Best Guitar Mini Amps: These are compact, portable and provide decent sound. There are times when it makes no sense to lug your $500 amp. A mini amp is much more convenient for travel, for personal practice or for performing in small venues. These amps weigh just a few pounds and they’re very easily transported. Skip to the best Guitar mini amp on Amazon.
Introduction
So take your guitar to the beach, on the road, or on your front porch. A mini amplifier is perfect if you wish to rock out while traveling. It makes your death metal jams sound rocking, and you really don’t need the inconvenience of carrying a twenty pound amp. Your mom will be so glad you brought this amp with you for Christmas.
The entry level ones are inexpensive but you do get high-end portable amps as well. Depending on the quality that you want there are many different amps for your needs.
Recommended Guitar Mini Amps
Marshall MS2 Micro Guitar Amplifier
Among the smallest portable guitar amps, the Marshall MS-2 is a 1-Watt Amp but makes decent sound. It measures just 14 x 11 x 6 cm and is the smallest Marshall amp having 1 W of power, a nine full battery or optional AC adapter, headphone output, and a belt clip.
This mini amp from Marshall is one of the best ways to practice your guitar anywhere because it travels so easily. Also because you have the option of using battery or AC adapter you can take it anywhere and use it anywhere. Also because there is a headphone output you can practice all you want without annoying those around you.
Roland Micro Cube Guitar Amp
The Roland Micro Cube is a compact amp that can run even on batteries. Packing a big punch, it comes with six DSP effects, COSM Amp Modeling and a Digital Tuning Fork.
This is one of the first amplifiers that can run on battery or AC power. You can use six AA batteries and it will play up to 20 hours because this is a very high-efficiency amplifier. Comes with a carrying strap so you can take it almost anywhere.
DV Mark Jazz Guitar Amps
DV Mark Jazz Guitar Amps (Little Jazz & DV Jazz 12): Warm, clean tone that helps you get the most out of your expressive style.
DV Mark Jazz Guitar Amps feature two models:
- Little Jazz: Solid state amp, 45 Watt, digital reverb and 8in speaker. Clean, warm, tone.
- DV Jazz 12: Same electronics, 45 Watt, but is available in a larger cabinet with 12in speaker. Clean, warm, tone.
Even the 12″ combo is very light and easy to transport (just as the little jazz) but the bigger speaker size makes it a better choice for both intimate or louder gigs.
Fender Mini Tonemaster
The battery powered Fender Mini Tonemaster is a miniature version of the full-sized Fender Tone-Master. This 1-watt amp looks super cool and generates good tone.
Orange Micro Crush
Orange Amps are the coolest of the lot, the Orange Micro Crush is a 3-Watt amp with great finish, produces killer sounds (9 Volt battery). This diminutive amp makes a great addition to any practice space or home studio, and can even do its part at gigs around town.
More Guitar Practice Amps
- Sawtooth ST-AMP-10ST-AMP-10
This Sawtooth amp generates ten watts of power, and can be used as a perfect practice or starter amp, has the ability to crank out leads while practicing or while playing for small crowds.
Buy on Amazon
- Pignose Legendary 7-100 Portable Battery-Powered Guitar Combo Amplifier
This is another great traveling amplifier gives you 5 W of power either using batteries or an AC adapter. This unit weighs only 5 pounds and you can easily strap it over your shoulder to carry anywhere.Thanks to the ability to run on batteries you can practice almost anywhere you want to without worrying about trying to find a power source. Also it’s a very economical way for new guitar students to have an amplifier without forking over the big box.Even though this comes with a low priced the sound quality is outstanding and some bands even use it in a live performance.
See PRICE on Amazon - Yamaha THR5 10-Watt Desktop Guitar Combo Amp
Rugged construction, super simple controls and produces fantastic sound, great for practicing indoors. See PRICE on Amazon
- Line 6 Spider IV 15
This 15-watt amp features 4 channels of Line 6 tones, allows controlling and shaping your tone, and has all the capabilities for refinement.
See PRICE on Amazon
- Fender Mustang Mini 7-Watt Guitar Amp
Its a Mini but comes packed with the rich and punchy tone of its bigger brother, its perfect for recording or a late-night jam.
Fender Mustang Mini 7-Watt Guitar Amp. See PRICE on Amazon
- Fender Mini 57 Twin Mini Guitar Amplifier
This is another classic defender product that has built-in distortion between covering any real leather handle. For a low price, you can buy a piece of Fender history.This amplifier also runs on batteries or AC adapters you can take it anywhere. It has duel 2 inch speakers and one walk of power. There’s a power volume tone and gain controls with built-in distortion. There is even a headphone jack is well taken play in private.
Buying Links
Watch: Joyo Mini Guitar Amp MP3
Portable Guitar Amp: Buying Guide
Advantages
A portable guitar amp is perfect for players who love to take their guitars on vacation, and for those who just want a small practice amp.
These are versatile and lets you connect mics, instruments, and even audio players, so that you can jam along, with the built-in effects.
Here’s why you should use a portable amplifier
- Do you go on vacation and carry your guitar along?
- Would you like the option of playing your guitar without disturbing others when you hit upon an idea?
- When you’re at home, do you like to practice at odd hours?
If you have answered yes to any of these, you need a guitar that is powerful enough and have decent effects, and at the same time portable so that you can easily carry it and play along sitting at the back of the tour bus.
Fortunately, there are several options available that can be used for electric guitars, acoustic guitars as well as vocals.
Also read: Top Portable guitar amps reviewed.
Becomes Part of Your Guitar
Some of the portable practice amps plug directly into your guitar, so you don’t need to buy a guitar cord separately. They use the volume and tone controls from your guitar.
Checkout this video of one such option:
Also read: Top Portable guitar amps reviewed
What to Choose?
What you choose will depend on your needs.
- Do you want a really compact one?
- Do you just need it for silent practice?
- Do you intend to take it out on vacation?
- Do you want it to have variety of effects or just clean & overdrive?
- Do you want a high-quality tone so that you can use it for recording as well?
Answers to these questions will decide what sort of portable guitar amp you need for your setup.
Using a Multipurpose Amplifier
At times, you just need a portable amplifier that is easy to use and can be used not just for your guitar, but with a music player, microphone, and/or any other instrument.
For example, in your school, office, small events, or for any other event, where you just need a simple, and solid amplification and not necessarily the best quality sound.
In that case, it makes sense to go in for a lightweight Battery Powered Stereo Amplifier that doesn’t need any external power source, speaker, or mixer to produce the sound.
You need something to which you connect your desired equipment, set the volume, and broadcast your sound with clarity and power. That’s all you need!
What to Look for?
Here are some of the things that you should look for in a practice amp for your guitar:
- It needs to be lightweight & portable
- It needs to be battery powered (long battery life)
- Input to attach a pair of headphones
- MP3 input so that you can connect an MP3 player and jam along to your favorite songs
- Have a decent tone & set of effects
- Switch for both clean and overdrive sounds
- Some of the better ones can also be used for hassle-free direct recording
Is a 10 Watt Guitar Amp Enough For a Child
If you are buying an electric guitar, it makes sense to go in for the bundled package that includes everything that you need to play, including an amplifier.
But if you’re buying it separately, how much wattage should the amp have?
Is a 10 Watt Guitar Amp enough for a child, someone in the age group – 6 to 8 years?
Ideally, that should be enough!
And wattage should really not matter much at this age/ Its not about making more noise at this age. Its about learning and enjoying the experience of playing a guitar.
So a 10 watt guitar amp should be fine for a child.
Final thoughts
With most of these guitar mini amps available for under $100 you should be able to find one that is great for traveling and for practicing anywhere. Remember some of these are of such high quality that some bands even use them and live performances.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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