You know that the world of metals is loud, brash and filled with everything in extremes. Having the best ax with awesome humbuckers is one thing. But, in order to be applauded by metal lovers all over the world, you should have the best amp.
It’s not hard to find a metal amp. What’s hard is finding the right amp for your purpose. So, if you are looking for the best metal practice amps, we’re here to help. We’ve come up with a compilation of great metal practice amps and give you some of its advantages and disadvantages.
Each product is unique and excels in which they are designed to be. So, have the time to check each of them. After all, it’s you who’ll use the amp, and you should have the best that’s just perfect for your needs.
Contents
9 Best Practice Amps for Metal in 2024 (Reviews)
- Marshall DSL20CR
- Line 6 Spider IV 120 MKII
- Orange Crush 12 Amplifier
- Blackstar HT Club 40
- Orange Micro Terror 20-watt Head
- Marshall DSL20HR
- Peavey Vypyr VIP 1 Amplifier
- Fender GTX 100
- BUGERA V5
Runner Up | Editor's Choice | Also Great |
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Marshall DSL20CR
Great for novice, as well as professionals, the Marshall DSL20CR is the one you can rely on both for practice and for live shows. It’s packed with straightforward controls and features that will definitely help you produce that Marshall tone everyone is dying to achieve.
It comes with three ECC83 valves and two EL34 valves, so you won’t be disappointed with how your guitar sounds from this metal amp. Each channel comes with dedicated gain, volume and resonance controls.
In addition, it has reverb onboard and high and low power settings. With the reliable Celestion Seventy-80 speaker and Softube Emulated output, you’re assured of a great performance whether onstage or off the stage.
Pros
- Has clear punch and well-balanced tone
- Produces aggressive highs
- But very clear
- The channels in this amp are very useful
Cons
- May produce some hissing sound
- Reverb retains even after switching between channels
- No master control
- Only volume control for each channel
Line 6 Spider IV 120 MKII
Who wants to have a metal amp that has over 300 handcrafted presets from 50 renowned bands and guitarists? If you like playing like your idol Johnny Marr, then have the Line 6 Spider IV 120 MKII.
In addition to that, you’ll also get to enjoy 200+ song-based presets, 16 amp models, 64 user-created presets and a lot more controls.
Moreover, it features two 10-inch Celestion Custom speakers which back is three-quarter closed to produce tight and snappy sound output. You also get 20 Smart FX effects with deep editing that allows you to do Quick Loop, Auto-Wah, Pitch-Shift and effects like echoes, mods, reverb and so much more.
With easy to tweak knobs and with up to four Smart FX to be used at once, plus all the inputs and outputs available, you sure are at an advantage than the rest of the metal guitarists.
Pros
- Can play soft and has great features
- Full-range speakers for a wide variety of instruments
Cons
- High-end sound is blowing the speakers
- The interface could be better
- Not lightweight
- A little hefty with just a single handle
Orange Crush 12 Amplifier
A great practice amp with a reliable 6-inch speaker, the Orange Amps Electric Guitar Power Amplifier could be your next amp. With its three-band EQ, overdrive, and gain controls, it’s very easy for you to dial in your tone.
It’s probably one of the loudest 12-Watt amp that you can hear with the speaker onboard. It sports the Orange trademark looks with the Orange weave Tolex and a woven speaker grille. Very handy and portable for it only weighs 12 pounds.
So, whenever you go to practice or jamming this guitar amp can handle the crushing and smashing.
Pros
- Affordable and loud enough for practice
- Construction quality is unmatched
- Killer amp
- Responsive and gain is spot on
Cons
- Better to have a tuner onboard
- May produce static that will interfere with playing the guitar
- Phono output is not reliable
Blackstar HT Club 40
Craft your own sound with Blackstar HT Club 40. Packed with mind-blowing features, award-winning HT valve pedals in two foot-switchable channels, foot-switchable valve amp and more, this is surely a great studio and practice amp.
It has Bass, Middle and Treble control that allows you to access infinite new sound possibilities.
With fully interactive control, you’ll be able to adjust the response of the tone control network of any voicing you want. With cool vintage and unique push-pull power amp design with12-inch Blackbird 50 speakers, you’ll be able to produce great crunch in your sounds.
Also, onboard are series effects loop, stereo MP3/line input, headphone output, three-band EQ, digital stereo reverb and so much more.
Pros
- Amp sound is great
- You can crank it up comfortably
- Excellent tones
- Amazing features
- Plug and play and headphone out for practicing in silence
Cons
- Some have difficulty getting the bass out of the amp
- Back panel access is kind of tricky
Orange Micro Terror 20-watt Head
As the name of this metal amp suggests, B-Stock Orange BRENT-HINDS-TERROR is beast on its own. It’s designed in collaboration with Mastodons Brent Hinds, so you can enjoy its two channels — natural and dirty channel — and the channel selector, power selector, and more.
It has various controls like channel selector, half/STBY/full power selector and power switch.
With the powerful Terror transformers, you can take advantage of the EL84 output section. In addition, you’ll have the power switching options of 0.5, 1, 7 and 15 Watts — perfect for use whether on bedroom, studio or stage. This means you can create warm valve compression and saturation even at low -volume settings.
Pros
- Great amp for its price
- Has great overdriven tones
- Has amazing look
- Really represents the name
Cons
- Clean channel is not that flexible
- There’s no sound control on the clean channel
Marshall DSL20HR
Based on the popular JCM2000, Marshall DSL20HR is the next great amp you can trust whether in live performance or in practice room. It has the same valve — four ECC83 preamp and four EL34 in the power stage, as well as other great features.
It comes with two foot-switchable channels — classic gain and ultra-gain — you can achieve brilliant cleans and even high-gain shed.
Taking advantage of the 12-inch speaker for more sound, you can also make easy tweaks with resonance controls, studio-quality digital reverb, real panel pentode/triode switch responsible for dropping power from 100Watts to 50Watts, among others.
It comes with a flexible five-way EQ section that has a mid-shift button to accommodate modern metal styles. Really flexible and gives great value for the money.
Pros
- Amp sounds fantastic
- Especially for rehearsals
- Resonance control is outstanding
Cons
- Ultra-gain channel doesn’t sound good
- Not a good amp to play at band volume
- Beware of mismatch power rating
- You might end up blowing your amp’s fuse
Peavey Vypyr VIP 1 Amplifier
The most versatile modeling amp in the market, Peavey Vypyr VIP 1 Amplifier comes with acoustic, bass and electric guitar amp models. This means it can provide amplification for various types of instruments.
Furthermore, with its patented TransTube technology and 32-bit floating-point SHARC processors, you’ll get the best sounding modeling amp.
Without the need to connect to a computer, you can access all 25 amp effects, 36 amp models, six bass models, and six acoustic models from the amp itself.
What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) controls allow you to quickly adjust the controls without the need to continually refer to the manual. It has a bi-directional USB data and an audio port in which you can easily record and connect to your computer.
Pros
- Crazy distortion
- But very controlled and compressed
- Quiet loud enough
- Great for practice
Cons
- Amp itself is very difficult to adjust for a clean sound
- All switches are electronic
- Makes maintenance harder
- Modeler settings default gain at maximum
Fender GTX 100
Fender Mustang GTX 100 is the one guitar amp that’ll help you hone your skills to the next level. Crafted by the leader in musical instrument manufacturing, Fender, this amp sets the standard to the versatility of today’s guitar music.
Onboard are 24 effects, 17different amp models, chromatic tuner, USB connectivity, Fender FUSE software and so on.
With just a knob you’ll be able to select classic Fender tube amps, modern models and anything in between. This 100-Watt amp with 8-inch speaker provides outstanding sound output.
Furthermore, it’s compact, versatile and portable, making it a great companion – not just for practice, but for professional music production.
Pros
- Amp sounds good enough
- Great for practice
- Excellent build and quality of materials
- Packed with great features like delays, reverb, effects and so on
Cons
- Can be used only with Fuse software on a laptop
- Metal sound is not as good as the clean sound
- Controls aren’t all that useful
BUGERA V5
Comes with 5-Watt Class-A tube, the BUGERA V5 5-Watt Class Amplifier might be the one you’re looking for. It has been used by legendary artists and modern artists alike. Since this is designed with the revolutionary INFINIUM Tube Life Multiplier technology, you know its quality is top-notched.
In addition, it features a reliable and world-class British-engineered TURBOSOUND speaker. It comes with an authentic preamp with ‘60s design, featuring the 12AX7 tube. With this and a few more controls onboard, you’ll be able to play metal effortlessly.
Pros
- Great clean tone with saturated overdrive
- This amp has good reverb
- Attenuates power to 0.1-Watt
- Good for low-volume practicing
Cons
- The attenuation of power limits the tonal range
- Lacks gain, which some users don’t like
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST METAL PRACTICE AMP?
Since you’ve already identified the genre that you want to excel in, it’s just very easy to find the amp that’ll aid your practice for the best performance. But, in case you still have a hard time picking out that one metal practice amp that you need, here’s how we find ours. Make sure to check the following:
Construction/Build
There are a lot of things to check on amps. The thickness or thinness of the material affects the sound you produce. If you got amps with thinner wood, expect vibrations while walls around ½-inch thickness will definitely make good sounds and keep the gear in place.
Aside from the material used, make sure the overall build is reliable. Especially if you’ll use the amp for your gigs. You need to find something that is sturdy and resistant to bangs and bumps. Good corner protectors are also something you need to check.
Combo or Head and Cab Amp?
This is quite simple, but, not all musicians are aware of its differences. Smaller venues and practices require combo, while large venues and auditoriums need cabinets. However, if you want to get a specific tone for a specific genre, you might need to make a deeper research.
Power Amp Distortion
Some people only consider the preamp and speaker distortion. The amp distortion should also be taken into consideration when choosing your next metal amp. Try to crank up the master volume and turn down the gain. If you get lively and crisp highs, you’re good to go.
Speaker Size
Some may say that the size of the speaker isn’t important. However, if you want an amp for practice, at the same time you’ll use it for metal genre, maybe you need to examine the speaker size really well. Some of the most common sizes of the speaker and what they are designed to do.
This YouTube video here is really very helpful if you are looking for more tips in finding the best guitar amp for you. Whether you’re looking for a metal amp, practice amp or gig amp, these tips are surely very useful.
Editor’s Choice
As much as we are, we know that you are also very eager to find out which among the products is our best bet. Perhaps, if you haven’t found the ‘one’ yet, you can use our recommendation. Although each of them is really great, for us, we only trust the Marshall DSL20CR as the best amp for your metal practice.
Although it may not be budget-friendly, as there are a lot of cheaper alternatives on this list, but it’s definitely worthy of your investment. It’s a great amp, which delivers just the perfect overdriven tones — excellent for playing rock and heavy metal.
In addition, it’s also worth noting that it has switchable power options — which can be set whether you’ll use it in your practice room, studio or stage.
It’s not just us who recommends this metal amp. It’s been used by professionals and new metal enthusiasts all over the world. You don’t have to take our word for it, but it’s got some great reviews from verified owners.