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PHIL KEAGGY - Grammy nominated and seven-time Dove Award winner, is one of the world’s great guitar players and a pioneer in contemporary Christian music.
- October 26, 2016
- Guitar Amps
For the guitar novice, trying to pick out the best guitar amps could be like trying to pinpoint the most delicious Skittle in a 14 oz. bag. With so many options, it can be hard to know what you’re looking for.
There are small combos with 8 or 10-inch speakers, loud 1x12 combos, big 2x12 combos, 5 watt,15 watt, 50 watt etc. heads with 4x12 cabinets, 100 watt heads with 4x12 cabinets and tons more options.
So what’s a combo versus a head? In case you don’t know, a combo is an amplifier with the amp and speaker built in one cabinet. Meanwhile, a head is the amp part put into a separate unit and a speaker configuration is hooked up to the head with a speaker cable. That’s it. Now, what are the best guitar amps? Let’s look at a few of the best. There are so many.
Small Combo Guitar Amps - Best Guitar Amps
The 5 Watt Blackstar HT-5R is a perfect example of packing a small 1x12 combo full of sweetness. With everything from reverb and speaker emulated headphone output to a FX Loop with level switch and more. It’s just the perfect combo for a small room or recording studio. You get big crunch if you like or milky blues if that’s your thing. This is for sure one of the best guitar amps for our overview.
The Orange PPC-108 speaker cab driven by a tiny 20 watt Orange Micro Terror is a very cool sound indeed. The micro terror will fit in your backpack, but it’s full of surprises. This little head and speaker pair can get it done in your home studio or in the college dorm. It offers you warm tones or bright saturated tones too. No matter how you use it, it’s an in your face little set up.
The Vox V 9106 Pathfinder is a terrific solid state guitar amp at just around 12 pounds and 10 watts. Priced under $100 on Amazon, this little tone machine is a perfect starter amp or if you just wanna a simple plug and go for the rehearsal or dressing room, you’ll really dig the tones this sweet little combo provides. It’s Vox Bulldog 6 1/2’’ speaker is a mean little beast. This amp offers the ability to switch between clean and hi-gain. It looks very vintage like it’s Vox old school family. You’ll enjoy this one.
Mid-sized Combo Guitar Amps - Best Guitar Amps
The Peavey Delta Blues 2x10 or 1x15 is a very sweet and loud guitar amp. These mid-sized combos are among the best guitar amps and are priced on the street at around $500.00. Fitted with EL-84’s, they really have something to say. The size and weight of either of these beauties is manageable. The Delta Blues combos are perfect for the small club date or church gig.
The Peavey Classic 30 is a favorite too. With 30 watts (RMS) and a blue marvel speaker you can rock most small venues. This amp has tone for days. It’s pretty lightweight and has external speaker capability. Peavey’s distortion channel is pretty stinkin’ amazing. It gives you the feel of a Plexi while the cleaner side sounds more in line with a Vox AC30 or a clean Fender tone. It’s a very versatile amp for around $450.
The Line 6 Spider Series has to be listed among the best guitar amps. Whether it’s the little 15 watt Spider Classic or the beefy Line 6 Spider IV 120 watt amp, the Line 6 amp modeling produces insane versatility. These amps are made to play just about any style you like and can do clean or insane distortion. They are generally lightweight but hold up very well. With preset possibilities, you can program these amps for your acoustic or your Les Paul. They work very well in multiple settings. You’ll need one of these for fun and cool easy to reach sounds.
Large Combo Guitar Amps - Best Guitar Amps
The Fender Twin Reverb has to stand out as one of the staple guitar amps for decades. This beast shows up at just about every gig that is providing backline. When you’re moving up to an amp this size with two 12” speakers in one combo, weight is a given. 85 Watts and 65 pounds pretty much says it all. If you want Fender loud and clean, you simple get a Twin Reverb for your best guitar amp collection. It’s priced at around $1,500 but you can find a deal out there if you’re patient.
The Fender Deluxe Reverb is a better option if you can’t port a Fender Twin Reverb. It weighs quite a bit less and still produces that Fender Clean tone and nothing can do Fender Clean with reverb like a Deluxe Reverb. It’s not the best amp for built-in distortion but the right stomp box and you’re in heaven because it will produce a warm, sweet tone with, we’ll say, a tube screamer.
The Fender Super Reverb is unbelievable in the tone category. If you can sport one of these babies around, you’re for real. It’s very heavy and packs 4X10’s in a cabinet with 45 watts of pure power. Deep and rich ‘verb are just the beginning for this monster. It can do clean or crunch. It’s a favorite for sure.
The Peavey Classic 50 4x10 is killer large combo and, in some ways, is more versatile than a Super Reverb. The Peavey 4x10 sounds very round when it is clean and doesn’t break up so quickly. However, the distortion channel is sick, meaning you’ll be amazed at how crunchy this beast gets without a stomp box or anything else. In fact, just put a good compressor pedal in line between your guitar and this tone machine and you’ll be smiling really big.
The Marshall Blues Breaker, especially the 62 Marshall Blues Breaker has to be one of the finest amps on the list. It’s a 30 watt 2x12 combo that just screams Marshall tone. It is a very heavy amp, like any in it’s class. The Blues Breaker can just melt you with the right humbuckers. It’s bright and sparkly clean but don’t expect a Fender-like tone. This amp is pretty unique and stands alone.
Head and Cabinet Amps - Best Guitar Amps
The next step up is the bigger head and speaker cabinets. Let’’s go with the Marshall JVM 410H Half Stack. It’s big and it sounds big. If your hope is a JCM 800 or a Super Lead 100 (Plexi), and you can’t afford them all, you should look into this all-in-one option. The JVM 410 is loaded with bells and whistles to get you from pristine clean to gut wrenching power distortion. This baby will get it done.
The Peavey 6505 is tubed to death to give all the crazy gain you can dream up. If you’re a metal master, you’ll love the tone shaping ability of this amp. It’s got all the possibilities in the world. Touring rockers of all flavors are sporting the Peavey 6505 around and absolutely love it.
The Orange Dual Terror Head with the Orange 4x12 cab is on the list for sure. This modern sounding machine is a favorite among many contemporaries. At around $900, it’s loaded with ECC83 / 12AX7’s and EL84’s and has the ability to power down from 30 watts to 15 watts or even 7 watts. Check one of these out, you’ll dig it.
Like we said before, there are hundreds of great-sounding amps on the market. There are up and comers like Tyler amps for example that are hand-wired and custom built for the sweetest clean tone in the world.
There are so many, we could never scratch the surface, much less be thorough. Hopefully, this little overview of best guitar amps will spark your interest and start you on your journey to finding the amp of your dreams.
If you enjoyed this review, you may also like to read about our suggestions on the best electric guitars.
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