it is strongly advised to get one with a higher rating of sound output.
Also, bear in mind that amplifiers with speaker should be your preferred choice for the simple reason that it gives you the freedom to use at home without having to hook up the amplifier to an external sound source.
Secondly, this amplifier-speaker combination can be used as a monitor for you when you are performing in a band.
Amplifiers with an external out especially headphones are great, if you can find one with Bluetooth connectivity this will let you use wireless headphones to pair with your amplifier.
