Best Practice Amp: Top 7 Picks to Play Anywhere!

Welcome to my review of the 7 best practice amps to practice when and where you want!

If you are looking for an outstanding practice amp that is compact, easy-to-use and sounds excellent right out of the box, you are in the right place.

Let’s go straight to my review of the 7 best practice amps to play anywhere!

Click here to skip the quick overview and jump right to the in-depth reviews.

Quick Overview

Our Top 5 Choices For Practice Amps

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The 7 Best Practice Amps to Practice When and Where You Want!

Click here to jump to our Top Picks.

#1. Line 6 Spider V 20 MKII Review – Best Overall Practice Amp

The Line 6 Spider V 20 MKII is an excellent practice amp that sounds outstanding right out of the box. Its compact size and simple controls makes it perfect for any guitarist.

Forget everything you’ve heard about practice amp. Try the Spider V 20 MKII amp and discover why it was named “The ideal practice amp for beginners to seasoned professionals.”
You can play with a different amp every time you power on the Spider, thanks to its 16 irresistible tonally diverse amp and effect presets. It has a wonderful intuitive interface to reach your personal tone.

If you want to go to the next level and personalize your tone, you can do it with the free Spider V Remote app; you can connect the Spider V 20 MKII amp to your Mac, PC, iOS, or Android device via the micro USB port.

You can flip through your personalized presets and tones with easily accessible FX buttons on the front panel. Each one contains three effects that can be switched in and out as if you were using a stomp box.

You’ll love this:

• If you need to expand your capacities, the Spider becomes a versatile beginner amp for practicing.
• When you want to play without having to set up your whole rig, you can count on this practical “grab and go” amp.
• You can take advantage of the Spider’s capacity to accommodate tones from several musical styles.
• It allows you to turn off the cabinet emulation which is very useful for those who want the amp to sound and feel like a conventional amp.

You might not like this:

• The Spider presents a lack of versatility in terms of input and output options. It doesn’t even have a DI out.

Conclusion

Simply plug in and begin practicing with the dedicated front-panel buttons and an intuitive interface with color-coded controls. You get instant access to crafting your tone in an ample variety of ways with its 24 cabinet sims, 78 amp models, 4 mic models, and over 100 effects.

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#2. Orange Crush 20 Review – Best Value for Money Practice Amp

The Orange Crush 20 brings the classical Orange vintage style inside a beautiful and reliable solid-state combo that makes a perfect practice amp.

You can access a great set of benefits with the all-analog Orange Crush 20. It delivers high gain preamp, cabinet simulation, and foot-switchable clean and dirty channels in a compact and portable package.

It supplies a huge palette of overdriven and distorted sounds achieved through the Crush 20s custom 8-inch speaker called the “Voice of the World” by Orange.

You can get the feel and responsiveness Orange is famous for due to the Crush 20 all-analog signal path.

It also provides excellent control over your sound, from vintage to modern tones, thanks to the highly efficient 3 band EQ section.

You can get high levels of detailed saturation never heard before in a practice amp due to the Orange Crush 20 twin channel and high gain preamp design.

You’ll love this:

• You get four stages of gain with exceptional sound clarity thanks to the Orange Crush 20 low noise and high-quality components.
• You can’t reach the amp’s top panel clean and dirty switches? Just change the channels with the optional footswitch.
• The line output includes the Orange’s CabSim feature that faithfully emulates an Orange 4×12″ cabinet.
• You can use the headphone output to connect to a mixer/recording console or enjoy your silent practice.

You might not like this:

• It can replicate a slightly overdriven tube amp, although due to being a solid-state practice amp, it doesn’t sound really like a tube amp.

Conclusion

The Orange Crush 20 is the perfect practice amp for the British invasion, punk rock, and garage rock lovers. It has an excellent dirty channel, which captures the emotion of the late ’60s to ’70s British sound. The 4 stage preamp design produces rich, overdriven tones, making this an ideal practice amp.

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#3. Blackstar Fly 3 Review – Best Budget Practice Amp

When you look for innovation, the Blackstar Fly 3 is the right choice. It is a perfect compact and portable practice amp. A cutting-edge 3 Watt mini amp with two channels, tape delay, and the Blackstar patented Infinite Shape Feature (ISF).

You can access endless possibilities with your tone by changing your Fly’s sound due to the Blackstar patented Infinite Shape Feature (ISF).

This amazing tinny practice amp allows you to make your amp output resonate during play, thanks to the Tape Delay Effects feature.

The MP3 / LINE IN built-in jack will let you connect your MP3 player, mobile phone, laptop, or tablet and jam with your favorite tracks. On the other hand, you can use your headphones with the speaker emulating OUTPUT jack.

You can take the Fly with you wherever you go as portable speakers due to its battery-powered capacity, or you can buy a power supply to play it at home.

You’ll love this:

• The extreme portability is what most users highlight as a life-changer from the Blackstar Fly 3.
• You can easily grab your practice amp and take it everywhere you want, walk around with friends, and have a quick jam in the most unthinkable sites.
• The Blackstar Fly 3 has an outstanding sound for its size, it has an excellent clean sound, and you can also play around with some great crunchy, overdrive sounds.
• The EQ knob delivers a huge variety of sounds, and you can set the sound between “British” and “American.”

You might not like this:

• As the Fly 3 is battery-powered with 6 AA batteries, you need to buy the dedicated power supply unit sold separately to stop using so many AA batteries.

Conclusion

With the Blackstar Fly 3, you will access a world full of simplicity and guitar practice benefits. The gain, volume, and EQ knobs are pretty standard, but it also has some very innovative features like the overdrive button, the MP3/line-in, and the headphone jacks.

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#4. Fender Mustang LT25 Review

With the Fender Mustang LT25, you get everything you need from an affordable, compact, and portable amp. It is one of the best entry-point into the world of guitar practice amplifiers.

You can take advantage of the great versatility of the Fender Mustang LT25 due to its twenty-five onboard effects to play with. It also delivers USB connectivity for recording your playing.

The Fender Mustang LT25 brings you a great set of tools to practice playing guitar. From apps to mini headphone amps and rackmount modelers, you get access to the whole Fender amps world.

You will surely enrich your practice thanks to the Fender Mustang LT25 huge number of choices. You will count with interfaces replacing your amp or your amp doubling as an interface.

This amazing little amp delivers classic Fender high quality, extreme simplicity, and top-notch sound, and It is a great digital combo that will make you always want to play a bit longer.

You’ll love this:

• The Fender Mustang LT25 will surely convert into an essential piece of your gear due to its great range of tools and compact size.
• You get access to 20 amplifier models, 25 onboard effects, a USB connection for recording, and an auxiliary input for playing your favorite tracks.
• You get simplicity taken to the extreme due to its easy layout. Furthermore, you can manage all the presets and effects by scrolling through the encoder located beside the control panel’s LED screen.

You might not like this:

• Nothing important at this price.

Conclusion

Affordable, compact, portable are some of the benefits that come to my mind when I see the Fender Mustang LT25. You will not regret buying it, and it is undoubtedly one of the best entry-level practice amps on the market right now.

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#5. Boss Katana Air Review

If you really want to get totally free of cables when you practice, the Katana-Air is the world’s first absolutely wireless guitar amp. Of course, it uses batteries, and you obtain 12 hours of portable operation.

When you buy a BOSS Katana Air you get “The ultimate convenience for jamming and practice,” and these are BOSS’s own words.

Enjoy the freedom to jam and practice without bothering about guitar cables with this totally wireless guitar amplifier due to the new cutting-edge wireless guitar technology developed by BOSS.

You can practice literally “Anywhere” due to BOSS’s new low-latency digital wireless guitar technology. It provides transparent sound and ultra-quick response without lags or dropouts.

And if it was not enough, the Katana Air brings a convenient docking port in the amp that charges the battery in the transmitter and provides up to 12 hours of playing time.

You’ll love this:

• The Katana Air delivers premium guitar sounds equipped with pro amp tones and effects from the performance-class Katana amplifiers.
• You don’t need to plug into AC either because the Katana Air support battery operation.
• The Katana-Air is also rough, compact, and has an excellent sound quality.
• You can play without cables thanks to the included BOSS compact wireless transmitter. It has indicators for power, battery status and can be plugged into several kinds of guitars.
• The Katana Air instantly wakes from Standby mode when the transmitter senses motion to conserve energy.

You might not like this:

• It can generate a little latency when you play at a certain distance from the amp’s wireless transmitter.

Conclusion

If there is a word that defines the Katana Air, it is “Convenience” because it brings you the ultimate experience of playing freedom. This compact wireless marvel is a perfect companion for those who mostly seek liberty when practicing guitar anywhere. The Katana-Air is always ready to go when the inspiration strikes.

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#6. Vox Adio Air GT Review

If you are looking for a powerful and portable combo, maybe you have to take a serious look at the Vox Adio Air GT. This little beauty brings you up to two 3″ speakers, 23 amp models, 19 built-in effects, battery power capacity, and ​50 watts of power that exceeds its size.

When you get the Vox Adio Air GT, you get a compact and lightweight practice amp equipped with a high-wattage power amp owning 50W of stereo output.

With the Adio, you will enjoy the hard-hitting cabinet resonance of a guitar amp and the high fidelity of home audio speakers thanks to its proprietary chassis design that guarantees powerful and clear sound.

You also get an incredible playing and listening experience due to its shocking volume power that outperforms other amps in its class.

You can experience up to 23 classic amps sounds due to VOX’s proprietary VET (Virtual Element Technology) modeling technology, which reproduces the original amp’s characteristics flawlessly.

You’ll love this:

• Within the built-in amp models, you will appreciate the VOX’s legendary AC30 as well as a great mixture of clean and high-gain amps.
• You can manage a full complement of built-in effects such as chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, delay, and reverb.
• You can access a greater amp models’ selection, more effects and customize the audio EQ settings using the Tone Room editor/librarian software via Bluetooth or USB.
• You can also control parameters and design your sound using your favorite device due to the Bluetooth MIDI supporting.

You might not like this:

• The power rating seems to be a little higher than the perceived volume.

Conclusion

The Vox Adio Air GT brings you a compact and lightweight guitar amp with a complete set of built-in amp models, classic effects, Bluetooth, or USB connectivity. It is fair to highlight that it can be equally effective as an at-home practice amp as a whole performing amp.

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#7. Marshall Code 25 Review

With the Marshall Code 25, you get a small amp that delivers all you need to practice and find your sound. You will experience Marshall’s legendary high-quality sound with a complete set of qualities.

We can define the Marshall CODE 25 with words such as Compact, Powerful, and Customizable. It has 25W of outstanding power, comes with 100 pre-loaded presets, and it is fully programmable via your phone.

You can edit, create, and play sounds that suit you from the long list of presets, including 14 MST preamps, 8 MST speaker cabinets, and 4 MST power amps. You can also upload and download to the global library of user preset using MyMarshall.

Enjoy the complete connectivity of the CODE 25 connecting via Bluetooth to control your CODE or to stream music using the Gateway App from your iOS or Android device.

You’ll love this:

• You get into the world of Marshall amps on a budget with the Code 25.
• It is an excellent choice if you want something compact and very portable.
• The CODE 25’s factory presets sound are amazing, with some excellent and instantly usable emulations of classic Marshall tones.

You might not like this:

• Although it can be ideal for home practice, it has not enough power for live use.

Conclusion

The CODE 25 is attractive and brings the unequaled Gateway app, which is truly easy to use. It is also a great choice for the Marshall sound fans that also want some amp sounds of the competition because CODE has them all.

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What to Consider When Choosing the Best Practice Amp

Practicing guitar through a huge valve stack is not the best option for most players. That is when practice amps appear as the best option for getting the job done. Now let’s see what to consider when choosing the best practice amp.

A practice amp is a guitar amp that is low in power but usually equipped with ideal features for practicing at low levels.

One of the main characteristics of practice amps is to be portable enough to take them everywhere. Having the capacity to be battery-powered is a great option.

Some practice amps have USB record-ready outputs to connect directly into your audio interface or DAW, which is a significant benefit.

You may like to use headphones while you practice. If this is the case, be sure that this feature is present in the chosen model.

Best practice amps need to accomplish some main rules:

• To be relatively small
• To be easy to operate
• To sound great at low volume

Taking this into account, let’s pass now to the Most Asked Questions section.

Best Practice Amp Most Asked Questions

What is a good guitar amp for home use?

A good guitar amp for home use is the Line 6 Spider V 20 MKII. It is a question of taste, but after all the amps I have been proving, I can say that the Spider is a great practice amp.

The Spider is a versatile beginner amp for practicing and the perfect option when you want to play without setting up your whole rig.

It has a compact size; it is simple to use, and most important that all it sounds outstanding. Don’t forget that this mini amp has been named “The ideal practice amp for beginners to seasoned professionals.”

Simply plugin and begin practicing while you get instant access to the ample variety of cabinet sims, amp models, and mic model presets.

How can I make my practice amp sound better?

You can make your practice amp sound better by following these easy tips:

Try raising your mid-range

If you play with an amp that has a 3 band EQ, you can try this tip. Leave your bass and treble EQ knobs half-way while rolling the mid-knob all the way up.

This is a little-known fact, but almost all good guitarists use a lot of mid-range. It’s what helps the guitar stand out even at the same amp volume, and your guitar will stand out clearer than before.

Try raising your mid-range and listen to how your guitar stands out when you play along with a backing track.

Get more clarity by lowering your gain.

When you crank the gain all the way up to a completely saturated tone at a high volume, it creates a big mess as you play.

Instead, try rolling the gain back a bit to produce a better tone overall. As soon as you roll the gain back, you will see that you start to get more clarity and great sounding.

Use the right pickups

Commonly, guitar players buy a new guitar amp because they felt it didn’t produce the right tone when in reality, it was the pickups causing the problems.

If you want to play a mellow lead line in your guitar’s upper range, you need to switch to a neck pickup instead of a bridge pickup.

Using your pickups wisely will take some time because every style and song is different.

Is it better to have a good guitar or a good amp?

It is better to have a good amp over a good guitar because a good amp will lead to a better sound no matter which guitar you play.

But it is important to keep in mind that a terrible guitar can drive to rugged playing. Of course, it depends on your skill level, but you better buy a good amp first and a good guitar later if you can.

Do I need an amp to practice electric guitar?

You don’t need an amp to practice electric guitar. You can try to play with a multi-effects pedal.

Most of these devices have a jack where you can plug in any speakers or headphones. So, you can play guitar using a multi-effects pedal without an amp.

You only need to plug your guitar into your multi-effects pedal INPUT jack and plug headphones or speakers into the multi-effects pedal OUTPUT jack.

Does it matter what amp I get for my guitar?

Yes, it definitely matters what amp you get for your guitar. For instance, bass and guitar amps are two vastly different pieces of equipment, and each one is intended to optimize their respective instruments.

A bass amp tends to make a guitar’s tone lifeless. Instead, a dedicated guitar amp will make your guitar sound better. Lastly, you need to preferably use a beginners or practice amp when you are learning to play.

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Top Picks

It is time to show you my Top Picks from the article reviews. This section will tell you which practice amps are the best overall, the best value for money, and the best budget guitar amps.

Line 6 Spider V 20 MKII – Best Overall Practice Amp

Orange Crush 20 – Best Value for Money Practice Amp

Blackstar Fly 3 – Best Budget Practice Amp

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Conclusion

In the article above, you could read my review of the 7 best practice amps to silent practice or play where you want.

Here I tried to show you the more compact, easy-to-use, and outstanding amps available in the market right now.

I hope you have enjoyed this article and that you now know which practice amp is a perfect fit for you.