05. Fender Super-Sonic 100 Head
The Super-Sonic is a hot-rodded amplifier in all the right ways. The power is there, but it sounds great at any volume. Whether I wanted sparkling or hefty cleans, I got that on the dual-voiced Vintage channel with massive headroom. Switching to the Burn channel, I found smooth overdrive and distortion sounds thanks to the dual gain controls. Pair this head with your favorite speaker cabinet, and you’ll never look for another amp.

04. Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister 18
There has been a growing trend among manufacturers to create lunchbox-sized, 15-watt heads. Surprisingly, many of them have been great, but this one made me smile the most. The Tubemeister looks industrial cool and is a loud 18-watt amp, but you can dial the wattage down to 1 watt for your bedroom, plus it has a built-in Red Box direct out for silent recording that preserves its pristine clean tones and smooth distortion.

03. Blackstar HT Club 40
If I had to choose an amp that delivers that British-flavored classic rock sound with mid-range bark, Blackstar is it. This HT Club 40 is a two-channel, single 12” Celestion speaker combo that delivers 40 watts of EL34 tube power and has an ISF knob that allows you to shape the EQ curve without affecting the standard EQ controls. Because of its authentic hard rock and metal tones, this is the amp you hear on almost every gear review video GW makes.

02. Fishman Loudbox Mini
I play a lot of acoustic guitar and this Fishman Loudbox Mini is the ultimate portable acoustic guitar amp. It’s lightweight and pumps out 60 watts of power, which is plenty for any venue, and comes equipped with two channels, digital reverb and chorus. I used the Loudbox Mini to play solo acoustic at a wedding and everyone complimented how beautiful the acoustic sounded. Little did they know it was the amp that made my acoustic sound so good.

01. Hughes & Kettner Coreblade
Let me get this out of the way: This amp isn't just for metal. With four channels (two hi-gain) and three independent digital processors for its built-in effects, the CoreBlade integrates tube tone with digital effects and is for guys who like to tweak but without the headaches. It has 128 user banks for presets; if that isn’t enough, you can save your presets on a USB stick and access them through any other CoreBlade amp plus share them online.