Best Amp For 8 String Guitar (2024 Update)

Was looking for a small light weight amp whilst away from home, not wanting to lug around my heavy tube amp, cab and good sized pedal board. This amp fit's the bill perfectly. This amp sounds great, the onboard effects sound good to my ear. And I also like the controls on this amp. Simple layout that makes it easy and fast to dial in a decent sound. If you need more flexibility the architect software, which is a free download from Blackstar, is straight forward to use giving you even more flexibility. Another thing I like about this amp is as I'm away I often need to us headphones, no to disturb the neighbours, through the architect software, you can change the cab simulation from 112, 212, 412, even choose what mic simulation is used, which I think it's an excellent addition to this already impressive small amp. This amp also sounds great through its built-in speakers, giving it a great stereo sound. For this price I honestly cannot fault it, I did look at other amps but settled for this. And I'm so glad I did. This amp is a bargain!!Lesley C.

I hate amp hunting. I wanted something small and specific for a home studio. Shiny cleans with some grit too? Quality build? Under $600? I searched the used listings for weeks trying to find a deal. Nothing really GETS me. Finally, utterly sick of shopping, I walked into Sam Ash, saw this thing on the shelf and just bought it. Didnt try it. Just read the specs online, read a few reviews and snagged it. I figure, worst case scenario I'll return it tomorrow. Let me say, the sound from this amp is just so incredibly nice. Even without pedals, the built in reverb sounds very good. Not splashy, more like a plate reverb. Adding a transparent overdrive makes my G&L ASAT sound like a tone monster. I have no specific affinity for Blackstar. Never owned a single one of their products and I am totally blown away by this thing. I don't know a thing about the tonal waveforms and harmonic frequencies of the most expensive boutique amps but, on a stage or studio I'd put this amp up to pretty much anything. It FEELS good. It sounds good. Between my guitar and an overdrive pedal and the tone knob on the amp itself, I'm able to pull at least 6 very distinct tones before I even engage the dirty channel. It's even got an effects loop. Get one! You'll like it!DANIEL

I bought this amp a few months ago after LOTS of research, having finally decided to replace my previous amp of about 20 years! (A Marshall AVT half stack) Firstly, it looks amazing IMO and build quality looks and feels great too. I play in two bands, one playing southern rock, the other heavy rock/classic metal so needed something that was going to cover a pretty wide range of sounds. The Blackstar handles it amazingly! Wonderful warm crunches all the way to chugalicious highly saturated metal gains. The high gains are so smooth and creamy too and not 'scratchy'. (Something I always struggled with with the AVT) The clarity is also pretty amazing at high gain too. Individual notes can be picked out clearly and not just lost in a fuzzy mush. The 2 OD channels work perfectly for the two separate sounds I'm looking for to suit each band, with Voicing on each channel giving even more versatility. This amp produces beautiful cleans too, which can also break up nicely if you push the clean channel volume up. I'd also really recommend the optional 5-way footswitch, shame this doesn't come as standard, but hey..! All in all, I'm absolutely over the moon with this amp. It can do everything from sparkling cleans to tasty crunch and up to all the gain you could wish for. I've even been able to get THAT Stevie Ray Vaughan tone! 😍 But not only that, it's not some 'Jack of all trades, master of none'…it absolutley nails all of these brilliantly! This amp delivers the sound I've been looking for elusively for years now, funny that Blackstar's slogan is "The Sound In Your Head"… Big thanks to the team at PMT Newcastle when testing the 40 Watt version, and the distribution team for the speedy next day delivery!Davey S.

I got this as a kinda "backup" to my Marshall DSL40. Im mainly a home player, but this amp is well made and sturdy yet very portable. I think it would fair well in a gigging environment. Its smaller than most 1×12 tube combos which is nice. FYI, I'm using this amp via the four cable method with my GT-100 mainly for switching capability and some effects…delay, gate, wah etc(I have separate settings programmed for my DSL as well). This is a loud amp if you want it to be at 80 watts but also sounds good at lower/moderate volumes. The clean channel shares an EQ with channel 2 but that's not an issue for me. The clean is very clear and punchy. The stock speaker is exceptionally good. The gain channel is really brutal and gets you into Dimebag territory. It packs a lot of great features into a small 1×12 such as an effects loop, XLR speaker emulator out, mid scoop and bass boost features. So here's the thing. This really is a metal amp. If you're looking for a super versatile amp, this may not be for you. IMO, channel 2 it sounds best when the gain is all the way up and you are playing metals riffs and soloing. Im not saying you cant lower the gain and play some crunchy stuff, I just think it sounds best gain cranked. You WILL need a nose gate. I have an ISP in front of the amp and a gate from GT100 in the loop. This is one of the best amps on the market for the money for hard rock and metal. It may not have the bells and whistles of some of the modeling amps out there, but I think it blows them away as far as tone. You can always add effects via a MFX processor.Rob L.

I bought this because of the fairly positive reviews but, more importantly, because the description says that it has "spring reverb." Guess what! It DOESN'T!!! It's a digital reverb. I was specifically looking for a 40 pound combo to have actual spring reverb if that is what is listed in the specifications. Here's the rub: the customer service person here at MF, who admitted to me that he is, in fact, a guitarist, could not comprehend that there is a difference between an actual spring reverb tank in an amp and a digital model of spring reverb. "It has a reverb knob," he responded. I tried to convey that if the description said, for example, "tube amp" and it was a solid-state amp, that would be deceptive, and this is no less so. I argued and pleaded to no avail. SO, as a result, my return was processed as buyer's remorse and, therefore, I'm out the shipping charges. Preposterous! Even when I argued that, had it been properly described as having a digital reverb chip I would NEVER have bought it, I still couldn't convince these folks that this is akin to false advertising and that I should not have to pay to ship this misrepresented piece of garbage back to them – which cost me half the price I paid for the dang thing itself. CAVEAT EMPTOR. And watch these MF policies. . . they are not so customer-friendly any more, and have lost a 20 year loyal customer in the process of this transaction. .Taken advantage of and mistreate

This is just a no nonsense power house. They don't put clothes over the speaker because it's very high quality. They don't try to make it sound like 4 different amps with all these effects like my fender 40 watt champion, which none of those sound great. The gain on the clean channel adds warmth. The emulated speaker line out is nice for recording or wherever you need to run it. Very nicely surprised by this purchase. Best in it's class. I've owned the 50 watt Marshall solid state as well. You can't go wrong with this one. I've been playing guitar for 49 years. I've run my Gibson SG through it as well as my Les Paul special with P 90's. AwesomeRalph Eagle

Overall: overall – maybe the best sounding low wattage amp ever. only small difference in sound between this & a tube amp. weak point is lack of features. they really skimped. twice the price of other compared to other practice amps that have way more features. you're really extra paying for tone here.pro's – * truly terrific tones* even if you have a tube amp that sounds good at whisper volumes (i have a 15w egnater tweaker) it's so convenient to be able to play this on top of your desk.* clean and modern settings are fantastic. i don't use the other amp settings much, but they sound great as well. the only setting i don't like is brit hi.* effects sound good* tap tempo* good tuner* the features are weak* pricey – other practice amps have many more features. they sound pretty good themselves (just not quite as nice as this). so if features are important to you, get something else. digital amps these days all sound not bad to downright good.* are the tones here so much better that it's really worth double other companies' amps? honestly hard to say, but this one does sound the best* can't save settings* one knob control of all mod effects is really limiting* can use the software to tweak settings and effects, but as soon as you unplug, you lose them* max volume on delay is occasionally not enough. usually it's ok. but sometimes, you want a little more & doesn't have it* as mentioned, brit hi setting not that great* the name "modern" might be misleading. i mentioned that modern sounds good, but, it doesn't have enough gain to get you into mesa rectifier range. you're going to need a pedal for that.A

This has to be one of the best stamps I've ever had with the exception of one little hiccup. This is replacing a Fender Blues Deville, which I absolutely loved. I had access to almost every Fender amp when I bought my Blues Deville and it just spoke to me. Well, they don't make Blues Devilles anymore, and I knew the Hot Rod Deville existed, so I went for it. To my ears, it's the same as my previous amp. This is a two channel amp in which each channel is independent of the other with the exception of the tone knobs, which are the same for both channels, which is not a problem for me. When I plugged it in, I couldn't believe how incredible it sounded clean. It absolutely blew my mind. I used both a Stratocaster and a Les Paul. Then, I took the second channel and add a little bit of gain to it, which distorted it. The distortion on this amp is so creamy that I don't even need to use my TS9. It has to be one of the best distortions I have ever heard from an amplifier. I usually use an Orange TH30C for my distortion. My Fender amp was always a clean amplifier. I may be using this one for the distortion and my Orange may get sidelined. The reason I'm giving this amp four stars is because of the following; when you go to switch channels using the included foot switch, there's a loud pop that happens every time you switch channels while you're playing. Apparently, it's inherent to the amplifier. It's the only reason I cannot use this amplifier with clean and dirty at the same time unless I use a TS9 on the clean channel. That really was not a well thought out process from Fender. For the price of this amp, I would think that problem would've been fixed, but it is what it is. I still love the amplifier and I'm still glad I bought it, although I will have to use my Orange when I want a distorted sound.Chuck

I bought my new Fender Blues Jr v4 about 2 months ago from a guy who decided he was more of a "Marshall Guy After All" so I got a bargain, but that was just the beginning. I wanted to spend some time and several sessions playing with this thing before I rushed into a review, but it turns out my first impressions have been even more reinforced since playing this thing for several hours, and the big word here is WOW. I have been playing for over 62 years (that's right, got my first guitar at 7) and bought my first Strat in high school. I've played and owned a LOT of different amps, and even now I have a few pieces for which I have some sentiment, but now it seems I will have to seriously reconsider. Good thing there is no "Amp Limit Law", but if there was I could finally happily liquidate all the others if I could have just my new Blues Jr. I have read voraciously for years about concepts such as "touch sensitive", "controlling breakup with the guitar volume", "takes pedals well", etc. Turns out these have only been myths to me all this time until now. Everything good and superlative that's been written about this amp is absolutely true. The preamp section is like pure magic in shaping the tone and delivering it to my favorite-EL84 power amp section. I have never been a fan of the usual Fender tube lineup, and when I heard this runs EL84s I was already excited. I am still a Strat guy to this day and love everything about it. But I have never even dreamed it could sound so good. I have an Egnater Rebel 20, a vintage Crate 15 watt blonde with a Dr Z speaker, and my prior favorite-a 5 watt Epiphone Valve Jr into a 12" Eminence Lady Luck. I have some others, but nothing I own or have owned can even come close to this thing. And what has been said about the Celestion speaker choice is again, absolutely right on. The sound from this amp would be as if you had an old Deluxe Reverb, did a cap job, retube, and maybe speaker upgrade. I guess I'm trying to say that it soundsMark, R

Simplicity itself, with great tone and a big sound from a small package. I've a few amps, ranging from heads and cabs to combos, but had a hankering for a small tube combo – one that could do a rehearsal if needed. This has a great sound with a 335 and a Telecaster, and so easy to dial in a fantastic tone – infact hard to get a bad tone. Plenty loud enough, I would happily take this out and gig it. I love the fact you can unplug the internal speaker and plug it into a cab, makes it a great package. No perceivable noise when winding it up, and the stock speaker is great, good tight bass and nice and chimey on top. Seems solidly built, but I guess time will tell on that front. All in all, very pleased with this, and great value.Customer

Sorry, prior review title contained a date error. Original review written 11/7/11. I guess the 7 stuck in my head stronger than the 11 did, hence the title "Update to the July 2011 Review." I should practice what I preach and proof what I write. Sorry for any confusion. Still mean every word I say though. Would of written more, but it was very early in the morning when the notion to update the review hit me. Oh well. Still, though, would someone out there that makes these decisions, decide to give the guitar-playing market (that's quite a large market) a fractional-wattage amp head, or combo, with all the bells and whistles given to their top-of-the-line 100-wt. stadium-rocking machines. I sound like a broken record, but ANYONE giving us the dream rig we've been dying for, and can play at home, will draw an awful lot of attention to their whole line of products. I bet you would see an increase in sales across the board by showing that you understand, and care, what the guitar-playing population needs. After all, after the tour, doesn't everyone go home? Make a "home" amp that doesn't leave anyone wanting for anything, and the world will beat a path to your door. It's the age-old adage of, "build a better mousetrap…" So, give us a feature-laden, fractional-wattage amp, with power settings for each of at least three channels (0.1-wt. to 5-wts. would be about perfect, and doable,) with at least a 12" speaker of top quality, or preferably, a head so we can use whatever cabinet combination we want, and you will satisfy a very hungry crowd of guitar players dying for that sound only a fully overdriven preamp and power amp can lend to any quality guitar, and player, or up-and-coming determined player, and we will pay a fair market price for it, regardless of what that has to be to satisfy the needs of countless thousands of players out there, from home recorders to headliners. Can't you see the light, and find your way home to us, the consumers of the full-range of your products. As of now, no one cares enough to give us enough in a low-wattage amp. Seems that low-wattage means low everything across the board on the amp. Give us the Caddy Elvis, and we'll be playing Elvis amps regardless of what we need. We just need a manufacturer to care about the little needs of the little guys to the rock stars. We all live in houses and play in those houses. Don't we all deserve a flagship amp for where we lay our heads each night. Just try, more than half heartedly, and you'll realize a return of benefits equal to what you give. That's the way of the world. Just DO IT! Blackstar, you gave it a good shot, but fell just outside the infield. We need a grand slam homerun. You already do it, just tone it down to manageable volume levels, even for the same price, and I'll buy at least two right out of the gate. Then I'm going to take a good, long look at the rest of your lineup for my needs in other areas. Charity starts at home, right?aj0206

I just received this amp today and I've got to say I'm amazed. It's surprisingly loud for just 10 watts, but that's not why it got it. I wanted something to record with and wanted rich British tone and gain. It delivers that, but so much more. This amp is rich and full sounding at all levels! It gives warm cleans, crisp crunch, and the best sounds are with the gain about 1 o'clock and the Master maxed out…it's loud, but oh so good! Thick, rich tone. The real bonus is that it sounds so good with pedals, as well. You have to play with the relationship of the gain and the master if you turn down low and put an overdrive pedal to make it sound natural, but it's well worth the effort. I also put a delay in the loop to try that. I don't think I've ever been happier with an amp right out of the box. I've got some vintage and boutique amps (and I love them), but they are TOO loud to record with to crank to get saturated tube tone. THIS amp solves that problem. I may get the 6L6 version as well…these amps are that good!Lloyd W

Back again for a few more words on the Blackstar HT-1, 1-wt. amp head. Well, it's three years later, and I'm getting ready to turn 56 early next year. I don't know how much longer I'll be playing. I'm not having any problems other than a trigger-finger release procedure done on my fretting hand, middle finger, which has caused me to incorporate my pinky into playing more than I ever cared to in the past. Too bad really because some longer-reach pull offs sound cleaner, and the triplet timing, cleanness, and sound are better than I remember them being doing the three-finger, traditional, lazy, blues player's way we've all seen and done before–that includes all the rockers out there too. Still have the HT-1, and use it and its sister head quite a bit. I play every day, and use these a lot of the time. I enjoy the sound I get out of them using whatever I front them with, which is always something different or new. I NEVER just plug into these amps and find a sound I want to lay a track down to on just about anything except something really clean; and again, the main culprit stopping that is the weak reverb, which hasn't been changed or updated in three years that I can tell. Blackstar actually came out with a new 1-wt amp head for Metal players, and I've yet to get my hands on one of them. It just doesn't seem all that attractive to me feature wise. The reviews, as well, seem to not be the best. It basically seems to be the same head with a different voicing to coax more gain, hence noise, out of an already too-noisy preamp architecture. No one has really answered my call to action to provide a top-of-the-line fractional wattage amp, save a couple of exceptions, for the home-recording, buddy jamming, solo-screaming crowd out there that surely has more residents than just me. The "Appetite for Destruction" 100-wt. down to 0.1-wt. head with Slash's signature on it from across the pond seems to be the leading contender out there so far, and it's been discontinued for a few years. Right before or after this came out, if I remember correctly. The ne AFD amp is a combo from 5- or 1-wt. that is still weigh too light on features, but not pounds, as in weight or the currency of its maker's country. The demise of the original, full-sized head might of had something to do with its two grand entry fee. I don't mind the size really, but it just seems someone could put out an amp that doesn't have to be "lunchbox-sized," but could pack in all the features without the huge transformers and big power soaks to actually tame a monster down to a teacup. I've tried the Special Ultra 6 that seemed promising, but I've had problems and problems with them until I'm about to give up. Alone, they sound more like the amps I watched guys play through when I got all jazzed about playing while in the sixth grade. Still, if you can get a good clean sound out of an amp, you can doctor the front-end with whatever you want. This practice seems to be what we're stuck with to get nice "simulated" overdriven power sections. All the major brands still think a low-wattage amp is in the ballpark of 5-wts, to maybe 1-wt. Too loud most of the time! Ever read the specs on speaker efficiency ratings? The dB sensitivity rating is measured at 1-wt 1 meter away, and you get sound level ratings hovering around 100dB. Definitely not a neighbor-friendly, let alone apartment-friendly sound level. C'mon guys, SOMEONE out there has got to get it into their heads that there is a whole untapped market out there waiting for a masterpiece to be released that is rated from .01 to 1-wt., or even up to 5. Ten is fine, but give me the option of turning it down to a normal level to jam with your friends and still carry on a conversation without a noise hangover from screaming at each other, or stopping playing every time you want to make a point. Across the pond they have a revived 1-wt. mini head or combo, for nearly a grand, that has a low-power switch down to 0.1-wt.. It lacks all the features you want and need to do what you really want an amp to do, plus it's paired with an 8" speaker. I don't care if it is a Celestion, you have to have a 10- or 12-in. speaker to move the air you need to emulate the sounds you want to emulate at a lower volume. Why is it that low wattage means low features and the ashcan end of everything else? Why can't someone bring out a feature-rich amp at a fractional wattage rating that will make half the guitar-playing population grin from ear to ear. After all, how many of you can really say you need, or can commonly utilize, a 100- to 120-wt. stadium sized stack, or even combo. Even the rock stars are at home sometime, and I'd bet they'd love to have an amp capable of reproducing the sound, harmonics, and all else that comes from their stage setup at a reasonable volume at home. I don't drink, but I betaj0206

What a fantastic amp. This version is a much improved over last years model of the 12 inch and the color is super cool and retro. class A tube amp that is tighter and more pronounced on cleans that my twin reverb. Each note rings out clearly. Add boost and the grit just seems to materialize at the tip of your fingers. I would buy this amp for each home i had if I won the lottery. Its light and still loud enough to jam with a drummer and be heard clearly.Perry

Great, portable, plenty of power, plenty of frijoles. Great for smaller stages. For bigger stages, just pop on mic on it.Mark

Sounds great right up until the tube wiggles loose. Not sure if the problem lies with the tube or the connection. I'm playing at half volume or lower when this happens. This issue makes this particular amp unusable in a live setting.CK

Just be careful not to let it rock backwards if you use the tilt feature. The transformer is near the back panel, which makes the amp back-heavy. Mine tipped onto its back the first day, busting the tiny ground lift switch. Acus should think about putting that switch on the top panel, as it's the only thing on the back that's likely to break if the amp rocks onto its back.Tom

Bought this amp based on many reviews on youtube, looked at many other models first but am glad I decided on the Amplifi 150. Also bought the FBV Shortboard MKII, a must have in my opionion, more on this later. Amp has excellent sound and can be used as a wireless bluetooth speaker. When I downloaded the Amplifi app that is when I really found out what this amp could do. You can play a song from your music library through the app and it will quickly find/display "presets" from the cloud to try. If you find one you like you can save it the way it is or edit it to your taste. With only the amp you can save 4 presets, by adding the shortboard you can save 100 presets, in 25 banks of 4. The shortboard also comes with a built in tuner and wah/volume pedal. Using the app you create your own sounds too. Choose from 200 different amps, many different stomp boxes, delay, reverb, modulation effects. Has noise gate, compressor, equilizer and volume. It took one short call to Line6 support to resolve a few issues I had initially, easy common sense errors on my part (how to store and retrieve the presets and how to increase the music playback so it was at the same level as my gutar). Once this was resolved I have had nothing but fun using the AmplifiErt68

Kudos to Line6 for such an innovative product. First of all, this is not a tube amp and Line6 never claims it to be…so please don't try and compare this to tube amps. It synced to my 3rd Gen iPad instantly and very quickly found tone suggestions for all my songs…even some of my own band. Some were dead on perfect…others required a little tweaking to get them to my liking. This depends on what kind of guitar you have plugged in – single-coil Strat, humbucker Les Paul, etc. The Tone Editor does a great job and is very intuitive. The included instructions are pretty lame; they basically show you how to plug in your guitar, turn on the amp and sync to an iOS device. After that, you are on your own to find more information. Luckily, the Line6 website has helpful videos and a great user forum for info. I had to update my firmware from 1.02 to 2.01 to be able to play all of the 100 mfg presets. Originally, I only had the 4 presets. The upgrade was easy, following the instructions on the website. This thing is plenty loud and I think it has a great tone and endless possibilities. I use it mainly for practice and it serves that purpose expertly! Song reproduction through the five speakers is excellent.Stanlo

This "amp" (it does more than most guitar amps) is extremely versatile. The secret is in the bluetooth connection to the Line6 app called Aplifi (free download) which allows you to edit your patches on your IOS device (an ipad is much easier than an iphone). Pick from 80+ amps, a large selection of pedals and effects, and drop-and-drag them into any order you want – then hit SAVE and you have that sound at the touch of a button. You can share your sounds with others via the Line6 library – and you can download other patches as well. The unit has 4 preset buttons – so your first 4 presets are accessable even if you don't have the app, but you really need to the app to edit the patches. Match this with a Line6 floor pedalboard (make sure you use Cat5 PATCH cable and not CROSSOVER cables) and you've got a great rig. It's loud enough that you can hear it on a stage in a club against other combo amps. There are a lot of modeling devices out there (Line 6 boards) but the trick is finding the full range flat response speaker system that can let you really hear those sounds correctly – as if you were plugged into a recording console. This until has all the editing ability AND the speaker for the amp. It also doubles as a great bluetooth speaker system – so you can play yourspotify tunes over this with plenty of clear power. Finally, it's stylish that you can have it your living room and not look like Guitar Center. The 150w version is loud enough to keep up with most live gig bands on smaller stages (and most venues would mic it anyway). It doesn't have an option for a extention speaker or line out (to a mixer of FOH) but you can record from the USB port, so there's that option. If you have versatile playing style (I play in several cover bands so I need to go from Taylor Swift to Bruno Mars to Journey to John Mayer) it's a great purchase. No pedal hassles – easy to program – and focus on playing!joes-bar-and-grill

The PRS Sonzera 20 is a very good guitar amplifier. It sound exactly like a FENDER Twin Reverb in terms of providing a clear, realistic sound with plenty of powerful bass response. Unlike the TR, the PRS Sonzera 20 is much more compact and a lot easier to transport. It weighs about 42 lbs. compared to the TR's 62 lbs. This amp uses the same 6L6GC power tubes as the TR. I really like the PRS Sonzera 20 a lot…I'm actually thinking about purchasing a second one as a spare! It's that good!Greg

Great sounding amp other than the rattling tubes. I realize I could re tube and get rid of that for a bit but can't rationalize re tubing a new amp. Also the standing hum seemed much louder than any other amp I own. I tried recording with it and between the tube rattle and hum the track was ditched. I assume that's why it was an open box sale. I called customer service and they couldn't tell me Why it was returned. That's no good. There should be a way to track those issues Otherwise you just keep selling folks thsame lemon.Hambone612

Dont waste your money! Sounds like complete garbage. No effects eddie van halen must have needed some extra cash if he endorsed thisC note

What a cool little amp! I have a lot of fun just jamming in front of the toob during commercials. It sounds great clean or dirty. Make sure you use the tilt legs or you'll pull it off a table or wherever you have it sitting.StClair

Delivered what I was looking for: 1) Clean to overdriven tube tone 2) Attenuator to allow for late night guitar fix 3) Loud enough for small stages, I can leave the 1/2 stack at homeDanny b

This amp, like all Tone King amps, sounds great. It hit early fender Tweed and blackface tones to a tee. Perfect 5 watt amp. The attenuator works great. Can get cranked amp break up at any volume so you don't upset and interrupt entire house when you want to play. Definitely sounds like at bigger amp than it is, cabinet and celestion 870 sound great and pair fantastically with this combo. You could easily play out with this mic'd or turned up with drummer. Takes pedals fabulously. On the lead input with volume cranked and tone up you can get early Marshall type mid pushed tones also. The volume and tone controls work very well together and it's a find the sweet spot and go amp, you don't have to worry about tweaking eq constantly like lots of other amps. It is pricey for a 5 watt amp but you definitely get what you pay for. I have and have had lots of other high end amps and this amp to me sounds the best and most practical for building onto with pedals to push it into a more modern sound if needed. You can clearly "hear" your different guitars tone through this amp and extremely reactive on your playing approach as if it is a whole separate instrument.N. Collins

If you buy this amp start by running the update in the app while connected to your amp. we had trouble getting anything to work, until that was done. The amp itself is fun to mess around on, but I don't see it as anything that you could use for a gig. I find that when I'm using the amp I spend most of my time messing around with weird sounds, rather than playing anything productive (but it's fun). The community of amp settings is huge, but with varying quality. Perhaps the most fun and useful feature of the amp is the ability to play along with music from your phone/device and level out the volumes of the guitar and music so you can actually hear both. This could be a real benefit for a starting musician who doesn't have the opportunity to play with other musicians. Another plus is that the amp can be used as a Bluetooth speak, and it sounds really good. However, one of the negatives that I noticed immediately is that the output volume is very inconsistent from setting to setting (like a lot), one will be quiet and the next loud. I'm also skeptical what will happen when Line6 decides not to support the app anymore because without the app, the amp is next to useless. It can still be used but it won't have much versatility in tones. Another thing that I noticed is that here's no way this amp outputs 75 watts of volume, I don't even know that it's as loud as my old little 15 watt practice amp. All in all, its a fun amp and I would recommend it as a fun accessory to your arsenal, but is it's your sole amp you might want to consider play one at a music store before buying to be sure that it'll work for your application.Music_matt

What sets this item apart, assuming you have an IOS device with some good music on it, is the Amplifi 75's ability to find tones that match what song you are playing. It does this automatically. Whether you play along with the song or not, you can save that tone under "my tones" and have it at your disposal for future use. I found some incredible acoustic guitar tones as well as a very nice "sounds like the Beatles" tone. This feat alone is remarkable. Throw in the sound editor that allows you to create your own or tweak someone else's tones and you begin to realize what Line 6 has accomplished. Ground breaking isn't too strong a phrase here. Sound quality when playing my IPAD music is excellent. Having read multiple mixed reviews I was a bit torn as to whether to purchase or not. I can say my expectations have been exceeded. One word of caution when using. Make sure that you reboot, cold start your IPAD OR IPHONE to clear out software running in the background. And check to make sure on the AMPLIFI menu that you are "connected" as opposed to "synching". If you are not connected, the sounds on your IPAD or IPHONE will not be heard, only the default sounds that are on the amp itself….btw….these default sounds can be set to your favorites very easily as pointed out in the instructions. In summary, if you were thinking about purchasing one of the new Amplifi amps (75 or 150) you needn't worry. You'll likely be blown away by this clever amplification system. Hats off to Line 6 for taking it to another level.MartinG123

Great product. Does just what I ordered it for. It mostly sits in my family room where I can jam quietly while watching TV waiting for that Eureka moment. Great that it doubles as a bluetooth speaker (wish there was separate EQ for the bluetooth), and you can use it that way at the same time through the app as you are playing your guitar sounds. Sometimes when I leave to jam with friends and don't feel like grabbing a tube amp and big pedal board, I just take this. Works fine in a practice situation.Might even work in a small club if you spend enough time tweaking sounds. What works well at really low volumes in the family room is often too echoey or processed once the volume goes up. Not the Amplifi's fault. Just basic acoustic physics. My gripes are few and minor. Saving your edits to back to the amp is really convoluted. Why isn't there a save button on the edit screen that just saves the patch to the current slot on the amp? The save dialog should ask you 'save to amp or save to cloud?' (there's a cloud icon for saving now, but it won't save directly to the amp). Also, I wish there was polyphonic tuning built in to the amp. The tuner function requires a phone/tablet and seems a bit slow and not as accurate as some of my standalone tuners. A row of leds across the front of the amp would be great. Also, separate sliders for the aux, bluetooth and guitar volumes would be nice. Anyway, I would buy it again.El-Kabong

Amplifier is good quality for the money. my only issue is the fans are on all the time which can be distracting in a small studio space.Mr. H. F.

Hooked this amp up and man what a difference, it really improved the sound quality of our pa system, gives you plenty of headroom without driving the system , very clear low end, and High's You can hear the fan , but it doesn't effect sound quality. So far we like this amp, it is a winner.darwho-0

overall I really like this amp. the dirty channel has a good crunch. Not a very tainted sound, which I like a lot. Clean channel is not real chimy like some, but nice and clean. the face plate is also black, unlike the 30 watt which is easier to see. The issue is the channel switching. While some amps are known for a load pop, this is quite the opposite, and I am guessing the pop is what they were trying to avoid. this one actually drops in volume and then comes back up between channels. Deal breaker. I can't use this live if it cuts out. Really wanted to have this kicking around for a second amp. But I will be returning this.brian

First one arrived and the overdrive channel sounded awful. Made arrangements to return it and the process went quick, I had a new one a week after sending the bad one back. The second one turned out as advertised. You can dial in a wide range of tones and has that beautiful tube sound. The reverb is just a tad weak but still ok. Also, effects pedals sound great. It?s an awesome buy.Leo

I had a 50 watt 6L6 guitar head and sold it only to regret it later. I saw this one on sale and I took a chance. Glad I did. Disclaimer: I only use it for a pedal platform, although I have tried the gain channel. It's "ok" (not great) but to use the amp that way you'll really have to work with the both channels to achieve unity volume. As a clean channel pedal platform it's great. Like others have said the reverb is lacking but I usually just leave it on 10:00 for ambience. This amp is LOUD and can easily hang with a large band if needed. As far as reliability, time will tell, but it seems well made IMO.john

This product does exactly what I wanted it to. I have to play a wedding with my acoustic at an outdoor event this week where there is no electricity. With an acoustic guitar, you do have to watch where you place it because it will feedback if you're not positioned correctly, but that's no problem because I'm outside. The squeal knob is pretty much worthless to me, but maybe it's better with a solid body electric. I purchased a battery operated ZOOM MS-50G pedal, just to add some eq, compression, chorus, delay and reverb to the Pignose and I couldn't be happier with the results — especially when you consider that this is a battery operated amp.inthesticks53

Don't think this amps 20 watts will be loud. My Jca22h 20w will bury this amp on less than 1. Most 15w and some 10w amps will out do the pig by a long shot[even a 5 watt tube amp] The pig does'nt have a lot of clean headroom either but it's enough for what it's for. It has a decent crunch and distorts easily with humbuckers at higher volume. I don't personally care for the "squeal" knob.Too much "odd" harmonics. What its good for is that it's rechargeable, super portable, and the charge lasts a good bit with the dual beefy battery packs in the back. You can take this anywhere and play. No electric….no problem. And that's a good thing. The best feature is the built in battery packs that can be recharged. Lasts quite a while on a charge too. Well built. Feels and looks solid. You can buy a Fender champion 600 tube amp for the same money or a Fender frontman 25 for less but they're either much larger and you have to have juice to run them. So the value ain't bad for what the pignose gives you.gamjamm

I really like this amp. I bought it used at a really good price, so I was very pleasantly surprised at how nice it sounds. It has loads of power and nice tone. I bought it as a practice amp, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on stage in a small club.voltyr

THE 8 INCH SPEAKER IS ALITTLE WEAK SOUNDING ,CAB IS BUILT WELL, EFFECT ARE GOD THE ACTIVE EFFECT IS REALLY KOOL SOUNDING,WELL WORTH THE 100 DOLLARS I PAID JUST NEED TOO UPGRADE SPEAKER SIZE TO A 10 INCH!!PAUL

Fantastic amp for the price! The clean channel is great, and has time delay effects that is unexpected for an amp in this range. The overdrive is excellent too, and you can control different frequencies as well. It also has two inputs for guitars, and a microphone input! So you can jam with friends and sing along. At 40w output, it is pretty loud. If you are in the fence, get it! You won't regret it!integrationbyparths1

Fantastic quality and love having all the settings to play with physically. Sounds phenomenal through headphones, monitors and straight into the DAW.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

An amazing 2 channel or dual amp zero watt amplifier pedal. Used it at a rehearsal and could dial in great tones very quickly – from Marshal type distortion to clean reverby Fendery tones. Great through headphones for practice and DI'd into PA for live use. Only disappointment was that there was no power supply supplied, but it does come with a very useful channel/reverb foot switch.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Amazing for recording, the pedal sounds the way your amp would before adding the mic. So easy to dial in any sound, I added a nobble Od1 into the chain and it blew my mind. I gave a good on looks because its hard to read what the knobs and switches do in a studio environment.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Every guitar player on God's green earth should have one. The different tones offered with the app inspire you to play differently. It allows you to play along with the songs you love, and download the tone. It also tells you the chord progression to the song. It's an amazing Amp, and if nothing else the GREATEST speaker in the world. I could absolutely ruin my neighborhoods night with the most absurdly clear version of my favorite songs. But I could Also practice at midnight with out waking up my roommates using my headphones.
Amazing tones made by professionals. If you care about being a musician… you need this Amp. This Amp was recommended to me by John Moyer… of disturbed.Teryn Surratt

As a practice amp, you will soon lose interest if the tone is thin, boxy and generally sounds like crap. The Spark is none of this. An incredibly wide range of tones are available via the app with sounds that you just don't expect to come from such a small package. The sound is loud, rich without the boxiness that you seem to get with amps loaded with small speakers. If you've used PG's Bias software, you'll be in very familiar territory – great emulations that have a depth that rivals some of the serious modelers available now. The effects, while not giving you a massive selection, supplies pretty well every type of effect you would ever need. The reverbs and delays are particularly good and while more than good enough for noodling at home, are more than up to the task of recording. The unit is quite sturdy with a timber cabinet and looks great – very traditional with an "English" type of styling. Using the Spark as a Bluetooth player for music is more than up to the task – good bass, clean mids and treble and loads of volume. The app overall is very good with some truly inspiring practice opportunities, though the function where the app analyses your playing and constructs a suitable backing track is hit and miss and is probably the weakest part of the app. Bluetooth connection for both control functions and audio playback is stable and very quick to pair with your device. Overall, I don't think you will find and amp sounding this good with the flexibility and functions available, from anywhere else and that is before taking into consideration, the extra functions the app gives you.Mick G.

I bought this amp on the back of all the rave reviews on YouTube etc. For me, it's just not a finished product yet. It feels very "beta". The hardware seems robust and of good quality. The modelled sounds are very good, albeit very bass heavy. But most of that can be EQ'd out. There are several problems I couldn't live with, and had to sell it on. The hum problem which is due to the supplied, un-earthed PSU was very apparent in my example. I contacted Positive Grid support about the issue in December 20, and as of selling the amp at the start of March 21, I had not yet received the replacement PSU. There are temporary workarounds, but I wanted the problem sorted permanently. As said above, the sound is very bass heavy. The amp models' EQ can be used to deal with the guitar tone, but music playback through the unit via Bluetooth has no EQ control, so the sound quality is very poor. In addition to this, the playback level is far too high. When using as a Bluetooth speaker it is very difficult to get the volume low enough using the tiny trim pot volume control for comfortable listening when sat in close proximity to the unit. The Auto Chords feature is a gimmick and needs serious work. It only works for E standard guitar tuning. For example, when listening to a song in dropped standard tuning such as "Yesterday" (guitar tuned down one whole step) Auto Chords will show fingerings for F, Em, A7 etc instead of the G,. F#m, B7 shapes that are required. At the very least, a "transpose" button is required to allow for dropped standard tunings that are very common. When using the tuner, you have to look at the lights on top of the amp. The app should have a screen that displays the tuner on your connected device when in use. The app metronome tempo can only be set by tap. It should have the ability for the user to enter the exact required BPM by inputting the figure required, or selecting the tempo with up and down or + and – controls. All of these niggles were too much for me to live with. Hopefully Positive Grid implement the changes in future releases, but I won't be buying Spark again until they do.Paul

This is a great pedal board amp. Move's serious speaker cab air. Takes up 2 ½ – 3 pedal board spaces. Weighs like 3 pounds. Real amp power, no wall wart power supply. Outputs into any 4/8/16 ohm speaker cab(s), or house mixer / recording console, or another guitar amplifier or head phones or all at once. There are two versions, White and Black. Both amps have the same reverb circuit. Both amps also have a real tube preamp driven by a single 12AX7 tube. If you're up to tweaking have fun trying different 12AX7 preamp tubes until you find your sound. The White is 50 watts at 8 ohms, 100 watts at 4 ohm loads. The White has Tremolo with speed knob. The Black is 100 watts at 8 ohms, 200 watts at 4 ohm loads. Black amp has Boost with amount of boost knob rather than Tremolo, effectively making it a 2 channel amp. The White amp sounds like a Twin Reverb complete with Reverb and Tremolo in a pedal. From sparkling clean to breaking up by maxing out the volume which should be labeled input gain. Then use Master knob to adjust hearing volume, like a slider on a mixing board. The Black amp replaces Tremolo with a Boost. The Boost switch acts like a second channel. Use for leads or going from clean to dirty. Adjust Boost with the Boost knob. If you want Tremolo then add the F-Stop pedal for an additional Reverb + Tremolo. Now this amp becomes a 2 channel amp with R+R+T. Each amp has XLR jacks for going direct to mixing or recording consoles. Also a ¼ inch line out jack at guitar level to send the signal to another guitar amp with its cab. 3mm Stereo Headphone jack. Use this amp with no speaker cab connected. Works well with a chain of FX pedals. Guitar's, Pedal Steels, Keyboards excellent with this amp. Definite recommend. Perfect practice, live performance, plug into house mixer recording monitor, or another amp. This would make for a good backup amp as well. Definite recommend. Reduced carry load to pedal board, guitar, cab.David Seattle