Finding an affordable guitar amp that won’t break the bank can be quite confusing, especially when you don’t want to sacrifice tone or quality when buying a guitar amp. There are literally a ton of amps out there that are technically affordable, but if the amp sounds like complete crap, it can make a beginner just give up and quit.
I was guilty of this years ago when I bought a Crate amp from the pawn shop near my apartment. I bought a decent guitar, but then I bought that darn Crate amp, and well, it sounded like dog crap. (Crate amps are widely known for their low quality tone.) It just made me want to quit and completely give up trying to learn the guitar for good.
And then one day I decided I wanted to get a better amp, but I also didn’t want to break the bank. Alas, I ended up buying a Fender amp and thank god I did. It was then that I realized that I didn’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a guitar amp to get a decent sound.
In this buyer’s guide, I have handpicked the best sounding guitar amps for under $500 dollars. That way you can keep your guitar playing dreams alive without going bankrupt.
Table of Contents
Best Overall Guitar Amp Under $500
- The Fender Mustang LT25 Guitar Amplifier features 25 watts, 12.75Hx14.5Wx8.25D inches
- This amp comes with an 8 inch Fender special design guitar speaker for the tried-and-true Fender quality sound
- The simple user interface with 1.8 inch color display makes this amp an excellent choice for beginners
- Bring out the eclectic in you with 30 preloaded presets covering a wide range of music
- 2 Year Limited Warranty: Fender amplifiers are designed for players and built with unmatched quality, down to the last screw—Fender warrants this amplifier to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for two (2) years from original purchase
Last update on 2025-06-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- 30 presets
- Easy menu navigation
- Beginner friendly
- Perfect for someone who doesn’t own a lot of effects pedals
Cons
- Not the best for acoustics
- Not really for bass guitars
Best Practice Amp Under $500
- Power: 20 watt (solid state)
- 2 foot switchable channels
- Speaker: 1x8 inches Orange Voice of the World
- Controls: 3 band EQ, volume, gain, reverb
- Built in reverb
Last update on 2025-06-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Built-in tuner and reverb
- Sounds like an old-school guitar amp
- Voltage switcher on the back
Cons
- Doesn’t sound the best with a bass guitar
- Not loud enough for gigging
Best Mini Guitar Amp
- Compact and lightweight design, making it perfect for practice and performance anywhere, from home to the street
- Features 10 watts of power with Vox's VET technology for realistic and responsive amp modeling
- Includes 9 amp models and 8 effects, plus a vocoder for diverse sound options
- Equipped with 33 onboard rhythms and a tap tempo feature to help you find the perfect groove for your songs
- Built-in looper allows you to record and play back phrases, ideal for solo practice and creative jamming
Last update on 2025-06-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Runs on batteries or AC adapter, making this little amp perfect for practicing outdoors
- Comes with built in modeling effects
- Sounds good for it’s size
Cons
- A bit spendy for the size
Best Amp for Gigging Under $500
- When ‘burying’ your drummer in volume is important, the 100 watts thrown out of 2 – 12” Fender special designed speakers will get your point across.
- Jam along with your favorite tracks by simply plugging your MP3 player into the Auxiliary input and you instantly become part of the band and /or practice privately with the 1/8th headphone output jack that also mutes the speaker output.
- Toggle between 100 Watts of clean or mean from the 2 channels with the kick of a footswitch during a stage or studio performance.
- Explore many very usable musical tones from the many amp classic to modern amp voicing’s and the various spacial effects such as digital reverb, chorus, delay and vibratone.
- Limited Warranty Included.1/8 inch aux input
Last update on 2025-06-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Built in effects allows a ton of tone control
- Loud enough for a small venue performance
- Perfect for clean tone
- Great for recording
Cons
- Sometimes has a loud ‘pop’ when you turn the amp off
Best Tube Amp Under $500
- As the title indicates, this guitar amplifier features a 5-watt tube power amplifier and a Celestion brand speaker.
- It uses a ECC83/12AX7 preamplification tube and a 6V6GT power tube for the amplifier section, plus a Celestion Super 8 GBA-15 speaker.
- The amplifier handles frequencies between 80Hz and 10kHz, with hum and noise -75dB below the rated power and 0.5% total harmonic distortion.
- It includes a Low input and a High input, with the former attenuating the signal by approximately 50% and the latter being easier to overdrive.
- While tone is always debatable, the increased dynamic range and even-order harmonic distortion of tubes produces the better sound.
Last update on 2025-06-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Extremely rugged and durable
- Sounds amazing for the price
- Spring reverb feature
Cons
- Power cord isn’t removable
- You might have to replace the tubes earlier than the higher priced tube amps
- Tubes are made in China
Best Bass Amp Under $500
- Expore bass tones from classic gritty growl to slap-worthy modern punch with the newly-developed overdrive circuit and switchable contour controls
- A beefy 25 watt power amp and ported speaker enclosure pumps volume and deep bass response.
- Practice privately with the 1/4" headphone output jack that also mutes the speaker output.
- Jam along with your favorite tracks by simply plugging a MP3 player into the 1/8" Auxiliary input jack and instantly become part of the band.
- Enjoy peace of mind with a 2 year limited warranty from Fender.
Last update on 2025-06-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- MP3 and Aux port
- Contour control
- Overdrive switch
- Headphone input
Cons
- No gain control
- Not loud enough for gigs
