Whether you are a professional player or beginner, a tube amp can be a really great investment in your musical career. They are great at broadening your tone and making your tone more vibrant.
Here I review 4 of the best low watt tube amps that are incredible value for money.
| Name | Category | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Fender Acoustasonic 15 | Best Overall |  |
| Monoprice 611720 20-Watt 1×8 Guitar Combo Amplifier | Budget Pick |  |
| Pyle-Pro PVAMP60 60-Watt Vamp-Series Amplifier | Upgrade Pick |  |
1. Fender Acoustasonic 15
Pros:
- Excellent Fender tone
- Acoustic simulator
- Lightweight and portable
- Ideal for small gigs
- Affordable pricing
- Great for practicing in your bedroom and for smaller bands
- 15W with two channels (acoustic and electric) and an acoustic guitar simulator
We love this mini cleansweep amplifier by Fender. It features a great acoustic guitar simulator plus a bass and treble control. You can even blend the simulator with another sound coming through the guitar to create better ambiance.
It’s great for smaller venues and for practicing at home.
You can play it in stereo with another amp, which is great if you’re playing with a small group. If you’re interested in a particular sound, peruse through this amp’s presets and play around with the different settings. The output is high and will appeal to most patrons of small venues.
2. Monoprice 611720 20-Watt 1×8 Guitar Combo Amplifier
Pros:
- The Martin Logan PCO Premium Direct 25 Watt Tube Guitar Amplifier is a great portable option for players who want a little more power than what a mini amp can offer.
- The amp runs at 25 watts and can give you a nice tone for performing and practicing acoustic players.
- The amp is also great for recording as well because it offers a pristine clean and overdrive sound.
- Despite being a tube amp, the PCO Premium Direct is surprisingly light making it easy to transport.
- The Vox AC4TV four wattage amp is not only an affordable option for beginners, but it's a perfect for traveling musicians as well.
- The amp is designed to have a vintage look and sound.
And Electronic Keyboards.
There are a lot of amp choices in today's market.
However, the Monoprice 611720 20 WATT 1×8 Guitar Combo Amplifier is one of the best inexpensive options on the market. With 86dB of gain, the amp is great for fingerpicking, blues and light rock styles.
3. Pyle-Pro PVAMP60 60-Watt Vamp-Series Amplifier
Pros:
- Fantastic price
- Extremely lightweight and portable
- Good customer support
- Versatile sound controls
- Excellent pair for practice amps
- Comes with a 1-year warranty
- Budget friendly
Cons:
- Low wattage
- The 1-year warranty is pretty basic – only parts and labor are covered
- Some users find the sound quality to be tinny in certain situations
- If you lay it down you will have to reset the settings
Pyle-Pro PVAMP60 60-Watt Vamp Series is ideal for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, and many other instruments. It has a high-gain preamp, OD, and tone controls. Users can get a simple sound or a more complex sound using built-in digital chorus and delay.
The amp also has a bass, middle, and treble tone with a 3-band EQ. A key control allows you to switch between the amp models and the buttons below the output jacks allow you to plug in your music devices for easy listening.
You can use this amp at home or at gigs as it features a headphone jack and a CD/MP3 Aux input.
4. Peavey Electronics Max Series 03608210 Max 115 Bass Combo Amplifier
Pros:
- Very affordable
- Moderate power rating suitable for hobbyists and beginners
- Can get loud enough to fill up a small venue
- Reverb effects add to the versatility
- Wide variety of connectivity options
- Two-button footswitch included
- Affordable price
Cons:
- Very limited tone shaping options
- Not really meant for large venue use
- Bass response in the lower frequencies seems a little thin
The Peavey Max 115 bass amp is a professional option for bass players who are beginners or hobbyists on a budget.
It comes in the bass combo format and is about the size of a standard guitar combo amp. It features three simple knobs – volume, bass, and treble – and a master tone knob. At a mere 18 pounds, it won’t really break your back when you carry it around. It boasts a solid-state power section, slanted power and output meters, a two-button footswitch, and a spring reverb for added effect.
Additionally, there is an Aux In jack that allows you to connect your MP3 player or media player to the 3.5mm input on the top of the amp… a very handy feature.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the best small tube amp?
It's hard to sit down and explain the best tube amp in one paragraph. While there are many amps out there that fit the bill and are high quality, channel performance and different features may make one amp better than another.
We've scoured the internet and tried several different amps to come up with a solid list that will cover many of your needs and wants.
While we could make this list into a top ten, we feel that it is easier for you to make your decision based on the different categories, instead of a specific brand or top-selling model.
The tube we picked to build our list is the 6N1P, an electron tube used in many top-rated tube amps. The reason, is that it's a relatively versatile tube in the realm of amplification. It has been utilized in everything from old high-end stereo systems to newer high voltage systems.
What is the best tube amp for the money?
How many watts in an amp do I need?
Watts are the units that we generally use to define an amp's strength. Test amps can hit over 1000 watts, making them the clear choice for the headphone enthusiast. But, the question is: do you want a headphone amplifier that powerful? Do you need it?
Home amp wattage depends on the cleanness of your signal and what you plan on doing with it.
If you're planning on using your amp to drive speakers (or amplified headphones), then you'll want to find an amp with a whisper-clean signal. For more information on amplifier power and clean signal, check out this article.
When youʼre testing, itʼs often good to start with the weaker, less powerful amps. This will help you set realistic expectations for what the sound should be without getting too technically complicated.
What is the best 15 watt tube amp?
Last but not least, we have the 15-watt, 2-channel Peavey Mini. As the cheapest, yet worthy contender of our list, this tiny beast is the only tube amp that doesn’t boast a solid state preamp.
In black tolex with black vinyl covering and control knobs, this thing rocks. 2 x 12AX7 tubes and 2 x EL84 tubes power 2 x 10” Speaker and 2 x 4” Speaker. Moreover, it can be powered by 4 x V6GB6 batteries or 2 x EL84 tubes (5V) as well.
Conclusion
A big part of playing guitar is being able to blend your amp. But we’ve heard it all before, “I’ve already invested heavily in pedals, so why should investing in a good tube amp be a big issue?” If you’ve asked yourself that question or you’re just looking for some extra convincing, keep reading…
In this article you’re going to learn that choosing a tube amp can be just as tough as choosing the pedals that you’ll use with it. You’ll learn about the different types of tubes, and why you might want to start with one rather than the other.
Our Recommendation
| Name | Category | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Fender Acoustasonic 15 | Best Overall | |
| Monoprice 611720 20-Watt 1×8 Guitar Combo Amplifier | Budget Pick | |
| Pyle-Pro PVAMP60 60-Watt Vamp-Series Amplifier | Upgrade Pick | |