Best guitar practice amp these days?

[ragingplatypi]

If I’m being honest, my best *practice* amp has been the sound holes on my semi hollow guitar combined with my ears.

But for fun at home any amp that can hit a sweet spot without getting too loud. I’ve had that with the Catalyst, the Blackstar IDC100, and the little cube amps.

For headphones, it’s been the HX Stomp.

I’m tempted by the Mustang Micro because it seems like it would be super convenient, but in reality I’m practicing near the rest of my gear anyway.

 

[V|J]

If I’m being honest, my best *practice* amp has been the sound holes on my semi hollow guitar combined with my ears.

But for fun at home any amp that can hit a sweet spot without getting too loud. I’ve had that with the Catalyst, the Blackstar IDC100, and the little cube amps.

For headphones, it’s been the HX Stomp.

I’m tempted by the Mustang Micro because it seems like it would be super convenient, but in reality I’m practicing near the rest of my gear anyway.

I mostly practice unplugged too.
Because of that I’m looking for a compact hollowbody like the PRS SE..

 

[Life Eats Life]

Regular USPS should be fine.

Man, shipping just bumped up a little more insanely expensive.
I’ve been shipping GAS leftovers for the past year and just last night noticed a jump up.
How much money do we have to piss away to learn our lesson with the stuff???

 

[Alex Kenivel]

My studio desk/gear area is in my bedroom these days so it depends on the situation.

If it's my day off and nobody is home, I'm playing through my PRS MT15/2x12 or TC BAM200 through the same cab fed by HX Stomp.

If the family is home but not in my room, same rig just turned down.

Kids going to bed? Stomp into studio monitors or headphones.

My wife has been ill for the past week so if I want to practice I have to be mobile while she's in bed resting. Spark Go saves my ass here.

 

[ragingplatypi]

I mostly practice unplugged too.
Because of that I’m looking for a compact hollowbody like the PRS SE..

I got a Harmony Comet that I can’t put down.

 

[V|J]

I love harmony guitars for this.
Most their models just have a great vibe too.
I was looking at a Harmony M75 recently but it appears they may not be available in Canada.

Anyway, having never owned a tube amp, I’m wanting to get one for some time just to enjoy and experience that flavour.

Otherwise there’s a Roland Cube available for a great price that works great for practice. But I’ve done SS amps in the past since they make a lot of sense at home.

And I’m playing unplugged in my room most of the time anyway.

 

[Mikael Dez]

It’s a year old thread, but today I plugged in my acoustic electric into my THR30 wireless with the Line6 wireless adapter - it was so freeing playing a backing track through the amp along with my acoustic, all wireless and battery powered. It removed a lot of obstacles and annoyances in my practice workflow and made it a much more enjoyable experience. I love this combo for practice (acoustic or electric)

 

[megametal7]

I practice with my 100w head…..

But not as loud as gigs heheheh

 

[maguchi]

I like to use fairly high end amps for practicing. I get inspired by the sound of a good amp and seem to play better when practicing on a good amp. That said I want something clear and precise that doesn't mask or cover up any sloppiness I may have. I use something like a Vox AC-15 or a Blackface Fender Princeton for practicing. I'm a firm believer in you play like you practice. Although sometimes the audience and nervous energy can up your game a little too.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I'm a firm believer in you play like you practice.

I would possibly just agree to 80% (especially when it comes to live playing), but this is still the reason why modeling upped my game more than anything else, simply because (apart from explicite recording situations when I may use pretty much "anything") others than the final monitoring, I'm using the very same rigs for both playing and practising. So, apart from a few on stage adjustments, such as defeating Fletcher Munson, I'm absolutely used to my sounds.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I don’t differentiate between practice/ other amps.

While a superlight grab and go has it’s attraction…I’d rather carry a few extra lbs then compromising on sound. And these days, also your gig rig needs to be able to sound good at low volumes..so no need there also.
I mainly use my hi power stuff for practice…I only own those for the rare occasion that I need such power…and cause that never happens…those amps are never in the hall cause of a gig…and permanently setup.


I do have a nux air (wee Bluetooth speaker) I use on the couch, but id hardly call that an amp.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

Katanas are great for that kind of stuff. Whenever I'm trying out guitars at a store, I look for a Katana to test them with and I find that auditioning guitars through them tends to translate really well later into my rig. Same with practicing. It does a good job of replicating a full rig into a small package.

 

[Dave Lewis]

It took a while to clear the practice room to fit these in

 

[6CA7-A]

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

My fave practice amp has become the Fryette GPDI-IR I’m sure the previous one can be found used for 500 or less. Since you said budget was 750.

For headphone practice I really used to like the Boss Waza Air headphones

 

[Dave Lewis]

My fave practice amp has become the Fryette GPDI-IR I’m sure the previous one can be found used for 500 or less. Since you said budget was 750.

For headphone practice I really used to like the Boss Waza Air headphones

Me to I love my Waza Air headphones

 

[FuzzyAce]

Practice?
I'm forgetting what that's like these days?

 

[MatrixClaw]

I use my EVH Iconic 40 for practice.

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

The original. Often imitated, never duplicated:

 

[Jarick]

Depends on how you define practice amp...

If you mean an amp that sounds like a big expensive live/studio rig but at low volumes, probably the easiest thing is to get a half decent modeler and a half decent studio monitor (may not even need a pair). Like a Pod Go or HX Stomp into a Kali LP6 would do the job.

If you mean an amp that has features geared to helping you practice, that may be different. You're likely looking at something portable that you can take around the house that runs on batteries, or something that has a good headphone sound, or has good features like bluetooth that you can connect a phone or computer to hear music or lesson videos. That may be something like a Yamaha THR10 or a Boss Katana Mini X or one of the headphone units like Boss Waza Air or Fender Mustang Micro.