Small amps for home practice

Coma

Coma

Well-known member
I need something that gets me away from my computer. I don't have an amp at home, I use Bias on my desktop. But I also work from home, so I'm in my home office all day long, so I feel absolutly no need to spend any more time than work hours in there. So very little shredding gets done. I'd like to get a small tube amp eventually, but I've been looking at stuff like the Hotone Nano series or the Palmer Pocket amp Mk II. Can anybody recommend either of them? Or is there something else out there that would be a better option?
 
Last edited:
Re: Small amps for home practice

Vox MV50 series. Pick whatever flavor you prefer: AC, Clean, or Rock (Vox, Fender, and Marshall, respectively). They sound great, and Korg's newfangled "NuTube" thingamabob sounds and feels like a real tube. They can put out 50 watts at 4 ohms, so they are giggable in certain cases or make a great backup for your "real" amp. However... since the output stage is solid-state, they don't HAVE to be pushed hard to sound good. They'll do good, tube tone all the way down to bedroom volumes (better, IMO than any master-volume tube amp or attenuator).
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

The Blackstar ID15TVP is my choice with its power stage modelling and more than enough effects to get along with.
It sounds great right down to whisper level and has a dedicated footswitch (available as a separate purchase) to your access preset patches.
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

Love me some Roland Cube. Good sounds, super easy to dial in.
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

Fender Super Champ XD or X2 can be found reasonably priced in the used market. Portable, sound great and take pedals well.

I personally prefer the XD because it sounds better out of the box. The X2 has a line out and USB connection. The X2 needs to be adjusted through the fuze software to sound as good as the XD.

 
Re: Small amps for home practice

If you're playing guitar to unwind and get away from digital life, you owe it to yourself to get a nice tube amp.

Orange Rocker 15? Marshall Origin? One of those little Blackstars?

Little digital hybrid amps don't sound as good as good plugins or purely analog amps. Get a real amp or keep using your computer.
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

Wangs Mini 5. 5 watts of all tube tone. Can go from really clean to tweed or Plexi grit without shattering the windows. Tube AND solid state rectifiers. Works with either 16 ohm or 8 ohm cabs. Less than $200.

IMG_0760.jpg
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

I use a Vox Mini Night Train. 2w, a couple of knobs, and a couple of great sounds.
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

I'd recommend a Boss Katana of some kind. I think they do a mini one but I use the 100 watt one at the 0.5 watt setting for home use. The Brown channel is totally worth the price of admission.
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

I have 2 Hotone 5 watters: a Mojo Diamond (Fender Dlx emulation) and a British Invasion (Vox emulation). Both sound very good thru a quality speaker cabinet (not the Hotone one), but are fairly low volume. No way would they fair well in a jam or gig, but for low volume they're great. If you want to move up in volume and features, the Hotone BritWind will put out 40 watts into an 8 ohm cab and is capable of jamming and gigging. It's a great stand alone mini amp (needing no pedals). I'll be using mine predominantly for a backup.

I also have a Vox MV50AC which puts out 25 watts into 8 ohms and a very realistic emulation of the Vox AC30 IMO. I require a reverb and OD pedal to complement it, but again it is totally capable of live performances.

So, it depends on your specific wants. In any case, for good tone, you must get a quality speaker cab which will cost more that any of the amps I've mentioned.
 
Last edited:
Re: Small amps for home practice

I have a Jet City Picovalve that does the job fairly well. And I can run any power tube in it that I want.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

95% of time I use some Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 80 ohms Headphones plugged into a Line 6 Helix

For an amp I use a super small Fender G-DEC 15 modeling amp you can find them for around $100



1111.jpg
 
Last edited:
Re: Small amps for home practice

I've been running my little Cube01 face down and it's been great. Cuts out the harshness of the 8" speaker and allows me to open up the volume and midrange dial a bit more and adds some needed darkness and lowend thump.

IMG_20180426_204047_01.jpg
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

Small modeling amp with headphones for the win

I would like to cast a vote for a Peavey VIP
either the small 20 watt VIP1 or the 40 watt VIP2

I have a Cube30 and it is awesome
But it's effects choices and lack of onboard tuner has caused it to move back on the list
I'm sure the current production model has an onboard tuner
My older one does not
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

I like the Peavey Vypyr 15 a lot. I mostly use the BadCat and Fender models, so I can't comment much about the high gain stuff, but the dirtyish reverb with a little delay sound is pretty great for low volume.
 
Re: Small amps for home practice

Mesa Boogie TA15 for roughly €450, could that be something?

Skickat från min SM-G955F via Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Has anybody used a car or hifi amp as clean power for a guitar rig?
2
Replies
26
Views
256
ehdwuld
ehdwuld
Z
What are your performance rigs?
2 3
Replies
43
Views
434
Securb
Securb
C
New Fuzz
Replies
3
Views
70
Chistopher
C
blakejcan
Guitar shopping in Japan. My personal experience was awesome.
Replies
9
Views
176
ErikH
ErikH
I
Advice on practice amps
Replies
8
Views
210
PFDarkside
PFDarkside
Back
Top