Deciding on the best blues amps for your guitar sound can be tough. An affordable blues amplifier with a soulful sound can be hard to find. Some of the less expensive blues guitar amps can sound cheap.
That’s why we’ve reviewed all of the most popular guitar amplifiers for blues music, so you can find the one that fits your playing style, sound, and guitar budget. We look at the main specs of each amp and compare the pros, cons, and features for you. That way you can easily pick the right amp for your needs.
Let’s jump in and check out some of the top-rated blues guitar amps that will take your sound to the next level.
Click Below to Compare the Top Guitar Amps for Blues in 2020
Contents
- 1 Click Below to Compare the Top Guitar Amps for Blues in 2020
- 2 What We Recommend and Why
Here is a list of the best blues guitar amplifiers on the market that will give your sound some soul.
- VOX AC30C2
- Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb
- Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue
- Peavey Classic 30 II
- Roland Blues Cube Hot
- Orange CR60C
- Marshall Code 50
- Pignose 7-200 HOG-20 Amplifier
- VOX Amplug 2 Blues
VOX AC30C2
Specs, features, and benefits
The Vox AC30C2 is a 10Watt tube amp combo, with three 12AX7 preamp tubes with two 12-Inch 8Ohm Celestion G12M Greenback speakers. It has two channels, Normal, and Top Boost. The Normal channel has a Volume control knob, while the Top Boost has Volume, Bass, and Treble control knobs.
Next, we have the Reverb level and Tone control knobs, the Tremolo Depth and Speed control knobs and the Master Volume and Tone Cut control knobs. The Tone Cut control is like a low-pass filter – this will brighten up your tone to a big amount. Then we have the Standby switch and the On/Off power switch.
On the backside of the amp, you can find the Send and Return jacks for your pedals, the footswitch port, and the external speaker outputs.
Pros and Highlights
- Fantastic sound! – Let’s be real folks. This amp is one of the best sounding amps on the market!
- Flexible – You have two channels on the amp, the Normal, and the Top Boost. The two of them sound great, from clean, to fully overdriven, the amp sounds warm.
- Reverb/Tremolo – Both of these effects are a great addition to your sound. They both sound arm and natural. The Vox Sound at a fairly reasonable sound – We all know that the legendary AC30 costs a lot, and with the AC15C2 you can have that classic Vox sound for an affordable price.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Made in China – The amp is made in China. This does not mean that is garbage, of course. It is rather a high-quality amp. However, some small (or not so small) things affect your sound a lot. Like the tubes. Changing the factory-set tubes that were made in China, with a more decent, or even vintage tubes, will affect your tone a lot and this amp will sound even better!
Bottom line
If you are looking for that classic, legendary Vox AC30 sound from the sixties, the thing you are looking for is the Vox AC30C2. The amp sounds great, warm and natural. The two 12-Inch Celestion bring a lot of air to your sound. The Reverb and Tremolo effects are great sounding too! If you are a tone freak however, you might want to replace the tubes with better ones. This will give you even warmer sound. Great amp!
Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb
Specs, features, and benefits
The Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb is a reissue of the legendary Princeton Reverb from the sixties, and it is basically the same amp with a few modifications, like using a printed circuit board rather than the old hand-wired. It is a 15-Watt Tube amp, with three 12AX7 tubes and one 12AT7 tube in the preamp, and two 6V6 power tubes and one 5AR4 Rectifier tube, and a 10-Inch Jensen Speaker with ceramic magnet.
This amp has a built-in spring reverb, and tube-vibrato, and they both sound great. It has two inputs, and control knobs for Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb, Speed, and Intensity. On the back panel, you can find the On/Off switch, the External Speaker Output, and the Footswitch input. The amp sounds amazing, it is great for playing smaller venue gigs and for recording in the studio. One of the best combo amps out there!
Pros and Highlights
- Sounds great! – The amp sounds amazing; many players use it both for playing live and in the studio!
- Powerful – The 15Watts of power deliver a good amount of volume; it covers up the drummer without any hesitation.
- Reverb & Vibrato – The Reverb and the Vibrato effects on this amp are really something special. It has a Fender spring reverb and tube-vibrato! They sound gorgeous.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- You might get a defective amp! – Many players are complaining about how they got a defective amp.
Bottom line
Sounds amazing, it is compact and very powerful. The Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb is definitely one of the best combo-amps ever. It is a tube amp, and that’s why it sounds that good.
Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue
Specs, features, and benefits
The Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue amp is definitely one of the best sounding amps for blues. It was built by the blues for the blues! We are talking about a 40Watt tube amp with three 12AX7 preamp tubes and two 6L6 tubes in the power amp paired a one twelve-inch Eminence speaker. We are talking about pure blues sound! It has two selectable channels, vintage, and drive.
The control panel on the amp consists of two inputs and normal/bright button switch for them, Volume control knob, Drive control knob and its push-button, Treble, Bass and Middle control knobs, Channel Select button, Master, Reverb, and Presence control knobs, and Footswitch, Power amp in, and Preamp out jacks.
The Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue usually comes with an included footswitch and tweed cover for the amp.
Pros and Highlights:
- Great sound! – The amp sounds fantastic! Even if you don’t have plans for buying a new amp, if you have a chance, you should try this amp to hear how it sounds. You will be amazed
- Flexible – This amp has two channels, vintage, and drive, and the tone, drive, and volume controls are working wonders. This means you can dial in many different sounds from this fella!
- Great for gigging! – This combo is very compact and it has more than enough power to be played alongside a loud drummer.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Some owners reported having a slight buzz when the amp is set at high volume – This is probably due to their single coil guitars (Strat/Tele/etc.) This is pretty normal.
So, yeah! – No cons!
Bottom line
Just by the name of the amp, you can see what this amp is all about. The Fender Blues Deluxe amp is truly a great amp for blues music. It can also handle similar styles, like a rock for example. It is the very flexible, compact, sturdily built amp. It sounds awesome. Great for gigging and for recording in the studio!
Peavey Classic 30 II
Specs, features, and benefits
The Peavey Classic 30 is a combo tube amp with 30 Watts of power and one twelve-inch speaker. In the preamp, there are three 12AX7 tubes, while in the power amp you can find four EL84 tubes. It has two switchable channels.
On the control panel, you can find these control knobs: Normal, Pre (Gain), Post (Gain), Reverb, Bass, Middle, and Treble. Also, on the control panel, you can find the Channel button-switch, a Boost button, Send and Return jacks for Effect boxes, a Standby switch, and a Power Switch.
On the back of the combo, you can find the Extension Speaker jack, and two Footswitch jacks – one for Reverb, and one for Channel switching and activating the Boost. The built-in reverb in the amp is actually a spring reverb, which of course is a great add-on to your guitar sound.
Pros and Highlights
- Great for gigging! – The Peavey Classic 30 is powerful enough to be taken on stage. It is loud, compact, sounds great, and it is flexible.
- Great sound – Due to the tube design of the amp, and the good quality speaker, this combo sounds amazing!
- Flexible – The Reverb sounds amazing, you can boost your tone on the fly, the two channels provide you with a ton of sound versatility.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons!
Bottom line
If you are looking for a compact combo amp for gigging with your guitar, you want to check out the Peavey Classic 30. It is a sturdily built, beautiful looking, awesome-sounding combo amp with a tube amplifier and a twelve-inch speaker – a perfect combination for gigging. The amp sounds amazing due to its tube design, and the spring-reverb is so, so sweet!
Roland Blues Cube Hot
Specs, features, and benefits
We are living in the twenty-first century and technology is everywhere around us. It helps us with our day-to-day life, and it makes easier to have many things in a small package.
The Roland Blues Cube Hot might look very simple on the first look, but when you plugin you can find out that this amp is actually a very versatile one. It is a 30Watt amplifier paired with a twelve-inch speaker.
On the control panel, right next to the guitar input, you can find Boost and Tone push-buttons, Volume control knob, Bass, Middle and Treble control knobs, Reverb control knob, Master control knob, power attenuator switch (0.5W, 5W, 15W, and 30W), and power on/off switch. On the back of the amp, you can find the Footswitch, Headphones, and Line Out jacks, and the USB port (Rec out).
Pros and Highlights
- Intuitive – It is very easy to set up your perfect tone on this amp. The controls are very simple and intuitive, and you can set your tone in seconds.
- Great sound! – The sound of the amp is great. The cleans are crystal clear, and when driven, the amp is warm and rich sounding.
- Compact – It is lightweight, compact, easy to use, very sturdily built, and great sounding amp. Great for gigging!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons!
Bottom line
If you are looking for a reasonably priced amp that can handle the road and the gigs, you might be looking for the Roland Blues Cube Hot amp. The Blues Cubes sounds and performs great, it is very sturdily built, and it is compact and very flexible. Great for gigging, great for home practice, and for rehearsals.
Orange CR60C
Specs, features, and benefits
The Orange CR60C is a 60Watt solid-state combo amp loaded with a 12″ Voice of the World speaker. It is a switchable two channel amp, with Clean/Dirty channel set by a switch placed right next to the on/off switch on the control cluster.
The Clean channel control section consists of control knobs for Volume, Bass, and Treble. The Dirty channel section has control knobs for Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Volume. Then we have the Master section with the Master Volume control knob, and Reverb control knob with a three-way switch right next to it, with three available options – Spring, Hall, and Plate.
Pros and Highlights
- Easy to use – The amp is very simple and easy to use. With this amp, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to have a great tone!
- Great sound – The Orange CR60C sounds incredible. Both clean and dirty! It has great tone and dynamics.
- LOUD! – It is a great amp for band rehearsals and small gigs!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Pricey – The Orange CR60C might be too high priced for you, depending on how big your budget is and what kind of an amp you are looking for. Some players would rather go for a tube amp for this price, while others are completely satisfied with this amp.
Bottom line
The Orange CR60C is an awesome sounding solid-state combo amp that delivers good quality tone both clean and overdriven. It is great for practice, band rehearsals, and small gigs. It is a sturdily built amp, durable and reliable, and it is loud and powerful.
Marshall Code 50
Specs, features, and benefits
The Marshall Code50 is a 50-Watt modeling combo amp with one 12-Inch Speaker.
It has onboard control knobs for Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, Preset, and Master, and push buttons, Pre FX, Amp, Mod, Delay, Reverb, Power, Cabinet, and Store. It also has a built-in tuner, Tap Tempo feature, Bluetooth feature, USB port, Footswitch input, aux-in, and headphones out. With the Bluetooth feature or the USB connection, you can control the amp remotely with the Marshal Gateway Software via your iOS/Android device.
The library on this amp contains fourteen preamp models, four power-amp models, eight cabinet speaker simulations, and twenty-four effects.
Pros and Highlights
- Modern – With the USB and Bluetooth features you can fully control the amp’s functions. Now you don’t even have to get up from the couch!
- Versatile – This amp offers a lot of different amps and cab simulations. You can use up to five effects at the same time from the amp’s library!
- Great for gigging! – The amp is compact and very versatile. If you have no problems dealing with digital modeling amps, this fella can be your partner in crime every night on the stage
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Digital – Well, if you are a modern type of guitar player, you might find yourself in love with this amp. However, digital amp modeling is not what an experienced tone-freak would fall for.
- The amp has a lot of features, but some of us would rather have a natural sound. Also, the USB/Bluetooth connectivity does not work well for recording with PC/Mac devices. If you are older than twenty-five, the chances that you will be disappointed with this amp are big.
Bottom line
The Marshall Code50 is a great amp for the modern-type of guitarists. The fact that the amp has a lot of features for modeling and the USB/Connectivity will probably make a lot of younger guitar players happy. But, if you are looking for a natural sounding combo, the Marshall Code50 is not for you. It sounds digital. Not for everyone-type of an amp. Certainly not for tone-purists.
Pignose 7-200 HOG-20 Amplifier
Specs, features, and benefits
Just like its small-sized older cousin (the Pignose Hog 10), the HOG 20 by Pignose is an extremely portable amp, with an improvement of the controls, and of course, better sound.
The Hog 20 is a combo that consists of a 20Watt solid-state amplifier, and 6.5Inch speaker. On the front of the amp, placed on the bottom, you can find a guitar input, the power switch, and the controls for Tone, Volume, and Squeal (Distortion).
On the back of the amp, you can find another guitar input, headphones output, and the jack for the power adaptor that comes included in the price. As we mentioned earlier, this amp is extremely portable – it has a built-in rechargeable battery, which lasts about eight hours. Great for buskers!
Pros and Highlights
- Affordable – Blues guitarists are frequently guys with a tight budget for buying gear. This amp is great even from that perspective – it is very affordable (cheap)!
- Great blues sound – The Hog 20 still has that characteristic Pignose legendary sound that you must love if you are a blues-lover. The amp sounds great both distorted and clean!
- Great for buskers – It is always important to have a matching tone with your style. The Pignose Hog 20 is great for all the buskers that play in the blues or rock genre. Also, it has a playing time of eight hours! Extremely portable amp!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It still lacks some important things – like a Line-out, separate Treble, Middle, and Bass control knobs, maybe a Reverb… (Also check out the Hog 30)
Bottom line
If you are a beginner, this amp is a great fit for you. It is also great for buskers that want to stay simple and raw. It is also great for blues guitar players that like to busk.
The Pignose Hog 20 has hours of playing time on the street due to the rechargeable battery, and it is loud and powerful enough to distinct your guitar sound in the crowd.
Some players may see the controls of the amp as limited, while others search the freedom in the limitations. Also, there is a big advantage that we forgot to mention – the Pignose Hog 20 comes for a very reasonable price!
VOX Amplug 2 Blues
Specs, features, and benefits
If you were looking for the smallest amplifier, congratulations! – You’ve found it.
The Vox amPlug amplifiers are actually Headphone amps – meaning that you have to plug in your headphones and use it that way. Great for silent practicing. There are seven different amPlug models, with each having a different set of features.
Here, we will be talking about the Vox Amplug Blues model. The AC30 amPlug 2 Blues is an analog-circuit amp that emulates the sound of a cranked tweed amp into your headphones. It has three voices available, Clean, Crunch and Lead. Also, there are nine effects onboard: three different types of Chorus, three types of Delay, and three types of Reverb effect. It also has an aux in, so you can jam along with your favorite backing tracks.
If you are looking for a portable headphone amplifier, with which you can feel and hear the blues everywhere you go, the Vox amPlug Blues is the best on the market. You just have to choose your model. The amp runs on two AAA batteries, and they last from eleven to seventeen playing hours, depending on how much you use the effects.
Pros and Highlights
- Small size, compact – This amp fits in your pocket! Also, the jack is rotary so it can fit every guitar!
- Versatile – This little thing has a big palette of sounds, having in mind its size – it is amazing!
- Affordable – This is a perfect gift for yourself, or for your blues guitar-playing friends.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons! – The amp is doing exactly what it is advertised for!
Bottom line
If you don’t want to disturb your family with your smoking guitar solos, or you travel around and want to practice here in there, the Vox amPlug 2 Blues is a perfect solution. It fits in your pocket, sounds great, and for the matter of fact – it is versatile! It has all that you need to practice silently, and most importantly – it won’t break the bank.
What We Recommend and Why
If you are a recording and gigging blues guitar player, we recommend you buying a decent amp, that will sound great, that can be taken on the road, that is flexible and compact. We recommend you the VOX AC30C2! Why? Because it is one of the best (if not the best) sounding blues amp ever.