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Hi, I am Josh Levine from WiseBuysGuys. If you know me and you're a fan of my Youtube channel (*cough* Josh Levine Speaks *cough), then you know that I do my best to go over some of the best items that I hope you'll find as interesting as I do.
As a man who loves the guitar, let me tell you that I've played since the age of 4, toured professionally, owned a music store for more than a decade, and given guitar lessons for even longer.
But a good guitar needs a good amplifier to really bring out its amazing sound, so this post is meant to show, in my opinion, the 10 Best Guitar Amps Under $500. So let's start with...
This is what I remember a practice amp should look like. It's extremely basic and easy to use. It's also both lean and overdrive, with an aux input and 10 watts of power.
Perfect for an in-home beginning guitar player.
Take note that this amplifier is lightweight with a simple design, meaning there are no bells and whistles. This is a great amp for a beginner on a budget.
This is twice as powerful as the Frontman 10G but still very portable.
With its aux and headphone inputs, you can listen to your favorite music and play along with headphones to preserve everyone's sanity.
Just know that it doesn't have quite enough juice to play live unless it's in a very intimate setting. A wonderful EQ section allows you to get just the right tone. It's great for practicing with a little more power without any of the confusing features.
Take note that its most notable aspects are that it's small and lightweight, outputs 20 watts with 17 Amp models, has an EQ section, and comes with Aux/Phone inputs.
It's a great amp for anyone looking to practice with but with a bit more power and capability. Being able to turn up a bit more when home alone is fun. With 17 different amp models, you can really pick and choose what kind of sound you want.
The Yamaha THR10ll is extremely light and compact, making it great for home practice. The brand has always been reliable and yet again, they managed to deliver an amazing amp. It features 5 classic amp models with a nice variety of tones with super cool effects using Yamaha's VCM technology.
It also has Hifi quality sound through a compact speaker casing. Guitar modes include electric, acoustic, and bass. Did I mention it can run stand-alone on battery power?
For a simple and practical practice amp, it doesn't look or sound much better than this. It looks like an amp head and surprises most as the sound comes right out of it. For its price, it's great to have around, especially when you're feeling inspired.
Peavey makes everything and one of the best things they're amazing at making would be amps.
The Vypyr VIP 2 can handle bass frequencies that regular amps can't. As a guitar player, having these bass frequencies available is kind of unique and super versatile as you can play an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, or bass guitar with it.
It's 40 watts and great for recording, making it perfect for practice for live gigs. It doesn't quite have the power, as a stand-alone, to make it to the back of the room, but when mic'd up, then no sweat. Along with the extra frequency capabilities, did I mention it has modeling technology? There are tons of different presets & it has a tuner too.
Truly one of the most capable amps under $500 with many different tonal presets to play with. The fact that you can play a bass through it is kind of nuts as that would kill the speaker on most amps. This is new technology and great for players who like to pick up different types of guitars, i.e. 7 strings and Baritones.
Beyond being easy to move around and taking up virtually no space at all, the Monoprice 611815 15-watt amp has that warm, deep tube amplifier sound. Tube amps are typically much bigger and heavy, meaning that this one is particularly nice since it has all the tones in a small package. It also helps that it has such a design and straightforward EQ.
The 12" celestial speaker and spring reverb make it a classic. There is an FX loop located between the pre and
power amp if you see a pedal board in the future. This is a great home practice amp. Call it a no-nonsense, tube-tone, compact classic!
This is a 100-watt amp that will give you more than enough power. For under $500, you get tons of features. It's in the "modeling amp" classification which just means it is packed with built-in effects. You can even download more via The Fender Tone app and wifi! Imagine custom settings, just for you, designed by Fender artists and uploaded directly to your amps database.
Everything is controllable via Bluetooth and LED screen and this amp is loud enough to keep up with any jam session.
The 40-watt Brother of the Mustang GT 100, this amp has the tones you want but in a smaller case. 40-watts is still a nice amount of power, but this Bluetooth-enabled, solid-state amp is best suited for around the house as your practice amp. During a jam session, it will keep up if you are not playing with knuckleheads.
It features all the presets available through that amazing Fender Tone app. All the versatility but without the weight.
Marshall typically has a metal and hard rock reputation but they make other amazing products like this! The Acoustic Soloist is really warm and versatile. Don't let the funky retro look fool you, with its two channels, clean overdrive, and 50 watts of power through two 8" speakers, it might just be what you need.
Chorus and reverb effects are built in too. If you're looking for a reliable amp for around the house with juice, the Acoustic Soloist will definitely impress.
This is plug-and-play ready. The Fender Champion 100 makes a great amp as it comes with two 12" speakers, crystal clear tones, power, and amazing overdrive. I don't know why it doesn't come stock with the footswitch, but channel switching can be done by hand.
The auxiliary input is cool if you want to jam to MP3s. This is a powerful practice amp and completely handles jamming with friends in a loud space. Perfect for acoustic and electric guitars. The clean channel's sound is bright and crisp and the overdrive channel rips. Very versatile and easy to use.
This is the one if I got $500 burning a hole in my pocket. This amp is only 100 watts but has a power control that allows for home practice without losing tonal character. All of Boss’s historic effects come with five unique amp characters (Clean, Crunch, Lead, Brown, and Acoustic), plus five independent effects sections.
I love the delay and reverb. I am just briefly touching on what this monster can do. This is the amp I had everyone email me about over the past 6 months. Again, for just under $500, you can’t beat this amp. It’s ridiculous.
Now you know my top 10 amplifiers that are under $500. What do you think? If you feel that there are even better ones out there than the ones in this list, feel free to leave a comment below!
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