best cheap home practice amp

[7starshadowashes]

Hello me and my brother share our studio and it’s getting unbearable he’s such a hog. Our recording equipment is also our only amp that we have (interphase, plugins, speakers etc) I need a small practice amp to practice on, currently playing acoustically in my bathroom rehearsing material with guitar pro playing. what’s the latest greatest thing ? I’ve had a boss katana before but don’t need anything that big and I think their smaller stuff doesn’t sound too good. What can i get that sounds decent ? I’m a big Jason Richardson fan. only looking to spend around 250? I see the joyo amps they sound decent what else like that is out there ? Thanks!

 

[Hollowway]

You want specifically to play through a speaker, or are you up for headphones only? If you're practicing in the bathroom, I'm assuming that space, and maybe noise level, are issues, so you could get a smaller unit that would allow you to pipe in an aux source, and then play guitar (on one of various amp models) along with it.

 

[Kosthrash]

For something smaller than the boss katana under $250, I'd go either for the Joyo Zombie ii, or for a Peavey Vypyr / transtube combo amp. The Orange crush 20rt are nice sounding practice amps too...

 

[gnoll]

what’s the latest greatest thing ? I’ve had a boss katana before but don’t need anything that big and I think their smaller stuff doesn’t sound too good. What can i get that sounds decent ?

A lot of the tone comes from the speaker. Cheap practice amps often have bad speakers, especially the ones smaller than 12".

My approach for practice amps is to find some used 1x12 combo with a proper speaker, like a decent Celestion or something, and that has a good master volume.

 

[Whoman Bean]

Joyo Zombie II + 112 - nothing beats that.

 

[ATRguitar91]

I really liked my Peavey Vypyr. Enough effects and plenty of good sounding amp sims.

 

[budda]

Sort out a schedule with your brother and dont buy anything

 

[7starshadowashes]

he actually mentioned a schedule, day 5 of “a few takes” he’s impossible in this situation lol I don’t blame him completely we are 10 hours at least a day on the music atm

Sort out a schedule with your brother and dont buy anything

 

[ExMachina]

I don't know about the best, but I asked for the Mooer hornet 05i for silent playing when I'm upstairs.

 

[ATRguitar91]

I've got no experience with it, but the Mooer Prime P1 or P2 seems like it'd be cool for headphone practice.

Could pair it with a pedal poweramp and cheap 112 cab for a pretty awesome practice rig. Might have to stretch your budget or be very patient with used deals.

 

[Phxguy66]

You might look into the Positive Grid Spark 40, or if you need something smaller, check out their Mini. Right now, they’re having some great deals for the holidays on all their stuff. I have the Spark 40 and the CAB, and I’m lovin’ them.

 

[Hollowway]

Joyo Zombie II + 112 - nothing beats that.

That's a solid suggestion, but I'd even say a good 10" speaker would be good. I've been reading a lot about 10" speakers, and their inherent tightness, so I am actually looking into a 1x10 (or 2x10) for home.

 

[FearTheDeer]

Another vote for the Peavy Vypyr. Keep one in the living room for noodling while I’m watching movies/TV. Not gonna blow anyone’s socks off, but it does what it needs to do.

 

[Kosthrash]

As an alternative solution within your tight budget, you could build a really small backpack rig based on 2 pedals (a preamp like the Joyo's chopper z / Dark flame / Rigel, and a poweramp pedal like the HB GPA-100 ) and a small 10" or 12" cab of your choice.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Another vote for the Peavy Vypyr. Keep one in the living room for noodling while I’m watching movies/TV. Not gonna blow anyone’s socks off, but it does what it needs to do.

I also use a Peavey Vypyr in my living room, as a convenient secondary rig. Very versatile and easy to dial in. Sounds decent for the price and at low volumes.

 

[Ben Pinkus]

I also use a Peavey Vyper 15 for this kind of practice oddly enough

 

[cthroatgtr]

Depends on what you need overall. The Blackstar Fly is pretty good for being something so small. I take that one to hotels as it fits in my suitcase. Another option is the Hotone nano amps they actually sound really good. You can find deals on them all the time but you will need a cab. I use an 8" Randall cab for that purpose and it can actually server as a backup amp if your amp blows as a gig. I have the captain sunset (Soldano) but lots of options to choose from. Shopping used can yield good results for very little cash.

 

[JimboLodisC]

smaller than a 1x12" combo? Boss also makes the Katana Air and Mini if you wanted to stick with that product line, but there's also a Positive Grid Spark (either the stereo 40W, Mini, or the tiny Go model), a Yamaha THR, and Mooer has the SD30i... anything smaller/cheaper than that will most likely be a toy

if you're mostly going to be in headphones then I'd say to grab a modeler

 

[fabronaut]

I like having something that's plug and play. it's fun to screw around with different sounds and settings... but it exacerbates my ADD and distracts me from y'know... actually playing and practicing.

I often get the most out of my Yamaha THR10. it takes the least amount of time to set up and I can easily bring it to another room. there's a simple aux stereo in to play along with music, and it sounds decent since they're full range speakers. I think the guitar sounds are fed through something similar to a fixed IR per preset, so they sound "real" enough in that sense.

you can find the old THR series used for reasonable money. I wish they'd done more with the THR-ii series refresh -- especially not limiting basic features like the amp bank switch to the top model. they sound good, but there's probably much better value for money elsewhere. artificial product segementation is annoying as hell.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Huge fan of the Yamaha THR series amps... ultra low volume if necessary without sacrificing tone... Plus ultra small real-estate needs. Never played thru any small amp that sounded better than my THRX. if anything happened to mine, I'd buy another tomorrow without blinking an eye.