The best practice amps come in many shapes and sizes, all dependent on your particular needs. Whether you're a beginner looking for your first amp or a seasoned pro who wants something to practice on away from your gigging rig, here you'll find a superb selection of options to meet your needs.
When considering a new practice amp there are a few key elements to look at including size, amount of tones, and potential volume. Most of these are low-wattage choices that will deliver enough volume to fill a room, but not so much they disturb others. We've also chosen relatively small amps, as they'll need to fit into bedrooms and potentially on desks and shelves. They're also packed full of amp and effects models so you'll have plenty of tone options no matter what style of music you prefer.
If you'd like to learn more about practice amps before you buy, go check out our FAQs section which has loads of common questions answered. If you want to see the best practice amps available in 2024, keep scrolling for our top picks.
Combining great tone, excellent volume, and plenty of choice in a tiny, great-value package, the Positive Grid Spark Mini is the perfect choice for any guitarist wanting to practice at home.
If you need to practice in a tight space but still want great tone, the Blackstar Fly 3 will tick all the boxes with its compact form factor and surprisingly loud volume.
For guitarists who want to practice with lots of high-gain tones, the Boss Katana-50 Gen 3 features some brilliant metal amp models, and plenty of effects to push things further.
✅ Buy if you want a great all-rounder: Small, reasonably priced, yet plenty loud and packed full of amps and effects, there's little reason to look past the Spark Mini as your practice amp of choice.
❌ Avoid if you like physical controls: There are only three knobs on the Spark Mini, so if you prefer to dial in your tones without using your smartphone, you'll want to look elsewhere.
For us, the Positive Grid Spark Mini is the ideal practice amp. It's small in size, big in tones, plenty loud enough for practice, and features loads of great practice tools. It's also very reasonably priced, making it just as good for beginners as it is for professional players.
Having had a Spark Mini on our desk for the last two years, we can honestly say it's a rare day that goes by without us using it. The huge variety of tones on offer is really staggering, whether you want surgical clean tones or the nastiest high-gain sounds the Spark Mini can handle them all with ease.
Thanks to a passive radiator it can get properly loud too, so you won't be short of volume when you need it. There are some great practice tools baked in too, like a live band you can jam along with that will respond to the dynamics of your playing, and an auto chord generator for learning your favorite tunes. Add in Bluetooth to play along with backing tracks or full songs and you've got arguably the most complete practice amp on the market today.
The best practice amp if you want big sound from a small package
Our expert review:
Specifications
Watts: 3W
Type: Solid State
Speakers: 1 x 3”
Effects: Tape delay
Reasons to buy
+
Portable size
+
Useful ISF feature
+
Built-in tape delay
Reasons to avoid
-
Too small for some players
At a glance
✅ Buy if you want a budget option: Typically priced around or below the $100 mark, this is the best option for a practice amp if you've got a very tight budget.
❌ Avoid if you don't need portability: If you don't plan on carrying your amp around, you're better off opting for a full-sized practice amp.
As the smallest amp on this list, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Blackstar Fly 3 is little more than a toy. If you’ve ever seen one up close, you’ll know exactly how small they are. Yet plug into one, and you’ll soon realize this little amp is almost the perfect practice amp.
Battery-operated, small enough to pack into a backpack, yet packed with enough features to make it useful, the Fly 3 is a great option as a dedicated practice amp. We particularly liked the Infinite Shape Feature, taken from some of Blackstar’s better-known ‘big’ amps, which gives the user control over the EQ of a given tone.
We also liked the tape delay effect, which nicely rounded out our sound to make it less thin. Pair a couple of them together in stereo and you’ve got yourself a fun little practice setup.
✅ Buy if you want metal tones: With a great high-gain amp selection of plenty of stompboxes to choose from, the Katana is our choice for getting great metal tones at home
❌ Avoid if you don't need many effects: If you're not into effects, you'll want to look elsewhere.
There's a reason why the Boss Katana 50 is one of the most popular practice amps to be released in recent years - it sounds fantastic. Now the Katana has gotten even better with the Gen 3 version, which has had a significant sonic update, as well as a brand new amp model.
In our experience, the now six channels - Clean, Crunch, Pushed, Lead, Brown, and Acoustic provide killer tones that are sure to satisfy the fussiest of guitarists. The effects are great too, as you’d expect from anything Boss-built.
All sounds are taken from Bosses famous stomp-boxes, whether it’s chorus, delay, reverb - or something a bit weirder. If you’re looking for some new and exciting tones, connect the Katana to your PC, and you'll be able to gain access to 60 different additional effects via the Boss Tone Lab.
✅ Buy if you want real tube tones: This miniature Marshall delivers stellar tube tones at home.
❌ Avoid if you want effects: This model does not include any effects, apart from a digital reverb.
We couldn’t have a list of the best practice amps and not include a Marshall, right? Thankfully, in the Marshall DSL1CR, there is almost the perfect home practice amp for the tone-conscious rock and metal player.
The traditional Dual Super Lead amps from the 90s were synonymous with heavy music, thought of by many as the best amps for metal, yet their size made them nigh-on unusable outside of a stage environment.
Cleverly, Marshall has taken everything from the original DSL range and shrunk it into a highly portable 1-watt combo, meaning you can get that classic high-gain sound without shattering all the windows in your house. We found the digital reverb to be a nice touch, as is the effects loop, making this a high-quality option for the discerning player.
✅ Buy if you want a tiny amp with great tones: This headphone amp is a great choice if you're short on space, taking up very little room at home but providing phenomenal tones.
❌ Avoid if you want quick switching: It's not really possible to change sounds quickly on this, so it might be a hindrance if you like to change things up a lot.
If you're short on space, a headphone amp for guitar is a great way to keep your chops sharp without taking up loads of room. The Fender Mustang Micro Plus is one of the best we've tried recently, and has the added bonus of being a great silent practice option that won't annoy others in your household.
Fender's modeling has come on leaps in bounds in the last few years, and the tones on the Mustang Micro Plus are nothing short of stellar, and a significant improvement on the original Mustang Micro. All the classic Fender amp tones are here, as well as plenty of options for high gain. Effects are plentiful too, so you can craft pretty much any tone you can think of.
The app is really easy to use, and has one of the smoothest UIs we've encountered in a guitar product. It means you can easily craft sounds via your smartphone, giving you much more functionality versus the controls on the unit itself. The only negative we found with it was that you can't quickly switch between sounds as it can be quite awkward reaching down to the input jack of your guitar. Other than that, it's a brilliant choice for a practice amp if you need to take up as little room as possible.
✅ Buy if you want to practice bass: It may feel a little left-field, but this is one of the few practice amps with dedicated bass guitar amp models and plenty of effects
❌ Avoid if you don't like apps: To get the most out of this amp, you need to use the free Positive Grid Spark app.
There aren't that many dedicated practice amps for bass guitar, and most that are out there are pretty dull affairs with minimal amp models and effects. Spark 2 is primarily designed for guitar players, but it also features plenty of bass-specific amp models to sink your teeth into.
With 30 amp models and 40 effects onboard, the Spark is a catalog of great tones - and with 10,000+ more tones in the online library, you’ve got plenty of options. There’s Bluetooth connectivity to stream music, as well as ⅛” Aux and headphone inputs. You’ve got USB inputs and outputs too, which enable you to use your Spark as an audio interface for when you need to capture that next great idea.
If you want learning tools to help you develop your talent, then the Spark is the amp for you. The brand-new built-in looper is fantastic for layering effects or practicing those bass solos. It also has a new AI tone generator to help you nail the perfect sound, plus ‘Auto Chords’ - which will find chord charts for any song you choose - and ‘Smart Jam’ - which will generate an authentic backing track to accompany you, whatever you play.
Yamaha THR30II Wireless
30W | 2 x 3.5" | 15 amps | 10 FX Although the Yamaha THR30II doesn’t look an awful lot like a guitar amplifier, that’s kind of the whole idea. It can sit anywhere in the home due to its ‘home-audio’ look - keeping guitarists and non-guitarists happy all the same. The latter can even use the THR30II to stream audio via Bluetooth.
★★★★★
Line 6 Catalyst 100
100W | 1 x 12" | 12 amps | 27 FX The Catalyst series offers a more simplistic, traditional take on the ever-popular modeling amp, reminiscent of the Boss Katana series. The Catalyst's amp tones sound spectacular – which is all down to the HX technology that this amp borrows from the Helix range. There are six separate amp models which span from super clean to ultra-dirty, which makes the Catalyst an impressively versatile piece of kit. The 18 other effects, as well as six separate types of reverb, help to bring these tones to life even further – and for the money, the amount of choice you have is incredible.
★★★★½
Orange Crush 20
20W | 1 x 8" | 2 amps | No FX Thick, chewy, and heavy on the mid-range, Orange amps have one of the most distinctive and recognizable overdriven tones on the market. Its traditional tube models can be at the more expensive end of the ladder, yet with the Orange Crush 20 you can access amazing tone for a fraction of the cost.
★★★★
Blackstar ID Core 10 V3
10W | 2 x 3" | 6 amps | 12 FX It may be a practice amp, but that doesn't mean the Blackstar ID: Core 10 is boring. This incredibly versatile amp is jam-packed with tonal possibilities. It is almost impossible to get a bad sound from its six channels and twelve effects - trust us we tried! From boutique clean tones to face-melting rock tones, this little amp can do it all.
★★★★★
Line 6 Spider V 30 MKII
30W | 1 x 8" | 79 amps | 82 FX
Despite their budget amp reputation, the Spider range actually offers superb value for guitarists who like to try a little bit of everything. And, with over 200 preset amps, models and variations included, you’re bound to find something here you can use for practice.
★★★★
When choosing the best practice amp for you, it's worth remembering that the main job of a practice amp is to get you playing quickly and conveniently when inspiration strikes. It doesn't need to sound like a $3,000 Two-Rock – although we'd all like a practice amp to – and it definitely doesn't need to cost as much.
All you really want is an amp that sounds good to your ears, and that you can plug in to and play without too much thought. Us guitarists all have an idea of what the perfect tone sounds like, and practice amps are getting much much closer to that benchmark. Long gone are the wasps in jar sounds of the past.
The vast majority of practice amps that are available in today's market come with a huge array of effects, different amp voicings and even easy recording functionality. Some also feature remote control over parameters via a tablet, laptop or mobile device, as well as savable and shareable patch editing. Long story short, amps these days have become very smart – and very capable of recreating near enough any tone you can think of.
Do I need to consider the styles I play?
Long story short, yes. Considering the styles you play (or are learning to play) is an important process to undertake when buying yourself a practice amp.
Most practice amps – especially digital modeling amps – will be able to recreate many different tones, which means that you won't need to be quite so picky if this is the route you wish to go down.
Tube or Solid State amps don't often have this same high-gain versatility, but if you're going to be playing with mostly clean tones, then a small tube amp may just be what you need.
Take a look at the bands or artists you like for inspiration on this – most often, you'll be able to buy a more practice-friendly version of the amps they use – or at the very least, you'll get an idea for the characteristics of their amps and their sound.
What features do I need?
Choosing whether to purchase a smaller-scale tube amp or a dedicated practice amp will dictate the best practice amp for you.
For example, tube amps are still much louder than the equivalent power solid-state amps, so a 20-watt tube amp will make the walls shake in your room. That said, many tube amps for practice often have built-in attenuation so that you can drop the power down to a more manageable level. In our experience, even a 1-watt all-tube amp will more than suffice for home practice. In contrast, a 10W to 20W solid-state amp will usually do the trick.
Some practice amps have built-in recording capability via a USB port. It is always a good idea to record your practice sessions and listen back later. This will help you hone in on what areas of your playing need practice.
How we choose the best practice amps
(Image credit: Future)
Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.
When choosing what we believe to be the best practice amps available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.
First and foremost, we are guitar players, and we want other guitarists to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can proudly say are the best practice amps on the market right now.
Read more about our rating system and exactly how we test each product.
Latest updates
Recent updates
20/11/24: We added three new amp models to the list, two of which are recent new releases. Product labels have also been changed to better reflect the needs of guitarists searching for a new practice amp.
15/03/24: We audited the product list to ensure we are still recommending the best practice amps. We have also added a handy "at a glance" section to each product to help you better understand our choices. 07/11/23: As well as auditing the products to make sure the list is up to date with the very best practice amps around, we've also given this page a fresh new look, improving the navigation to make it easier than ever to find the right unit for you. Want to get to the good stuff without reading walls of text? Use the "quick list" section to get to know our top choices without any fuss. There are also links to read a more detailed review of each model if you'd like to learn more.
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Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Chris Corfield is a journalist with over 12 years of experience writing for some of the music world's biggest brands including Orange Amplification, MusicRadar, Guitar World, Total Guitar and Dawsons Music. Chris loves getting nerdy about everything from guitar gear and synths, to microphones and music production hardware.
