Buying a guitar amplifier is as important a decision as
buying the electric guitar itself. A cheap or underperforming guitar amp will
make you sound horrible, even if you pair it up with a $1100 Gibson Les Paul
Studio!
On the other hand, a good amplifier can even make a rookie
sound like a pro (well, sort of)!
Too many times I’ve seen technically-adept and talented
guitar players and musicians go on the verge of giving up playing the guitar,
simply because they couldn’t sound good or sound like they
wanted/hoped/expected to, despite going through different guitars and even
spending big on really expensive guitars.
At the end of the day, it turns out that their problem was
their cheap-ass amplifier all along.
So it is essential to remember that an amp is instrumental
(literally!) when it comes to the sound produced by your guitar. A good amp can
be the difference between sounding great, or well, not-so-great.
This purpose of this article is to serve as a guide which
lists down some of the best amplifiers out there on a budget. So here are a few
great amplifiers that beginner as well as experienced electric guitar players
can get without breaking the bank!
(Since this is ‘bang-for-the-buck amp guide’, it was
essential to list the prices. All prices have been taken off online sources
such as MusiciansFriend or GC, and were accurate at the time of writing).
1. Fender Blues Jr. III ($549)
Yes, Fender’s Blues Junior III is a bit pricey, and not
exactly a ‘budget’ offering, but I simply HAD to put it up in this list. This tube
amp sounds fantastic, and it will make amateur guitar players sound good! The
amp contains 3x 12AX7 preamp tubes, as well as 2x EL84 power tubes. The Blues
Jr. III belongs to the Hot Rod series of amps, arguably one of the most popular
and widely-used guitar amplifier series out there. Simple, no-frills, reliable
and loud are just some of the words that can be used to describe this amp. The
Jr. III packs 15W of power, a spring reverb, reverb, master, middle, bass,
treble and ‘fat’ switch and volume controls, along with a 12” Fender speaker. If
you have the greens, dump your old amp and go get. this. now!
2. Vox AC4VTV ($249)
I’m a big fan of Vox amplifiers (who isn’t?!), they are
universally used and loved amplifiers, and the AC4VTV tube-amp is one of the
reasons why. This all-tube practice amp is the modern version of Vox’s (now)
51-year-old AC4 amplifier (way back from the 60s). It contains the El84 power
tube of the original AC4, and has a 12AX7 pre-amp behind a custom-made
Celestion 10” speaker. Also comes with a built-in power attenuator, which means
the amp retains a full tone at lower volumes, ensuring you don’t lose that
classic tube tone even at the lowest listening levels. And if that wasn’t
enough, Vox made sure that the AC4VTV looks as retro as possible and is a solid
amp in terms of build quality that can also take a fair amount of abuse between
gigging or performing!
3. Marshall Class 5 ($250)
The first version of the Marshall Class 5 combo amp came
with its fair share of problems. Last year, the all-new, revised version of the
Class 5 combo amp say the light of day and it was a much-improved product for
one of the biggest musical instruments and amp manufacturers in the world! The
Class 5 provides true Marshall tube-tone at an excellent price. Its 1x10 tube
amp packs 5W of power, that does a great job of recreating the Marshall sound,
that class A tone, and a rich and smooth distortion heard in some of the bigger
amps, and it does it in a much small combo amp. It features a top-panel with
volume, treble, middle, and bass control – as simple as it gets. It houses 2x
ECC83 preamp tubes, and 1x EL84 power amp tube. The amp is built in the UK. A
great budget amplifier!
4. Fender Mustang 1 ($110)
The Fender Mustang 1 is an outstanding practice amp, with an
even better price! It packs 20 watts of pure power under the hood, as well as
an 8” speaker. People who’ve used the Mustang 1 say it’s one of the most versatile
amplifiers out there because there’s a lot to play with, not only on the amp
itself, but because the amp comes with the excellent FUSE program, which allows
players a lot of options as far as tone modification is concerned. The amp has
24 onboard present effects, including the usual chorus, tremolo, phaser, plus
many delay and reverb effects. One of the best aspects about the amp is the
sheer power that it packs; 20W might be a bit excessive particularly for a
practice amp, but it makes the amp more multi-purpose and versatile. For the
price that it’s going for right now, it makes for an excellent proposition.
5. Fender Frontman 212R ($300)
Fender advertises this solid-state combo amp as ‘powerful,
affordable and ridiculously affordable’ and that aptly describes this
amplifier. This Fender offering packs a real punch – 100 watts of power, which
makes it loud as hell, and a whole host of high-end features that Fender only
offers on some of its more-expensive amps – such as dual 12-inch speakers
pumping out 100W of solid-state power (50W each) with enough depth and clarity,
ideal for just about any practice session, as well as playing in large venues.
Moreover, there are two selectable and versatile audio channels (including a
dedicated 3-band EQ for each channel) which provide clean, warm, crystal-clear tones
(ideal for jazz) on one end, as well as amazing distortion and overdrive
(becoming the perfect hard rock and heavy metal amplifier). The Frontman 212R
also has those ‘classic Fender looks’. There’s also no need to purchase a
channel footswitch separately, since the amp comes with one.
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