Best Intermediate Guitar Amp (2024 Update)

Just picked one of these and it's been a joy to play. Pretty easy to use with quite a few options. Was able to dial in some tones that sound like my $800-1k tube amps. Honestly this amp is the best bang for your buck amp available imo. I really love the Waza Craft Greenback speaker. I love the .5, 50,100 watt options. Haven't even explored the software yet but I'm confident enough in this amp to give it a 5 star already. This of course is keeping in mind the fact it's essentially a budget amp price. You won't regret spending the money imo. Awesome job, Boss. 🤘 🎸Jason Faust

Sound: Right out of the box? I didn’t even adjust EQs. Set volume and gain, and started playing. Took 0 effort to get 98% of the way to my live tone that is an Orange Rockerverb 100W MK2 and Marshall 212 with V30s. Features: I love the Tone Studio. I did have to pull a star from Ease Of Use because it may be confusing if you’re not good with computers. Ease of Use: If you can’t get a good sound out of this amp, return it, sell your guitars, and find a new hobby. That’s how easy getting a good sound out of this is. Quality: Seems pretty decent. I wouldn’t call it robust, but it doesn’t FEEL as cheap as the price would suggest. Value: 100% worth the price. I’d have paid $100 more for it if I’d have known how good it would sound. Manufacturer Support: I’ve dealt with Roland/Boss in the past, and they’ve always been wonderful. The Wow Factor: Looks good, sounds good, price is good. A perfect practice amp, that could stand in for a small venue in a pinch. Naturally my live rig is a bit much for my apartment, but this is just what the doctor ordered. Overall: Solid state amps have come a long way. A REALLY long way. I’ll be honest, being a tube snob, I had very low expectations. I could have set the bar in the same area as I would a $2,000 and it still would have hopped it effortlessly.Kenny

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

Great sounding clean tones for playing at home, which is why i bought it – my beloved Mustang 1.1 started having issues and I MUST have a great clean tone to relax. Wanted a tube amp and did my research. Decided on the Blackstar. I must say I'm extremely happy with it. The reverb is KILLER to my ear and does a great job at adding shimmer without destroying the tone. No external effects are needed to get a gorgeous clean tone – I use my Zoom G3Xn into the front end to get univibe and compression. The effects loop is very functional. The amp can be very bass heavy, depending on your instrument, but if you run a 10 band EQ (go with MXR) in the loop you amp can achieve any tonal result you want. My best sound comes with everything at 12, with some of the bass rolled off with the MXR EQ – but its just a matter of taste i guess. This amp moves a lot of air when you use the drive channel, and if your not pleased with the amps distortion it does respond really well to distortion pedals. I'm mostly in the clean blues zone but must brag on the amps darker side: it can get very loud and stay rich. I haven't tried any of the direct recording features. The 2 selectable characters of clean that the amp offers thrill me and ,again, the reverb is classy and a bit different from other amps ( I read that is a room reverb). Highly recommended.Tim H.

This amp out of the box sounds fantastic. Crystal clear clean tones and a snarly gain channel that lets you choose between a more American gain tone and a British gain tone. I would say ‘cater for everyone’. But, I received my first amp and within an hour of playing I’d noticed a loud ‘POP’ when changing channels. This pop occurred if a note was being played at the same time as the channel change. (Footswitch and Amp buttons) So, of course I returned the Amp to PMT. they arranged DPD next working day collection for me, completely hassle free. I awaited my next amp, as a direct replacement. A few days later the next Blackstar HT-5R mkii arrived, box fresh like the last. I plugged the amp in, let the tubes warm and away I went. Within minutes of found a great tone again, but the loud ‘POP’ I heard from the first unit was there again on this amp. I tried 4 sockets in the house in case there was any kind of interference/static, but to no avail. Absolutely gutted, I called PMT again. The amp was returned for the second time. Apparently this hasn’t happened to anyone else, I may just be unlucky or the amp may not get along with the electrics in my home. Just check this out as soon as you buy one. I’ve tried two other valve amps on my house since, including a Blackstar Artist 10 AE and an Orange terror with cab, and there’s absolutely zero noise with these. Very important to note here, this is not a slam of PMT, they’ve been absolutely brilliant throughout this whole thing. Customer service is second to none and they are very easy to contact. Used these for a very long time and I will be returning once stores open to try out a new amp.Jack H.

I bought a Fender Champion XL 50 for a small light weight amp to bring to local jam sessions. I have to say I am not disappointed. I know there's no comparing solid state to tubesl when it comes to filling up a room with sound but this little amp cranks. It's closest competition is the Boss Katana and those are really nice. I like the ones I've played, but I'm really into that clean Fender sound and this amp has it in spades. You get the full range of cleans, from black or silver faces to tweeds. There's overdrive and high gain models in there too but as I said it's the cleans that sold me. It is a two channel amp, but I'm not sure why anyone would use the first channel as tall the digital goodies are on the second. That being said, the digital reverb in this amp has a bit of a whistle I don't like. Instead I used the chorus on the amp and a Boss Fender Reverb pedal. If your playing on a stage lugging around a forty pound tube amp may be the thing to do, but for sitting around a garage with friends this amp will save your back and please your ears.ADarkBard

I usually don't leave comments, but feel I must let the frustrated AMP user know, yes Jessica there IS a Santa Claus! Was looking for an AMP that was "SIMPLE" – On channel 1 ONLY the volume is usable, I didn't check but probably the Bass & treble too! On Channel 1 the gain control is set and turning the knob does nothing, and none of the FX are accessible! I was so busy checking out Channel 2 that I didn't check to see if Treble & Bass could be adjusted. You have 12 "Voice Settings" and 13 FX Selections. So I checked out all 12 Voice Settings combined with all 13FX settings – add this to checking these out with a single coil Strat and a Jazz/Full Shred Charvel DK24. I feel this is one of the BEST choices I have made in electric guitar choices! The AMP sound CLEAN!!!! I Imagine Channel 1 would be great with an Accoustic as well! Don't have one though! Channel 2 is GREAT and I don't need any more than it has to offer. It is so uncomplicated & stress free! If you are an expert guitar player and can concentrate more on AMP settings, rather than playing, then go for the Katana 50 MKII, or the VOX Cambridge. I was thinking hard on all three. When I got to GC I had pretty much decided on the Fender Champion 50XL. The VOX Cambridge is $150 to $160 more, with only $10 between the Fender & Katana. Since what is on the AMP is all my mind can handle, I decided to go with the Fender 50XL. It has to be on of the simplest AMPS to operate. I do have an Ibanez Tube Screamer, and if I have a need I can look at other pedals down the road. I do plan on getting a Cry Baby! Latter down the road I might get more pedals, but for right now this AMP has all I need. The Celestion Speaker sound GREAT! I couldn't be happier – it is as loud as I need – It's EASY to learn – NONE of the settings sounded muddy, muffled, or shrill. If I was going to get an AMP that needs a lot of downloading, I would have gone with the VOX Cambride. Glad I traded in my old AMP!Karl, M

Great overall amp. The obvious comparison is the Boss Katana 50. I tried both and I found I could dial in a sound I like from the Champion easier than the Katana. The Katana has way more features and the connect-ability. I prefer just plug in and playing which was far easier with the Champion. One of the largest selling points for me was the headphone jack feature for silent playing. The Champion has it right in front of the control panel and it's a 3.5mm jack. The Katana has one but its on the back and it's a 1/4inch jack which would require an adapter to 3.5mm. The location and the fact that it's 1/4in jack gave the Champion the edge. I also preferred that taller design of the Champion. It made it more comfortable to reach and adjust. Some of the cons are the knobs. especially for the "voice" and the "fx-select". A rotary knob would make it far easier to select the presets. Fender does provide a 3 color LED light that changes when you reach the next model or effect. However, a rotary knob that stops at the preset would be a better. Another con is that the reverb effect is combined with chorus and delay. I would much prefer it to be on it's own rather than combined. This is something that the Katana has. Overall the Champion is great for home use and I would recommend it to someone that wants a good amp that is easy to just plug and play. If you want more effects and enjoy experimenting then the Boss Katana would be a better choice.E. Bran

I dont normally write reviews but…. This amp is amazing! After my son played it for a few minutes his first comment was what I thought about him selling his tube combo. To me that spoke volumes. I bought the foot switch , a must have because it opened up the versatility of the amp, and now plan on purchasing an FV500L volume pedal to complete the package. We cant wait to get this amp connected to the Boss website to see what the capabilities are. It definitely packs a punch and the sound is so clear at any volume.rx7357

Affordable / flexible / portable / (hopefully) reliable – no need to lug a pedal board around, just a tuner – less stress about whether modern flaky valves are going to pack up mid gig (several outdoor gigs with generators have turned me against using my valve amps for those). I have previously borrowed and gigged a friend's Katana 100 head and GA/FC, so knew what to expect. Really needs an external 8 / 16 Ohm speaker jack socket (c.f. Artist model) to be even more flexible for those of us with external cabs. Will be using this one live this afternoon – fingers crossed!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I just played a club that holds about 300 using this amp and was very satisfied. After putting it through the paces in a live situation I would easily recommend this for the gigging guitarist. I ran the 100 watt full volume mode and kept it around 3 with the master volume up full in the clean mode. As I was using pedals, (The usual selection of overdrives and delays) I kept it in the default clean setting that comes right out of the box. The amp was mic'd with an sm57 and the speaker sounded great. Upon further inspection the variable output and full array of effects makes this a good choice for the home studio. Lightweight, loud and pretty inexpensive, I give it 5 stars.DrJ

Overall: This amplifier absolutely rocks! With so many options you can dial in any sound that you want, from crystal clear clean to roaring rhythms and screaming leads. As everyone has already said, the reverb is almost nonexistent. However, the amp, tubes and build are rock solid. BUT… if you really want to blow your mind, swap out the speaker with one that fits your style. My style is classic hard rock so after much research I swapped out the 70 watt Celestion V-Type speaker that it comes with for a 150 watt Eminence Swamp Thang and I swear that it sounds as loud and ballsy as my full-on DSL100 full stack with 1960 cabs. The difference is mind boggling. No fizz, no speaker distortion at all. Just a loud, clear representation of my sound. Obviously the Swamp Thang might not be your speaker of choice but do your research and this will be the only amp you will ever need again!Scott

Sound: With good tubes properly biased, yes. Features: One feature that I absolutely detest is the effects loop button. When it is activated the front of the amp ceases to operate and when deactivated, the front works but the effects loop deactivated. There's no reason for this feature to exist. Substantially limits what the user is able to do. Bad decision in the design. Ease of Use: Just need to fix the owners manual to include specifically how to bias the tubes. Value: At the time I bought it, it was around $800. So at that time, yes. Overall: It took me a while for this amp to grow on me as it sounded like crap out of the box. I replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion V30 and replaced the stock tubes with Ruby EL34STR and a 5751 in the PI as is my typical configuration. Still couldn't get an acceptable tone was fuzzy and grindy. Years later, I learned that you can self bias the amp. After reading forums, there is little info on how to bias the amp and nothing in the manual. I discovered the bias was at 31mv so I turned both to 40mv and HOLY SMOKES this was the tone I've been seeking all these years. Eureka, I found it and it's incredible now. Completely unacceptable that Marshall included zero information in the manual regarding this, which is a pretty important feature. Moreover, it's important that I explain how to bias this. When you place the multimeter leads in the ground and point, one point will give a reading and the other red test point will read zero, always. YOU WILL NOT BE USING THIS TEST POUNT AT ALL. Go back to the one that gives the reading and keep it in that test point and adjust the pot to 40mv. Then, keeping the multimeter lead in the same pot, turn the other bias adjust til they both read 40mv. Next onto the effects loop, there is a button to turn the effects loop on and off as you can not use both simultaneously like in other amps. What good is this feature? Worthless and is an absolute thorn in my side as I would like to use the midi to switch between both which is why I bought it, but can't. Now, the amp does sound good now that it's properly biased as well as replacing the stock speaker, but I lost years of good tone due to the lack of instruction in the instruction manual.Jonathan

Overall: This thing is awesome if you like that Marshall tone this amp is for you, it's really a 4 channel amp if you get the six way Marshall foot switch, if I had to nit pick this amp would be the reverb, don't get me wrong it sounds great and is useable for 90% of what you would need it for, but if your wanting that Gilmour type reverb you'll need to add a reverb pedal in the chain. Where this amp really shines and I discovered this on accident I was messing around with the effects loops and added an EP booster which I would normally run on the front in, and just WOW…adding the EP booster to the loop really opened it up, tamed some of the compression and evened out the gain while improving the tone, sounds more like a JCM800 at this point, I'm super impressed with this little amp and I have some really nice amps in my collection. Let me say I would totally gig with this amp without question. This fact that Marshall made it easy to change and bias tubes is a huge thumbs up as well. Other manufactures please take noteRick

This amp is versatile and easy to use stand-alone. It has a great selection of amp models built-in, along with enough effect and delays so that you can find something that you like fairly quickly. I like the clean and boutique models with some reverb. Then I played around with the other models, adjusting settings and effects. You can adjust everything on the amp, not necessary to connect a computer. I did find it confusing initially due to all the different methods required, i.e. "press a button", "press and hold", "press for 2 seconds", etc. That's why I read the manual a few times! Line6 puts a nice 2-sided "cheat sheet" on top of the amp around the carrying handle which is a lot easier than flipping through small pieces of paper staring at small font printing. So don't remove the amp-topper sheet and toss it in the box with the rest of the packing material :-). The best feature of the Catalyst amp is the manual channel. This is WYSIWYG. Adjust the knobs and controls just like a "regular"amp. You can then save the settings once you get something you like. In the future I will connect the amp to the computer and see what else you can do. Right now I am quite happy with the Catalyst amp and I highly recommend it. Go get one!Gene

After suffering a disabling back injury I needed an amp that was easier and lighter to move and set up than the tube amp combos I was used to playing through. I never cared much for the solid state amps as they could never duplicate the warmth a tube amp provided and was considering retiring from live performance altogether. Then I heard about the Catalyst series of amps and decided to try them out and was amazed! My bandmates were as well, telling me how much more clean and clear my sound was. Programming channels was a snap ( just follow the "cheat sheet on top of the amp and read the manual) and the manual button provides the familiarity of a regular amp, and at a third of the weight of my Blackstar 40 watt tube combo I can continue to perform without dealing with debilitating back pain from moving a 70 pound amp. I was so impressed I went back to GC and got the 60 watt Catalyst as well for home and playing at open mic and jams. I couldn't be happier with these amps and am grateful for the help and guidance the folks at Guitar Center in Concord Ca. always provide.Stephen

I have a few amps that I'm selling and a couple that need work – I picked up this Catalyst 60 on a whim so I'd have something reliable and portable while I'm moving amps around my local used market – but I'm super impressed with this amp and am probably going to upgrade to the 100w model! (In fact, I'll get two because I play in stereo!) I found it impossible to get a bad sound out of this, I plugged in direct with my Vox Virage DC and tried all the possible pickup combinations and did not want to stop playing. Great cleans, great crunch. The higher gain amp settings had me revisiting the metal riffs of my youth, haha. I haven't dived into the software editor because: I haven't needed to. This thing sounds great out of the box.FitzG

I have bought and sold several amps over the past few years, and I think this one's the keeper. It reminds me a bit of the katana 50 in that it has lots of features – but it is far easier to figure out how to use. I wish it had a slightly smaller footprint, for portability's sake, but the sound and usability make up for it. I also wish manufacturers would provide more useful documentation, but there are lots of helpful videos on the web. From clean, to crunch, to filthy – and some Fender Vibratone if you like – this amp can do just about anything.CR

Sound: Its odd they make you choose a rating for manufacturer support seeing as I imaging you would only contact them if you had an issue with your new item and zZounds didn't resolve it Overall: Its way louder than I expected. We don't turn it up past 3. The distortion sounds great. The amp modules sound great. For metal and grunge which my daughter plays its fantastic. I used the acoustic channel for jazz ukulele and it sounds great as well.James

I work at a guitar store so we recently got these amps in, I have to say that it genuinely shocked me? For the price and for what you get, it's pretty darn good
I'm really picky with my amps, so much so that I've only had one amp my whole 5+ years of playing and seeiing this new amp really, made me wanna get one, don't think of it as a legit replacer to a real 6405 or a XXX Head and Cab, think of it as a beginner amp, something to get started one, yes it has a lot of knobs and buttons that may seem intimidating, but take some time to get to know the little beast? You're gonna be kicking fun with this thing for hours.
It has some pretty alright effects besides the amp itself, the only thing I will say is that when passing 4-5 on a distorted amp like the 6505 it rumbles, and not in a good way as well as the whole amp kit app, IOS only? That's a bummer
Besides that, great amp.David Romero

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

This head is rugged enough to endure constant venue changes and climates! The clean tones are like the feeling of warm chicken noodle soup sliding down your throat and into your tummy! Mmm mmm good! The crunch tones are so beefy you'll think you entered the hamburger eating contest at the Farris Truckstop in Missouri! That lead tone though…. Have mercy! Smooth like Betty Crocker and cuts through the mix like a warm butter knife! This head is for anyone looking to make the switch from lil Wayne playing to sounding like Carlos Santana! Well worth the price!Thomas O

I was really surprised at how good this amp sounds. Years ago I tried Line 6 and was not at all happy with the tone; but this is another story. It does take me awhile to dial in a specific classic rock tone, but when I do, it sounds better than any other amp that I've tried. I have tried the Marshall Code, Blackstar id Core, Vox Valvetronix, Boss Katana; as well as some all tube amps. The only other amp that is a close 2nd is the Fender Mustang GTX; also a great amp. The Spider V is fairly easy to operate. It offers lots of choices for amp models and cabinets. I like that it has variations of a mic'd cabinet. The parametric eq is a plus. I haven't played around too much with the effects yet, so I can't comment on that. The only negative thing I could say is that when you're editing a preset and want to hear how it sounds before you save it, you only have a short time before it goes back to the Home Screen. This really is a small price to pay for the quality of the amp and all the versatility it has. I like the App too. Musicians Friend got me a great on this as well; and their agent is following up making sure that I'm satisfied. The funny thing is that I came across this by accident. I placed an order for a Peavey amp that was on back order. I called Peavey multiple times, but they never returned my call. I also emailed them, but they didn't respond to that either. As far as I'm concerned, Peavey doesn't have any customer support.crrkr

Been playing about a year, so my review is from the perspective of a complete newbie. The things I like- Lots of presets, mobile app functions, computer interface, and loads of user created effects available. Nice and loud, but no real basis of comparison to say if clarity is better or worse than other comparable amps. Don't likes- The micro-usb interface. I had to get an adapter and it's just not as good a connection as nearly anything else would be. IMHO, micro-usb is far too flimsy. Connecting to PC is far more problematic than just using the spider mobile app. It's probably a little more complicated than it should be for a beginner, but it's feature rich for the money.Nic T

I had a Line 6 120w amp for years that I regrettably sold a while ago and was looking for another amp. I looked at all the amp reviews I could find and decided that the new Katana was the way to go. I got the Katana home and absolutely loved it but the second day I had it it started a really loud buzzing that I couldn't stop. It probably was an easy fix but the fact is the amp was way too powerful for my purposes and their software wasn't compatible with the new Catalina OS. I returned and started looking again. I saw the 60w Spider V and the price was excellent so I made an on the spot decision to buy another Line 6 and I'm really glad I did. The tones this amp can get are incredible. There are so many amp models and cabs that you can dial in pretty much any tone you want from a crispy snapback country clean to the most vicious heavy metal and everything in between. You can use the presets as they are or you can use them as a baseline and tweak to your own liking or you can start from scratch and build your own rig from the ground up. The controls are intuitive and easy to use but there are some features where you'd have to be a professional to really know how to use or even care to use. The software and the mobile app are so easy to use and give you all the options at your fingertips. The amp comes with a lot of presets that I find are completely useless but there are a lot that are excellent as I already talked about. There are only four empty slots for your own custom presets and I wish there were more but if you use the mobile app you can have your own tone library on there. I bought the FBV3 foot controller so that gives me a lot of flexibility to have various effects. One of the limitations is the lack of good effects though. There's enough that if you work at it you can get a decent sound but there could be some better ones. Overall I would recommend the amp. Don't listen to the naysayers or the amp snobs, it's a quality amp and extremely versatile.Just Plain Joe

I bought this amp to have a small, cheap portable amp to play harmonica through. For that, it is decent enough. I use a Shure bullet mic and the amp produces good enough tone and is plenty loud for practice or small gigs. When I plug my tele into it the clean channel is decent and clear, but the overdrive channel is junk and hurts my ears. I would rather run the clean channel and use a fuzz or distortion pedal. So that being said it is decent enough to practice licks on and it is tiny so it tucks away easy. If you look around you can find a bigger amp with more features used for the same price but if you want a new amp, this one is probably worth what they charge for it. I would only buy it if you have a specific purpose for it though.Roy

It's small, and pretty portable. However, the sound quality is trash, given the speaker is tiny, but the overdrive is just horrible. If you buy this, try returning it. If you can't return it, just get a fuzz pedal and leave it on clean. Imo, just buy the mustang lt25-50Hotdog Games

What an awesome little amp! And plug the line outs into something bigger and you can well and truly deafen yourself with sonic pleasure. Pretty straight forward to use but you do need to watch your levels when changing amp models – they can vary a lot. Longer battery life would be a bonus and I'll def need a little bag for it. Fast service and good price from Better Music. Thumbs up from me.John H.

When I buy something that does so much but I don't need to read any manuals to operate it I know I've made the right choice. Sounds are fantastic, my favourite amp so far is the boutique, it feels very natural, not boomy like my previous desktop type amp. The effects are great, particularly the reverbs. I find myself taking it out of our little 'work from home office' while my wife or the kids are in there and noodling in the living room or the kitchen with it because I haven't had to faff around with power cables 🙂 It has a flat setting so I use that when I'm playing around with modeller settings for gigs rather than dragging out my powercab at home. The app is really easy to use and opens up a nice compressor plus cab options etc. The clincher for me over the smaller units is the 1/4 inch line outs, I can chuck it in the car and it's there as a back up incase my gigging amp packs up. I'm no bass player but I play a bit at home and this sounds way better than going into a guitar amp or using a bass amp on amplitube on my pc. This is easily the best music purchase I've made in recent years and I'm playing more music because of it 🙂Archie W.

I have a Marshall 1974x that I have not touched since I bought this THR30II. There is no real comparison but this Yamaha is so addictive. Clean tones are superb the crunch channel in classic mode is a my fave. The onboard effects are really good. I just shelled out e few Bob on a thorny flanger and this has a perfectly good flanger built in. The hall reverb is beyond good. In summary rock tones are good but cleans/crunch are fantastic. I trusted other reviews of this amp against things like positive grid/katana etc but this just hits the spot. I love playing the slow Peter Green blues stuff it’s perfect. It’s not a one trick pony it has loads of nice tones perfect for home use at friendly volumes than the Marshall 18 watt. Highly recommend.HappyYammyTHR p.

I've been playing night clubs, Casinos, Hot Rod Runs, Bike Runs, weddings, parties, and everything since 1979. I used to use 2 Fender Twin Reverbs with Celestian G-12-65's and a rack of effects processors (to run STEREO), with a octopus of wiring to set up at every gig, plus an octopus of switches and stomp boxes and wall warts on power sttrips on the floor. Set up time and tear down time took hours. Sometimes all that wiring maze would pick up the 60 cycle hum, and what a mess locating the buzz! After a gig I had to set all that stuff up again at my home studio to practice. Sometimes there was no time… In 1996 I bought a Line 6 Flextone 2-12 (stereo) and that changed everything. It ended all the major problems and electrical buzzes. I programmed the Flextone right next to my Fender Twins and matched the tones exactly on the Flextone. WOW! No more Octopus Monster and Heavy Gear! I have since had a Spider III HD 120 with 412 bottom, 2 Spider III 210 combo's a Spider Valve 100 head, and recently a Spider IV 120 210. I Use the Spider iii 120 210 and Spider IV 120 210 amps on stage exclusively, with an FBV floorboard. Very Simple for stage and Awesome Sound everywhere I play! But again, many times my gear is loaded in a trailer, or at the venue and I need something that sounds like my Spider IV,,, so I got a Spider IV 15 watt. I quickly dialed in my 6o's Fender Reverb Tone for Country and Surf Tone on Ch 1, my StevieRay Vaughan "Little Wing" tone on Ch 2, The Stevie Ray Vaughan Roto-Vibe Tone on Ch 3, and a Van Halen tone on the Insane CH 4. I'm good to go! The only thing missing, is that the larger Spider Amps have a separate Reverb knob and the Spider 15 shares either the Echo Delay or reverb on the same knob, so you can't have both to smooth out the delay. It's one or the other on the Delay or the Reverb, but that's not a big deal on a great practice amp, that i could use onstage if I had a mishap with my other amps. Sounds best when you aren't pushing the master all the way to the max. Crank it up, dial in your tones, then back it off about 7 on the Channel Volumes, match them, and run the master at about 6 or 7. I can switch the channels with my FBV Floorboard and use it for practicing in real small rooms with a band. If it's not loud enough…Mic it! The tones I use are there and I can pack this amp in 2 minutes and walk out with my guitar without breaking my back with the heavier stuff. Fits right on my front seat. Done Deal! If it's your first amp, it's probably the best starter amp for the money, and for me, I have my tones dialed in for practice anywhere with no hassles.Kenny

Ups dropped it off yesterday, and it is everything I hoped, but better. The metal and insane channels are perfect. The clean is gorgeous, for a sort of metal clean tone. If you want to play a lot of Zeppelin or Pink Floyd, you might be better off with a Vypyr. but if you want Mettallica and Crue, to A7X, back to AC/DC and Aerosmith, youll love it. The metal channel is heavy as hell, and can still get up and throw piercing highs and mids. Everything is tight and punchy as hell. The biggest thing that shocked me was the clarity at seemingly stupid volumes for such a small amp. MF was out of stock when I ordered it, and I still had it in 7 days with free shipping. I highly recommend this amp to all metalheads. Thanks Musicians Friend and Line 6. RNFRJag

Very satisfied with this guitar amp. It has a lot of great effects, like flanger, reverb, tremolo, and tape echoes (to name a few). It's very fun to mess around with settings to create great spacey sounds and heavy, sludgy tones. It's also very easy to use. The amplifier also has very useful features, like a built-in tuner and a "save" feature, where the amp can save and remember four different settings at the push (and hold) of a button. It has great tone, volume, and variety, and it picks up things like pinch harmonics extremely well on the Metal and Insane tones. It's also pretty light to carry. I'd definitely recommend this amp for someone just starting out and for someone who's rather experienced with guitar playing. Great price for an amazing amplifier.Katastrophecy

I have owned several amps in the last 40yrs. Always looking for "that tone" and never quite found it. Peavey's a Marshall and a Carvin. The last being a 100W head. And with all of them and a line 6 floor pod, was never happy. I am so happy with this head on my 4×12 marshall cab that all I have used the floor pod for is the tuner. I'm sure at some point I will probably use the pod for some effects, but for what I mostly play its not really needed. Of course there are many things that can effect this so ill just give a short list of the main guitars I use and the pickups. Gibson Les Paul with Slash Seymour Duncan's, wired 50's and a Gibson 137 all stock. I no longer play out so the 100w Carvin was just not good in my basement. Couldn't push it to the point of natural breakup in a confined space. This amp goes from almost crystal clean to a beautiful natural saturation. And the dirty channel picks up where the clean leaves off and goes to the verge of metal. Throw a overdrive pedal in the mix and there isn't much you couldn't play on the fly.Brad B

I have had it for a week and love it. It goes from super clean to full on metal overdrive. Price was good—delivered quick. Seems well built enough. The only thing I would change is to give the clean / classic channel some crunch so i could go from a light crunch to a heavy lead sound when switching channels because the clean channel is clean even when fully cranked. The DSL100 has a crunch option on the clean channel so it would be nice to have it here as well. But you can use the ultra gain channel and use the guitar volume to clean it up etc. I assume the clean channel would take pedals well from other reviews I have seen. Overall it rocks and gets really loud. Gig-able I think. Highly recommended.Tuckerman

I bought 2 of these heads to drive Marshall MX12 cabinets. I was previously using 2 Marshall DSL40CR combo amps. I thought I could save space by having the small heads instead. I was wrong. FYI, the DSL40CR amps sound great (mine are upgraded with Creamback speakers). First off, the amps both had horrific white noise when you turned up the reverb. 2) one amp made some weird static noise when you moved your hand around the face plate, touching the face plate actually changed the tone. I have never in my almost 30 years of using guitar amps had this. 3) The amps sounded thin and tinny. To the point they were unusable. I returned them for a refund and when both amps arrived at Musicians Friend, they stated that they only received one amp (although both amps arrived the same day). A day later the 2ne amp was marked as received. I received one amps refund on Saturday, and now I guess I have to wait till Monday for the second refund. What a joke. BTY, I also ordered a brand new EHX pedal when I bought the amps and they sent me a used one instead! Musicians Friend is such a joke now a days it's sad.MLM

Love this amp. I got it for a portable grab and go that's loud enough to be heard over drums. It's a million times easier to move than my head and cab, and it's plenty loud when you crank it. It was easy dialing in tones in both channels. The clean channel is good, but not spectacular. The reverb choices help a lot. I'm not a reverb guy, but I actually love the reverb on this amp. If sparkling cleans are your priority get a JC120. The dirty channel is a monster. Add some hall reverb and you have a killer Van Halen tone. Turn off the reverb and you have Pantera up the wazoo. The voice of the world speaker sounds pretty decent. As you turn up the amp the tone stays generally the same, and doesn't get muddy. I put a Celestion 75 watt creamback, and a heavy gauge speaker cable in mine and it's phenomenal sounding now. Fat and full at low volumes, and when you crank it the punch and clarity get better the louder you go. Get this amp. Sounds great straight out of the box. Upgrade the speaker and you'll have a pro grade sounding amp that will destroy anything in its path.Lank Dangle

This is stellar I had no idea just how good it would be. Looks great in black – I was so close to an orange Orange but a just preferred the understated looks of this… The clean channel is punchy and I've had no trouble dialling in a great bright clean sound with my Les Paul on 10 its just before break up my Tele sounds sublime through it. The dirty channel can go crazy, but that's not my thing. I've got a nicely screaming tone available but tend to roll the guitar volume back to 7/8 sounds good… cleans up around 6 and is very useable. It's a keeper the reverbs are good I'm running around 2 maybe just 3 using plate. The master volume is good dosen't suck the tone when low so very useful for playing at home. I've push some drive pedals into the front but I love the dirty channel so have been using that on its own. With my looper I'm using the dirty channel creating a loop with the guitar vol backed off and then pushing the amp with the guitars vol control for lead. it's so much fun sounds ace.Nicholas C.

This amp is incredible! There is no reason for a bad review of this product!!!! I've played for 44 years on stage, recorded, collected guitars and amplifiers, I am a guitar tech, sound engineer, touring musician, also I have one set of ears! I have played almost every giggable amp made, and every guitar sound from humbuckers to single coils. I love this amp because in one beautiful box at 60w I can get almost any sound that I want, I dont care if I can plug into a toaster through a 4×12 cab, if it sounds great, it is. If your guitar is set up, your cables are good, your amp is properly grounded, and your strings are clean, you do not have to get into the I need 21 pedals thing, just plug in, maybe have a few pedals, and turn it up!!!! Tubes sound great, but with all the pcb problems a lot of amps do not have the mojo that they did back in the days of craftmanship. This amp is the modern choice for me, at a great price, It sounds fantastic, no tube swap, failure, pcb burn through, or babying. This amp reminds me of old tube amps I played in the 70s that were made in the 60s get one, I got mine price reduced. After cranking it for 20 hours, I will see if it gets better, it already sounds second best of any amp I've ever owned, its portable, you can mike it, also it sounds close to my all time favorite amp, a jcm 800 50w!Eddie Chicago

'm a novice guitar player with less than 2 years experience, but I reached the point that I wanted to experiment with different tones and effects. The problem is that it would be very expensive to do this with different pedals, amps, guitars etc. I ordered the CODE 50 sight unseen after researching reviews & videos online, and it fits the bill perfectly. CODE 50 is an affordable way to play around with a crazy number of tones and effects & find your sound. I'm sure there are plenty of experts & purists out there that will find flaws with this amp, as it models (imitates) a number of historically great amps from Marshall, & what I presume are a version of Fender amps ("American Clean" etc). Does the BluesBreaker preset sound identical to the BluesBreaker amp that Clapton was playing in the 60s? Close enough for me cause it sounds pretty radical! There are a number of presets that are just epic for playing blues, rock, metal, on & on. Pick a genre of music and you can generate a tone that will fit right in. All of the presets can be tweaked to the players specifications. You want more reverb on that reverb? Dial it up. Some of the things I notice after just playing it a few times: As billed, CODE 50 is LOUD, so be careful. Not a complaint; I wanted something versatile enough to practice at home, but be loud enough to jam with others. There are some pretty big discrepancies in the volumes between a few of the presets, another thing you have to be careful with when toggling back and forth between presets. While plenty of the presets sound unique, there are a few that sound a bit redundant, or maybe just so close in tone to another that it feels that way. There are one or two that I can't imagine anyone using ("Virus?" Virus sounds like someone is strangling an organ-at least that's what she said!). Overall, if you want an affordable way to experiment with tone, get loud, and have fun, the CODE 50 is a rad choice. Thanks Marshall!Jeremy

I've been playing on and off for 20 years. Mostly an attenuated tube amp guy and a gear tinkerer. Found one of these on the showroom and gave it a quick whirl. This quickly led to buying one. Cons: The more time I spent the more I realized how limited the stock speaker is. It's super directional and the bass is a bit boomy and hard to dial out without removed too many lower mids. It still sounds good, but it can be much better. The stock preset settings, like a lot of reviews, leave me scratching my head. The resonance, presence and gate settings in particular tend to screw with the quality of sound as set from the factory. There's no speaker out, so I installed one. If you want this amp to shine, you'll need to do a speaker swap or plug into a 4×12. Marshall should have done this. Pros: The goods are definitely there, but you need to scratch the surface. Once you get that direction figured out, it's very easy to dial in your own settings which will differ quite a bit from the factory presets. I have a 4×12 w/ Vintage 30's and this amp sounds amazing plugged in. The JTM, Plexi, JCM, JVM, American amps all sound outstanding. But the JTM45 in particular sounds outstanding. Effects are great and I'm starting to use certain effects that I normally wouldn't buy a pedal for simply because they're in the amp. Another must do is to figure out your speaker choices for each amp. I'm a Vintage 30 fan, so after changing the speaker to V30's on all the amps, to me it sounds much better. It's a good tool to be able to hear what different speakers will do at the turn of a button, just to see what characteristics in speakers you may like. My secret sauce with this amp is my Les Paul through a 10 band EQ (to boost the highs you loose using the speaker emulations through a 4×12 with those emulated speakers), through a Marshall BB-2 for boost, into Marshall Code on JTM45 through the 4×12 w/ Vintage 30's. Absolute heaven going on with this, even at low volumeWisconsinski

The marshall code 50 and all other modeling amps are not plug and play,you have to dig in and change the parameters in the amp and create user presets that sound good to you! If it sounds good then it is good! If you want your amp model to sound just like the tube amp it is modeled from,then buy the tube amp. I have other modeling amps and my peavey vypyr 75 recto model that i like very much does not sound just like a mesa but i tweaked it to sound good for what i like,i think the marshall code amps sound very close to there own tube amplifiers that there modeled after and that is how good amp modeling is getting.I just want to mention some things you can do to improve the sound of your marshall code,first break in your amps speaker for about 100 hours by playing your amp fairly loud a few hours a day,about two months or you can play MP3 music through the AUX input. This will smooth out the harsh higher frequencies and break in the speaker for better low end without the speaker farting out.Here is a great tip for the bluesbreaker and other amp models that have too much low end,when i first heard the bluesbreaker model the low end was muddy and had too much bass even with the bass and resonance turned down to 0! I tried my behringer PB100 pre amp booster pedal with the bass control turned down to a 7 o clock position and that did the trick,the low end mud was gone and the mid frequencies stood out like i never heard before! It just sounded great now! I then tried my behringer TO100 tube overdrive pedal and i could not believe that the bluesbreaker model even sounds better then the pre amp booster! The TO100 overdrive also cut out the low end mud and the mid frequencies were smoother and the higher E and B strings on my guitar had a nice round tube tone without thin sounding harshness! I also tried the marshall codes internal OD and GVR pedal effects but my behringer TO100 sounded much better!MarshallMan50

I was really surprised at how good this amp sounds. Years ago I tried Line 6 and was not at all happy with the tone; but this is another story. It does take me awhile to dial in a specific classic rock tone, but when I do, it sounds better than any other amp that I've tried. I have tried the Marshall Code, Blackstar id Core, Vox Valvetronix, Boss Katana; as well as some all tube amps. The only other amp that is a close 2nd is the Fender Mustang GTX; also a great amp. The Spider V is fairly easy to operate. It offers lots of choices for amp models and cabinets. I like that it has variations of a mic'd cabinet. The parametric eq is a plus. I haven't played around too much with the effects yet, so I can't comment on that. The only negative thing I could say is that when you're editing a preset and want to hear how it sounds before you save it, you only have a short time before it goes back to the Home Screen. This really is a small price to pay for the quality of the amp and all the versatility it has. I like the App too. Musicians Friend got me a great on this as well; and their agent is following up making sure that I'm satisfied. The funny thing is that I came across this by accident. I placed an order for a Peavey amp that was on back order. I called Peavey multiple times, but they never returned my call. I also emailed them, but they didn't respond to that either. As far as I'm concerned, Peavey doesn't have any customer support.crrkr

Been playing about a year, so my review is from the perspective of a complete newbie. The things I like- Lots of presets, mobile app functions, computer interface, and loads of user created effects available. Nice and loud, but no real basis of comparison to say if clarity is better or worse than other comparable amps. Don't likes- The micro-usb interface. I had to get an adapter and it's just not as good a connection as nearly anything else would be. IMHO, micro-usb is far too flimsy. Connecting to PC is far more problematic than just using the spider mobile app. It's probably a little more complicated than it should be for a beginner, but it's feature rich for the money.Nic T

I had a Line 6 120w amp for years that I regrettably sold a while ago and was looking for another amp. I looked at all the amp reviews I could find and decided that the new Katana was the way to go. I got the Katana home and absolutely loved it but the second day I had it it started a really loud buzzing that I couldn't stop. It probably was an easy fix but the fact is the amp was way too powerful for my purposes and their software wasn't compatible with the new Catalina OS. I returned and started looking again. I saw the 60w Spider V and the price was excellent so I made an on the spot decision to buy another Line 6 and I'm really glad I did. The tones this amp can get are incredible. There are so many amp models and cabs that you can dial in pretty much any tone you want from a crispy snapback country clean to the most vicious heavy metal and everything in between. You can use the presets as they are or you can use them as a baseline and tweak to your own liking or you can start from scratch and build your own rig from the ground up. The controls are intuitive and easy to use but there are some features where you'd have to be a professional to really know how to use or even care to use. The software and the mobile app are so easy to use and give you all the options at your fingertips. The amp comes with a lot of presets that I find are completely useless but there are a lot that are excellent as I already talked about. There are only four empty slots for your own custom presets and I wish there were more but if you use the mobile app you can have your own tone library on there. I bought the FBV3 foot controller so that gives me a lot of flexibility to have various effects. One of the limitations is the lack of good effects though. There's enough that if you work at it you can get a decent sound but there could be some better ones. Overall I would recommend the amp. Don't listen to the naysayers or the amp snobs, it's a quality amp and extremely versatile.Just Plain Joe

I have been playing guitar for 25 years, and my genre stretches from hardcore metal in drop tunings to smooth clean blues riffs. I was running a Mesa Boogie Mark V35 combo for the versatility but that was a little too much amp to practice on, or be comfortable dragging around from house to house. I still needed something loud with punch to practice with at reasonable volumes when necessary. I looked at other competitive amp modelers on the market, however they didn't work for me due to software issues. I bought the smaller version of this and immediately stepped up to the bigger one because it was too good!! I was able to plug and play immediately and access all features WITHOUT a laptop, tablet or phone, although these can help, the built in interface on the front of the amp is intuitive enough to let me access and program all of my amps, effects and parameters without any extra gear. I love the fact if I'm doing acoustic sets, the full range speaker shimmers, however, classic speaker mode sounds no different than my Mesa did! I find myself going to this amp more frequently and playing more due to not having to mess with tubes warming up, pedalboards etc. The wireless feature on the upper models makes grabbing and playing even less of a hassle and the XLR outs make recording a breeze. I could not ask for a better amp, especially at the price point. Save your tubes for the gigs and get this amp. I have not felt any limitation to my sound at all which I was initially worried about. Don't forget to pick up the foot controller as well!Andrew

This amp will do a lot. You have the options of 78 different amps, 24 cabinets, 10 distortions, 14 delays, 13 reverbs and many more options. I have not found anything I don't like about it.Carlson

I’ve had an earlier model, not sure the name but I was like, okay I recognize this I’ll just get a newer model & boy was I amazed when I received this amp. It controls the feedback real well so when you’re not playing it’s quiet then all the setting are to die for, there’s some generic one then they get nicer then there’s some based off of actual songs which I caught a couple. I definitely would recommend this amplifier to anyone getting into electric guitars especially with the ams payment plan for bad to good credit.Ghost Tha Reaper

The Ac-10not only looks the business but it has since real depth and warmth to its tone. Clean – it’s bright and has the chime you’d expect. Turn up the gain and your tone breaks up but still retains clarity. Having the gain wide open and master volume down means you can still have the saturated crunch but not disturb others . Perfect for home use but would not be out of place in a small pub gig. Takes pedals will and with a multi-fix like a GT 100, if you disable the amp sim and use like a conventional pedal board, you don’t lose any quality of the AC10’s natural tone. A masterful amp and it even smells nice with those tubes cooking.Mark R.

Ive been playing 35 years and this is probably the best all around practice amp ive ever heard. Pros- looks great, sounds very good, cleans thump and chime, distortion can wail. Its loud for its size. Seems built well. Have had no bad issues. Cons- clean isnt near as loud as w the gain cranked up. No reverb. In short if this amp was 50-100W and had reverb and an external speaker jack id never play another amp. Good job VOX.jjsrvfan