[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by captain_jack

Is it really true that you can't get a decent amp for under $200 for a beginner to play at home? The Orange Crush 20 and Fender Champ 20 are both around $140 new (can be found for less on Facebook/Craigslist). That still leave $300-$400 for a guitar to keep it under $500 total.

For those recommending 50W amps, isn't that a bit of overkill?

I'm not trying to argue but genuinely curious, mostly because I'm a beginner with a Fender Champ 20 and it's been great for me.

In order:

• IME a low-powered solid-state 1x8" combo sounds rather thin, especially with Fender-style (Tele/Strat) single-coil pickups - run your guitar through a 1x12" combo (a Champ 40 might be a good starting point since the controls are similar/familiar) and you'll hear a distinct difference in fullness and depth - and the de facto entry point in today's market is around the $200 mark; similarly (and for a variety of complex reasons I won't get into here) a tube amp with less advertised power will typically put out as much perceived volume as a higher-powered solid-state rig - FYI low-wattage tube combos are a favorite among tone-savvy players, and I've played many coffeehouse gigs with my 5W Bugera V5 (don't try that with even a 20W SS amp if your style runs toward cleaner tones). As far as guitars are concerned, things can be iffy in the under-$400 bracket - while there are indeed good ones to be had (I own/have owned a few), corners need to be cut when you're building to a price - and unless you're prepared to kiss a few dozen frogs before you find your one-and-only, overall quality improves significantly once you cross into the "step-up/intermediate" range...which leads me to:
• When the first "high-powered" tube-driven guitar amps (40W and up) were developed in the mid/late 1950's, their main purpose was to provide sufficient headroom and dynamic range for jazz/pop/country guitarists playing in larger halls - not massive amounts of gain and distortion at OSHA-hazard levels - and when used within these parameters there's no reason they can't routinely serve for home practice. FWIW I generally use nothing smaller than my main gigging amp - a mildly-modified Bugera V22 that'll handle a 600-700 seat hall with no problem - and regularly rotate between that and a Fender '65 Super Reverb reissue (45W tube), Fender Frontman 212R (100W solid-state), and Randall RB-120 1x15" combo (120W solid-state); FYI I did this for years while living in NYC apartments (always at a reasonable hour) without PO'ing my neighbors/landlord/the NYPD or destroying my hearing, and as a retired teacher it's something I'd strongly recommend to any would-be guitar hero - any deficiencies in right-/left-hand technique will become glaringly obvious, and making the necessary adjustments will improve your control/phrasing/dynamics regardless of style...
• Although a small practice guitar/amp package can get you through your first steps, it's always good to think ahead. If you're serious about the electric thing you will be playing out sooner or later - count on it (even if it's a neighborhood social, house of worship, etc.) - and since in my six decades of experience good first impressions lead to full wallets , it pays not to show up undergunned; by the same token, if you find it's not for you (yes, some folks are just acoustic players at heart - and that's OK) gigworthy gear will always have a higher resale value - money that can be channeled into that Martin/Gibson/Taylor/Guild you've wanted since you were a kid...