The 10 Best Acoustic Guitar Amplifiers

For coffee-shop sets and open mics, the Fishman Loudbox Mini Bluetooth hits a sensible middle. It splits its 60 watts between a woofer and a small tweeter, so strummed chords keep their sparkle instead of sounding thin and quacky. One channel takes the guitar and the other a vocal mic, with reverb and chorus on tap. A phase switch helps stop howling feedback, and a balanced output feeds a bigger PA. There's no battery option, so it needs an outlet.

Solo singers who want a backing voice get the most from the Boss Acoustic Singer Live. It listens to the chords you play and adds a harmony line to your vocal, and a built-in looper lets you record a rhythm part and play over it. The mic channel supplies phantom power for condenser mics, and each channel gets its own reverb. It suits small rooms more than loud bars, and the crowded front panel takes a while to learn.

The German-made AER Compact 60/4 is the small cube that guitar shops and roundups keep pointing working players toward. Acoustic Guitar magazine found it sounds far bigger than its size suggests, with enough volume to play alongside a band. Both channels get reverb, there are delay and chorus too, and the mic input offers phantom power. It has no feedback control at all, so a soundhole cover is close to essential at stage volume.

Beginners and casual players get a simple, honest setup in the Fender Acoustasonic 40. One input takes the guitar, and a second takes a vocal mic through a proper XLR jack, so you can sing and play through a single box. A small extra cone on each speaker adds the bright top end that an acoustic pickup needs. Fender backs it for two years. Reverb is the only effect, and it can't stream music from a phone.

Home strummers will like the clean, true-to-the-guitar sound of the Fishman Loudbox Micro. A woofer and a tiny tweeter share the work, which keeps the bass full and the strings crisp, and it holds its own beside much bigger amps. It has reverb, chorus, a mic channel, a headphone jack and a balanced output for a PA. It runs out of volume past small rooms, and its dark knobs are hard to read on a dim stage.

When the room gets bigger or the crowd gets louder, the Fishman Loudbox Artist is the step up. It pushes 120 watts through a woofer and tweeter, enough for a medium-size room without leaning on a PA. The effects include chorus, flanger, echo and reverb, the mic side has phantom power, and a footswitch jack lets you mute between songs. Bluetooth handles backing tracks. It's a heavy box to carry up stairs.

Built like a piece of furniture, the Taylor Circa 74 pairs a solid mahogany cabinet with a matching wooden stand that comes in the box. It runs 150 watts into a single speaker and sounds warm and natural, with tone controls that make a real difference. There's reverb and a line out for a PA. The mic channel lacks phantom power, so condenser mics won't work, and passive pickups can sound a bit dull through it.

With a blonde wood cabinet that looks at home in a living room, the Fender Acoustic 100 doubles as a Bluetooth speaker once the guitar is put away. It has 100 watts for small gigs, two channels that each take a guitar or a vocal mic, and a handful of built-in effects. A single speaker with an extra center cone covers the treble. The wide cabinet is awkward to carry, so it's happiest staying put.

Made for practice at a desk, the Yamaha THR5A makes a pickup sound like a guitar played into a studio microphone, with tube and dynamic mic voicings to pick from. It suits Yamaha's own silent guitars too. There are built-in effects, and a USB port sends your playing straight into recording software. It runs on batteries or the wall. The small stereo speakers suit a bedroom, not a busy gig, and there's no input for a vocal mic.

Buskers get free of the wall outlet with the Orange Crush Acoustic 30, which runs on ten AA batteries for about three hours at full volume and longer turned down. The bright orange box tilts back to aim the sound at your ears. An adjustable notch filter tames feedback, and the second channel takes a mic, with phantom power you can switch on. You get reverb or chorus, not both at once, and it can struggle on a noisy street.