The 10 Best Practice Amplifiers For Guitar
Special Honors
Supro 1690T Coronado First released in 1964, this classic amplifier has a colorful heritage, that has seen it played by a number of artists spanning all genres of popular music. Although fairly basic in its control layout, this all-tube amp can create a myriad of sounds, from high country twangs to fat jazzy leads, and is hand-built in Port Jefferson, USA, to a very high standard. suprousa.com
Editor's Notes
May 30, 2020:
While all the amplifiers in this ranking are well-suited to personal practice at home or for jamming with friends in a garage, some, such as the Marshall MG30FX, Fender Mustang LT-25, and Boss Katana-50 are loud enough for on-stage monitoring as part of a backline, when miked up or plugged into a PA system. In the studio, many famous session players and bandmembers have used these handy little amps when recording some of the world’s best-known songs, for example, “Stairway to Heaven” was recorded using a 35-watt Supro Coronado combo and a Telecaster guitar.
One feature that has revolutionized practice amplifiers this century is the introduction of amp modeling technology. Ever since companies like Line 6 introduced the POD series of outboard modules in the mid-1990s, the synthesizing of popular amp models has grown in popularity until the present day, when we see small amplifiers recreating the sounds of vintage models that are much larger, and with far different natural tones than the cabinets that project them.
Many, including the small yet powerful Roland Cube-10GX and the classically-styled Fender Champion 20, also incorporate digital effects into their control panels, giving the player more freedom to experiment with different sonic colors and textures, without having to spend a fortune on effects pedals. One model, the Line 6 Spider V 20 MKII, even lets you create patches on your computer and download them to the amplifier, or store and edit racks of effects for later use. There is even an online community that shares the patches that they create between each other, further expanding the capabilities of this formidable unit.