What’s the Best Guitar Amp Under $500? Guitarists Weigh-In
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We tossed one a fun question out to our community last week: what’s the best guitar amp under $500?
Not surprising, a clear pecking order showed up, and the winner was not close. If you’ve been meaning to get yourself a new amp without spending a fortune, here’s the top 3, plus the honorable mentions that came up often, too.
#1. Boss Katana
The Boss Katana was the most popular answer by a wide margin. People said things like:
“Wanna get loud? Get the Boss Katana.”
“Only decent amp at that price is a Boss Katana.”
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There are so many reasons people love this amp.
- It’s under $500
- It’s loud, flexible, and the clean tones are genuinely good
The high-gain side will get you into metal territory without sounding like a buzzing wasp. Boss did a great job of figuring out what most players want from a practice-to-small-gig amp and created this.
And it should tell you something when THAT many guitarists come up with the same answer.
If you’ve been amp-shopping and overthinking it, just go play with a Katana. According to hundreds of guitarists, it’ll set the bar for everything else.
#2. Vox Valvetronix
The Vox Valvetronix came in second place. Several people said something along the lines of, “The Vox valvetronic kills it.”
People love the tube preamp tucked inside the modeling amp. It gives it a feel and a midrange that a lot of pure solid-state modelers tend to miss.
If you chase chime and British crunch, this is the amp to go play.
#3. Roland Cube
The Roland Cube rounds out the top 3. We had several of you answer with this amp saying things like, “ROLAND CUBE BY FAR 👊.”
The Cube is the indestructible little amp that’s been kicking around rehearsal spaces and dorm rooms for 20 years. It’s built to be reliable and hard to kill.
Someone even named the Roland Mobile Cube, the battery-powered one you can take with you pretty much anywhere. The Blues Cube line got a mention too, which is a different, more serious amp.
If you want one amp that works and is loved by so many guitarists, check out the the Roland Cube.
Honorable Mentions
Plenty of great amps that just didn’t make the top three are listed below:
– Fender Mustang (GT100 and Mustang II): This is Fender’s modeling line. It’s the easy on-ramp for a hundred amp tones without having to learn a manual. The GT models get loud enough to gig with; and the older Mustang II is the closet-classic budget pick.
– Boss Nextone: This amp is for the player who wants tube-style feel and response without babysitting actual tubes.
– Fender Frontman: The older Fender Frontman series has a cult following for the sound they get out of the $100 they go for used.
– Marshall M-MG10G-U: This is a one-watt all-tube combo that gets you cranked Marshall grind.
– Yamaha THR (THR10IIW or THR30W): This is the desktop amp that sounds wayy better than how small it appears.
A Final Note
For under $500, our guitarists voted for flexibility and value over a single great clean channel. The modeling amps ran the poll here: Katana, Valvetronix, Cube, Mustang, and Nextone.
A lesson to remember.. there’s no wrong answer here. There are so many amps that would make most players happy for years.
So what do you think? Did we miss your ride-or-die under-$500 amp? Let us know!
