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7 Best Portable Guitar Amps
Posting a link to an article on Sweetwater as grist for the mill or perhaps as an additional resource for those searching for a portable amp...no vested interest from my POV regarding this article, and I realize that Sweetwater are focusing on amps that they sell (for obvious and understandable reasons). I know that there are frequent threads asking for opinions on "the best amp..." so here's another point of reference for anyone searching.
7 Best Portable Guitar Amps At the risk of stating the obvious, "best" is subjective and dependent on what works for you. So ultimately, you have to write your own, "7 Best..." story, based on your needs, wants and desires. Having said that, interestingly I own 2 of the 7 amps mentioned in Sweetwater's article. For me, they do indeed meet my expectation on what I want a small, portable amp to sound like for the types of music I play...and they are perfectly portable as far as I am concerned. Anyway, hoping someone who is searching for and asking about potential portable guitar amps will find this article of some interest.
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“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself” — Miles Davis. |
#2
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Interesting article, thanks.
Here’re some to think about (not from Sweetwater afaik, no shade intended) Carr Mercury and other low watt offerings Swart 6L6, spacetone/reverb/ Atomic Space Tone (20 watt) Goodsell Super 17 (5/17 watt switchable) Henriksen Blue/Bud/310 Jazzamp etc AER 60 Schertler Giulia/David/Unico Fender (original) SF Princeton Reverb, serviced to modern spec And, for the more budget minded, but a very nice amp Fishman Loudbox/mini Lots more out there, acoustic and electric. My pick of all the above for electric, and believe me, they are all excellent plus, might be my early 70 Fender SF PR. I hear the ‘65 RI’s are good, but have yet to play or hear one. |
#3
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I'll take that '65 Princeton Reverb and - with the emphasis on "portable" - raise you (in ascending price order):
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#4
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Funny I just read that article this morning in my e-mail before coming here and was thinking I might post it
I agree "Best" is subjective as evidenced by the 2 replies above. Although I don't usually care for sound of most "modeling" amps, the Boss Katana Air looked interesting from a strictly busking point of reference ,albeit not for the singing git player
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
#5
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No offense, but it's a silly article. At least I get to pad my post count.
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#6
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I’ll add three Fender tube amps a little more portable than the 12” Princeton included in the article:
Blues Junior: 12” speaker, 15 watts, approx 31 lbs Pro Junior: 10” speaker, 15 watts, no reverb. Light and compact. One volume and one tone control. 2 EL84 power tubes Bassbreaker 007: 10” speaker, 7 watts, no reverb, volume and gain control; lots of gain on tap. All of the above easy to manage with simple controls |
#7
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Quote:
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#8
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Regarding the Sweetwater article, for the money, the Yahama THR’s are pretty impressive little practice amps and just a lot of fun. I have two of them in addition to a Henricksen Bud.
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Doerr Trinity 12 Fret 00 (Lutz/Maple) Edwinson Zephyr 13 Fret 00 (Adi/Coco) Froggy Bottom H-12 (Adi/EIR) Kostal 12 Fret OMC (German Spruce/Koa) Rainsong APSE 12 Fret (Carbon Fiber) Taylor 812ce-N 12 fret (Sitka/EIR Nylon) |
#9
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i take merchant articles with a grain of salt, i guess all are on stock ready to ship
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Fender GDC 200 S Telecaster-(build) Squier 51 Fender Strat Partscaster Ibanez SR400 EQM bass |
#10
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The Yamaha THR 10 is a great little amp.
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#11
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Thanks s2Y.
I’ve got to admit I’m in a bit of a different zip code than what the Sweetwater article addresses, with respect to amps. I have bought some things from Sweetwater, and I have found them to be an excellent company, aimed at a wide swath of buddgets, experience and needs. I would, for example, benefit from a similarly conceived article aimed at, say home recording studio gear, of which I know little. With regards to adding a bass amp, and consistent with the guitar amp bent of the original article, I’ll suggest a Henriksen 312 Jazzamp. I have one, bought used in mint condition for a great price. It weighs 40lb., which is on the upper edge of portable, but far from, say, a Matchless DC30 ( wanna buy one?). The Henriksen 312 is designed for just about everything. I specifically got it because I wanted to play baritone and possibly 7 string, acoustic and electric, in a solo/trio/quartet setting. It’s a great amp, solid state notwithstanding to say the least, and I suggest anyone interested in live performance or recording check one out. The baritone 6 string, acoustic 6 and 12 string, archtop jazz box and LP type all sound good through this amp,with or without pedals as needed. Something like a RedEye preamp makes it even better. I think this one would do well for keyboard, bass and mic’ed horns as well. Another one I’m interested in is Quilter, as Steve DeRosa mentions above. Talk about portable! Of course, they're just the pre and power amp, no speaker box. But literally pedal size. |
#12
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Quote:
I neglected to mention the Quilter Steelaire, a 1x15" combo aimed at pedal-steel players as well as fans of the old Vibrosonic Reverb (this one uses a proprietary Eminence speaker designed to replicate the tone of the old 15" JBL's) which, at 36 pounds, is supremely portable (especially for a 200-watter) if somewhat bulky in its Super Reverb-sized cabinet. I'm a lifelong guitar-cable-amp guy into "big-clean" tones (think blackface Fender or blue-check Ampeg), and although I've always preferred tube amps this one's been on my radar for some time: the days of hauling my '65 Super RI are just about over, I still need a high-powered combo in my arsenal, and if I can clear some space in the music room/home office (and get the seal of approval from the Domestic Accounting Department) - and nothing else gets in the way (I've got a line on an early-2K's NOS major-brand tube combo at a good price, hiding in plain sight here in the NYC Tri-State area) - I'm seriously considering taking the plunge...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
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portable amps
I have a Quilter MP Mach 2 12" Combo. Best buy I have made in equipment in the last 10 years. It takes pedals well, its light and very sturdy. Its PLENTY loud enough and has a great warranty.
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2012 Gibson SJ-200 75th Anniversary '12 Martin CS-D28-12 '20 Eastman E10SS/V '05 Seagull Artist Portrait '09 Nash T-52 Telecaster '97 Fender American Standard Stratocaster '18 Gretsch G5655GT '20 Eastman T-486 '22 Heritage Custom CoreSS/V '23 Gibson Dove Original '22 Gibson Hummingbird Original HC |
#14
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I stand corrected on the Quilters fellas. While I’m quite happy with the Henriksen 312, my eyes are now peeled for the next slightly used Quilter in my area!
Uh...thanks..... |
#15
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Quilter
Keep you’re eye on Reverb.com and
Guitar center used items. I see Quilter amps up on there for decent prices at times. Good luck!
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2012 Gibson SJ-200 75th Anniversary '12 Martin CS-D28-12 '20 Eastman E10SS/V '05 Seagull Artist Portrait '09 Nash T-52 Telecaster '97 Fender American Standard Stratocaster '18 Gretsch G5655GT '20 Eastman T-486 '22 Heritage Custom CoreSS/V '23 Gibson Dove Original '22 Gibson Hummingbird Original HC |