Best Small Guitar Amps Review: Top 15 Picks To Play & Practice Everywhere!

All Stringed is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more


Welcome to my review of the 15 best small guitar amps to play & practice everywhere!

Stay with me on this journey to discover a portable amplifier to practice on the road or play at home. You can be sure that there is a lot to talk about these little marvels.

Join me on this magical and mystery tour to discover the 15 best guitar small amplifiers for home use and practice.

Our Top 5 Choices For Small Guitar Amps

Overall Rating: 5/5

5/5

Vox Mini 3 G2

This tiny but strong three-watt amp is like a Rocky Balboa that knockouts Apollo Creed in the first round. Packed with eleven great amp models, it supplies a vast set of tones from transparent cleans to full shred overdrive and shows that small can sound huge.

Overall Rating: 4.8/5

4.8/5

Boss Katana Mini

The Boss Katana Mini is an easy to use tiny samurai that has arrived from Japan to smash the small guitar amps competition. It is a portable practice amp with 7 watts driving a 4-inch speaker that will make you invest a small budget to get an amp that generates many wonderful tones.

Overall Rating: 4.7/5

4.7/5

Orange Crush Mini

When you buy the Orange Crush Mini, you get Orange’s tiniest amp that packs a big punch. You also get classic Orange tones in a lightweight package. It is the best budget small guitar amp to jam in your bedroom or warming up backstage.

Overall Rating: 4.6/5

4.6/5

Fender Mini '57 Twin Amp

The Fender Mini ’57 Twin is a super-cool small amp that packs in two 2-inch speakers and looks like a model amp. This tiny twin amp comes with a realistic vintage visual vibe due to the genuine tweed-covered wood cab.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

4.5/5

Blackstar Fly 3

With the Blackstar Fly 3, you get a handy and practical cutting-edge 3-watt mini amp. This innovative guitar amp brings you two channels (Clean and Overdrive) and a 3-inch speaker delivering true Blackstar tones.

The 15 Best Small Guitar Amps To Play & Practice Wherever You Want!

#1 Vox Mini 3 G2 Review - Best Overall Small Guitar Amp

This tiny but strong three-watt amp is like a Rocky Balboa that knockouts Apollo Creed in the first round. Packed with eleven great amp models, it supplies a vast set of tones from transparent cleans to full shred overdrive and shows that small can sound huge.

Vox is bringing the next generation of portable modeling electric guitar amps with the Vox Mini 3 G2 for those who are always on the move. If you are one of them, the G2 is the perfect choice for you because it is lightweight, has an outstanding design, and incredible sound quality.

The G2 delivers you portability and freedom to brighten your sound. With these amp models, you get amp emulation settings to access 11 authentic tube amp savors. You also get a range of enhanced built-in effects, plus an innovative Bassilator circuit that delivers a rich low end that is completely comparable with high-gain models.

The G2 can work for up to ten hours on six AA batteries, it comes with an AC power supply, and it also has an onboard tuner.

Here’s what you’ll love

Here’s what you might not like

Conclusion

The Vox Mini3 G2 is one of the best solid-state amps with 3-watt power and a 5-inch speaker that delivers a wonderful high-gain tone. It also has a dedicated mic input with separate master volume-delay-reverb controls.

It features the Bassilator circuit that produces a rich low-end; 11 genuine built-in amp models based on Vox Valvetronix technology; 8 FX types including chorus, flanger, tremolo, compressor, delay, and reverb; and an Aux input jack to connect any of your audio source and jam along.

Overall Rating: 5/5
5/5

#2 Boss Katana Mini Review - Best Value for Money Small Guitar Amp

The Boss Katana Mini is an easy to use tiny samurai that has arrived from Japan to smash the small guitar amps competition. It is a portable practice amp with 7 watts driving a 4-inch speaker that will make you invest a small budget to get an amp that generates many wonderful tones.

The Katana is a big rock tone, compact, great value amp between the best little amps on the market. It has received accolades from electric guitar players everywhere for its great sounding.

Thanks to its analog gain circuit and three selectable voicings, the Katana combo amplifier delivers exceptional sound in a compact, portable package.

The Clean amp voicing provides a bright tone with a wide dynamic range, while the Crunch amp voicing offers overdriven rhythm tones. In addition to this, the Brown voicing delivers an iconic high-gain tone ideal for metal leads.

With the Katana, BOSS makes the Katana tone accessible in a small, portable amp that runs on batteries. The Katana guitar amp is your ideal practice partner.

Here’s what you’ll love

Here’s what you might not like

Conclusion

With the Katana, you get a great Katana tone in a highly portable amp. It is undoubtedly one of the best practice guitar amps you can get. Its rich sound far exceeds other guitar amps in its class.

You can experiment with a wide range of sounds thanks to its three-band analog tone EQ, three versatile amp types (Brown, Crunch, and Clean), and its authentic multi-stage analog gain circuit.

You can take the BOSS Katana everywhere. It is a compact size, robust carry handle that weighs less than three pounds. You get up to seven hours of operation by powering it with six AA batteries.

Overall Rating: 4.8/5
4.8/5

#3 Orange Crush Mini Review ‎ - Best Budget Small Guitar Amp

When you buy the Orange Crush Mini, you get Orange’s tiniest amp that packs a big punch. You also get classic Orange tones in a lightweight package. It is the best budget small guitar amp to jam in your bedroom or warming up backstage.

If you are a beginner who wants to practice at home or a pro that wants to play on the road or warm-up backstage, the Crush Mini is the perfect companion for you, and it is between the best home practice amps that you can catch right now.

You get access to all kinds of classic sounds due to the Crush’s simple controls layout. You can get heavy distortion by cranking up the Gain or dial in clean tones by backing off the Gain and turning the Volume control up.

You can hook up the Crush to almost any speaker cabinet and get an amazing, great sound thanks to its Speaker Output of 8 Ohms minimum.

You can play your favorite tracks using the Aux-In, you can tune your guitar with the Crush Mini’s built-in tuner, and you also can mute the speaker for silent practice connecting your headphones to the Crush Mini’s output.

Here’s what you’ll love

Here’s what you might not like

Conclusion

The Crush Mini is a mighty 3-watt practice amp powered by a standard 9-volt battery or a 9-volt pedal power supply.

You can turn your Crush Mini into a battery-powered amp head to play on stage by connecting a cabinet to the 8-ohm speaker output.

You get the iconic orange vinyl and woven grille in addition to a minimalistic layout of controls that include Gain (drive), Shape (EQ), and Volume.

Overall Rating: 4.7/5
4.7/5

#4 Fender Mini '57 Twin Amp Review

The Fender Mini ’57 Twin is a super-cool small amp that packs in two 2-inch speakers and looks like a model amp. This tiny twin amp comes with a realistic vintage visual vibe due to the genuine tweed-covered wood cab.

With the Mini ’57, you get a versatile and portable Fender practice amp with a simple control layout that includes volume, tone, and drive controls. Plus one sober watt of power and 2 – 2″ speakers.

You can get the classical cool tone for practicing plugging into the 1/4″ headphone jack. You can also use it as a line out to a power amp or recording gear.

The Mini ’57’s tones are responsive, and the 2×2 speaker configuration produces a sonic field with more depth than most single-speaker small guitar amps.

Here’s what you’ll love

Here’s what you might not like

Conclusion

The Fender ’57 Mini Twin is a portable micro amp that offers a lot of satisfaction at a meager price. It is a single-watt perfect choice for players who can’t afford a real or reissue tweed amp.

The Mini 57 brings a decent portion of vintage Fender’s tone in an extremely compact format. There are only a handful of guitar amps that will do a better job than this Fender in the practice amp department.

Overall Rating: 4.6/5
4.6/5

#5 Blackstar Fly 3 Review

With the Blackstar Fly 3, you get a handy and practical cutting-edge 3-watt mini amp. This innovative guitar amp brings you two channels (Clean and Overdrive) and a 3-inch speaker delivering true Blackstar tones.

You get a mini amp that delivers tape delay effects to enhance your amp output during play. The Blackstar patented Infinite Shape Feature (ISF) allows you to change the sound of your FLY 3, which gives you endless possibilities on the tone of your amp.

It is an outstanding compact and portable guitar amp that packs a punch tone even at the lowest volumes.

You obtain a complete pack of valuable features such as an MP3 / LINE IN jack built to connect to your mobile device to jam along to your favorite tracks. You can also connect your headphones to the Emulated Output jack.

Here’s what you’ll love

Here’s what you might not like

Conclusion

The Blackstar Fly 3 is a very effective two channels and three-Watt compact mini guitar amp. You need to plug in your guitar and begin practicing. It delivers a revolutionary sonic performance due to its mini size. You also get many features such as Patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature), emulated headphone output, digital ‘tape’ delay effect, and mp3/line input.

Overall Rating: 4/5
4/5

#6 Line 6 Micro Spider Review

When you want different guitar amps flavors in one portable and compact package, the Line 6 Micro Spider is an ultra-lean 6-watt and 6.5-inch speaker modeling guitar combo amplifier that can do an excellent job.

The Line 6 Micro Spider is the most portable amp to date from the Spider Line 6’s segment. But it arrives with a lot of secret weapons. You get a 1-channel, 6-watt modeling guitar combo with a mighty six-watt, 6.5″ speaker.

Overall Rating: 4.4/5
4.4/5

#7 Roland Cube Street Review

Roland CUBE Street is a great-sounding Modeling Amp that you can use as a Mini PA as well. It is the perfect choice for on-the-go performers who need portability and great sound anywhere.

You get 2-channels, battery-powered, compact, and lightweight amp with a slanted cabinet design. The Roland CUBE Street is a powerful 5-watts guitar practice amp with two 2 high-performance 6.5″ neodymium speakers that produce great sound.

Overall Rating: 4.4/5
4.4/5

#8 Yamaha THR5 Review

Yamaha THR5 is a powerful modeling combo amp that brings you everything you need. You get from essential amp tones and onboard effects to USB connectivity for recording, playback, and preset editing.

You can go anywhere with this amazing battery-powered portable amp. You get 5 great guitar amp emulation settings to access popular tube amps style, 4 modulation effects, and 4 independent reverb/delay effects. The Yamaha THR5 is perfect for practicing, songwriting, and recording.

Overall Rating: 4.3/5
4.3/5

#9 Marshall DSL1CR Review

The Marshall DSL1CR is a potent 1-watt tone beast that brings you classic gain, ultra gain channels, and an 8-inch Celestion Eight 15 speaker. Enjoy the iconic Marshall’s Legendary DSL flavor that is back in action.

The Marshall DSL1CR has the revered tonal heritage of the DSL series. It can combine the classic Marshall sound and today’s most modern features as the Refined EQ section, Studio-grade digital reverb, and the Rear-panel effects loop.

Overall Rating: 4.3/5
4.3/5

#10 Fender Mustang Mini Review

The Fender Mustang Mini is the perfect choice for those who want to have the Fender tone packed in a practice-size combo guitar amplifier. It delivers 7 watts and a purpose-built 6.5″ speaker that gives you enough volume for small sessions.

The Mustang Mini is an amazing practice amp to take Fender Sound on the go. It delivers 24 amazing presets to play modern or classic guitar tones. You can obtain eight different digital amplifier models and a dozen studio-style effects.

Overall Rating: 4.3/5
4.3/5

#11 Roland Micro Cube GX Review

The Roland Micro Cube GX is an incredible micro amp that covers any sound you can imagine on. You can play for up to 20 hours with 6 AA batteries or an AC adapter without repeating an amp model or effect.

The Micro Cube GX comes with a ton of features. It has amazing onboard effects, including eight COSM guitar amp models and many DSP effects such as chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, delay, reverb processor, among others.

Overall Rating: 4.2/5
4.2/5

#12 Marshall MS-4 Review

If you’re hooked on the Marshall tone and can’t afford a full-sized model, you can buy the Marshall MS-4 Micro Full-Stack instead. It pumps out a ton of pure Marshall tone with this mini-stack model size.

You can join the Micro Full-stack madness by the hand of the new Marshall MS-4 and take advantage of this battery-powered 1-watt guitar combo amp. You can obtain clean and overdrive settings, gain and tone controls, and it has a belt clip.

Overall Rating: 4.2/5
4.2/5

#13 VOX Pathfinder 10 Review

The VOX Pathfinder 10 is one of VOX’s best options in the field of practice guitar amps. It is an excellent British-sounding small and solid-state amp with classic Vox sound and style in a small size version.

With the Pathfinder 10, you get those immediately recognizable, warm British sounds expectable from a VOX amp. All this in a compact package equipped with 10-watt and a 6.5″ speaker perfect for home practice, recording, and backstage warm-up.

Overall Rating: 4.1/5
4.1/5

#14 Danelectro Honeytone N-10 Review

The Danelectro Honeytone N-10 is an eye-catching retro look solid-state mini guitar amp. You can take an extra vintage guitar tone anywhere with this 1.5 watts, battery-powered guitar combo wonder.

You only need to power it up and dial the Tone and Drive knobs to dive yourself into a sea of vintage sound and get a huge palette of tones from light grit to hot blues sound.

You get 1.5 watts of power, a 2.5-inch speaker, an integrated clip for your belt, headphone output for private practice, and a leather handle to carry it anywhere.

Overall Rating: 4/5
4/5

#15 Marshall MG10 CF Review

The Marshall MG10G is one of the best home practice amps. It delivers an astonishing Marshall tone. Its 10-watt offers enough power for record in the studio, home use, or gigging on small stages everywhere.

It delivers a Clean channel, an Overdrive channel, and a Gain channel, and also Contour control for molding your tone. In addition to this, you get a custom 6.5″ speaker that gives classic British tone, emulated headphone, and line outputs for practicing and recording.

Overall Rating: 4/5
4/5

What to Consider When Buying a Small Guitar Amp

Small amps or practice amps are the best choices when you need a portable amplifier to practice with on the road or when you don’t have a lot of room at home.

These practice amps are portable amplifiers that provide a huge range of tones at low volumes, making them a great way to practice your songs, write music or jam with your band.

Small guitar amp has been becoming very popular during the last few years. Now guitar players have more options than big stacks or combo amplifiers. Now they can choose these smaller, low-watt combos.

In response to this wave of popularity, companies like VOX, Fender, and Marshall have created a whole range of small, low-watt combo amps. Let see now what to take into account when buying a small amp.

Why Are Small Guitar Amps Better?

A big guitar amp is just too loud to be played at home or in a small studio. So, except you are consistently playing in big places where you can blow up your amp volume to its maximum, you will never be able to get the most out of a big guitar amp.

On the other hand, a small guitar amp can deliver you a better tone at a lower volume. Of course, those small amps are less powerful, but it is a significant benefit because you can push a small guitar amp into a nice bluesy break-up at a lower volume.

What Size Is Better for a Practice Amp?

When you’re looking for an amp to practice with, it will be better that you get a practice amp with a power between 1 and 20 watts and a speaker of 6 to 10 inches. Maybe speaker size may seem an unimportant matter, but speakers of this size enable you to produce a higher frequency than you’d be able to with larger sizes.

Guitarists who play in bands need amps that have the power to compete with other instruments. They need a powerful enough rig to play on stage, but when it comes to practice at home, small or practice amps must sound good at low-volume levels and not take up a lot of space.

Do Small Guitar Amps Sound Good?

Small guitar amps sound really great. With this kind of guitar amplifier, you can get excellent clean tones and rich overdriven tones at lower volumes. You won’t be able to play with a clean tone at a higher volume.

As with a larger guitar amp, you can, of course, use guitar pedals to alter your tone when using a small guitar amp. Maybe the only problem when using small guitar amps is that they lack headroom. Headroom refers to how much power an amp can provide before the sound starts to break up and overdrive.

What Is the Difference Between a Small and a Big Guitar Amp?

Both large and small amplifiers have their benefits, and which one you choose depends mostly on your needs. It depends on if you prefer great power, portability, headroom, and many other characteristics.

The popularity of smaller amplifiers doesn’t stop increasing because these tiny marvels bring guitar players many benefits. The first obvious benefit of using a small amplifier is portability.

Taking your amplifier to a venue becomes a much simpler and functional task when you use a small amp. Another benefit of using a small amplifier is that it really can be pushed.

How Loud are Mini Amps?

It depends on how you will use a small amp, but if you use it to practice or record at home or in the studio, it can be loud enough for your taste.

It’s pretty common for musicians to consider only the wattage of the amplifier when it comes to getting an idea of how loud it’s going to be.

But while the amp’s wattage is certainly important to determine an amplifier’s loudness, you should also think about the speakers’ sensitivity and efficiency connected to the amplifier.

Top Picks

It is time to show you my Top Picks from the article reviews. Below I will tell you which small amps are the best overall, the best value for money, and the best budget guitar amplifier options, so you can choose the best one for you.

Vox Mini3 G2 Guitar Amp - Best Overall Small Guitar Amp

The Vox Mini3 G2 is a great modeling guitar amplifier with 3-watt of power and a 5-inch speaker. This little combo supplies a great set of tones, from transparent, cleans to full shred overdrive.
Overall Rating: 5/5
5/5

Boss Katana Mini - Best Value for Money Small Guitar Amp

The Boss Katana Mini is a portable combo amp with 7 watts of power that you can take everywhere. It delivers up to seven hours of operation with six AA batteries.
Overall Rating: 4.8/5
4.8/5

Orange Crush Mini‎ - Best Budget Small Guitar Amp

The Orange Crush Mini is a great small guitar amp to jam in your bedroom or warming up backstage. A 9-volt battery or AC adaptor can power this 3-watt practice amp.
Overall Rating: 4.7/5
4.7/5

Conclusion

“This is the end, beautiful friends,” as Jim Morrison sang so beautifully in “The End” song. These were the reviews of the most amazing small amps to play along everywhere.

With these reviews, I expected to show you which are the most genius small guitar amps so that you can choose with confidence and precision.

You now surely know much more about small amps than before reading this article. I hope you have enjoyed this magical and mystery tour to discover the small amps to satisfy your taste.


Why You Can Rely on All Stringed's Recommendations

At All Stringed, we are passionate about providing our customers with accurate and trustworthy recommendations for the best stringed instruments and accessories. Our team of experts has extensive knowledge and experience in the music industry, and we carefully research and test each product before making a recommendation.

We take pride in our transparency and always disclose any potential biases or conflicts of interest. We also value feedback from our customers and take it into account when writing our reviews. You can trust us to provide you with honest and unbiased recommendations for the perfect stringed instrument or accessory to suit your needs.

Whether you are a beginner or a professional musician, All Stringed has the expertise to help you make an informed decision when purchasing your next instrument or accessory. Choose All Stringed for reliable and knowledgeable recommendations you can trust.


Photo of author
Author
Damián is an author of All Stringed. He started playing with an electric guitar when he was 14 as a self-taught boy at home. He has almost 30 years of experience playing electric and acoustic guitar. You can find more about him here.